Author: Isaiah

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Christianity In Its True Colors

This really puts me to shame, and gave me much food for thought.

Jonathan EdwardsNow here appears Christianity in its true colors. To be of such a spirit as this is to be of such a spirit as Christ so often requires of us, if we would be His disciples. This is to sell all and give to the poor. This is to take up the cross daily and follow Christ. To have such a spirit as this is to have good evidence of being a Christian indeed, a thorough Christian, one who has given himself to Christ without reserve; one who hates father and mother and wife and children and sisters, yea, and his own life also; one who loses his life for Christ’s sake, and so shall find it.

And though it is not required of all that they should endure so great sufferings as [the Apostle] Paul did, yet is required and absolutely necessary that many Christians should be in a measure of this spirit, should be of a spirit to lose all things and suffer all things for Christ, rather than not obey His commands and seek His glory.

How well may our having such an example as this [speaking of the Apostle Paul] before our eyes make us ashamed, who are so backward now and then to lose little things, to put ourselves a little out of our way, to deny ourselves some convenience, to deny our sinful appetites, or to incur the displeasure of a neighbor.

Alas! What thought have we of Christianity to make much of such things as these; to make so many objections, to keep back, and contrive ways to excuse ourselves, when a little difficulty arises! What kind of thoughts had we of being Christians when we first undertook to be such, or first pretended a willingness to be Christians? Did we never sit down and count the cost, or did we cast it up at this rate, that we thought the whole sum would not amount to such little sufferings as lie in our way?

Edwards, Jonathan. Pursuing Holiness in the Lord.
P&R Publishing, 2005. 77-78.

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I’m Hopping Mad At How Irresponsible This Local Mega-Church Is!

Some of you might not notice that, unlike my good brethren who are co-authors on DefCon, I don’t hail from the United States or the Western hemisphere, but from Singapore (a prosperous tiny island state in South-East Asia).

Singapore is much like the United States when we compare the Christian landscape in both territories: we also have our mega-churches preaching the prosperity gospel and which support the likes of Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, et al.

Just last weekend, a local mega-church which I have often berated for their prosperity gospel — City Harvest Church which is helmed by the pastor Kong Hee — invited a certain Che Ahn to speak and minister “healing” to the congregation, which consists primarily of young, impressionable people and which number (according to their bulletins and announcements) about 23,000.

Che AhnWhile doing some research on Che Ahn, I was troubled to find out that Che Ahn is very closely associated with Bentley, and has even pronounced a “prophecy”1 on the latter.

The more troubling issue is this: why would City Harvest Church, having knowledge of this close relationship between Che Ahn and Bentley (who is obviously a liar, charlatan and false prophet) invite the former to guest-speak to their congregation?

To me, the incident doesn’t speak well of the level of discernment of the leadership at the church, since Bentley’s lies and obvious lack of Biblical truth have been called out by so many, including respected leaders in Christendom.

Moreover, inviting this pastor Che Ahn2 to speak at the church might even expose many, including countless non-believers who are usually invited to such services, to untold horrors because this whole Bentley movement isn’t of God, but is even demonic!

One needs question why a church in Singapore would bring such liars and false prophets to minister to its congregation, especially since I understand that much of the congregation consists of the young and impressionable.

Here’s Che Ahn supporting Todd Bentley at the latter’s “outpouring” ministry at Lakeland, Florida:

Bob Jones?! Alarm bells… they are a-ringing…

Prophecy of a third wave confirmed by a huge crashing wave at their feet? What is this guy talking about? Which fantasy is he living out? If they were indeed 200 feet from the sea, that’d be about 60 meters inland from the shoreline. Now, for a wave to come crashing in right at their feet like that… erm, do you think, hm… it could be, like, a tsunami?!

I’d be running for my life, but not these guys; no, they are heroes who recount miracles like they were just common occurrences like taking out the trash or, when it comes to meeting angels, meeting your neighbor across the street. 

By the way, did Todd say “holy goat” near the end of the video, or do my ears need cleaning? “Freudian slip” perhaps?

The alarm bells have become screaming sirens now…

Nothing tumbling out from the mouths of this duo is even remotely Biblical!

People used to berate me for lamenting about the prosperity gospel preached at City Harvest Church, but this is different… when a church willfully and knowingly exposes its congregation (which I might add is about 23,000-strong) to such dark powers, one needs to start asking hard questions of the leadership and demanding answers, ensuring that they are accountable!

Well, it looks like Todd Bentley and company have now crossed into Asia. 

It’s worrying indeed. Very worrying!

1 A Prophecy From Che Ahn To Todd Bentley. 24 April 2008, Pentecostal/Charismatic Post-It Notes.
2 Che Ahn on Todd Bentley – A Double Portion of William Branham’s Anointing. End Times Prophetic, Prophecy, Visions, Dreams, Revelation, Christian Blog.

This post is cross-posted from WordnVerse.

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Chinese Government To Christians: We Don’t Want Your Help

To those who ask me why I can’t be bothered about this year’s Olympics in Beijing and why I never say nice things about the Chinese government, let these news stories tell you why:

China Continues Crackdown On Christian Earthquake Relief Efforts, Christians Say

BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)– Chinese security forces continue to arrest Christians involved in helping survivors of the recent earthquake, which killed at least nearly 70,000 people in southwest China’s Sichuan province, with many thousands more missing and likely dead, representatives said Wednesday, June 4. Read more here…

In other news, persecution of Christians is intensifying in the lead-up to the Olympics:

China Crackdown On Christians Ahead Of Olympics, Report Claims

BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)– With two months to go until the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, a major human rights group on Sunday, June 8, released a report detailing what it called a “current government crackdown on China’s unregistered Christians.” Read more here…

Pray for our persecuted brethren and sisters in China.

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Todd Bentley: Messenger Of God?

From FinalTrumpet at YouTube:

Todd Bentley has been a leader in the “Lakeland Revival” currently being heralded as a great move of God. Analysis of Bentley and what he preaches show that he is not what he claims.

The analysis this video provides is in relation to his explanation of a supernatural encounter he had. Critical analysis of the encounter shows that he not only did not use biblical instruction to “test the spirits” but that the encounter was not of God. His “encounter” matches UFO abduction testimonials and seems to be more of a “close encounter” than one with God. And those have proven to be satanic/demonic at their core.

So the big question is can a man who has occultic/demonic encounters and claiming they are of God be teaching Truth? I think these videos will show that his message is not of God as is this “revival” of false signs and wonders.

This is part 1 of a series of five videos so far:

You can catch parts 2, 3, 4 and 5 at FinalTrumpet’s page on YouTube, which suggest, along with video evidence, how Todd Bentley is actually practicing Kundalini.

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Top 10 Responses To Anyone Daring To Point Out False Teachers And Teachings

Having been in the ministry of pointing out false teachers and their false teachings for close to a year now (most of it is on my old blog which I am hoping to port over soon), I have come across some pretty standard responses in the comments of those who say I, and others like myself, have no business doing so.

So I thought, why not do up a Top 10 list of the most common responses to our posts on these false teachers and their teachings? My wife thought it was a good idea, and I’ve also mentioned this to Carol and a new friend I made, John, just this morning over Skype. I hope we can get together to compile our responses to these accusations soon.

Anyhow, since our response to their allegations will be some time coming, here’s my Top 10 list in the meantime. The list is by no means exhaustive, so please feel free to add yours from your experience in dealing with such comments.

10. Touch not God’s anointed! Pastor so-and-so is very much anointed by God!

09. And how many souls did you yourself save this week? Pastor so-and-so had 2,000 conversions just last weekend. Have you ever been able to reach that many yourself?!

08. Quit criticizing preachers and pastors. Get a life with God, man!

07. You’re nothing but a Pharisee/Sadducee.

06. Who are you to judge?! Judge not lest you be judged!

05. Are you a pastor yourself? Any theological training? If not, how dare you think you are interpreting the Bible correctly?

04. Hey! Don’t quench the Spirit!

03. No church or pastor or congregation is perfect, so why nitpick?

02. God wants to bless us financially, with good health and a great life. If you yourself aren’t claiming these promises, don’t be jealous of others!

And the number one response…

Can’t we all just agree to disagree and get along?

Cross-posted from WordnVerse.

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Vatican To Mark 150th Anniversary Of The Publication Of “The Origin Of The Species”

It doesn’t surprise me one bit now, really, that the Vatican would say that Creation and Evolution are compatible, seeing that they have just recently stated that there might be extra-terrestrial life out there.

From Times Online, 23 May 2008:

The Vatican is planning a special conference in 2009 to mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of the Species, Charles Darwin’s groundbreaking theory of evolution.

First printed in November 1859, Darwin’s evolutionary theories rocked the faith of Victorian Christians and are stoutly contested today by Creationists. The Vatican has traditionally backed a more nuanced approach. Three years ago, Cardinal Paul Poupard, the then president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said Darwin’s theory of Evolution and the Old Testament book of Genesis were “perfectly compatible” if the Bible were correctly read, saying: “The fundamentalists want to give a scientific meaning to words that had no scientific aim,” explaining that the real message in Genesis was that “the universe didn’t make itself and had a creator.”

Next year’s conference will be held in Rome and organised by Poupard’s former office, the Pontifical Council for Culture as well as by the University of Notre Dame and six pontifical universities. The event, claim its organisers, is a milestone in the rapprochement between science and the Church. They say it is time for the Church to look at Evolution again, “from a broader perspective”, explaining “appropriate consideration is needed more than ever before.”

Professor Gennaro Auletta, who is head of the Science and Philosophy faculty at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and the main conference organiser told Edward Pentin of Newsweek (Newsweek Blog): “We hope this will really be an example of how to hold an open discussion without overtones. We simply wish to dialogue between people whose mission is to understand a little more.”

Say, Cardinal, how about giving us some actual Biblical support for that statement of yours instead of making an irresponsible claim like “…if the Bible was correctly read”? Oh, silly me, I forget, only the Vatican has the “full knowledge” on how the Bible is to be interpreted, and we Protestants are just milling around in our confusion and getting it all wrong. I’ve always thought that God saw all that He made and it was very good (Genesis 1:31).

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A Few Problems With Arminianism And A Case For Calvinism

Dr. Bruce Ware puts forward the Biblical doctrine of pre-destination so well that he gets a standing ovation from me.

You can get the DVD of the entire debate here for just US$14.95.1

1 The author does not derive any benefits, financial or otherwise, from recommending the purchase of the material. Neither is he affiliated with Dr. Bruce Ware or The Apologetics Group in any manner.

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Straight Reporting From Someone Who Once Trusted Todd Bentley

Pray for Dawn that God continues to help her discern the falsehoods that Todd Bentley is peddling, and may this testimony from her reach many others who might still be blinded by the circus.

I have attended this revival for many weeks. In fact, I have been there since the second night of Todd’s meetings (4/2/08), long before this became “revival”. Initially, I was so excited to see God move in such a mighty way. I was encouraging my pastor, several other pastors that I know, many friends and family members to “come and see what God is doing.” There were few times when I was uncomfortable with what was happening in the meetings, but I figured that I was just being critical and reminded myself that God’s ways are not my ways. I continued to support this revival, even after I heard my own pastor voice his concerns. I was quite vocal about these misgivings others had. I continued to defend Todd, God, etc., etc. 

However, as time as passed, I have become increasing concerned about several things. First of all, I have worked in the medical field for over 20 years (in radiology). I have noticed that there have only been a very few “documented” miracles in comparison to the numbers that have claimed miracles. I am aware of at least two claims of healing that I believe to have possibly been real. There was the child with the elbow fracture and her x-rays. However, I would like to know the dates between the first set of x-rays and the 2nd, as healing, especially with very young children can be quite quick…especially if it was very mild fracture. Also, I would love to see the type of fracture, position, and the view (AP, lateral, etc.) of the second set of films. (Sometimes a particular view will not show the fracture that is actually there.) There was also a young man who testified one night (before TV/internet) about being healed from Hepatitis C, with the lab work to confirm. Again, with false positive/negatives that can happen with labs. I’d love to see what his actual lab values were and see a retesting to confirm. Although I do believe that this individual could very well have been healed, but because of how I’ve seen other things handled in this revival, I would just like to see more documentation. 

Much of the “miracles” that I have seen over the weeks have been based more on what people believe that have happened, more than medically documented miracles. Many times over I have seen people with metal rods in their spine be “healed”. Todd will ask, what couldn’t you do, and usually has them bend over. This act of bending over is declared as a miracle. It is not. Most folks with metal rods in their back or neck CAN bend over, as these rods (Harrington rods) very seldom go the entire length of the spine. In fact, I have metal plates/screws in my neck and can bend my head from side to side and front to back. I remember one night when a woman with bulging discs in her neck came up to declare her healing. Todd felt along her spine and said “I don’t feel any bulging discs in your neck”, and then announced she had been healed. A disc bulge is something that you will NOT detected by running your hand up and down the spine. It is not something that can be physically palpated. Only imaging with MRI or CT would show the presence of disc bulges and if they were compressing nerve roots or affecting the spinal cord/spinal canal. I saw where this declaration of healing caused the room the go wild. My feeling is that if this is truly a bonafied healing…PRAISE GOD! But let’s confirm these miracles. That is what the world really needs to see! But alas, very few healings are actually being confirmed.

Secondly, my concern is the focus that has been placed on Angels, visitations, manifestations, etc. Although Jesus is mentioned throughout the night, though an altar call is given… far more emphasis is being placed on these other things than is acutally being given to the Jesus and him crucified (as Paul would say). The cross, the resurrection, holiness, repentance, dying to the flesh, etc., are merely glossed over and not really preached. What is being given more time, more emphasis are these other “experiences”.

The atmosphere here has changed from the very first meetings…at least it seems to me. And as I said earlier, I have been at revival since April 3rd…the 2nd night Todd was here in Lakeland. Something is wrong and I am concerned. Somehow the gospel that saves and keeps is not being preached as it should. Jesus…not even the Holy Spirit… is to be focus. In the Gospel of John, it says the when the comforter (Holy Spirit) would come, it would not speak of himself, but of Jesus. My concern is growing. I think we need to really pray and ask for discernment. I’m all for revival. I am all for miracles. But is there another Jesus, another gospel that is being preached here?

HT: Theology Today.

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Quotes (254)

John MacArthurPeople who don’t want scrutiny, people who don’t want to be held accountable for what they teach or what they believe, people who don’t want to be told they’re wrong, they always throw that verse “Judge not lest you be judged!”

– John MacArthur