Self-Righteousness Dressed as Caring Christian Populism

The following is admittedly subjective, but based on decades of experience, interaction, and observation. Allow me to pause from my usual study style as I address an issue that I believe will be part of a future end-time deception; a Christianity not based on the cross and resurrection, but rather built on the supposed goodness of humankind.

populism noun

pop·​u·​lism ˈpä-pyə-ˌli-zəm 

a political philosophy or movement that represents or is claimed to represent the interests of ordinary people [plural] especially against the Establishment

Mirriam-Webster Dictionary (emphasis added)

Populism usually arises from a general discontent. … People feel that things are out of control, socially and economically. … The idea that this is the fault of the meritocratic elite is an easy sell. 

—Nicholas Lemann

… anti-government populism is beginning to give way to the more classic, anti-corporate populism … 

—Leslie Savan

… Elizabeth Warren summoned the familiar and fiery spirits of Democratic populism. "Our job is to fight for the families of America," the Massachusetts Senator yelled over applause. … "Stitch up the tax loopholes so that millionaires and billionaires pay at the same tax rate as the people in this room." 

—Jay Newton-Small


The move comes amid a rise in economic populism in the GOP, Republican strategist John Feehery told the Washington Examiner. Even as the party writ large is generally supportive of the business community, an insurgent crop of Republican lawmakers is pursuing a more working-class-friendly agenda … 

—Samantha-Jo Roth

"Populism" has always been the smiling face of harsh, authoritarian Socialism. I figured this out form my world history class in high school in the 1980s. From Marx to Lenin to Stalin to Mussolini to Hitler to the Mao to Ho Chi Mihn to Castro to Maduro to Labour to the DSA to the American Democratic Party to the current state of the GOP... it's all built on the idea that a powerful central government is needed to enforce the foundational beliefs of either end of supposed spectrum (including massive wealth distribution programs championed on both ends of the political spectrum). 

The reasoning given is always the same: we care and we will use force in the name of goodness and righteousness (as we define it) to take care of our lessers.

For wealth redistribution to happen to any degree, there must necessarily be an authoritarian government to exert its force over individual liberties and private property. One of the things these seeming opposites (Leftist Populism vs Rightist Populism) have is a hatred of private property and capitalism (the two things that have created more wealth, comfort, and health in the history of the world). And when they confiscate wealth from those who created it, they invariably take a generous chunk for themselves (but that's another matter).

As the youth in the West start to embrace the language and beliefs of Marxism, they do it in the comfort and with the advanced technology that western capitalism (free markets, I use "capitalism" because of common usage, but it's a Marxist term) has created for them.

The following are just a few examples of many populist quotes we could review from Adolf Hitler who is on the supposed Right (the sources are secondary referring to the original). 

“National Socialism derives from each of the two camps the pure idea that characterizes it, national resolution from bourgeois tradition; vital, creative socialism from the teaching of Marxism.”  [Source: Interview by Hanns Johst in Frankforter Volksblatt (January 27, 1934), quoted in David Schoenbaum, Hitler’s Social Revolution: Class and Status in Nazi Germany]

“Capitalism as a whole will now be destroyed, the whole people will now be free. We are not fighting Jewish or Christian capitalism, we are fighting very capitalism: we are making the people completely free.” [Source: April 12, 1921 speech via Hanover College course archives; Foundations of the Modern Age, Fall Semester 1998, Frank Luttmer]


“The Third Reich will always retain the right to control property owners. If you say that the bourgeoisie is tearing its hair over the question of private property, that does not affect me in the least. Does the bourgeoisie expect some consideration from me?... Today’s bourgeoisie is rotten to the core; it has no ideals any more; all it wants to do is earn money and so it does me what damage it can.” [Source: "Nazi Economics: Ideology, Theory, and Policy". Book by Avraham Barka]

Likewise, we could find numerous quotes from the other totalitarian Marxists, but I'll will just quote Stalin (on the supposed Left) to show that the assumed "opposites" had far more in common in their philosophies than many want to admit. And both murdered millions. 

“Without getting rid of the capitalists, without abolishing the principle of private property in the means of production, it is impossible to create a planned economy."[Source: Marxism Versus Liberalism by Josef Stalin]

 

Without the references or specific markers, the concepts and beliefs are almost identical. 

While in my high school class, I created a circular continuum listing various political parties and movements from history. The Left and the Right populists meet at essentially same place no matter which extreme you head towards. As you go farther Left the circle brings you back to the same place those going farther Right go. Again, it is not a straight line Left to Right continuum, but a circular line. 

There are variations on which ethnic or religious groups that might be persecuted under any particular system (and to what degree), but both "ideal" versions are built on some sort of hate. Whether it Hitler killing Jews or Stalin killing Jews or American Leftists celebrating the death or murder of Bible-believing Christians )and wishing death on more), hate is hidden under masks of works like "love" and "joy."

Strength Through Joy (KdF - Nazi Germany)

Vote Joy

Joy, and its companion, fun, are powerful political weapons — weapons that have been used successfully to undermine the ridiculous habits of white supremacy.

-Sheryll Cashin (Politico) september29, 2024

It may be seen as a stretch to connect Hitler with Kamala Harris, but the thinking is the same. To enact the programs each desired they would require absolute control over wealth, property, and liberties. Each one believes that people should cede rights, liberties, property, and even our children to a powerful centralized government for our own good. And it will all be in "joy" with an accompanying smile. You see, they're the good guys. They're the righteous ones and by extension the other side become the enemies of joy. Note how joy is connected to the boogeyman "white supremacy" on the American Left to be sure that hate is stirred under the guise of "joy." And I would add here that the burgeoning Democratic Socialist-Muslim alliance on the American Left is virulently antisemitic (just as some previous antisemitic movements in history).  

I would also add that if someone thinks the comparative is ridiculous, we all know the media would go berserk (with 24/7 coverage) if a candidate of whom they disapprove remotely reflected Nazi propaganda. The media and Left freak out when anyone to the right of Mao raises his arm. They scream "Nazi salute!" The choice of words is far more telling than some accidental gesture. The media is on the side of the authoritarians as they also pretend they speak for the "common man." 

The takeaway here is not to be taken in by the words they use. As is the biblical model, it is by their fruits (not their words) that will judge what they offer.

Addressing the "God Can Us It" Argument and Globalist Rome (The Chosen)

 So much is wrong in Christendom (the vast majority of people who call themselves Christians think they are participating in salvation by their works) and much of that error comes from careless and deceitful handling of the Word of God. Tens of millions of Catholics will watch The Chosen and not be moved one inch from their false faith (or commit to it even more). The gospel of the grace of God is not found in Matthew. Roumie is indoctrinating people into a false hope under a false gospel.

• The Purpose and Audience for the Four Gospels
• Beware Studies which Do Not Recognize the Differences in Scripture

I have noted previously that I was a HUGE fan of the 1977 miniseries, Jesus of Nazareth. I watched it every year, then on video. It did me no good. It didn't bring me anywhere near the gospel of grace. It only drove me further into the false gospel of the Roman Church.

Christians were PROMISED worship services breaking out in theaters when Men's Gibson's "The Passion" was released in 2004. We were promised a revival. All that has happened since 2004 is the decay of the West and a grand apostasy in the professing church. Catholics put Obama in office with a clear majority supporting him.

Many assume the audience for The Chosen TV and Movie series of our day is unbelievers. I'm certain part of the star of the series, Jonathan Roumie's, goal is recruiting for the Catholic Church from both Evangelical (Protestant) and unbelieving viewers. He essentially says that in interviews with Catholic media. 

No one, no matter how noble the cause might be, should be playing with what the Holy Spirit inspired. The writers of The Chosen (as with almost TV and film adaptations of scripture) play fast and loose with the texts as we saw in our last study. The goal is not accuracy and it is certainly not to bring viewers to a saving knowledge of the finished work of the Savior. Is it mere chance that Roumie's new Rosary app comes out at the height of the popularity of the series? An app that cost countless dollars to produce and maintain? It's all part of the strategy. a strategy we must recognize and expose.

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I don't have a problem with paraphrased Bibles as long as they present themselves as paraphrases. If The Chosen producers opened with a disclaimer that they are giving you their take and that some scenes and characters are fictional and that the events depicted do not necessarily reflect the inspired texts, then, perhaps, it would be OK as the viewer is warned and encouraged to read for himself. But they present the series as accurate.

But that is not what Mel Gibson or Jim Caviziel (who played Christ in The Passion) or Roumie are about. They are about proselytizing. And they're not shy about it if people would just watch them and listen to them. Caviziel was a bit slick when he was on the speaking tour for The Passion. He would not allow his meetings with Catholics to be recorded without consent. He did not make this a requirement for Evangelical groups.

Can the Lord use The Chosen? Sure. But that can be said of a lot of things. The Lord used a Monkees concert in my testimony. Doesn't mean I'm going to endorse anything or claim anything is "Christian" in the off-chance He does use it. Paul was sent to Gentiles. The Lord in Matthew states that converseley he was NOT sent to Gentiles and neither does he send his twelve disciples to Gentiles. Paul has our gospel and it is not The Gospel of the Kingdom. To preach the Gospel of the Kingdom today is to preach "another gospel," a gospel that Paul did not preach. It will bring a curse. (Gal 1:8-9)

Believe it or not, I actively got out of my ministry to Catholics because I saw so little fruit. I was far more effective working with youth and unbelievers. But it feels like God keeps dragging back to them. And I feel like I have to warn people about them.

I'm no Paul, but Paul warned against going back to the Law and he warned Gentiles against "the concision" in his Post-Acts ministry. Atheists are less of a threat to believers than Religionists. Religionists abandoned Paul (2 Tim 1:15). Jonathan Roumie, Jim Caviezel, Mel Gibson, Mark Wahlberg, Tim Ballard, etc. all have confidence in the flesh. "Satan presents himself as an angel of Light" and "it is therefore no wonder his ministers are the ministers of righteousness." Atheists don't have the numbers, power, influence, or money Rome has. Nowhere near it!

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you indeed is not grievous to me, but it is a safeguard for you. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the Concision. For we are the Circumcision who worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh

Roumie is working for Rome.

[Roumie] gets hundreds of testimonies of people changed by the series, including coming back to the [Catholic] church.
-The Catholic Review

Another fan of the show is discerning priesthood, “and he said this (show) has had a direct impact. So glory to God! It’s just that. It’s incredible how much of an impact a television show can have on a person."

I get the occasional complaint that I focus too much on what Rome is doing. I used to think that too. But now I think of it this way:




Biggest, richest, most powerful globalist kid on the block. They've got their meat hooks in everything, including The Chosen.

The Annual Misguided Christmas Tree Jeremiah 10 Comparison

 Every year we get a few professed Christians who think they've found something in Jeremiah 10 they can inflict on the rest of us. For starters, the passage is to Israel. Of course, that does not mean we cannot take truths from it or learn from it (all scripture is profitable), but we need to be careful when it comes to application and doctrines. 

Right Division demands the following:

• The PERSON who wrote it
• The PEOPLE to whom it is written
• The PLACE it involves
• The PERIOD (or age) in which it was written
• The PURPOSE for which it is written
• The PLAN around which it is written

In this study, in one way or another, we'll have to consider all of these. 

Here is the passage in Jeremiah chapter 10 under consideration:

Hear ye the word which the Lord speaks unto you, O house of Israel:

thus says the Lord,

Learn not the way of the heathen,
and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven;
for the heathen are dismayed at them.
For the customs of the people are vain:
for one cuts a tree out of the forest,
the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
They deck it with silver and with gold;
they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not:
they must needs be borne, because they cannot go.
Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil,
neither also is it in them to do good.

Let's start with the good stuff. "Learn not the way of the heathen."  Can't find any fault with that in any age. But when we rightly divide the Word of Truth (2 Tim 2:15), it is not only the way of the heathen we should avoid, we must also avoid practicing the truths for other ages and other hopes. We shall see that scripture has different warnings for believers in different ages under different hopes.

We have covered many of these on this blog (and additionally on the podcast). Too many professed believers today tend to grab anything from anywhere in scripture and assume God is pleased with them for observing what's there. Similarly, they take anything they find and try to find some equivalent for which there is no equivalent. For example, we often here in response to the so-called Great Commission that when the Lord commands the apostles to start in Jerusalem, he really means whatever city you happen to be in. This does violence to the text and to the plan of God for the earth.

Others may perform rituals and practice ordinances connected to an earthly hope and promises made to an earthly people (Israel). We have to leave these issues there and only encourage the reader to seek out related entries.

Jeremiah 10 is specifically spoken to Israel. Still, it is always true that we shouldn't be worshipping anything or anybody but the true God of the Bible. We cannot argue with that, of course. But the conditions and instructions as to what constitutes God's evaluation of our actions differs between hopes and companies of believers. The same one who refuses to put up a Christmas tree because of Jeremiah 10 may also be found to be trying to obey the Lord's words in Matthew 10:5-10 or in Luke 12:33 or the Apostles' instructions to the believers in Jerusalem in Acts 15 and Acts 21 (separating Jewish believers from Gentile believers).

In their correct contexts, these passages have no instruction for us in this age apart from the general principles at hand. Trying to obey them is not only foolhardy, it's disobedience. 

Now, let's break down the Jeremiah 10 passage beyond the context of verse 1.

"Learn not the way of the heathen"

"Heathen" here is a reference to the nations. Hebrew = gôwy. Gentile nations. In the current age, all are Gentiles. We come out from among the rest of the Gentiles and are sanctified (some into The Body, but we'll have to leave that there). Israel was a nation with a Covenant. They were to be God's "holy nation and a royal priesthood" (Ex 20, Old/Sanai Covenant). Priests for whom? For the nations. This is God's plan for the earth which will be fulfilled one day on the earth. Peter, writing to the believing Jews of the dispersion (cp 1 Peter 1:1) refers to this prophetic future (1 Peter 2:9). 

The hope in view today is a heavenly hope. It does not involve a hope for the nation (any nation). We must draw a straight line between the hope of Israel (the earthly plan of God) and the hope of the Body (the heavenly plan of God). There is an earthly kingdom and temple to come, there is a heavenly kingdom and temple being built (Eph 2:21). 

Can we go into the Law, which was never given to anyone but to Israel, and pick and choose what is for today and what is not? Can we do this with the words of the Lord in the Gospel accounts? We may be inclined to say "no," but this is exactly what most of Christendom does. 

The people of Nineveh were of the nations (Gentiles, heathen) while Israel was under the Old Covenant and while God was working out his earthly plan through Israel. When the Ninevites repented and believed, they were still of the nations. They did not become Jews. They did not become part of Israel or partakers in her covenants, promises, or hope. Jonah did not preach the Law unto them. They gained resurrection life by faith, but remained "heathen." That is, they remained of the nations outside of Israel.

We know from Romans 15 that the plan of God for the earth always included believing Gentiles. These people would be blessed through Israel. There were believing Gentiles living among Israel in the Pentateuch. It is from the laws directed to these Gentiles in Leviticus from which the Apostles and the Holy Spirit derive the rules for the grafted in Gentiles in Acts 15. After the call of Abraham, we do not see a Gentile in scripture unless he/they come in contact with a Jew (such as in Jonah). 

In the current age, after the Acts age ended and the middle wall of partition was taken down (Ephesians), all are essentially Gentiles. Paul was no longer in prison for "the hope of Israel" (Acts) he was in chains for "the hope of Gentiles" (Ephesians). In the age to come, God will call 144,000 to go out as his witnesses in all the earth (Rev 14). God will again be working with his plan for the earthly hope in Israel and the blessing of the New Jerusalem which comes down from the heavens to the earth (Rev 21).  

It is the prophet Jeremiah through whom the Lord announces the yet future New Covenant (Jer 31:31-34). That covenant is for the same people with God had an Old Covenant. It is for "the Virgin of Israel" (Jer 31:4, 21). Jeremiah was a prophet sent to Israel. We have no right to place ourselves into either covenant (old or new) nor into the nation of Israel in this age. When Gentiles were grafted into Israel (see our study: Has the Church Been "Hellenized"?), Gentiles were still second to the Jew. Hebrews 8 restates the New Covenant and emphasizes again that it is for the people of the Old Covenant (Hebrews 8:7-13). 

When Paul visited the Gentile worshippers in Acts 17, he did not quote Moses and the Prophets to them as he did in the synagogues. The Old Covenant was not for Gentiles and the Prophets were sent to Israel. On the few occasions the Prophets preached to Gentiles, it was in their relationship with Israel. The worshippers on Mars Hill in Athens had no connection to the Covenant of Sinai nor to the nation of Israel. The Lord was seeking to graft in Gentiles at that time to make Israel jealous (Rom 11:11). Paul references creation and even their own poets in his witness to them, but no reference to the Law or Prophets as he did with Jews.

Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious [religious]. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men every where to repent: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

-Acts 17:22-31

 In the Acts Age, in light of God's plans for the earth, Paul makes no reference to these Gentiles to the prophecies which concern Israel. He does not speak of the hope of Israel as to does he to the Jews in Rome as late as Acts 28. He does not reference a Kingdom or the promises of the covenants which pertain to Israel alone. He will only point them to scripture in his epistles after they have already been grafted into the root, which is Israel. 

In his testimony and trial in Acts 26 Paul plainly states that he spoke "no other thing than that which was spoken by Moses and the Prophets."  As with Jonah and the Ninevites, Paul speaks only the basic, earthly truths to those Gentiles at Athens. For in that age, Israel was still at the center of God's plan (as the earthly plan was still in sight). 

For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: who are Israelites; to whom pertains the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

-Romans 9:3-5

This is another topic we have covered elsewhere, but we note it here to further stress how God's earthly plan differs not only in its scope, but in its blessings. God's earthly plan involves a temple, a priesthood, a land, a Kingdom, a King, and nations coming to Israel to worship.

In our passage at hand, the Lord is speaking through Jeremiah and warning Israel not to learn the ways of the "superstitious" and/or "religious" nations around them. This is key. The nations had false gods. We need to apply this principle to the superstitious and religious elements of the world that have crept into Christianity. 

Pastor and radio preacher, David Jeremiah, was once so impressed with kneelers in another church, for example, that he had them installed in his church. I don't recall such things in scripture (but I can't find a lot of what I see in churches today in scripture). He is free to do whatever he wants, but when he imposes his convictions and religious activities on others, he is guilty of imposing unbiblical superstitions on others. We have no scriptural authority to do this.

Learn not the way of the heathen,
and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven;
for the heathen are dismayed at them.
For the customs of the people are vain

The "customs" here in Jeremiah 10 is a reference to the "ordinances" of the gentiles. In the Book of Colossians, we are warned against the supposed "good" ordinances in the Law. In this current age, we are to not only shun the ordinances of the world's religions, but even "biblical" ordinances that God gave to another people for another purpose. 

And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened [made alive] together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

-Colossians 2:13-14

Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (touch not; taste not; handle not; which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh.

-Colossians 2:20-23

This seems counterintuitive to believers because many fail to rightly divided the Word of Truth (2 Tim 2:15). They fail to compare the things that differ (Phil 1:10). They fail to distinguish the plan of God for the earth (revealed from or since the foundation of the ages) from the plan of God for the far above the heavens (hidden from before the foundation of the ages and revealed only to Paul, post Acts, Ephesians 3).

The danger to the believer in this age comes from ordinances connected to Israel and the earthly hope and from the mind and religion of men. Some who would warn us about our Christmas trees are themselves enslaved to ordinances; whether ordinances meant for Israel or ordinances (rules) created by the world of religion.  

The Berean Expositor (Volume XXV, 1935) comments:

The association of observances, ceremonials, and the elements of the world with Christianity, made easy the deception of the Colossians and the introduction of angelic mediation and worship a natural consequence. But the believer has died with Christ, and is completely free from the domination of all these things— whether pagan or Mosaic, whether deceitful philosophy or holy law and covenant. From all and everything that would impose upon the flesh, having sanctification in view, he is separated:-- "Wherefore if ye died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why as though living in the world are ye subject to ordinances?" (Col. ii. 20). "Subject to ordinances" is the translation of one word in the original, and has been rendered "ordinance-ridden". Then follow specimen prohibitions as "Touch not; taste not; handle not". The apostle, writing to Timothy and referring to the false teaching of the latter times [this current age], shows that the doctrine of demons, far from teaching men to be immoral, would veto even those things that God has sanctioned, thus creating a false ground of holiness, and leading away from Christ by some supposed personal merit. 

[highlights mine]

One the grand illusions of the current age and especially in western Christendom is the illusion of self-holiness. This deception often plays itself out in local assemblies of believers adopting things like Advent Candles or Ash Wednesday or any sort of "Church Calendar" event. Those who participate often feel a sense of personal merit or self-holiness by participating. I'm quick to add, not always, but the danger is present.

One who shuns a Christmas tree may feel personal merit in the human ordinance "touch not the Christmas tree" rule. And even if he tries to wrestle it out of Jeremiah 10, it still has no basis in God's instructions for this age. Ironically, the same one who sees an idol in the tree is often the same one who participates in other pagan or earthly ordinances. He may observe feast days and Sabbaths and feel as though God is pleased in his personal merit. He may demand we use the Hebrew "Yeshua" for the Lord and declare all other rendering as Satanic. Yet these are concerns for a corrupted faith (or evidence of no real faith at all).

So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a feast day or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.

-Colossians 2:16-19

That which brings a sense of personal merit may actually be the thing which speaks of a denial of Christ. "Holding fast to the Head" is the calling of this age. We hold to Christ alone. No ordinance stands between us and our Head. Religious acts serve to distance the Lord and puff up the flesh in its vanity.

Israel and King Saul were following the sacrificial laws of Moses, yet God was not asking them to obey those ordinances in regard to the Amalekites. The specific command for that battle was to destroy all. Nothing else mattered apart from God's specific instructions for that people in that time. We cannot apply the command to destroy all in any way today. But Saul did not obey that command and the people went to another of God's commands in regard to sacrifices. When we bring the disobedience in the guise of obedience to another part of God's word, we displease the Lord. 

And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” So Samuel said:

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He also has rejected you from being king.”

-1 Sam 15:20-23

How many today try to bring the offerings of another age, of another people, or of another hope and expect the Lord to bless it?

The other side of this coin is seen in the misapplication of Jeremiah 10 upon others. Imposing the "touch not" ordinances on others. The passage in view makes no case for not having plants or trees in the home, the warning is against idolatry and worship of the tree. I would suggest to you that the one who is most concerned about such a thing probably has idols in his or her life. Admittedly, that is speculation, but it is born out of personal experience. Regardless, these are things for which we all must be on guard.

 Let's back up and look at Jeremiah 10:2

And do not be afraid of signs in the sky,
For the Gentiles are afraid of them. 

(Far Above All Version)

 

It is not the one free from ordinances and the rudiments of this world who lives in fear of "signs." It is the superstitious and religious who live in fear. Their warnings about Christmas trees seem to come, not from a teaching position, but from a position of superstitious fear (along with a sense of "personal merit"). Again, speculation, but Paul warns here in Colossians and again to Timothy of those who will arise in our midst with these ill-intents.

We move on.

For the customs of the people are vain:
for one cuts a tree out of the forest,
the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
They deck it with silver and with gold;

All that needs to be said here is that no one is cutting down a Christmas tree believing it will bring hope and blessings or that it will answer prayer. That would be a "vain" [empty] thought and hope. There are many other things, however, that bring "vain" hopes to some believers: the aforementioned observances of days and rituals, the "claiming" of verses never given to them, the confusion of the earthly hope with the heavenly hope, etc. How many "honor the Sabbath" as they see it believing God is pleased with them?

We don't put gold or silver on our tree, we put ornaments that have our children's names on them covering many years. Regardless, I've never sat back and expected my tree to speak to me or give me any hope. I have zero faith in the tree. My tree isn't even a real tree. It meets none of the warnings of Jeremiah 10.

They are upright, like a palm tree, And they cannot speak; They must be carried, Because they cannot go by themselves. Do not be afraid of them, For they cannot do evil, Nor can they do any good.”

I can assure you I am not afraid of my tree. Even if Jeremiah was directing his warning to me, he should have no worries. I don't plan of worshipping my tree. I don't expect it to speak to me. I have no hope it will help me. And I have fear it will bring me evil.

That last line should be heeded by the Christmas-tree-phobic. Don't worry about the tree in the house that will be chucked in the trash (or stuck back in the attic) somewhere around New Year's Eve. It can't hurt you. I fear you're the one who is suffering from superstition and religion. 

Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

-Acts 17:22

Number of worshippers: zero

Autopsy of a Fallen Pastor and His Theology

Filipino megachurch pastor is charged with orchestrating sex-trafficking ring where he recruited girls as young as 12 to work in his US homes and forced them into sex, telling them it was 'God's will'

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10222377/Filipino-megachurch-pastor-charged-orchestrating-sex-trafficking-ring-girls-young-12.html

From the Article:

The pastor allegedly forced the women and girls to regularly engage in sexual acts with him in what he called the 'night duty.' He and his accomplices told the woman and girls that obeying Quiboloy was 'God's will' and that 'night duty' was a privilege and a means to salvation, court records allege.

From the church's website:

Entering into the Covenant Partnership means stepping into the fulfillment of the Father’s glorious promise of a blessed life; the same life Jacob had in his time when he committed himself into a lifetime vow of partnership with the Almighty Father


In little more than three decades, the KJC has reached great milestones, conquering country after country with the message of enlightenment and salvation. Currently, we have six million solid Kingdom citizens in 200 countries and 2,000 cities all over the world.


The Almighty Father’s Kingdom can now be found here on Earth for He has produced a Nation wherein His laws are not only written in tablets of stone but engraved in the hearts and minds of His people.

From his website:

Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, the Appointed Son of God, is here so that we can restore ourselves into becoming sons and daughters of the Almighty God again [A49: again?] by obedience to His Words [A49: which words?]. This spiritual adoption brings us to a new level of relationship with the Father, where He elevates us into being sons and daughters.


“I am here to deliver this message to the fallen humanity. Join me in becoming adopted sons and daughters of God. Only sons and daughters will inherit heaven as a spiritual family of heirs.”

– Pastor Apollo Quiboloy


Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy was the first man to be called by the Almighty Father to the true and genuine repentance. He was the first man to have endured all the fiery trials of persecution and hardship and to have overcome them all without breaking his covenant with the Father. He was the first man to finally eject the serpent seed, breaking the chain of sin by his absolute obedience to the Father’s will... It is for this reason that the Almighty Father anointed him and made him His Appointed Son in these last days.


Core Message: THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM. Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

[Irony o' the Day... in his "true repentance" attack on the work of the Savior, he quotes John.]

Only then can we be called a son or a daughter of the Almighty Father (John 1:12).

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
John 1:12

Without repentance, everything else — all religious doctrines, traditions, the casting out of demons, all prophesy, every grand and lavish cathedral built, and every man-made by-law — is moot.

From Michael:

Dear Pastor... John has a lot of words... one word it does not have is "repent." The verse in John 1 requires that one "receive" him. This is bookended by John 20.

And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name.

That is not "the gospel of the Kingdom." We do not preach the Gospel of the Kingdom in this Age. That gospel is a message for Israel alone (Matthew 4, Matthew 10, etc.). In this age, we preach the gospel of the grace of God apart from the Law. And our hope is not of the earth.

This man has more problems than just believing he is "the first man to be called by the Almighty Father to the true and genuine repentance." His problem is rooted in the same dirt that almost all heresies are rooted in: the belief that God's earthly Kingdom is the promise of this Age.

We must still wait for the trial and examine the evidence for against the man, but any who believes he can please God in the flesh or that he can eradicate completely his old nature is doomed to one of two ends: pride or despair.

Homosexual Christians and The Kingdom

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. -1 Cor 6:9-10

This commonly quoted passage in 1 Cor 6 concerning (among other things) sexual sin and "inheriting the kingdom" does not involve the free gift of eternal life. That is a dangerous path to take and I see it all the time. Do not conflate "inheriting the kingdom" with the free gift, by grace, of life through his name. If all you have is a saved/lost or a heaven/hell understanding of scripture, you will not get very far.

Just the pronouns in the verses above reveal this is directed as Christians. The whole chapter makes it even more abundantly clear that Paul is issuing this warning to Christians. Is Paul writing to unbelievers here?

Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot?

Clearly this aimed at believers. Paul would never refer to unbelievers as "members of Christ." Yet despite the overwhelming evidence in this chapter (and throughout the ministry of the Lord and his chosen), men still turn this gun towards the world or they chalk it up to Paul referencing the past lives of some Christians.

In this passage we see that the members of the church at Corinth had been guilty of homosexuality as well as many other sins, but they had been converted. The homosexuality is spoken of in the past tense. 

-David Cloud (Excerpt, Way of Life Literature)

Paul does say "such were some of you" in reference to the past lives of some of the Corinthian believers, but even with that understood, why would he have need to warn them if they were never in danger of slipping back into those lifestyles? 

Leaving Sexual sin for a moment, "drunkards" is on the list of offenses. Do we believe that it is impossible for an alcoholic to find eternal life and then fall back into an old habit? Here we turn to a parallel warning in Galatians in light of "will not inherit the Kingdom of God."

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. -Gal 5:16-22

Again the pronouns and context and content can only lead us to see this is addressed to Christians. Unbelievers do no have a new nature (spirit) contrasted with the old nature (flesh). But believers do have this choice. Notice "drunkenness" is on this list as well. These are not "former lives" to which Paul is referring, rather he is referring to future possibilities for believers.

So just as it is possible for a Christian to walk in the flesh and fall into habitual drunkenness, so may a Christian fall into habitual sexual sin.  

Applying right division to these Acts Age passages, we see that these may lose a place in the coming earthly kingdom (which we have covered numerous times). They will not "inherit the kingdom of God." Since one cannot lose a free gift and since grace and works are mutually exclusive in terms of the gift, we must not try to equate inheriting the kingdom with having eternal life.

We briefly point you back to the Lord's warning to some of being "thrown into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth." Surely this is aimed at unbelievers, right? Many an evangelist will use it that way, but the Lord is clear:

And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. -Matt 8:11-12

The warning of the Lord's earthly ministry, and in the Acts age, concern the earthly kingdom. That kingdom is earned. The Lord speaks of profitable and unprofitable servants. Stewardship and faithfulness are addressed. If we interpret all these as simply "saved or lost," we end up in great fear and confusion. We are forced to mangle the Lord's clear words to make them fit the free gift of Life.

Rightly dividing the Word of Truth helps us understand these passages and helps us understand things such as the assumed contradiction between Paul's teachings on justification and James' teaching. Paul argues from scripture that the free gift of life is by grace alone. It excludes all works. The two cannot co-exist. However, James teaches that works must accompany faith in justification. They both point to Abraham.

What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.” -Romans 4

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. -James 2

There are many parallels between the Book of James and the Sermon on the Mount. This is because both are ministering to Israel. Both concern the promises and hope of Israel (the kingdom). Note that James points to an event in Abraham's life which occurred long after the event to which Paul refers. It is not simply that faith results in works (it may or may not), but that justifying faith, in light of the Kingdom, must be made perfect (mature).

Let us quickly look at a popular passage in Hebrews 6 (note, we are addressing Hebrews in the Acts age, just as James addressed "the twelve tribes" in his epistle). Paul urges the Hebrews "to go on to perfection."

Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection... But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation... And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. -Hebrews 6:1,9,11-12

These Hebrews had salvation, but they needed to continue on in good works (listed in the chapter) and move on to perfection (maturity). They are warned not to become lazy. They are warned not to stay on the elementary things of the faith lest the continue to crucify the Lord, as it were. Paul again uses Abraham as his model.

For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. -Hebrews 6:13-15

Abraham obtained one promise, but he accepted the cross so he could achieve another.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. -Hebrews 11:8-10

This chapter also speaks of those who sought a "better resurrection." These had the free gift of resurrection life by faith, but they sought a "better" resurrection. We have a similar admonition in our calling. We must strive for a "better resurrection." We must "obtain" a prize through suffering and maturity.

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the out-resurrection from among the rest of the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. -Phil 3

Does Paul doubt his free gift of life? Never. Paul is addressing those things which lie beyond the free gift, things earned, things attained. 

Christians can lose reward. Christians can be murderers (1 Peter). Christians can walk in the flesh (Gal 5). But we are not our own saviors and if you hold 1 Cor 6 to mean eternal life, you are essentially saying we must maintain the free gift ourselves.

There are dire warnings for Christians all through scripture. Too often some warnings, given to Christians, are attributed to unbelievers. But God has but one message to unbelievers: God has been reconciled to you, you just need to be reconciled to God (1 Cor 5:17-18).

Passages like "the enemies of the cross of Christ" and those "whose god is their belly," refer to Christians just as 1 Cor 6 and Peter's admonition not be charged as a murderer, thief, or evil-doer refer to Christians. Those who abandoned Paul in Asia were Christians (2 Tim 1:15).

If you want to argue that 1 Cor 6 concerns unbelievers, you are dangerously close to denying Christ. The context is clear. Paul is admonishing Christians. After the list of disqualifying sins, Paul writes this:

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

Who says those things? Christians. Whose body is meant for the Lord? This can only mean Christians. We can be disqualified from rewards, the prize, and crowns. We may "become disqualified" (1 Cor 9:27). We may make a "shipwreck" of our faith (1 Tim 1:19).

Ministries like "Way of Life Literature" make a huge error in simply assigning works of the flesh to the past without understanding the possibility that a Christian can choose to walk in the flesh (hence the repeated warnings). So, yes, there are Christians who practice homosexuality. They are in disobedience, they may lose rewards, but they have not forfeited eternal life.

Those who understand the free gift, yet teach that one cannot be both a Christian and practice sexual immorality have a problem on their hands. Do we become incapable of sin? Is it impossible for a Christian to walk in the flesh? Of course not. And if we walk in the flesh, we can horrible things and we will not grow in the faith. To continue in sin is to silence the voice of the Spirit and suppress the new nature. Without the influence of the Spirit, we cannot be taught. We will fall back to perdition instead of going on to perfection.

We warn Christians about walking in the flesh and according to its lusts. We can't tell unbelievers to walk in the new nature (spirit), because they don't have a new nature.

Ironically, many Christians become puffed up in the flesh because they use passages like 1 Cor 6 to teach that they are either incapable of such sins or they are somehow maintaining their salvation by not falling into "habitual sin." Pride is a sin as well.

Paul warns Timothy when he is appointing elders that he should avoid novices, "lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil..." (1 Tim 3:6).  The same condemnation as the devil? Yes. But since this is clearly for believers and involves pride and not sex (so we can't point fingers), this verse is not taught in the same way 1 Cor 6 is taught.

Have you ever heard anyone teach that an elder who falls into pride was never really a Christian? No, it's too hard to manipulate that passage. However, teachers who don't want to acknowledge other sins of the flesh simply assign most of those sins as signs someone is not really a Christian. But if someone who has the "same condemnation as the devil" can be a Christian elder, so can any Christian fail to "inherit the kingdom of God." And neither of these lose the free gift of eternal life or it is no longer free.

Those who profess to understand the "free gift" are left with the only alternative, wrenching the sins listed there from the context and assuming these never truly had life. But that's rather difficult task in light of Galatians 5 and 1 Timothy 6.

For those struggling with any sin, please see our series on Walking in the Spirit and its parallel study on Walking Worthy.

The Evil Fruit of Replacement Theology Explodes in Pittsburgh

In light of recent events, let me say this...

Replacement theology, held by the majority of Christendom and taught in most seminaries, has been a Satanic lie which has led to centuries of cruelty. Israel has a hope and a future.

The Jews are the Lord's "brethren" (according to the flesh).

• When the Lord walked the earth, he restricted the gospel of the Kingdom to Israel alone (Matt 10)
• He came to minister to Israel and to affirm the promises made to them alone (Rom 15)
• He was sent to Israel alone (Matt 15). He declared salvation is of the Jews (John 4)
• His disciples went "to Jews only" (Acts 11; Gal 2)
• In the Acts Age, the Jew was first (Rom 1)
• In any town with Jews, Paul went to them first ("as was his practice" Acts 17)
• Paul was in chains "for the hope of Israel" (Acts 28).

Gentiles were without a covenant, without a hope, and without God in the world (Eph). In the Acts Age, Gentiles were "grafted in" to the root (Rom 11) and they could be "cut off" from that root if they acted haughtily toward Israel (Rom 11).

Israel has a future. Israel shall have its New Covenant. It is theirs alone (Jer 31; Heb 8). Christians have robbed them of it. Even the historic stalwarts of dispensationalism have largely abandoned this truth and have grasped the New Covenant for themselves. You may have never considered the implications of this teaching (for it is ubiquitous), but I encourage you to reconsider for whom the New Covenant is promised and "rightly divide the word of truth."

"The first covenant was made with Israel; the second must be so likewise, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah... Although there is no difficulty here, it is important to have light with regard to these two covenants, because some have very vague ideas on this point, and many souls, putting themselves under covenants, that is, in relationship with God under conditions in which He has not placed them-lose their simplicity, and do not hold fast grace and the fullness of the work of Christ, and the position He has acquired for them in heaven."
-J.N. Darby (Commentary on Hebrews 8) 

“To take from Israel what is hers is only to diminish her and not enrich ourselves; nay, what has been called in this way the spiritualizing of the promises has led most surely and emphatically to the carnalizing, and the legalizing, of the Church.”
-F.W. Grant 

"All traditional Dispensationalists believe and teach that Israel alone will be under the New Covenant of Jeremiah and Ezekiel in the future Messianic Kingdom. Yet they all, almost without exception, forsake this exclusiveness of the rightly divided Word by maintaining that the Church shares in the 'spiritual' blessings of Israel’s New Covenant!
-Miles J. Stanford (Pauline Dispensationalism)

The Catholic Church spent centuries demeaning and oppressing the Jews as part of its official doctrine and dogma. The Reformed Churches have spread that evil through their ranks. The dispensational churches have abandoned rightly dividing the word of truth and have stolen the New Covenant from Israel. But God's word is everlasting. 

Israel will have its promised kingdom. The kingdom shall be restored to Israel (Acts 1). They shall have their temple, their priesthood, and their king. Gentiles will beg them to take them to God (Zech 8:23).

He will be their God once again, and they shall be His people.

"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
-Hebrews 8:10

"Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you."
-Revelation 3:9

"Their [Israel's] sins and their iniquities will I remember no more"
-Heb 8:12

If your church teaches the church replaced Israel or is Israel, get out. If your dispensational church has embraced the New Covenant, call them back to the truth.

REJECT ANTISEMITISM.
REJECT REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY.

The Passion of the Christ 2: A Warning

Here We Go Again

As I experienced the last go around, I will assume that I am wasting bandwidth and breath again this time... but I still feel compelled to warn my fellow Evangelicals about an upcoming phenomena which will, no doubt, milk hundreds of millions out of the Body.

I recently blogged about how Satan works. Remember, Satan is not in the Nightclub business, he's in the religion business. He presents himself as an Angel of Light and his ministers are the ministers of righteousness (2 Cor 11). I documented the nonsense (not sure what other word to use) when The Passion of the Christ was released. It was unbiblical, based in part on visions from "mystics," and its goal was hidden from its audience.

I was told how awesomely biblical it was. I watched 40 minutes on cable and was horrified at how it obviously played with revealed truth. How some people called it "accurate" is beyond me. [Aside: we should avoid trying to harmonize the gospels in any case; the Holy Spirit gave us 4 separate accounts for a reason.]

Ministries declared it would bring national revival. One ministry I documented "prophesied" church services breaking out in theaters (whatever that was supposed to look like).


I think I can safely say, America had no revival and has been in heavy decline since.


But the most damning thing was the goal of its maker. The primary force behind the film (an Anti-Semite) declared his own wife was in danger of hell-fire for being Episcopalian. The other promoter hit the circuit, speaking at Evangelical gatherings around the country, You can watch these visits on YouTube... but you won't see ALL his visits.

You will not find what he was saying in meetings in his own church. The reason for that was because all attendees were told they could not record what he was saying. I discovered what he was saying via a blog by someone who loved what he had to say and was puzzled by the restriction. Hint: he wasn't telling them about the gospel of the free grace of God.

But we don't even need that evidence. His own words, published in interviews about the film, should have exposed him to anyone with an ounce of discernment. He spoke openly about the filming and what he was about. Sadly, few Christians cared.

Regardless, no film is going to bring revival. Can a film be used by the Lord? Sure, if it has scripture correctly presented. Scripture teaches us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. But when a film mixes truth and error, as Satan did in the Garden and in the Wilderness. it becomes very dangerous.

Unless someone knows of a spiritual transformation and the regeneration of the principals, I will, again, assume the worst.

TPOTC2 will come out. It will be lauded from pulpits across the nation. Errors, omissions and additions will be ignored. It will make its makers another $1 billion... and we'll have no revival.

Imagine what that money could do for real missions?

-----------------------------------------------------

"Never before has [Satan] been so successful as now, blinding the eyes of them that believe not. Idolatry and all the perversions of the Truth of God are his work. He is the author and supporter of every cult which denies Christ. He is the real parent of Higher Criticism, Mormonism, Russellism, Christian Science… Romanism, and all other isms which deny the Truth of God… What a happy day it will be when he is shut up."
-A.C. Gaebelein, Commentary on The Revelation, 1915

From the Biblical Straining at a Gnat Department

Had an online discussion with someone arguing that contemporary music can't be Christian (he pointed me to some book, I never get any verses). He has a PhD from a respected seminary... so I looked up his program. Turns out, the curriculum is based on the work of four men from the Evangelical Heretics Hall of Fame.

While he's breaking down the secret Satanic message in Petra's "The Coloring Song," he's swallowing garbage from gospel-denying false teachers. I'm sure he tithes, though.

Something for us all to remember:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence."
-Matthew 23

I'm not saying the guy is full of greed and self-indulgence (I'm being hyperbolic to make a point), but if you can't miss huge heretics (or worse, you accept them for the sake of getting the letters after your name), don't try to tell me the Getty's are the spawn of Satan.

No one is more critical of some of the horrid doctrine in and around contemporary artists than I... but we need to apply that to all we do. Test the spirits.

Video warning: Contains the backbeat!

This Hymns Business - Part 3

For His Mercy Endureth Forever

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this little series, I made note (as part of the accusations against contemporary worship or CW) the charge of CW being repetitive. Previously, I simply noted that repetitive is in the eye of the beholder. One of the common pejoratives leveled is to call all CW “7/11 music.” That is, “7 words, repeated 11 times.”

Although I would dispute the accuracy of such a generalization, let me take just two examples of how applying this standard to all music presents an interesting dilemma for the hymns-only folks.

I would first point to the only songbook we know is inspired of God, the Psalms. In Psalm 136, the words “For His mercy endureth forever” repeat 26 times; “5/26” if you will. Compared to 7/11, that’s fewer words repeated more times (with the understanding that Psalm 136 has additional verses). And how many times have we been told to find comfort in the fact that the words “fear not” appear scores of times in scripture?

We note that the Reformation is built upon six words, “the just shall live by faith,” a scripture which appears three times in the Word of God. When God repeats something, we pay closer attention. We would not accuse God of “vain repetition,” nor would we approve of man’s vain prayers. But when there is a scriptural., eternal truth about God or the faith, repeating it to emphasize it (not used as some sort of magical incantation) is surely edifying.

Let me point to just one example from the “sacred hymns,” this time going all the way back to 1899 for “O How He Loves Me.” We will start by looking at the chorus:

Oh, how he loves me,

Oh, how he loves me;
I know not why, I only cry,
Oh, how he loves me.

All kinds of problems there for the hymns-only crowd. Lots of “he loves me,” crying, and it’s repetitive. If we look at the verses, the problem only gets “worse” (using their criteria). The phrase “oh, how he loves me” is sung every other line, 10 times total for the song. The word “me” appears 16 times (and there are also a number of uses of “I,” “my” and “mine.”) “Love” or “Loves” appears 14 times.

Turning back to the original article, in which the author chose to compare “One Thing Remains” with “Rock of Ages” (we made our own comparisons in the previous notes), I’ll stick with the “offensive” CW song he chose and compare it with the “sacred hymn”O How He Loves Me.”

  

"One Thing Remains" 

Higher than the mountains that I face
Stronger than the power of the grave
Constant through the trial and the change
One thing… Remains

Your love never fails, never gives up
Never runs out on me [3x]

On and on and on and on it goes
It overwhelms and satisfies my soul
And I never, ever, have to be afraid
One thing remains

In death, In life, I’m confident and
covered by the power of Your great love
My debt is paid, there’s nothing that can
separate my heart from Your great love...

“Oh, How He Loves Me” 

I have a Friend, a precious Friend,
Oh, how he loves me;
He says his love will never end,
Oh, how he loves me;

Refrain: Oh, how he loves me,
Oh, how he loves me;
I know not why, I only cry,
“Oh, how he loves me .”

Why he should come I cannot tell,
Oh, how he loves me;
In my poor broken heart to dwell,
Oh, how he loves me; [Refrain]

He died to save my soul from death,
Oh, how he loves me;
I’ll praise him while he gives me breath,
Oh, how he loves me; [Refrain]

He walks with me along life’s road,
Oh, how he loves me;
He carries every heavy load,
Oh, how he loves me; [Refrain]

He has a home prepared for me,
Oh, how he loves me;
With him I’ll spend eternity,
Oh, how he loves me; [Refrain]

Now, if you can tell me how the second is discernibly more “sacred” than the first, I’d be interested to hear it. And I could surely find “deeper” CW and more shallow “sacred hymns.” As this study set out to emphasize, what matters in our music should be “is it biblical?,” and/or “does it edify (strengthen) our faith?” 

Music is meant to strengthen what is already there, it is not primarily a teaching tool. This is why the Mormons can sing the hymns (including the wonderful “Rock of Ages”) and not be moved and why I can sing “One Thing Remains” and be edified.

For those who think the hymns or the hymns-only position is somehow a sign of biblical orthodoxy or doctrinal purity, you’d love the Mormon position on music. Read all the pages and see how much they love and revere the “sacred hymns.” Mormons do not allow contemporary music for their “sacrament meetings.” 

“Some religiously oriented music presented in a popular style is not appropriate for sacrament meetings.” (LDS Handbook 2).

I’d rather gather with the truly regenerated saints, than with hymns-heavy LDS adherents. Wouldn’t you?

Final note: I do agree that there are many hymns which express deep faith and edify, but I cannot take the position that “hymn=good” or “contemporary=bad” lest I fail to test the spirits, lest I swallow false doctrine, lest I start to judge by standards not found in scripture. Music should be doctrinally correct, understandable and edifying. Beyond that, you’re creating your own “truth.”

This Hymns Business - Part 2

In Part 1 of this little study, we briefly looked at some of the accusations against contemporary worship (CW) and the parallel arguments for the use of the hymns (H). The study was inspired by yet another article on the superiority of the H.

The article juxtaposed a popular CW song (“One Thing Remains”) with a classic H (“Rock of Ages”) to show the supposed shallowness of all CW compared to the depth of all the H. Again, I have nothing against the H, and I agree that many contain excellent doctrinal content, but each must be judged on its own merit. I gave my example of CW v. H by comparing “This I Believe” with the H “In My Heart There Rings A Melody.” The latter being somewhat generic and applicable to all kinds of heretical groups. It also contains rather weak sauce in its refrain, “In my heart there rings a melody, there rings a melody of heaven’s harmony; in my heart there rings a melody, there rings a melody of love.”

If I posted those words and said they’re from a CW song, the knives would come out from the H-Only crowd.

We could make these comparisons all day. What is missed is that we should be doing this with all music. In the end, some H and some CW will be deeper than other H or CW. In either case, the doctrine should be what matters. I don’t mind “In My Heart There Rings A Melody,” just don’t tell me it’s superior to Keith Green’s “There Is A Redeemer” simply because it’s a hymn.

Just to close that chapter, I’d gladly compare CW song “Your Love Never Fails” to H such as “I Serve A Risen Savior” featuring the refrain, “You ask me how I know He lives; He lives within my heart.” 

That’s rather subjective, isn’t it? It could be seen as weak and not terribly biblical. Musically, it sounds like a 30s drinking song too.

Truth be told, many of the proponents of H are probably as opposed to contemporary arrangements as they are to the songs themselves. Many CW churches use updated versions of the H. So, even though the content is the same, they object to the music. With that in mind, let’s quickly look at the common accusations again.

• CW is “me” centered
• It’s not very deep
• The music is not “high” music
• It tends to be loud
• The songwriters sometimes have suspect lives
• It’s repetitive

On first blush (and I acknowledge this list in mine, based on experience), none of these is particularly biblical. Many of the H are “me-centered.” The Bible knows nothing of “high” music. The Psalms speak of loud music (“Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals!” - Psalm 150). How many of the H are based on music written by unbelievers? Neither Fanny Crosby nor William Booth wrote music, they sometimes incorporated known tunes of their era (Booth saying that the familiarity of the tunes attracted interest). How many classical music composers led suspect lives? Repetitive is in the eye of the beholder.

It’s fine if you prefer H (or even if you hate CW), but we do not have a biblical basis for judging someone based on his preference in this area (as long as the content of the songs are biblically accurate). The writer of the article which led to these short studies belongs to a church which denies eternal security. Obviously, singing “Blessed Assurance*” hasn’t helped him in that area.

I was listening to a radio network which plays only H. Fine. I sometimes enjoy hearing H. The DJ came on and before introducing the next song he named the network and added, “where the drums don’t drown out the message.” Now, on the face of the statement, he’s wrong. That is, if you attend a CW service, not only will you most likely hear every word, the words are probably splashed in huge letters on a screen (yes, some people freak out over screens too - see also “not a biblical issue”).

But what came next was even more stunning, he played an instrumental! That is, he played a song with NO message! I know a lot of hymns and I did not recognize the tune. For all I know, he could have simply been playing the music of some godless or heretical composer. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by instrumentals? No, by the Word of God.

These little studies are not exhaustive (nor are they meant to be). I simply want to start looking at music, literature, art, preaching through the lens of doctrine and not through the ever-changing, subjective moods of the flesh. That works both ways.

*The chorus of “Blessed Assurance” (“This is my story, this is my song/ praising my Savior all the day long;/this is my story, this is my song/ praising my Savior all the day long) could easily be a CW worship chorus. 

Secular music, do you say, belongs to the devil? Does it? Well, if it did I would plunder him for it, for he has no right to a single note of the whole seven. Every note, and every strain, and every harmony is divine, and belongs to us. - William Booth

This Hymns Business - Part 1

There is a subject that I have seen debated since the day I became a Christian. That is the question of music in The Body (the church). It’s a very large topic, but I’d like to break it into small, digestible bits. But if you want to save time and avoid reading these notes, music in The Body should be judged the same way we should judge everything: by scripture, by doctrine.


My only dog in this fight is truth. I enjoy both the hymns (H) and contemporary worship (CW). I judge each the same way: doctrinally from an Evangelical, biblical perspective. To that end, I like some H and some CW; I don’t like some H and don’t like some CW. Similar to my previous note on the names of the Lord, I really don’t care what you use, as long as it’s based on ultimate truth and as long as you don’t use non-biblical reasoning to condemn others who choose differently.


The arguments against using (CW) are generally the same (and it’s fair to say the attacks on CW are far more common than any on the H). If we turn these back on the H themselves, well, they don’t always fare well. It seems that where leeway is given some H, the same is not accorded to CW.

The accusations against CW are usually:

• It’s “me” centered
• It’s not very deep
• The music is not “high” music
• It tends to be loud
• The songwriters sometimes have suspect lives
• It’s repetitive

Of course, the first step would be to judge the criticisms, are they biblical criticisms? A second angle we need to keep in mind, what is the role of music in the Body? Instead of necessarily taking the accusations and assessments individually, I’ll incorporate them as they seem fit.


For today, I will simply start with the worship song used at the meeting of The Body which I attended today, compared with a popular hymn often used in “traditional” services.

 We gathered around the song “This I Believe,” the chorus to which is:

I believe in God our Father
I believe in Christ the Son
I believe in the Holy Spirit
Our God is three in one
I believe in the resurrection
That we will rise again
For I believe in the name of Jesus

Let’s compare that to the traditional hymn, “In My Heart There Rings a Melody” (1924)

In my heart there rings a melody,
There rings a melody with heaven's harmony;
In my heart there rings a melody,
There rings a melody of love.

I guarantee you, the Mormons have a lot more problems with the former over the latter. If I told you the second was CW, the critics would howl at its shallow nature, its man-centered construction and its kowtowing to the “simplistic love” of modern heretical thought.


Next time we’ll look at the criticisms in light of reality and, more importantly, in light of scripture. The biggest mistake we can make is to accept ALL H just because they are H or to accept ALL CW just because they are CW. Let truth reign over all.