We live in the last days. There are thousands of false prophets in America today. Their source of knowledge is not from God but they say they have heard from God. What is their source of knowledge? Jeremiah said about the false prophets of his time:
“They prophesied by Baal and caused My people Israel to err.” (23:13) They speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord. (23:16) “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. (23:21) “I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ “How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, “who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal. (23:23-27)
Many false prophets today just speak from their own heart and have not heard from God. Some have dreams and say they are from God when they are not. However in this article I wish to share how the modern false prophet is receiving his source of knowledge by Baal. These same prophets are so blinded by deceit that they do not know that their messages are from the Evil One himself, Satan.
Today false prophets are receiving their messages from the spirit world. This spirit world is the world of demons. This spirit world is the same universal source of knowledge from which the new age witches, chanellers, and sorcerers receive their knowledge. Not only are false prophets today receiving messages from the wrong source, they are preaching that their knowledge is from God. Beware! I wish to give you three examples of false prophets today that receive their messages from the spirit world. This spirit world is not our source of information for the prophetic gift nor the prophetic office.
Mark Virkler
When Mark meditates he stills his mind just like a New Ager. When we prays it is better to not think of God, says Mark. Again he says; “Thinking about God could constitute reasoning.” He takes the same position as New Agers and says that as we meditate we move “internally from a left-brained posture to a right-brained posture.” He admits that angels, demons, the Holy Spirit, the omnipresent God and Jesus exists around him. Now he had learned to see into this spirit world and has heard from God. Mark says: “I have received no instruction on how to open the eyes of my heart to the spirit world. You may discover that inner visions come so easily, you are tempted to reject them thinking they’re a product of your mind. But if you record them, you will soon recognize that they can only be from God.” How does recording visions help you recognize their source?
This scientific method of meditation has become a way into the presence of God where Mark says that he hears and sees visions from God. Baal-ogna! This is receiving a message from Baal, the evil one, the deceiver, and the liar. His thoughts only come from the inward self that transcends the material world and into an altered state of consciousness. God does not reveal himself in such a manner.
The Whole Process of a Prophetic Word by Larry Randolf
Larry Randolf says: “Revelation is the first state in the development of prophecy. This is where initial contact is made with the spirit world and prophetic information is obtained.” I ask you, where in the New Testament did Jesus teach the disciples how to enter into a spirit world to receive from God? Never!
Randolf also admits that in this state of sensitivity to revelatory communication that man is also subject to human opinions, “soulish impressions, and even familiar spirits.” Would God in heaven lead his people into such a state of mind whereby man could be confused by familiar spirits? Never! Jesus taught the disciples to pray in the Lord’s Prayer: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Because there are mixed voices in this spirit world, Larry Randolf says that he must decide what is from God and what isn’t from God. Believe me. When God speaks, you will know His voice and it will not be confusing. Jesus said in John’s gospel, “My sheep will know my voice.” When God spoke to a prophet of Bible days there was no confusion and doubt as to who was speaking. If you have to wonder or question if something is from God then it is not.
After deciding what is from God, Larry Randolf says that he now must give his dream an interpretation. Even Daniel could not interpret dreams. Only God could because only God knew the future. Do you want to be lead by the words of a prophet who had to discover what the interpretation is for a dream that came from the spirit world? Baal-ogna! … Beware!
The Prophecy of Rick Joyner
Rick Joyner in his latest book called “The Call” claims that he receives messages from the dead saints and prophets. He says:
“I also understand how the nature of some of these revelations would cause theological problems for some. One of these would certainly be the way that I met and talked with many Old and New Testament characters, as well as prominent people in church history who are now dead. There are biblical precedents for this such as when the Lord talked to Moses and Elijah. We also have the example when the apostle John fell down to worship the angel in Rev 22:9. The angel rebuked John, declaring that he too was a fellow servant of his brethren. Many have understood this to indicate that this was one of the saints who had gone on to be with the Lord.” P19
We are not Christ who is able to communicate with all spirits. Elijah never died but went to heaven in a whirlwind. Moses’ body was never found. It says that the Angels buried him but it’s possible that he never died either but was taken up to heaven. Joyner’s argument from Revelation is so ridiculous that it needs no reply.
Talking to the dead is what the witches and wizards do. God has forbidden one to consult with familiar spirits.
“There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 11Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD:” Deut 18
How can Joyner now justify what God had condemned? There is also no catholic mystic that can justify their visitations with dead saints or prophets. This only means one thing. Their experience is not from God. Their visitations are not of God. They know not the voice of God for God does not contradict Himself. Beware of false experiences. An experience no matter how convincing, it is may not be from God.
What does it mean to prophesy by Baal? The story of Balaam explains. (Numbers 22-25) Moab was threatened by the multitudes of the children of Israel so he called for Balaam who lived in Pethor in Mesopotamia later called Babylon. He was a diviner. He was seeker of familiar spirits. He was rich because of his curses that he pronounced. He was a prophet of Baal. The Moabites came with their divination gifts for Balaam and took him to the high places where they worshipped Baal to offer sacrifice and pronounce a curse upon Israel. But the scriptures tell us:
“Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought! ”
Balaam went three times to seek familiar spirits. Each time the God of Israel intervened. Balaam could not curse Israel whom God had blessed and chosen. Finally Balaam went to God and did not seek enchantments as he had done before. He then prophesied from God.
And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness. 2And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him. 3And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: 4He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: 5How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! 6As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the LORD hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. 7He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. 8God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. 9He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee. Num 24
There was a difference between the way Balaam sought God the last time. God does not give prophecy to a man that seeks familiar spirits. The Spirit of God comes upon a man that has his eyes opened and his heart turned to God. The source of the voice of the Holy Spirit can never be found in the same spirit world where evil voices are also found. If you are a true prophet of God the origin of the message should never have to be discerned. The voice of the Holy Spirit never brings confusion.
The modern prophet says the following to determine the source of the gift.
“You are to ask yourself: Is it from the Spirit of God or from Satan or from the Spirit of truth or the spirit or error?” Hamon, Prophets Pitfalls and Principles. Pg.121
What is wrong with this statement? We should never have to question the source of true prophecy. God never leaves the prophet in doubt. He will always be 100 percent sure when God speaks and his prophecies will be 100 percent accurate. The real prophet does not depend upon unusual receptivity into the spirit world but yields only to the Holy Spirit.
How can a true vessel of God, who claims to be a prophet, become subjected to false prophecy as is written here? Be not deceived. Do not fall for the Baal-ogna of false prophets today.
RAVENOUS WOLVES MEETING WITH EACH OTHER (MATT. 7: 15)!
Evangelical charismatics = NO DISCERNMENT. They lean on their own understanding, extra biblical “dreams, visions and “words of knowledge” instead of Sola Scriptura – Scripture alone — Well look at them now >>> The names of the delegates in the photograph (Left to Right) are: Carol Arnott, John Arnott (Partners in Harvest), Brian Stiller (World Evangelical Alliance), Kenneth Copeland (KCM), Pope Francis, Thomas Schirrmacher (WEA), Geoff Tunnicliffe (WEA), James & Betty Robison (Life Outreach International) and Tony Palmer (The Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches & The Order of the Ark Community).
The big mistake that is being made is that these people are not “Charismatic Christians” but rather they are “false Charismatic Evangelical Christians”. It is a dis-service to the Holy Spirit to call them “Charismatic” because they have counterfeit/false gifts which do not come from the Holy Spirit: false prophecy, false tongues, false everything (Matt. 24: 24; Mk. 13: 22). Their false works tell us clearly that they “have received the mark of the beast” (Rev. 19: 20). They are not of the fellowship of Jesus Christ as you can see them standing together with the pope. I guess the best thing we can say about them is that they are today’s Scribes and Pharisees of whom, as Jesus said, “You are wrong because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Matt. 22: 29).
Jesus publically rebuked Pharisees and even called them names. (Go reread the gospels).
Many mistakenly believe that it is wrong to expose error and to name the guilty teachers; but they are wrong according to the Bible. They warned by letter and by Mouth those to shun and to avoid.
Paul named Peter publicly.
Paul named Demas for loving the world.
Paul named Hymenaeus and Alexander.
Paul named Hymenaeus and Philetus.
Paul named Alexander the coppersmith.
John named Diotrephes
What kind of love lets wolves like these men decimate the flock of God. If you were about to drink deadly poison, would it be love for me to stand by and not warn you?
The Pope teaches another gospel and another Jesus and worships, prays to and bows down to Mary. He is an idol worshipper. What fellowship has light with darkness?
The Bible Admonishes us to expose error, not join in with it and condone it.
Eph 5:11 “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them”
“Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. ” 2 Tim 4:2-3
“A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;” Titus 3:10
But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.” 1 Cor 5:11-13
“Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.” 2 Thess 3:6
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? — Mark 8:36
On the 21 st of January this year (2014) during his organisation’s annual “Minister’s Conference”, Kenneth Copeland, his “ministry”, and attendees received a personal video message from Pope Francis. Kenneth Copeland Ministries’ YouTube channel says, concerning the message, that everyone was “greatly inspired”[1] by it.
What was everyone inspired about? That Pope Francis called the protestant reformation the sin of disunity[2] and that he is looking forward to protestant’s repenting and coming back into the fold? Pope Francis didn’t make that statement in exactly those words, but this is what it boils down to, what it always boils down to with the Roman Catholic Church.
The Roman Catholic Church has always believed, and still believes, that it is the doorway to God and heaven, that the Pope is the Head of the Church, and that the Pope is the Vicar of Christ (rather than the Holy Spirit). Has the Roman Catholic Church repented of its doctrine of transubstantiation (i.e. bread and wine turning into the body and blood of Christ during the Mass)? No. Has the Roman Catholic Church repented of its heretical doctrine of purgatory (atoning in purgatory for your own sins, rather than Christ alone atoning for your sins)? No. … and then there is a host of other heretical, if not blasphemous teachings for which the Roman Catholic Church and their Pontiffs are responsible and of which they have never repented.
What did the reformers die for? Nothing according to the Pope, and apparently Kenneth Copeland agrees with him. The reformers said, “NO!” to the Popes of their day, “NO!” to the Roman Catholic Church, and “YES!” to God and His Word. The Reformation came about through the reading of the Bible (as opposed to it being hidden by being read in Latin when the common folk did not understand it). The Roman Catholic Church has always tried to hide, shroud and conceal the Word of God – Kenneth Copeland has merely joined their ranks.
Kenneth Copeland has gone from being a popular False Prophet, to being profitable for the counter-reformation movement of Rome. All this does is to further confirm that Kenneth Copeland is not only a false prophet, but a wolf in sheep’s clothing. A true prophet hears from and speaks the Word of God, which does not contradict Scripture. Where is spirit-led-Copeland headed? To the city on seven hills, to Rome, to the Vatican, to Spiritual Babylon.
And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly. — Revelation 17:3-6
Peter, in his first epistle (1 Peter 5:13), euphemistically called Rome (where he was at the time) Babylon. Peter knew it, the first-century Christians knew it, the reformers knew it, but the Profit Copeland doesn’t, or he doesn’t care.
There is more to say regarding Kenneth Copeland, Charismatics, Emergents and the Road to Rome … but we will bring you more in a future edition of CETF.
Endnotes:
[1] “Pope Francis’ Message to Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Calling”, www site. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eulTwytMWlQ, 27 Feb 2014, cited 3 Jun 2014.
[2] Pope Francis’ message is irenic, and regarding Roman Catholic and Protestant disunity he said, “…it’s sin that has separated us, all our sins. The misunderstandings throughout history. It has been a long road of sins that we all shared in. Who is to blame? We all share the blame. We have all sinned. There is only one blameless, the Lord.” But, one must remember that many of the Protestant Reformers at the outset of the Reformation were ex-Roman Catholic priests. There was no “misunderstanding”; they knew full well what Rome taught and knew how Catholic doctrine and dogma corrupted the Word of God. And Rome knew full well why the Reformers left – and that is why Pope after Pope has pronounced anathemas against Protestants. All that is happening now is that the Devil is trying a different tact. http://www.cwm.org.au/latest-cetf/359-from-false-prophet-to-pope-s-profit
God appears to have relieved Tony Palmer of his command
“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”Revelation 18:4
Just months after Anglican priest and personal friend to Pope Francis Tony Palmer gave a rousing performance urging Christians to place themselves under the authority of the Roman Catholic system, he appears to have died suddenly in a motorcycle accident.
Tony Palmer had said that he was a “prophet in the spirit of Elijah”, and that his mission was to unite the Christian evangelical church with the Roman Catholic system. He declared “Martin Luther’s protest to be over”, and said that it was time for “Christians to come home to Rome”. Tony’s deluded vision of seeing Christians “coming home to Rome” will also die with him.
“Tony Palmer, the charismatic young preacher who enjoyed a friendship with Pope Francis, has apparently died in a motorcycle accident,” Kathy Schiffer reported on her Seasons of Grace blog. “Not a Catholic, Palmer was bishop in the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, a group that broke away from the Anglican Church and considered itself part of the Convergence Movement.”
SO WHEN IS THE POPE GOING TO GIVE AWAY THE WEALTH OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH TO FEED AND CLOTHE THE POOR?
Mark 10:21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”
Why Did Copeland, Robison Meet With Pope Francis?
8:00AM EDT 7/7/2014 Rick Wiles
Pope Francis with evangelicals (Life Outreach)
Two prominent Fort Worth-based Christian ministers led a delegation of Evangelical Christian leaders to Rome to meet privately with Pope Francis.
James and Betty Robison, co-hosts of the Life Today television program, and Kenneth Copeland, co-host of Believer’s Voice of Victory, met the Roman Pontiff at the Vatican on Tuesday. The meeting lasted almost three hours and included a private luncheon with Pope Francis.
Mr. Robison told the Fort Worth Star Telegram, “This meeting was a miracle…. This is something God has done. God wants his arms around the world. And he wants Christians to put his arms around the world by working together.”
Mr. Robison said he was impressed by Pope Francis’ humility and courtesy to the visiting delegation of Evangelical Protestant Christian leaders.
In a written statement, Mr. Robison said he believes “the prayers of earnest Christians helped lead to the choice of Pope Francis.” He described Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Argentine Archbishop chosen as Pope, as “a humble man…filled with such love for the poor, downtrodden…”
In addition to Mrs. Betty Robison, the high-profile Protestant delegation included Kenneth Copeland, co-founder of Kenneth Copeland Ministries in Newark, TX; Reverend Geoff Tunnicliff, CEO of the World Evangelical Alliance; Rev. Brian Stiller and Rev. Thomas Schirrmacher, also from the World Evangelical Alliance; and Rev. John Arnott and his wife, Carol, co-founders of Partners for Harvest ministries in Toronto, Canada. Gloria Copeland did not travel to Rome because of a previously scheduled commitment.
The ecumenical meeting in Rome was organized by Episcopal Bishop Tony Palmer. Rev. Palmer is an ordained bishop in the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, a break-away alliance of charismatic Anglican-Episcopal churches. Bishop Palmer is also the Director of The Ark Community, an international interdenominational Convergent Church online community, and is a member of the Roman Catholic Ecumenical Delegation for Christian Unity and Reconciliation.
Bishop Palmer developed a friendship with Pope Francis when the future Roman Pontiff was a Catholic official in Argentina. Prior to becoming a CEEC bishop, Rev. Palmer was the director of the Kenneth Copeland Ministries’ office in South Africa. He is married to an Italian Roman Catholic woman. He later moved to Italy and began working to reconcile Roman Catholics and Protestants. Kenneth Copeland Ministries was one of Mr. Palmer’s first financial contributors over 10 years ago in support of his ecumenical work in Italy.
Earlier this year, Pope Francis called Bishop Palmer to invite him to his residence in Vatican City. During the meeting, Bishop Palmer suggested that the Pope record a personal greeting on Mr. Palmer’s iPhone to be delivered to Kenneth Copeland. Mr. Copeland showed the Papal video greeting to a conference of Protestant ministers who were meeting at Mr. Copeland’s Eagle Mountain International Church near Fort Worth, Texas. In the video, Pope Francis expressed his desire for Christian unity with Protestants.
Later, James Robison telecasted the video on his daily TV program, Life Today. “The pope, in the video, expressed a desire for Protestants and Catholics to become what Jesus prayed for — that Christians would become family and not be divided,” Mr. Robison said the response to the video was very positive, and that Pope Francis asked Bishop Palmer whether a meeting could be arranged with Evangelical Protestants seeking Christian unity in the world.
In his written statement released after the Papal meeting, Mr. Robison said he was “blessed to be part of perhaps an unprecedented moment between evangelicals and the Catholic Pope.” He described the Protestant delegation’s private meeting with the leader of the Roman Catholic Church as “an intimate circle of prayerful discussion and lunch to discuss not only seeing Jesus’ prayer answered, but that every believer would become a bold, joy-filled witnesses for Christ.
In describing the ecumenical gathering as a miracle, Mr. Robison said, “This is something God has done. God wants his arms around the world. And he wants Christians to put his arms around the world by working together.”
During the luncheon on Tuesday, Mr. Robison got a high-five from Pope Francis after the Pope and Protestant guests talked about the need for all people to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. According to the Life Today host, the Roman Pontiff did not know what a high-five was until Bishop Palmer explained it to him in Italian. Mr. Robison said, “The Pope made it very clear that he wanted every believer to become Spirit-filled, joy-filled witnesses.”
Mr. Robison said Pope Francis had written recently, “Too many Catholics look like they’ve been to Lent with no Easter. It’s a mistake for them to look like they’ve been to a funeral” as he challenged Catholics to witness and never try to control the Holy Spirit, but yield to Him.
Mr. Robison said he received a divine call from God to seek Christian unity while he was hospitalized several years ago with a serious staph infection following hip surgery. Robison recalled, “[I] was so weak I could not lift a cup of water to my lips…God got my full attention…He spoke to me through Isaiah 58:6-12 and I saw the importance of living in freedom, touching the suffering, the hungry, poor, and downtrodden. I recognized the promise that our prayers would be answered quickly and we would become a free-flowing stream and a well-watered garden, restoring the foundations upon which we must build. During that time God instructed me to focus my attention on Jesus’ prayer and encouraging others to begin fulfilling it through us in our day.”
During that time, he said, he was impressed by a prayer of Jesus in John 17:21, pleading that all Christian believers be one. “We’ve tried to focus on being an answer to Jesus’ prayer,” Robison said. “We want to see Jesus’ prayer for unity answered in our day.”
Aware that the meeting with the Pope will be troublesome among staunch Protestants, Mr. Robison said he and the other visiting Evangelical Christian leaders talked about diversity and their belief that Roman Catholics and Protestants could work together without compromising their beliefs.
“The world is suffering,” said Robison. “We as Christians have too much love to share without fighting one another.”
Mr. Robison said he and other “respected Evangelical leaders and Spirit-filled Catholics began meeting together to pray for God’s will to be done and to bring true believers together in supernatural unity….We have been commanded to love God with all of our heart and our neighbors as ourselves. The enemy has kept many Christians from loving one another as Christ loves us and have failed to recognize the importance of supernatural unity even with all of the unique diversity.”
Mr. Robison, whose ministry digs water wells and supplies food for impoverished people in third-world nations, recounted that he was christened as a fatherless boy in an Episcopal Church. As an adult, he joined the Southern Baptist Church. In the 1980s, he became one of the first prominent Southern Baptist ministers to openly proclaim he had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Pope Francis Meets With Kenneth Copeland, James Robison – High Fives Ensue
Televangelists including Kenneth Copeland and James Robison met with Pope Francis, resulting in the first ever papal “high-five.” (LIFE Outreach International, Kenneth Copeland Ministries)
What does it take to produce the first-ever papal high-five? A meeting with American televangelists, apparently.
The gesture came during a three-hour meeting of Pope Francis and Texas televangelists Kenneth Copeland and James Robison, just weeks after the pontiff met with televangelist Joel Osteen and other religious leaders. At the June 24 meeting, Robison said he was so moved by Pope Francis’ message of the gospel that he asked the translator to ask Francis for a high-five. The pope obliged, raised his arm and the two men smacked hands.
The televangelists are among some wealthier U.S. evangelicals who have recently met with Francis, who has called for a focus on the poor and a simple lifestyle for clergy. In March, the pope met with members of the Green family, the Oklahoma billionaires whose company, Hobby Lobby, won their challenge to President Obama’s contraception coverage mandate at the Supreme Court last week.
Robison said he was born into the Episcopal Church but didn’t have a “born-again” conversion until later in life, the kind of story he sees among many Protestants and Catholics. “There are a lot of evangelicals and Catholics who don’t know Christ,” he said.
In fact, Francis’ meeting may reflect a shift in emphasis within the papacy. His predecessor, Benedict XVI, regularly bemoaned the decline of Christianity in his native Germany and across Europe. In contrast, the Argentine Francis comes from a region where competition from Pentecostalism is one of the biggest challenges facing the Catholic Church, Peppard said.
As unusual as it might seem for a pope meet with celebrity Protestant preachers, the potential awkwardness goes both ways. While some praised Robison for going to Rome, others said Protestants and Catholics have too many differences, on issues that include the role of the Bible, saints, the status of the Virgin Mary and the nature of salvation. “Very disappointed in you James and Betty. Never forget the Inquisition — Never forget!” one commenter wrote on Robison’s website.
But Robison said he and Francis found common ground in caring for the poor.
“I don’t see him as presenting himself as infallible,” Robison said of Pope Francis. “He’s been to confession. He asks for prayer. He’s anxious to apologize on (behalf) of Catholic leadership.”
Osteen’s meeting with Francis on June 4 was part of a larger gathering coordinated by the International Foundation, also known as “the Fellowship.” Osteen was joined by Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a Mormon; California pastor Tim Timmons; and Gayle D. Beebe, president of evangelical Westmont College.
The June 24 meeting leaned particularly toward charismatic Christianity. Other guests were Anthony Palmer, a bishop and international ecumenical officer with the independent Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches; Geoff Tunnicliffe, the outgoing head of the Worldwide Evangelical Alliance; and John and Carol Arnott of Catch the Fire Toronto, which grew out of a Pentecostal revival 20 years ago.
The pope met with more than 50,000 Catholic charismatics in Rome last month, admitting he was not always comfortable with the way they prayed. Still, he knelt on stage as they prayed for him and spoke in tongues. “Where does division come from? The devil!” Francis told them. “Division comes from the devil. Flee from internal struggles, please!”
Pentecostal and charismatic Christians – charismatics are often Pentecostals in other churches, including the Catholic Church — share much in common, such as speaking in tongues and healing. Together, they make up at least 584 million people in the world, about 9 percent of the global population and one in four Christians worldwide, according to the Pew Research Center.
And that’s probably partly why Francis extended the invitation to the U.S. pastors. The Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, a veteran of Catholic-Protestant ecumenical groups and the author of “From Times Square to Timbuktu: The Post-Christian West Meets the Non-Western Church,” said Pentecostalism is growing in the Global South at three times the rate of Catholic growth, especially among the poor.
“My guess is that Francis knows this community can’t be ignored,” Granberg-Michaelson said. “Certainly, Francis would want to encourage Catholic charismatics to feel at home, as well as build ecumenical relationships with the Pentecostal community — and those reinforce one another. That’s also why what he is doing is both ecumenically creative, and makes sense.”
A flawed “theology of suffering.
CATHOLICS ARE NOT TRUE CHRISTIANS AS THEY TEACH LIES. ” In Mother Teresa’s words: “The most beautiful gift for a person is that he can participate in the sufferings of Christ.” Therefore, the Catholic who suffers the most is closest to Christ. When you remove suffering, you remove Christ. Instead of minimizing their suffering, Mother Teresa ensured it. Alleviating suffering, let alone eliminating it, was out of the question. Seen from this perspective, her behavior toward her patients makes sense.
Instead of curing them, Mother Teresa gave the bare minimum of treatment, resulting in suffering for most and death for some. She gave insufficient or outdated medicine, reused old syringes, and gave cold baths to all patients, even those who could find comfort in a warm one. She’d refuse to install elevators for the disabled, even when the city government offered to pay for it. Instead of hiring competent doctors, she’d rely on incompetent volunteers because she believed strongly that ignorance was more valuable than expertise (Livemore 93, 156).
Instead of being true hospitals or hospices, the establishments run by Mother Teresa were more like prisons at best: The patients, if they were well enough to escape, probably would. At worst, they were torture chambers. She’d refuse to give painkillers even to dying patients who were suffering unbearable pain. Instead of using painkillers, she’d comfort patients by saying, “You are suffering, that means Jesus is kissing you.” One poor patient replied, “Then tell your Jesus to stop kissing me.”
Holy Hypocrite
What makes all this worse is the fact that Mother Teresa had the resources to make things better. Estimates of donations reach the millions — even billions — of dollars. Unfortunately, we can never be sure. In the same way that Mother Teresa’s atrocities remain a secret, Missionaries of Charity remains the only charitable organization in India that refuses to reveal how much money they have and how they spend it:
Mother Teresa did believe that the sufferings of her patients was meritorious for their eventual release from Purgatory. Back in 1996 Dave Hunt addressed the fraudulent claims about Mother Teresa. http://www.thebereancall.org/content/october-1996-q-and-a-1
THE THEOLOGY OF SUFFERING AND POVERTY THAT IS EVEN ESPOUSED AND PROPAGATED ALSO BY MANY EVANGELICALS IS FROM HELL
I will never apologize for being a charismatic Christian. I had a dramatic experience with the Holy Spirit many years ago, and nobody can talk me out of it. I love the Holy Spirit’s abiding presence in my life and His supernatural gifts. I love to prophesy, speak in tongues, pray for the sick and see people changed by the Spirit’s power.
At the same time, I’m aware that since the charismatic movement began in the 1960s, people have misused the gifts of the Spirit and twisted God’s Word to promote strange doctrines or practices. Seeing these errors never caused me to question the authenticity of what the Holy Spirit had done in my life. But I knew I had to stay true to God’s Word and reject any false teachings I encountered.
My simple rule is based on 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22: “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil” (NASB). In other words: Eat the meat and spit out the bones.
As I have traveled throughout the body of Christ in recent years, I’ve experienced the good, the bad and the ugly. I love God’s people, and I know there is a healthy remnant of Spirit-filled churches that are striving to stay grounded in biblical truth. But I also know we have reached a crossroads. We must clean up our act. We must jettison any weird doctrines we might have believed or practiced that are hindering our growth today.
Here are a few of the worst errors that have circulated in our movement in the past season. You may have others that need to be added to this list. I believe we are grieving the Holy Spirit if we continue to practice these things:
1. “Touch not My anointed.” Chances are you’ve heard this weird doctrine based on 1 Chronicles 16:22. In an attempt to discourage any form of disagreement in the church, insecure leaders tell their members that if they ever question church authority, they are “touching the Lord’s anointed” and in danger of God’s judgment. Let’s call this what it is: spiritual manipulation. It creates worse problems by ruling out healthy discussion and mutual respect. Church members end up being abused or controlled—or even blacklisted because they dare to ask a question.
2. Dual covenant. We charismatics love and respect Israel. Some of us even incorporate Jewish practices in our worship—such as wearing prayer shawls, blowing shofars or celebrating Hebraic feasts. These things can enrich our Christian experience—but some leaders go too far when they begin to teach that Jews don’t need to believe in Jesus Christ to experience salvation. They imply that Jews have special access into heaven simply because of their ethnic heritage. This is a flagrant contradiction of everything the New Testament teaches.
3. Inaccessible leadership. In the 1980s, some charismatic ministries began to teach pastors and traveling ministers that in order to “protect the anointing,” they must stay aloof from people. Ministers were warned to never make friends in their congregations. Preachers began the strange practice of skipping worship on Sunday mornings—and then appearing on the stage only when it was time for the sermon in order to make a dramatic entrance. Shame on these people for attempting to justify arrogance. Jesus loved people, and He made Himself available to them. So should we.
4. Armor-bearers. The same guys who developed item No. 3 started this strange fad. Preachers began the practice of surrounding themselves with an entourage: one person to carry the briefcase, another person to carry the Bible, another to carry the handkerchief. Some preachers hired bodyguards … and even food-tasters! The armor-bearers were promised special blessings if they served preachers who acted like slave-owners. Reminder: True leaders are servants, not egomaniacs.
5. The hundredfold return. Before his death in 2003, Kenneth Hagin Sr., the father of the faith movement, rebuked his own followers for taking prosperity teaching to a silly extreme. In his book The Midas Touch, he begged preachers to stop misusing Mark 10:28-30 to suggest that God promises a hundredfold return on every offering we give. Hagin wrote, “If the hundredfold return worked literally and mathematically for everyone who gave in an offering, we would have Christians walking around with not billions or trillions of dollars, but quadrillions of dollars!” Hagin taught that the hundredfold blessing refers to the rewards that come to those who leave all they have to serve God in ministry.
6. Money cometh. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for giving money publicly to be seen by others. Yet in the 1990s, some charismatics got the wild idea that God would release a magical blessing if we would drop wads of dollar bills at the preacher’s feet while he was in the middle of his sermon. Leroy Thompson of Louisiana popularized this flamboyant practice with his infamous 1996 sermon, in which he encouraged people to shout in King James English, “Money! Cometh to me now!” Then the people would run to the front of the auditorium to pour cash into his coffers. The money came, for sure, and more cash-hungry preachers jumped on the bandwagon. Taking an offering became a form of exhibitionism, and Christians began viewing their offerings like lottery scratch-offs.
God requires holiness not just in our behavior but also in our doctrine. Let’s discard these and any other foolish teachings that have brought confusion and dishonor to the body of Christ.
J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at @leegrady. He is the author of The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale and other books
6 Really Bad Charismatic Doctrines We Should Retire
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