Discerning Leadership

By John MacArthur

The language of warfare is sprinkled throughout the apostle Paul’s writing, especially where it relates to leadership. He urged Timothy to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). And he commanded believers to take up the armor of God (1 Thessalonians 5:8) and prepare for battle. His life was a spiritual war as he combatted false teaching and religious error.

But Paul knew the real battle was not ultimately against human false teachers. It was nothing less than full-scale war against the kingdom of darkness. “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

All believers are engaged in that same battle. We are fighting for the preservation and proclamation of the truth. We are fighting for the honor of Jesus Christ. We are fighting for the salvation of sinners, and we are fighting for the virtue of saints. Continue reading

Warning! Rick Joyner to visit South Africa and Join hands with Angus Buchan


It has come to our attention that Rick Joyner  will visit South Africa in July 2012 , he will be leading and teaching with Oom (Uncle) Angus Buchan from the Mighty Men Revivals and of Faith like Potatoes fame at the The Apostolic Prophetic Conference of Neville Norden’s church Lewende Woord. We  also previously reported on Gretha Wiid from the Worthy Women Revivals,  Buchan’s South African female understudy.

Here below you may read why the teachings of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR)  is dangerous. We need to test everything to see if it is from God. It is unloving to not warn others of false teachings. We are also told in Scripture to earnestly contend for the faith. I heard this recent Quote from Justin Peters : It is a sin to be undiscerning .

1John 4:1 

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (ESV)

Romans 1:28-32

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality,  wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving  unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:28-32 NKJV) Continue reading

Justin Peters A Call for Discernment South African Seminar Tour Mp3’s

We will update this page as Justin tours South Africa for the next 2 weeks.

A call for discernment (A sermon)

Preached by: Justin Peters
Sunday, June 3, 2012 – 08:30

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5) Question and answer

Preached by: Justin Peters
Saturday, June 2, 2012 – 11:3

4) The hurt of healing

Preached by: Justin Peters
Saturday, June 2, 2012 – 10:30

3) Mangled manifestations

Preached by: Justin Peters
Saturday, June 2, 2012 – 09:00

2) Dangerous doctrines

Preached by: Justin Peters
Friday, June 1, 2012 – 20:00

1) Why discernment?

Preached by: Justin Peters
Friday, June 1, 2012 – 19:00

 

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Thank you to Antioch Bible Church for the resources provided as free downloads. please click on picture to visit the website that contains many wonderful resources !!

Romantic Panentheism: A Review of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

If I have a joint of meat on my table of which the smell and the taste at once convince me that it is putrid and unwholesome, should I show discretion by eating the whole of it before giving my judgment that it is not fit for food?

One mouthful is quite enough, and one sentence of some books ought to suffice for a sensible man to reject the whole mass. Let those who can relish such meat feed on it, but I have a taste for better food.

Keep to the study of the Word of God. If it be your duty to expose those evils, encounter them bravely, with prayer to God to help you. But if not, as a humble believer in Jesus, what business have you to taste and best such noxious fare when it is exposed in the market?  ~C H Spurgeon (source)

I posted this article almost a year ago, well it is time for a re-post. Please also read An Open Letter To Tim Challies

Romantic Panentheism,

 a Review of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

By Bob DeWaay

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We live in a theological age (postmodern) where the rational and cognitive are questioned and replaced by the sensual and mysterious. Many churches promote the idea of worshipping God with all five senses. Feelings trump clear Biblical exegesis, systematic theology, statements of faith, and any other rational approach to Christian theology. Into this milieu comes a book that takes romanticism to a new level, using sensuality to invoke religious feelings and ostensibly true devotion. The book is One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, a Canadian farmer’s wife. Continue reading

An Open Letter To Tim Challies

By Cathy Mathews from Sola Sisters

Dear Mr. Challies,

As you may or may not know, we recently posted an article in which we commended your book review of Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts. And then today, a reader forwarded your most recent post, entitled In Which I Ask Ann Voskamp’s Forgiveness…, an article in which you wrote that after Ann Voskamp emailed you, inviting you to lunch, you felt a twinge of remorse over some of the wording of your original article, especially in light of the fact that you might soon find yourself face to face with her, sharing a meal. Continue reading

John MacArthur on Spiritual Formation, the Holy Spirit, Rock Star Pastors and Christian Discernment Ministries

By John MacArthur

 Spiritual Formation:  “It’s very dangerous, the spiritual formation. It’s a pagan approach. It’s more like Hinduism than Christianity.”

 The Holy Spirit:  “(W)hen God the Father’s honor is under attack, everybody rises to defend Him…….. When Christ is attacked as to His deity or as to the nature of the cross, we get a movement like Confessing Evangelicals, we get documents responding to ECT [Evangelicals and Catholics Together] on the Gospel. We get T4G, The Gospel Coalition. We get everybody mounting a massive effort to protect the integtrity of the Gospel, Christ, the cross and His vicarious substitutionary atonement. But the Holy Spirit is just being slaughtered everywhere and where is the outrage?”

 Rock Star Pastors:  “(Rock Star pastors) don’t want to ask anything of anybody. Just superficial, name Jesus and rock and roll with us and you’re going to Heaven.”

 Christian Discernment Ministries:  “The Apostle Paul named names all through the New Testament: good, bad and indifferent. There are times when the Church has to be warned when something is dangerous, that’s part of spiritual responsibility…… I think there are times to name names. I have a rule about that and that is, I will respond to anyone who has published something, but nothing that is private. And that’s fair.”

Erin Benziger’s interview with Dr. MacArthur can be read in its entirety here.

 Additional Resources 

John MacArthur: “Who would have thought that John Piper would have Rick Warren at a Desiring God conference?”

John MacArthur: “Don’t Go To A ‘Flat Screen Church’.”

Charismatic Chaos (by John MacArthur)

 

Counterfeit Miracles , Warnings From Way Back Then ……

John W. Robbins

Editor’s note: This is the Foreword (edited for space) to the new edition of Benjamin Warfield’s 1918 lectures on Counterfeit Miracles, to be released by The Trinity Foundation in June. As the United States becomes more religious, it becomes more superstitious; it is rediscovering and reinventing full-blown heathen religion – signs and wonders, priests, shrines, meditation, “spiritual formation,” “incarnational worship,” spiritual communities, healings, asceticism, monasticism, ecstatic “speech.” Warfield’s explanation of Biblical miracles and his dissection of modern heathenism are more timely today than they were 90 years ago.

Despite the growing interest in religion, most churchgoers in America – perhaps most churchgoers worldwide – seem never to have read the Bible. That in itself is a damning indictment of contemporary churches. Suppose a literary club were organized to study Shakespeare, but read only snippets from his plays and a few sonnets, and spent most of its meetings doing other things. Would we call it a Shakespearean society? Hardly. Yet churches that claim to be Christian have not taught their members even the most basic things about Christianity. Most of them, in fact, depreciate the truthfulness and importance of Scripture, and instead emphasize religious ritual; social, charitable, and political activity; and emotional experience. It’s as if the Shakespeare society ignored Shakespeare and spent its time bowling. Churches neither encourage nor practice the intellectual experience of studying the Word of God. That, if it is to be done at all, is to be done only by the experts – the academicians in seminaries and universities. Continue reading

Rumours of Monsters and numbers that go bump in your energy drink

I recently read the book Man of Sin, The: Uncovering the Truth about the Antichrist by Kim Riddlebarger. Below are highlights of the book I would like to share with you. I enthusiastically recommend this book, as it gives the eschatological perspective from the Amillennial side and it sure makes a lot of sense of an intricate subject. It has put many things into perspective for me and provides the answers to many questions.

Since I began using the internet as a born again believer, a sinner saved by grace, through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9), I have read (and not understood!) so many different view points on the end time Eschatology.  There is so much deception out there and we really need to discern and pray, to be able to sort the biblical truth from the lie. The reading of Riddlebarger’s book,  has been instrumental in my better understanding the end times.

A video clip floating around in cyber space is also not True !! Do not believe this man in the video clip ! Continue reading

Torah Observance – Opposing God, Following Blind Men

Grant Swart

In keeping with previous articles on this blog regarding the Hebrew Roots Movement, the following article serves to further illustrate the severe and often deadly error in the religious teachings of the Hebrew Roots Movement (HRM). It clearly contrasts the deceiving practice of Torah Observance, as practiced by the HRM, against Christianity.

It draws our attention to the fact that the HRM does not complete or compliment Christianity, it does not fill in missing pieces, but rather it downplays and nullifies the atonement of Christ and overthrows the New Covenant and the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God. The teachings of the HRM remove all possibility of salvation by grace through faith.

The HRM and Christianity are not similar faiths that differ in non-essential aspects. The HRM and Christianity do not simply read from the same Book and interpret essential doctrines in different ways. Christianity does not lack that which is found in the practices and belief system of the HRM. Torah Observance is not an alternative form of Christianity and it cannot be practiced in conjunction with Christianity, it is a regressive form of religion in which there can be no forgiveness of sin or salvation.  Continue reading

Beware ! of the Wide Road that Leads to Destruction

“Joel Osteen openly and confidently says how broad his message is – he’s not even disguising himself any longer as a servant of righteousness. The tickled ears continue to follow him, but the sheep do not follow the voice of a stranger.”   Quote by Justin Edwards

John 10:27-30  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  (28)  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  (29)  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.  (30)  I and the Father are one.” Continue reading

The Hebrew Roots Cult

The Hebrew Roots Cult ~ by Jim Pruitt

4/1/2006

Titus 1:10-11, 13-14 For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach…For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith, not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.

What an insidious and devious Enemy we have! The ability to take devout men and women of God who are zealous for good works and twist their desires so as to put them back into bondage to the Law illustrates the truly evil nature of Satan.

I had the recent misfortune of encountering a cult which is growing in influence within Christianity. It is not to be confused with Messianic Judaism or simply seeking to explore the Jewish culture within which most of the Bible was written. Although there are many organizations which are promoting this general view and their specific doctrines often vary, it is generally known as the Hebrew Roots Movement. Continue reading

Judging Others – Should Christians Judge?

Naming Names of False Teachers & False Prophets

By Martha Mac / SO4J.com ® / SO4J-TV & Video Productions

Judging Others— Should Christians Judge? – We are NOT to Judge a person’s MOTIVES (Matt 7:1), but we ARE to Judge a Fellow Christian’s: FRUIT / ACTIONS (Matt 7:15-20,John 7:24,1 Cor 5:12–13) to make sure they’re NOT Teaching & Living Contrary to God’s Word, and Essential Christian Doctrine is Correct. Apostle Paul judged 8 Times,& Named the Names of 8 False Converts in 2nd Timothy –

We also encourage you to further read a short article called: BEWARE OF FALSE TEACHERS.

Romans 16:17 (KJV)

    “MARK THEM which cause DIVISIONS & OFFENCES CONTRARY TO THE DOCTRINE which you have learned; and AVOID them.”

Continue reading

James White – How do you distinguish Biblical Christianity from false teaching?

Seven minute video clip

With many different Christian denominations, and many different, contradictory messages being preached (even within the same denomination) how can someone work out who’s telling the truth about what Jesus actually taught? If the Bible is, as Christians profess, the Word of God then it’s obviously of vital importance to understand what that word is actually saying, but how can you distinguish Biblical Christianity from false teaching? Continue reading

Biblically-Anemic Preaching: The Devastating Consequences of a Watered-Down Message

John MacArthur

2 Timothy 4:2

Those who are familiar with my ministry know that I am committed to expository preaching. It is my unshakable conviction that the proclamation of God’s Word should always be the heart and the focus of the church’s ministry (2 Tim. 4:2). And proper biblical preaching should be systematic, expositional, theological, and God-centered.

Such preaching is in short supply these days. There are plenty of gifted communicators in the modern evangelical movement, but today’s sermons tend to be short, shallow, topical homilies that massage people’s egos and focus on fairly insipid subjects like human relationships, “successful” living, emotional issues, and other practical but worldly—and not definitively biblical—themes. These messages are lightweight and without substance, cheap and synthetic, leaving little more than an ephemeral impression on the minds of the hearers. Continue reading

More Dangers on The Sacred Name Movement/Hebrew Roots Movement

The Sacred Name Movement

part 1/4

(A general overview of this movement)

Abbreviation SNM

Every so often a new movement comes to the forefront to challenge the historic Christian Churches teaching. Sometimes this can be good. If it is based on the truth, it can prompt us to a new understanding of the word. Sometimes it can be benign and be harmless as a challenge that goes nowhere … other times it can be just plain bogus.

None have been more bogus or ridiculous than the sacred name movement which has spiritual elitism written all over it. While there are some well intentioned people in this movement, there are also those who are prompted by pride to show how wrong and unsaved the Church is.

This movement is about using Gods correct name, restoring it and giving a revelation to people that are supposedly in darkness. (This first article is an overview and basic introduction to the movement.)

This movement is diversified and has approximately 10,000- to the most 50,000 people involved. Although we cannot be fully accurate on their membership these are the current numbers. There are assemblies range from a few to the largest of 200-250 members. Few Jewish believers are involved in this movement to their dismay since they lay claim to restoring the Hebrew name of the almighty. There are Messianic congregations that do use the Hebrew names but they do not make it an issue of salvation as those in the Sacred name movement do. Many in the SNM are involved in a metaphysical new age slant of the Bible and an added practice of  legalism. So from what I can see this movement has its own leaven to purge before they able to go to the Churches of Jesus Christ (Yeshua Ha Mashiach) and tell them what to do. It’s amazing that so few have such a loud voice on the subject of the name.

With absolutely no proof historically or scholastically for their claims, they put down the name of Jesus calling it pagan and categorize all Christians that do not speak his correct Hebrew name as following and calling on a pagan God. While the Jehovah’s Witnesses have tried to do the same thing, the sacred name movement is further down the same shaky road. This movement’s claim is the Hebrew pronunciation of Yashua as his correct  (in Hebrew ) and only name to be pronounced. The questions we need to ask is first is this true and if so, is God as legalistic as they present him. Because they are saying that Yahweh’s view is “if you didn’t pronounce my name right so I’m not going to save you.” The implication is that from the beginning of the Jewish/Gentile Church up until now, has been incorrect and unsaved. Continue reading