Hillsong has been on the slippery slope of false doctrine for a while, but many still love to listen to their music.  But when a band/singer/group, etc., forms an unholy alliance (as Stand Up for the Truth so aptly put it), there comes a point when you should turn your back on them.

Hillsong’s 2013/2014 Conference is going to have a mix of speakers from some of the most apostate veins of the modern church.

This is from Stand Up for the Truth’s website:

The diversity is certainly represented in the speaker docket, uniting and melding Word of Faith (T.D. Jakes, the Osteens, Hillsong Church), Purpose Driven/Drucker-designed big business (Rick Warren), Craig Groeschel and Judah Smith.  (Online source.)

The author of the article asks a pertinent question:  “…at some point you just have to wonder how teachers of different “gospels” can find unity?”  The key words there are “different gospels.”

Hillsong does not represent Biblical Christianity, but a false gospel which has no power to save.  This is from the Hillsong Conference website:

“Our prayer is that our magnificent 2013 guests will again unleash and water the potential within our collective lives.”

Not to nitpick, but there is only One who is magnificent, and the ones who are speaking at this conference are not Him.  Our magnificent Lord has spoken the true gospel, and that truth is that if we don’t repent, we shall all perish.  (Luke 13:3)  Instead of teaching purpose-driven prosperity potential and navel gazing, they should teach death to self and repentance.  But they won’t.

What Hillsong is effectively praying for is that these self-titled magnificent speakers will show unrepentant sinners how to be happy unrepentant sinners.  Let’s pray they don’t make them two-fold the child of Hell that they potentially may be.  (Matthew 23:15)

Please take time to read the rest of the article after the hop.  You can find it by clicking here.

Here, here!

I’d like to hear the proponents of the prosperity gospel refute this.

Video dead ahead.

Bynum, who in recent years has courted controversy over her failed marriage and domestic violence scandal, was jailed earlier Thursday evening, but was released earlier today after answering questions in the case brought against her.  Also of note is a “2007 judgment ordering her to pay $140,000 to ALW Entertainment.”  (Online Source)

In my years of research into the movers and shakers of the Word of Faith movement, one thing always stood out more than any other; their love of money.  If there is ever any controversy with any of their names tagged to it, money almost always is part of the equation.

In the real world, it isn’t just us little folk who must honor our contracts and pay our bills – and Word of Faith celebs are not exempt.

Welcome to the real world!

Read the whole story after the hop.

(HT:  Apostasy Watch)

Click here for more on this situation.

Instead of giving way to the whims of our youth, we are responsible for leading them in the way that they should go…the way of truth.  It isn’t unkind to teach them church discipline and sound doctrine.  It isn’t stifling their spirit to suggest, or even demand, that they show respect to, for, and in the church.  The church is where believers come together as a body to worship the Lord and learn His Word.  In this modern age, it has turned into a culturally-driven mosh pit.

In the video below, Todd Friel has more to say about this video.

Rod Parsley zip lined into his church, and awkwardly arrived at his pulpit.  When you’re a popular, hip, happenin’ pastor, you don’t just walk in, place your Bible on the pulpit and begin to preach; you have to be cool!  I don’t know the reason for this, but I’m sure it was to generate adoration from his devoted followers.

The church has become a circus and anyone with an ounce of discernment can see it.  I’m just wondering when the elephants and clowns will come marching in?

So, I say we should do as Warren asks.  Let’s join him in fasting and prayer for the 115 cardinals who are electing the next Pope.  Furthermore, since we should pray for God’s will regarding this situation, we should pray that the Roman Catholic Church repent of their apostasy, denounce and renounce their idolatry, and turn to the faith once and for all handed down by the apostles.

Who’s with me?

(HT:  Christine Pack)

The following video is from C3 Church (not sure which campus).  You think Saddleback’s was bad?  Take a look at this.  This version of the Harlem Shake pits Jesus against the devil.  Of course, C3 doesn’t get much of anything right when it comes to Christianity.

Check it out:

TONY JONES’ FASCINATING EXCHANGE WITH CHRIS ROSEBROUGH

Emergent leader Tony Jones has had a busy, blasphemous week. Monday, he wrote a blog piece calling on Christian leaders to join him in relaxing our moral uppityness over fornication and adultery.  Yesterday, he outright denied the atoning sacrifice of the cross, and what Jesus did to pay for our sins.

Today in his blog titled, The Cross Is Not Necessary [Questions That Haunt], Jones answered a letter from his reader:

You’re asking if God required Jesus’ death. The short answer is No.

No, Jesus’ death was not required in order for human beings to be reconciled to God.

To read the rest of the article, please click here.

If you hop over to any entertainment website like TMZ or others, you will see articles about Kim Kardashian and Kanye West and their unborn baby.  The title of the article would say something like, “Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Expecting a Girl!”  As if that were really some sort of “breaking news” we should care about.  But, when an article like that is found at the Christian Post, I start to scratch my head.  Why are they celebrating this?  Why are they reporting this in this manner?  This is the question Stand Up for Truth is asking:

You’d expect the “Enquirer” to celebrate a still-married Hollywood woman getting pregnant by her Hollywood boyfriend after their 10-month adulterous relationship…but the Christian Post?  (Online Source)

I read the article in the hopes that it would have an “Albert Mohler” feel to it where they Biblically address the problems and shame of a society who would celebrate a married woman’s adulterous affair.  But they didn’t.  They reported it as if it were actually something newsworthy that we should know about.

Read the article for yourself by clicking here.  Still shaking my head on this one.

JAMES 5: 1-3:

1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.  3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

I’ve covered Benny Hinn for years at this blog and his ministry never ceases to be a source of shame for the visible church.  According to the Daily Mail Online, Joshua Hinn, Benny Hinn’s son, allegedly assaulted a man at a crusade in Brazil who is both deaf and dumb.  Taking the man to a trailer nearby, Joshua Hinn and two of Benny Hinn’s body guards beat him mercilessly.  Afterwards, Joshua Hinn was detained, but no charges were filed after the victim’s father entered into an agreement with Hinn’s representatives.  (Sources say that alleged agreement included a large sum of money.)

This is from the Daily Mail:

According to police, Mr Araujo, a local pastor, was sitting in the front row of seats at the event, in the city’s Povos da Amazonia arena when, during Mr Hinn’s sermon, he got up and approached the stage.

Mr Araujo, who was carrying a bottle of water, later said he only wanted to receive a blessing from the famous evangelist, who claims he can heal the sick.

But he was allegedly pounced on by Mr Hinn’s son Joshua and two bodyguards, Caleb Shirk, 26, and Konstantins Konstantinovs, 34, who claimed they thought he was about to throw water at the preacher, who is worth an estimated £27 million ($42 million).

The men took Mr Araujo to a trailer parked near the stage where they allegedly held him captive inside, beating and punching him as they demanded to know who he was.

Because the man could not hear or respond to their demands, the physical aggression continued, police said.

Tactical squad officers burst into the trailer after concerned members of the public called police.

Mr Araujo was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he received medical treatment and was later released.

Manaus’ Civil Police confirmed the three men, all Americans, were arrested and taken to the city’s 3rd Integrated Police Department for questioning.

The men reportedly claimed they didn’t know that Mr Araujo was deaf and dumb and wanted to know why he had approached Benny Hinn during his sermon.

According to police, Mr Araujo’s father, a sign language translator, entered into an agreement with Benny Hinn’s representatives to not press charges against the men.

Police sources told Brazilian website Portal do Holanda that the agreement involved a “large sum of money”.

The Civil Police said an investigation will still be launched into the incident.

After being released, Joshua Hinn and the two bodyguards reportedly continued to Manaus’ international airport from where they flew directly back to the US.

Benny Hinn has a gaggle of bodyguards, that’s nothing new.  I’m just wondering what the apostle Paul would have done in this instance – oh, that’s right – he was stoned, beaten, whipped, and all for the glory of Christ Jesus and for the sake of the gospel.  He wasn’t a regal celebrity who couldn’t be approached or touched by the common folk.  But, then again, the apostle Paul didn’t make merchandise of those with whom he was responsible for sharing the gospel.

Hinn is financially able to buy himself out of compromising situations now – but, what will he do when he stands before the Judge of the living and the dead and all of his riches are cankered and moth eaten?  What will he do when he stands before the ONE who cannot be bought with filthy lucre?  Sobering thought.

Click here for the article at the Daily Mail.

Click here for the article at the Christian Post.

I’d definitely say there is sin in the camp.  Rick Warren boasts himself to be a leader, and with what the youth in his church are being taught, I’d say the future of the visible church looks mighty bleak.  Young revelers of today are the leaders of tomorrow – and they’re being taught this in the church!

Have a look.  This video was posted on Saddleback Church’s own High School Ministry Youtube page.

“Yes, I am definitely questioning the atonement and trying to discover how we can see it in a different way. We’ve got this image of God who needs some sort of flesh, some sort of blood, that needs some sort of vengeance to pay for sin. My experience of a loving God who’s asked me to love my enemies – this isn’t a God that demands something before you are accepted. I think Jesus died because Jesus was inclusive. God is inclusive. I think that the idea of God somehow being separated from us was more man’s idea.”

Jay Bakker doesn’t understand the concept of original sin, and without that, you cannot accurately preach the substitutionary atonement, or handle God’s Word properly.  As a result, everything Jesus came to fulfill on His mission is lost in a deceptive message like his.  Without atonement, there is no salvation!  The Jesus that Jay Bakker teaches is a false Jesus, it is not the Jesus of the Bible.

Here is another quote from Bakker, but this one is regarding the afterlife:

As for the afterlife, is it something that I hope for? That’s one of those unknowns. I don’t know. So I’m going to live my life here. A friend of mine was once asked “do you believe in life after death?” and he said “I believe in life before death, learning how to live life in the here and now, learning how to love my neighbors now and to love my enemies now.”

I really don’t believe in hell, but I hope for heaven.

You can catalog Bakker right up there with heretics Brian McLaren and Rob Bell (among others).

Ya know, the wolves aren’t even disguising themselves as sheep any more.  The church has thrown the doors wide open and are letting the wolves in.  Is it any wonder the sheep are being slaughtered?

Click here for the rest of the article at Stand Up for the Truth.

If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time, you know that I feature two kinds of teachers here… the really good, or the REALLY bad.  Mr. Gorman’s really bad.

The title of the featured video below is “How Much Can You Let Go of and Still Smile?”  Now, one thing you need to know about Word of Faith (WOF)/Prosperity ministers is that they always have a pitch.  Some are clever, some are laughable.  So, how would I grade Mark Gorman’s pitch?  Well, it’s not clever, and I’m not laughing.  Here is a little of Gorman’s logic (taken from the beginning of the video):

“One of the things I’ve learned as I’ve studied the principles in God’s Word is this, that God wants us to prosper.  But, the way He determines the level of our prosperity is based on how much we can let go of and still smile.  So, if you can’t release that money and still smile, then you can’t be trusted with any more than you have right now.”

Wow!  That’s quite the intro, isn’t it?  Hold up, he’s not finished.  He goes on to say:

“How do I prove I don’t love it?  Can you let go of it and still smile?”

Guess where he wants you to “let go of it?”  You guessed it….right in his hands.

I’ve heard many pitches, and his is no different, just wrapped in a different type of logic, and every bit of it is based in greed and fraud.  See the video below and beware of him.

At first I thought, “Oh, my…the poor dear has Bell’s Palsy.”  No joke – I’m being serious.  I felt sorry for her for a minute.  But, then I crinkled my eyebrows and cocked my head ever so slightly to the right, and the more I watched her the less I was inclined to think the change to her face was the result of a medical malady.  I think she had some work done.

Why can’t women leave their faces alone?  I would much rather see a woman grow old gracefully, especially those who “claim” to preach the gospel, than to see them destroy their faces with cosmetic procedures that do not make them look young… it just makes them look worked on.  Your lips aren’t supposed to swell and droop, and your face is SUPPOSED to move when you talk.  It just doesn’t look normal if it doesn’t.

Joyce Meyer wasn’t a bad looking lady before.  I don’t like her doctrine, but her face looked fine.  Not any more.  Check out some screen shots I swiped from You Tube.

Watch this!

Caption inspired by Chris Rosebrough.

Steven Furtick, spikey-haired, skinny-jeans wearing pastor of Elevation Church has a new book coming out and the title of the book is Greater.  Thankfully, Chris Rosebrough, host of Pirate Christian Radio’s Fighting for the Faith program has taken time to debunk Furtick’s latest work.  I’m thankful for this because it spares me the task of having to do it.  Okay, I’m having a lazy moment…I admit it.

Rosebrough always does a thorough job of explaining why what people like Furtick are saying in the name of God isn’t truly from the Word of God.  Check it out!

In my administrative control panel, it shows me a list of search terms that people have used to find this blog.  Some of the terms used range from typical to wacky.  Below are some that stood out the most:

1. Where did Cindy Trimm get her face lift?
2. Why does Joel Osteen blink?
3. Smelling rotten eggs.
4. Christians married to Baal and don’t know it.
5. Joyce Meyer lip surgery.
6. Glamour is false say Christians.
7. IHOP weird.
8. Does Benny Hinn have health insurance?

So, what about you?  How did you find me?  Leave your answer in the comment section.

Proverbs 31:10-12:

10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.  11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.  12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

The church visible has become a cesspool.

TLC is introducing a new reality show called “The Sisterhood.”  With a Real Housewives of Atlanta feel, the producers of the show will follow around five Atlanta-area preachers’ wives as they engage in behavior that is worldly and wanton – all for the sake of reality television.

Now, you could look at this and suspect TLC’s producers are attempting to be sacrilegious and controversial by developing a concept that centers on “church.”  There’s an element of truth to that, but what do you expect from the world?  They have no loyalty to the church of our Lord Jesus Christ, nor would they having a problem desecrating it.  The bigger picture here is the fact that we have the type of church today where preachers and their wives are WILLING to be a spectacle and bring reproach on the Lord. Were the church following the clear guidelines of Scripture and our preachers dedicating themselves to pursuing a life of holiness and separation from the world, smutty shows like this wouldn’t even be possible, much less be an issue.

The description of the show is as follows:

The Sisterhood is set to begin airing on January 1st on the popular Learning Channel, which often features reality shows of various types. The broadcast follows five women that are married to preachers in one of the largest cities in the Bible Belt, who often dress provocatively, giggle about sexual matters with their friends and husbands, and live on the edge in a variety of ways.

“She’s fit and fabulous and her wardrobe leaves little to the imagination,” reads the bio for Tara Lewis, a certified fitness instructor who recently moved to Atlanta from Los Angeles after her husband took a job at a church in the area.

“Tell the devil he’s a liar!” Lewis announces in the preview, while wearing skin-tight shorts and a t-shirt that she pulled up to expose her midriff.

“Did you get breast implants, too?” asks Christina Murray over dinner with the women, whose husband Anthony leads Oasis Family Life Church.  (Online Source)

Not exactly Proverbs 31 women, are they?

Amazing what passes for entertainment today, isn’t it?

Check out this video featuring Lou Engle and Stacey Campbell.  TheCall Geneva is right around the corner and you will definitely want to miss it!  Why?  I’ll give you three good reasons.

1. Dominionism isn’t Scriptural.
2. Dominionism isn’t Scriptural.
3. Dominionism isn’t Scriptural.

Can you name even one prophet in the Bible that did that?  Nah, me either.

This woman gets more and more perverse as time goes by.

Click here to watch the farce.

(HT:  Debra Jones-Grant)

At times it seems surreal to listen to Reagan gushing over Roberts.  The list of ministers with discernment gets shorter and shorter.  If you have it, treasure it.  It’s in short supply these days.

In this video snippet entitled “What to Tell your Biggest Critic,” Furtick affirms his listeners by saying, “You’re doing better than you think you are.”  Okay, fine… a bit Joel Osteenish, if that’s even a word, but fair enough.  If he had STOPPED  at that, closed his Bible and sat down, it wouldn’t have been quite as bad; but since he NEVER does that, we’ve got a big problem.  Here it is – Furtick goes on to say, “I came to tell somebody that Jesus has been talking about you behind your back and what He says is, ‘You’re doing better than you think you are.’”

Okay, first of all, not to be nit-picky or anything, but, Jesus doesn’t talk behind your back.  What He heard from the Father He declared openly.  Second of all, did Jesus really say that?  I can’t find it in the Bible, can you?  Pull out your concordance and search for it, but I’m bettin’ you won’t find it either.  That’s because it’s not there.  Saying that Jesus made this statement is the same as the “thus saith the Lord” type of revelations given by  the false prophets in the Charismatic movement.  It is extra-biblical revelation and is to be rejected.  It should cause fear in the heart of all mankind to say the Lord said something He did not say.  But, it gets worse… much worse.

Furtick proves how dismally he understands Scripture by making this statement:

“But Jesus wanted the crowd to know, look, ‘John’s (the baptist) the one who got this whole thing started.’ In verse ten He says, ‘This is the one about whom it is written, ‘I’ll send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare Your way before You.’  Jesus says, ‘If it wasn’t for John, I wouldn’t even be here performing these miracles.’”

*blink*  *blink*

Did Jesus say that?  Did He really say, “If it wasn’t for John, I wouldn’t be here performing these miracles?”  Did He REALLY?!?!

No.  What Jesus made clear to the world is that it was God the Father who sent Him, therefore, since Jesus submitted His power to the will of the Heavenly Father, it is safe to say that if it weren’t for GOD Jesus wouldn’t have been performing miracles.

Furtick then goes on to assert that John didn’t believe he was really doing very much, but if it weren’t for him, Jesus couldn’t have come and performed His miracles.  He then twists the context back around to tell the congregation that if they’re feeling like a failure, cheer up…”You’re doing better than you think you are!”  How on earth he got that from the scriptures he sites is beyond me.  Simply bewildering.

Just think, in six short years Furtick has built an empire church with seven campuses and over 10,000 congregants, and THIS is what they’re being fed.

For shame.