Brian Houston’s Magic Act – He Makes Prosperity Gospel Disappear then Reappear

Watch the amazing rhetorical magic act from Brian Houston of Hillsong Church. He makes the prosperity gospel disappear, then he makes it reappear again. Can you catch his rhetorical sleight of hand?

He tries denying the existence of the prosperity gospel by saying there is only one gospel. That’s how he makes it disappear. Brian Houston is correct, there is only one true gospel.

He appears to make the prosperity gospel disappear like a rabbit in a hat, but as he talks further, you notice he pulls the rabbit back out of the hat as he redefines the gospel by applying prosperity attributes to it.

The redefining begins by saying the true gospel includes help for the journey. But what is that help for the journey? He says it is God’s blessing across your life, your children, your family, your marriage, your work, your business.

This gives the impression that once one trusts in the gospel, part of the gospel is that God is bound to prosper and bless your work and business. God may bless your work and business, but that is not a guaranteed result of trusting in the gospel.

Paul trusted the gospel, but he once said he was hungry, thirsty, poorly dressed, and homeless.

“To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless ”

— 1 Corinthians 4:11

That is not the blessing across all of life Brian Houston is speaking of, and he knows it.

Scripture speaks against teachers who say godliness is a means of financial gain. They’re described as having a depraved mind that is robbed of the truth.

“If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.”

— 1 Timothy 6:3-5

Saying that part of the gospel is that God will bless your business, turns godliness into a means of financial gain. We shouldn’t be surprised by Houston’s current teaching. He did once write this book.

With Brian Houston it’s the same prosperity gospel act, just a different day.

Full message below.

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Read more about Brian Houston and Hillsong Church: The Brian Houston and Hillsong Cornucopia of False Doctrine, Abuse, Obfuscation & Money Generation

For those who think it's mean, judgmental and un-loving to criticize Brian Houston (or any other popular teacher) here's something just for you: Shocking Stuff You're Not Supposed to Know.

If you're having a knee-jerk reaction to try and defend Brian Houston, check out: Confirmation Bias: Why You Are Protecting Your False Beliefs.

Finally, here's an article that will help you be more discerning and a lot less gullible: Defusing Demonic Dirty Bombs.

"Millionaires Who Will Take Our Churches Back"-Michael Chitwood's Depraved Mind

Millionaires need to take back our churches so America can dream again, according to Michael Chitwood. Chitwood, leader of something called Potential Church, claims to be "America's #1 expert and strategist on finance. A successful American businessman, author, philanthropist. educator, motivational speaker and a Christian man." 

Chitwood directs people to look to riches as a reason for hope. Scripture directs us away from hoping in riches:

"As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy." 1 Timothy 6:17

God's Word also says that those viewing godliness as a means of gain have a depraved mind and are deprived of the truth:

"Teach and urge these things. 3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound[b] words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and[c] we cannot take anything out of the world.8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs." 1 Timothy 6:2-10

"Shock-Uh-Bobba"-Watch Heidi Baker Repeatedly Violate 1 Cor. 14:27-28!

Heidi Baker boldly claims to receive many direct revelations from God, but she repeatedly violates the revelation we've already been given on the proper use of tongues found in 1 Corinthians 14:27-28. Baker repeatedly says "shock-uh-bobba" (and a lot of other strange things) without proper interpretation of her "tongues" (or "unknown languages").

“If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.”

— 1 Corinthians 14: 27-28

According to scripture she should be keeping this "tongue" to herself, since it's just a meaningless phrase with no interpretation. So which should we believe, the written Word of God... or "shock-uh-bobba?" 

If this supposedly "mature" woman in the "prophetic realm" doesn't understand or follow the very simple and clear instructions concerning tongues in the Word of God, why should we trust what she's saying is actually from God? In watching this video, doesn't it seem like she just enjoys throwing the words "shock-uh-bobba" (or "shock-uh-bob") around? Are we really expected to believe this silly little un-interpreted phrase is coming directly from God-in violation of His own written Word??

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Heidi Baker's Demonic Impartations at Bethel Church 

Heidi Baker's Headless Chicken Prophecy 

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For those who think it's mean, judgmental and un-loving to criticize Heidi Baker (or any other popular teacher) here's something just for you: Shocking Stuff You're Not Supposed to Know.

If you're having a knee-jerk reaction to try and defend Heidi Baker, check out: Confirmation Bias: Why You Are Protecting Your False Beliefs.

Finally, here's an article that will help you be more discerning and a lot less gullible: Defusing Demonic Dirty Bombs.

C. Peter Wagner Alters the "7 Mountain Mandate"-An Act of Desperation

If there's any doubt that C. Peter Wagner has very poor reasoning skills, this article (from Charisma) should clear it up:

C. Peter Wagner: I Like Donald Trump

In Wagner's NAR world of Seven Mountains Mandates (and Pixie Dust), it doesn't matter if someone is immoral and selfish-as long as they're successful. After making excuses for Trump's lack of moral integrity, he says this:

"Let me point out that influence is related to spirituality in the Religion Mountain, but this is not true in any of the other six mountains that are the molders of culture. The chief producer of influence in the six non-Religion mountains is not spirituality but success. The most successful people are the most influential."

So, in the original Seven Mountain Mandate, Christians were supposed to take over the "seven mountains" of Religion, Business, Arts, Media, Education, Family and Government. This idea is NOT from the Bible-it's something made up in the minds of Bill Bright and Loren Cunningham (and some other guys who probably want to take credit for it, too). This is, very generally speaking, another version of Dominionism; it's the idea that Christians are supposed to somehow Take Over The World!

But after years and years of teaching and proclaiming this man-made idea, and endless books, seminars and conferences, nothing has happened like they said it would. Nothing. Well, except that lots of books, seminars and conferences made a lot of money for all of the seven mountain mandate experts.

So now Wagner, the Grand Pooh-Bah of the New Apostolic Reformation, has decided to change the rules. According to his latest pro-Trump article, in order for the Seven Mountain Mandate to (finally) work, we need successful (non-Christian) people to take over the non-Religious mountains. Seriously. He really said this. Think about how bad an idea this is: Wagner wants successful non-Christians taking over the "mountains" of Education, Family and Government... oh wait, that's already happened. How's it working, Peter? This is your plan to "make America great again??" We've already got very influential people running the whole world!  

In Wagner's new and better version of the Seven Mountain Mandate, God does not require the assistance of Christians in order to take over the earth; He just needs successful people. God needs the help of greedy, rich and powerful people to accomplish His will. In the ever shrinking world of "religion" God will still utilize Christians (phew-at least we can still do something!), but for the rest of culture, anyone with a big ego and bank account is on the Lord's side. What, exactly, does successful mean? Wagner makes it very clear:

"In the Business Mountain and the Media Mountain Trump has accumulated $8-10 billion. He knows how to influence. I want to vote for a commander-in-chief, not a bishop-in-chief."

Take this ideology to it's logical conclusion, and Jesus Christ must be the most unsuccessful person of all time, followed by the Apostles and Prophets. Apparently, making billions of dollars is the measure of a man's influence. Thank you C. Peter Wagner, for proving once and for all that you're a foolish little man who values the things of this earth more than the things of God.

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

— Matthew 6:24

one of c. peter wagner's worthless books promoting dominionism

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Read more about Wagner and The New Apostolic Reformation.

Wagner does NOT want anyone to know about The Charismatic Day of Infamy

Shocking Stuff You're Not Supposed to Know!

Here's a related article: Finally Found! The Roots of the Seven Mountain Mandate.

By the way, if a Christian wants to vote for Trump regardless of his religious beliefs because they think his ideas are best, or because they think he's not part of the corrupt establishment, etc., that's one thing. It's another thing all together to say that God has chosen Trump to do some great and mighty thing (to save America, usher in the return of Christ, etc.) and we should not only ignore his moral shortcomings, but we should applaud him as a new kind of savior. We already have a Savior, and He said "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm." (John 18:36)

Here's a short article called Trump's Personal Jesus.

Release Angel Armies!! (but first send $39.00)

NARpostle Tim Sheets tells outlandish stories that would make Mark Twain blush. Joseph Smith (the guy who founded the Mormons) could have taken lessons from this guy. Here's the carnival barker, TV host and lovable nut-job Sid Roth, attempting to make this all sound plausible enough for you to pull the trigger on spending $39 that would have been better spent on a lifetime supply of extra shoelaces:  

This whole episode is a textbook example of New Apostolic Reformation nonsense, taken to the looney bin and back again.

Here's what Tim Sheets and Sid Roth don't want you to read: Shocking Stuff You're Not Supposed to Know!

Bill Johnson Lies to Christianity Today Magazine?

In the May 2016 issue of Christianity Today, Bill Johnson is asked, "So, what are your thoughts on the New Apostolic Reformation?" and he responds,

"I'm not completely clear on what it is." 

This is almost like Hillary Clinton saying "I'm not completely clear on what the Democrat Party is." Here's a very detailed article from Churchwatch Central about this breathtaking statement: 

Churchwatch Central

Here's another article from the blog Spirit of Error: Yes, Bethel and Bill Johnson are part of the New Apostolic Reformation

C. Peter Wagner invented the term New Apostolic Reformation and then claimed that he was in charge of it-which means that he decided who the "Super Apostles" would be. Bill Johnson is at the top of the list. But because the NAR is composed of various sub-groups, there isn't a master list; but Bill Johnson is part of Revival Alliance, which is 100% NAR. Most importantly, "NARpostle" Bill Johnson teaches all the things that the NAR teaches! The absolute low point of this movement was the Charismatic Day of Infamy (and they hope you don't know about it).

Bill Johnson doesn't want you to know about the false NAR teachings that are being exposed, so he's trying to pretend like there's no such thing as the NAR. Before the NAR there was the "Third Wave" and before that there was the "Latter Rain Movement." It seems that these groups eventually encounter difficulty trying to defend their un-biblical beliefs, so they use a new name to distance themselves from the controversy.

Here's C. Peter Wagner's 1988 book that was making statements and promises identical to the New Apostolic Reformation (only he was calling it the Third Wave back then):

We at Pirate Christian Media highly recommend the book: A New Apostolic Reformation? by R. Douglas Geivett & Holly Pivec for those who want to learn more about this gigantic, morphing movement that is eating up the church.

Here's a lot more information: The New Apostolic Reformation Cornucopia of False Doctrine, Dominionism, Charismania and Deception

Here's a lot more information about Bill Johnson: The Bill Johnson Cornucopia of False Teaching, Bible-Twisting and General Absurdity

Bill Hybels Talks About Popeye (Much) More Than Jesus

In his sermon entitled "Unwavering: A Story of Obedience" Bill Hybels mentions the cartoon character Popeye dozens of times-he specifically quotes him fifteen times! He does this because God gave him a direct revelation: God told Bill Hybels to write and preach about our "Holy Discontent," which is a term he invented and repeats dozens of times throughout this sermon (which just happens to be the title of his book). Instead of using exegesis to draw the meaning out of the Bible, Hybels crams his concept of Holy Discontent into the story of Nehemiah and then uses Popeye to back up this theory. He doesn't mention Jesus at all until the end of the sermon (when he wants to inflict guilt upon his listeners). But don't worry, even though this is all conjured up in Hybels mind, he says God gave it to him. 

Listen to Todd Wilken give an amazing sermon review on this episode of Issues Etc.

"Holy Discontent" is a variation on the Purpose Driven Life; it's the idea that God didn't just die on the cross to just pay for your sins (because that isn't enough in seeker-friendly theology); God really wants you to take whatever you're most angry about and act on it. Basically, the Gospel is all about how God wants you to do stuff-lot's and lot's of stuff. According to Bill Hybels, God will look at your hands to see if they're all scarred and bloodied (like His) when we get to heaven. If you haven't done enough stuff (and your hands are nice and pretty), then God will be very disappointed with you. Get to work, Christian! Don't you wanna be like Popeye, Bono, Martin Luther-King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Bill Hybels?!

“For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”

— 1 Corinthians 2:2

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For those of you who think it's mean and un-loving to criticize Bill Hybels (or any other popular teacher) here's a list of Bible verses to consider: Shocking Stuff You're Not Supposed to Know.

Finally, here's an important article that will help you be more discerning and a lot less gullible: Defusing Demonic Dirty Bombs.

Jesus asks "What Do You Want Me to Do for You?" says Victoria Osteen

Here's a 44 second clip from Victoria Osteen where she describes Jesus more like Santa Claus or a genie in a bottle than the Sovereign LORD of the Universe:

Victoria says, "When he walked through the streets, everyone he came in contact with, a positive change occurred in their life."

Really?? Hmmm...

“Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.”

— Matthew 19: 21-22

“The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, ‘Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it.’ Then he left them, got back in the boat and crossed to the other side.”

— Mark 8: 11-13

“‘And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed-only Naaman the Syrian.’ All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of town, and took him to the brow of a hill on which the town was built in order to throw him down the cliff.”

— Luke 4: 27-30

“‘Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it.” One of the experts in the law answered him, ‘Teacher, when you say these things you insult us also.’ Jesus replied, ‘And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.’ (vs. 53) When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he might say.”

— Luke 11: 44-46; 53

“‘Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live forever because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.’ He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is hard teaching. Who can accept it?’ (vs. 66) From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”

— John 6: 56-60; 66

Here's the full 5 minute video where this clip came from: Victoria Osteen-A New Way of Thinking

Here's an episode of Fighting for the Faith with a segment about Joel and Victoria Osteen.

For those of you who think it's mean and un-loving to criticize Victoria Osteen (or any other popular teacher) here's a list of Bible verses to consider: Shocking Stuff You're Not Supposed to Know.

Finally, here's an important article that will help you be more discerning and a lot less gullible: Defusing Demonic Dirty Bombs.

How to be a "Christian Psychic!"

This is NOT a satire piece:

"How to be a Christian Psychic"

James Bond Marriage Series? Really??

Because "spies are cool," and because men might show up at church more often if they talk about James Bond and pretend to be in one of his movies, Church by the Glades has done this:

So this church service is not focused on Jesus, but is more of a "marriage enrichment" session. And if that weren't a big enough distraction from the Gospel, they have this strange obsession with the fictitious character of James Bond, who is a "really cool" womanizer/adulterer. 

“For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.”

— Romans 16: 18

This "Prophet" Will Read Tattoo So People Can Find Their Destiny

Here's an article from the "Tattoo Prophet, Dream Interpreter, Life Coach" Doug Addison: Tattoo Prophet Doug Addison

Besides the ridiculous idea of reading people's tattoos like a cheap fortune teller, there's the underlying theology of this man: it's the same as most of the Signs and Wonders people he's associated with. There is no mention of sinners who need to be saved-only people who need to be loved; and the best way to love them is to tell them about themselves and their destiny. This is ear-tickling, plain and simple. He almost never even mentions the name "Jesus." It seems that his god is a wish granting genie, more than the sovereign Lord of the Universe (although I'm sure he claims to believe in the sovereign Lord of the Universe).

 Doug (who claims to be a "prophetic forerunner") says: "Helping people find their destiny and life purpose is one of the most helpful and powerful things we can do for them. Over the next 5-10 years destiny-based outreach will become more and more prevalent. It encompasses all aspects of what a person needs to move forward. This includes, but is not limited to healing, dream interpretation, prophecy, spirit-filled life coaching, and explaining the supernatural in practical ways."

Hey Doug, how about if you please tell them about Jesus Christ-the Savior who died on the cross to pay the penalty for people's sins so they could have eternal life? Oh, that's right, this is a new type of anti-religion outreach you're doing. On his Core Values page, Doug says: "Some have presented the message of Jesus negatively, so one of our assignments from God is to be change agents. In a world that desperately needs hope, we do everything in our power to extend love and encouragement." 

While it's (painfully) true that too many people have presented Jesus in a negative way, this teaching goes way to the other extreme. It's actually loving to tell people about their condition of sinfulness and how Christ died as the atonement-that's not being negative, it's a vital part of the process of pointing them to the Savior. Doug has seminars called "Detoxing from Toxic Christianity" where he teaches this newer, totally positive version of Christianity. He comes across like a really caring man who means well, but his teaching appears to be devoid of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (or it's buried very deep in Dream Destiny Dog Do).

“For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying in my name; I did not send them, declares the LORD.”

— Jeremiah 29: 8-9

Here's a more extensive examination of Doug Addison's tattoo reading ministry from Let Us Reason Ministries: When Psychology Meets Psychic

For those who think it's mean, judgmental and un-loving to criticize Doug Addison (or any other popular teacher) here's something just for you: Shocking Stuff You're Not Supposed to Know.

Finally, here's an important article that will help you be more discerning and a lot less gullible: Defusing Demonic Dirty Bombs.

"In Jesus Name, The Bar is Open!!" -Patricia King

According to Patricia King, there are many barrels of wine in heaven. How does she know this? Because she's been there. "Wooooooo! There was barrel after barrel after barrel after barrel after barrel of wine!"

In the following video, the "prophet" Patricia King mangles God's Word and tells this audience that they can all get drunk the right way-God's way. After three and a half minutes of nonsense, she really gets to the main point of her message:

"In Jesus name the bar is open! The wine cellar is open, just come on in and drink, drink, drink, drink, drink, drink, drink, drink, drink as much as you want! Because we can live in the house of wine! You know what, that banqueting table scripture in the Song of Solomon? That's a house of wine! Come on!"

“Do not get drunk on wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

— Ephesians 5:18

Patricia King is associated with The New Apostolic Reformation. Her "prophetic word" was used as the focal point for a sermon at Bethel Church recently (instead of the Bible); Chris Rosebrough talked about it on a recent episode of Fighting for the Faith.

For those who think it's mean, judgmental and un-loving to criticize Patricia King (or any other popular teacher) here's something just for you: Shocking Stuff You're Not Supposed to Know.

Finally, here's an important article that will help you be more discerning and a lot less gullible: Defusing Demonic Dirty Bombs.

I Refuse to Believe Bob Jones-I'm Staying Home

Watch this short video of the late Bob Jones (NOT the Bob Jones University guy) and listen to how much weird and creepy teaching he can squeeze into just a few minutes:

Here's another occasion (in 2009) where he repeated this same false prophecy:

Bob Jones is considered to have been a very great prophet by everyone in the Signs and Wonders/Charismatic/IHOP/New Apostolic Reformation crowd. According to the NAR leaders, whatever he has predicted will come true! It has to come true. He's pretty much uncontested as an amazing prophet and man of God. But in this video he is talking about the "great revival" that was (at the time) going on in Lakeland, Florida, with Todd Bentley. This is before the Charismatic Day of Infamy took place. Bob Jones was TOTALLY wrong about the buffoon and scoundrel, Todd Bentley-just like every other leader who was on GodTV praising Bentley as a great healer and revivalist for a brief time in 2008. 

Bob Jones was supposed to have been the BEST prophet on planet earth-seriously, he's like a modern day Father Abraham to these people. But everything he says in this video is twisted and wrong. Being interviewed by Rick Joyner, he says that God and the angels have their hands cuffed, and it's up to us to speak things into existence because God gave us all power to unloosen them so they can go and create. This is blasphemy 101! God told him to lay hands on the pine tree that was growing out of John G. Lake's grave. And when he did this his arm caught on fire. Nice. He says that the 1950's revealed the power of God as he lists his favorite (false) teachers of that decade-starting with William Branham. (By the way, doesn't Jesus reveal the power of God? Jones doesn't mention Jesus too much...) He also claims Oral Roberts was another great man of God from the 1950's-this is the guy who invented the "seed-faith" trick that has enriched prosperity preachers all over the world, and has ruined the faith and finances of untold millions of people ever since. He says that the 1970's was the time when we finally learned the truth of the Bible. And he says that the 2000's will be a time of supernatural signs and wonders that will reveal the glory of God... how'd that work out??

Here's the really crazy thing about Bob Jones the "prophet" who seems more like a wacky uncle sipping Jack Daniels from a bottle tucked in his coat pocket than a great and important Man of God:

All of the people who are trying so hard to stir up a revival, are absolutely certain that a billion-soul revival is just around the corner. Why are they so sure of a "billion soul revival" (often called the Third Wave)? Because Bob Jones said it was going to happen. Never mind that the Bible warns us to beware of false teachers who produce great signs and wonders, and to expect a great falling away; we're supposed to skip the Bible and just listen to Bob Jones now. 

Bob Jones wasn't a good enough prophet to figure out that Todd Bentley was a third-rate hustler and fraud, but we all need to abandon everything and go to yet another "Revival of Desperation That Will Really Change The World This Time" because Bob Jones said so. Jones couldn't figure out that William Branham was a cult leader and false prophet, but we're just supposed to trust his billion-soul "prophecy" now. We're being told we have to go so we can make God finally do the thing that He's been wanting to do for decades now, if we're hungry enough... and sold-out enough... and if we sing songs along with the celebrity worship teams until we wear out our vocal chords as proof of our desperation, sincerity and conformity to Evangelical norms enough, as we hold our hands up high and close our eyes just like EVERY. SINGLE. PROMOTIONAL. PHOTOGRAPH tells us to.

I'm staying home.

I not only refuse to believe these false prophets, heretics and professional revivalists, I refuse to feel guilty for not charging up my credit card to take another trip to the "Best Conference Ever"  because they told me I have to go and prove my love for Jesus by showing up.

I will stay home and happily be a part of God's Church. I will partake of the Sacraments. I will study God's Word. I will gladly share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as I can. I will be faithful with what God has actually called me to do. 

I don't care if ninety million people march together with their arms linked to "Together 2016."

I don't care how many people buy into Lou Engle's  "Azusa Now: The Call" (Note the girl correctly holding up her hands and closing her eyes, just like she's supposed to)

 I don't care how many Christian super-star celebrities promise to show up and give speeches and sing songs... and sell stuff... lots of stuff.

I refuse to be manipulated by people like Lou Engle who, like Bob Jones, claims to speak directly for God. I refuse to be manipulated by expensive promotional videos that make great claims to speak on behalf of God, but can't deliver what they promise. God is not speaking through people who habitually violate His Word, and we are under no obligation to listen to them.

There. Don't you feel better now? 

“You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

— 2 Peter 3:17-18

Remember, the New Apostolic Reformation folks are hoping nobody remembers The Charismatic Day of Infamy.

For those of you who think it's mean and un-loving to criticize Bob Jones, Lou Engle (or any other popular teacher) here's a list of Bible verses to consider: Shocking Stuff You're Not Supposed to Know.

Finally, here's an important article that will help you be more discerning and a lot less gullible: Defusing Demonic Dirty Bombs.

Joel Osteen's "Power of I Am" Book = New Age Pagan Book

Wow! Where does Joel Osteen get these clever book ideas?!... 

Oh yeah, he's copies his ideas from New Age/Non-Christian books...

Olsteen has the same ideas as some real interesting people...

Church of the Undignified

Here is a short intro video to Church of the Undignified. How many false doctrines you can count in this brief video?

Charismatic Southern Baptist Pastor Embraces Book of Mormon

Here's an amazing little article from our friends at Pulpit and Pen about a Charismatic Southern Baptist pastor who has taken a stand in support of the Book of Mormon (and against the Bible):

Pulpit and Pen: "Charismatic SBC Pastor Embraces Book of Mormon"

Charismatics are really into new revelations (new "words from God"), so this is an understandable (but very wrong) direction to take. Mormons teach people to read their Book of Mormon and wait to see if they get "a burning in their bosom" to confirm that it's true "in their hearts." Charismatics often do something very similar and emphasize feelings and experiences over the objective and unchanging Word of God.

Oh, and yes, people claim to get that burning in their bosom all the time.

Bill Hybels: "God Uses A Re-Crafted Schedule To Transform Lives"

This one minute video clip is from the Willow Creek YouTube channel:

Pastor Hybels says: "I've never seen a tool that God uses more predictably in transforming human lives than a re-crafted schedule." This short clip is the conclusion of a 45 minute sermon (that feels like three hours) called "The Power of Your Schedule" which can be heard in a very thorough, funny and scathing sermon review by Chris Rosebrough (the sermon review starts at 1 hour 12 minutes into the program):

Is Hybels teaching from the "Book of Statistics" or something?? If God uses a re-crafted schedule more predictably than any other thing, why did He fail to mention it in His Word?

“Wow. Now I can see that I wasted a lot of my time on earth... I should have been teaching people to ‘re-craft their schedules’ instead of all that other stuff I did.”

— Said Jesus Never

Closing thoughts: Seriously, there's nothing wrong with being productive and efficient with our time, and setting goals and using some sort of planner is a good idea-just remember that God is not captive to our plans. Most importantly, Bill Hybels is supposed to be a pastor, not a life coach or business advisor. Although he mentions in this "sermon" that people in his church should, perhaps, get it on their schedule to study the Bible (duh!), he's setting a terrible example by not preaching from God's Word for this entire "sermon." 

“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction.”

— 2 Timothy 4: 2

“For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

— 1 Corinthians 1:22-25

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’-yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your ignorance. All such boasting is evil.”

— James 4:13-16

Follow Up to Sleazy Silent Night

From the Hillsong Silent Night video

Michael Brown recently wrote this article for Charisma News:

Hillsong, Silent Night and the Danger of Judging by Outward Appearance 

Dr. Brown is one of the most respected members of the Christian Charismatic world; he's a brilliant debater, an actual Biblical scholar and someone who has been warning (to some extent) about false teachers in the Church. In this article he says that he, too, was appalled by the worldly and obnoxious Silent Night video that has gotten so much attention, but he refrained from making a judgment about it until he could get more information. But after he saw a Twitter comment from a pastor at Hillsong he could understand why they did the song the way they did.

There are a couple of really interesting things to note from this article: First of all, Brown makes a pretty amazing statement about how he couldn't talk to anyone from Hillsong, because he didn't have an "open door to interact directly with Hillsongs leaders (despite my attempts to do so in the past)." Please take note, everyone who says something like this: "You shouldn't say anything bad about pastor so and so until you talk to him face to face! Have you met with him and heard his side of the story?? Well then stop judging him!!" 

Even Dr. Michael Brown can't talk to the "powers that be" at Hillsong. Hmmm.

Another amazing thing about this article is how he has "differed with some of Hillsong's methods and message over the years…" but he still needed to get the true story from a reliable source before he could make a judgment. How have you differed with Hillsong, Dr. Brown? Have you spoken out against the blatant Word of Faith heresy that Brian Houston continually puts forth as Christianity? That's kinda important… but it gets side-stepped in his article. 

Here's the really disappointing part of this article: Brown believes he is able to make a correct judgment about this whole thing because he sees a Twitter comment made by a Hillsong pastor in Australia, and he accepts everything this guy says with no further inquiry:

Here's the big fat lie (intentional or not) in that Twitter comment: "This video was not released by Hillsong, nor would this number ever be an item on it's own." Except that the video was released by Hillsong... as an item of it's own… on Hillsong's own YouTube channel!

After Chris Rosebrough shared the video on Facebook and it started getting thousands of views (and negative comments) Hillsong quickly pulled it off their channel with no explanation, but we had made a copy for Vimeo (knowing that Hillsong would probably do the very thing they did). So now when everyone sees the Vimeo copy, Hillsong can claim that "somebody posted it out of context!" That's correct Hillsong, somebody did post it out of context-you did.

So, we now have a "sort of" official explanation as to why they made this "Sleazy Silent Night" and it does make more sense than before. This situation is still pretty irritating and here's why:

It seems Michael Brown (and lots of others) will let the heresy at Hillsong continue. That word, heresy, is not too harsh-it's an accurate statement made after a thorough evaluation of the teaching at Hillsong. Here are a bunch of programs where Chris Rosebrough has played Brian Houston's sermons and compared them to the Bible. Houston twists, distorts and mis-handles God's Word all the time! Here's an article that documents the history of covering up abuse by Brian Houston and his friends: Church Watch Central. And here's a very disturbing Australian TV Investigative News Show called Inside Hillsong. 

And almost nobody cares-because Hillsong is famous! Brian Houston is famous! Everybody loves Hillsong's praise music! Tens of thousands of people love and attend Hillsong! So we showed their ridiculous Silent Night video to draw attention to the problem… but now we are the bad guys because we didn't understand the correct context for the video (that Hillsong published without explanation and then silently removed). Fine.

We are sorry to have not made such a fuss over that video.

Now can we talk about the false-teaching, Bible-twisting, power-grabbing, money-loving, pedophilia-ignoring cesspool of corruption that is brewing at Hillsong??!

Along these same lines, here's an important article from our friend J. D. Hall at Pulpit and Pen:

An Open Letter to Dr. Michael Brown

Bill Johnson's Followers Imply: "He's Equivalent to Jesus" and "The Apostles Were Pharisees"

Since the article "Bethel Church Tells Witch She's On the Right Path…" came out, there's been a lot of comments made to Chris Rosebrough's Facebook page; most of the comments were supportive, but some were trying very hard to refute the article. The handful of arguments defending Bill Johnson and his church were pretty similar to each other and the article "Diffusing Demonic Dirty Bombs" covered most of them already, but a very interesting pattern emerged: The Bethel supporters (un-knowingly, to be sure) equated Bill Johnson with Jesus, and reduced the Apostles (the real Apostles in the Bible) to the role of unbelieving Pharisees. 

Bethel supporters claimed that "Pharisees" and "Religious Nuts" were responsible for criticizing that church; they are totally convinced that what goes on there is a genuine work of the Holy Spirit and that questioning anything there is the same as when the Pharisees questioned Jesus and refused to believe that He was the Son of God. Here's the GIGANTIC problem with that:

Bill Johnson is NOT Jesus, and therefore, being skeptical of his teachings is not the same as being a Pharisee! On top of that, Jesus and the Apostles tell us to "watch out for false teachers" and "test the spirits" and "watch your doctrine closely" but the Bill Johnson/Bethel supporters think that makes someone a Pharisee. So, in their own little confused world, they've made Bill Johnson equivalent to Jesus (we must not question him or his church-that would be blasphemy against the Holy Spirit!) and they've turned Jesus and the Apostles (who wrote the New Testament) into "Pharisees" and "Religious Nuts." 

Lastly, the other comment that was made multiple times was: "Oh, so now you're gonna believe a witch?!" This is the equivalent of saying "I don't want to believe this, so it isn't true." Otherwise you need to believe an incredible story that goes something like this:

"This girl, Annika, who pretends to be a former Christian but is now a (pretend?) witch, pretended to go to Bethel Church on several occasions so she could make up a story about it and then publish it on the Pagan channel of Patheos. She also brought along her friends who pretended to go there and then wrote about this pretend event. They also took photographs at Bethel Church, but those were all pretend photographs. This girl then pretended to get "prophetic words" so that she could blog about how encouraging those words were for her. She knew that eventually this would get published on a different website (half a year later), and that this would make Bethel Church look bad. She is very very very clever."  

Ultimately, the most important thing is to compare what is being taught at Bethel to God's Word-regardless of what Annika Mongen (or anyone else) has to say. 

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

— Galatians 1:10

“But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine.”

— Titus 2:1

“But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good...”

— 1 Thessalonians 5:21

“Hold fast (retain) the pattern of sound words (doctrine) which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.”

— 2 Timothy 1: 13-14

The Bill Johnson Cornucopia of False Teaching, Bible-Twisting and General Absurdity