Here We Go

I have written this post several times. Every time I go in a different direction with showing how Word of Faith teachers are heretical and leading people astray from the truth. But, the bottom line is, God loves you. He is God and you are not. He sent His son, Jesus, to die in your place and 3 days later he arose from the dead so you could have a complete relationship with the one living God. The only thing we have to do to stay out of hell is "confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved" (Romans 10:9-10). Simple scripture, but not an easy task.

The issues I have had with these Word of Faith teachers are many. I see scripture totally contradicting their Prosperity Gospel and their Health Gospel. But those are not what make my heart ache. If you want to believe God wants you to be rich and healthy and you live your life acting on that, I will say you are supremely sheltered and need to visit other parts of the world- or take a look in your own proverbial back yard. The teachings which disturb me the most, the ones that I believe have allowed these heretics to partially fulfill the prophesy of Matthew 7:15-16 and Galatians 1:6-9 are twofold: The Humanization of God/ the Deification of Man, and The Distortion of the Cross. We have problems, People.

Here is what the Word of Faith teachers preach regarding the Humanization of God (a.k.a.: Making God more like man)/ the Deification of Man (a.k.a Making man more like God):

1) Kenneth Copeland gives a physical description of what God looks like including height and weight in his "Spirit, Soul, and Body" tape # 01-0601.

Not so much what John 4:24 says.

2) In Copeland's tape "Following the Faith of Abraham" (# 01-3001), Copeland also states, "Adam is God manifested in the flesh." He believes Adam was not even subordinate to God.

I'm wondering how that fits in with the whole "getting kicked out of the garden" thing.

3) Faith teachers believe we are "little gods" and can have the same attributes of God.
"I say this with all respect so that it don't upset you too bad, but I say it anyway. When I read in the Bible where he [Jesus] says, 'I Am,' I just smile and say, 'Yes, I Am, too!'" states Copeland on a 1987 TBN broadcast of "Believer's Voice of Victory"

I know of an angel who tried elevate himself to the level of God and he was thrown out of heaven.

As disturbing as this may all sound, none of it can touch what the Word of Faith teachers believe and teach regarding the distortion of the cross. Two primary beliefs they have according to Gary Gilley:

1) "Christ was re-created on the cross from divine to demonic. To put it in Faith vernacular, Jesus took on the very nature of Satan himself."

Rebuttal: God does not change (Mal. 3:6) and Jesus is God so he can't change either (Heb 13:8).

2) "Your redemption was not secured on the cross, but in hell. In fact, many Faith teachers claim that Christ's torture by all the demons of hell was a 'ransom' God paid to Satan so that He could get back into a universe from which He had been banished."

Rebuttal: Satan had already been defeated with Jesus' death (Col 2:14-15). God owed him NOTHING.

Many people who follow these Word of Faith teachers don't even realize what theology they believe. They get looped in by the promise of prosperity not realizing all the while they are following and financially supporting teachers who claim to know Jesus, but do not (Matthew 7:21-23). We are a lazy and selfish people. We want what feels good and what is convenient- even at the risk of others' souls. I challenge you to look into this yourself.

Here are a couple of short videos to sum it up:

Steppin' on Toes

What do Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, Oral Roberts, Marilyn Hickey, and Kenneth Copeland all have in common? They are all members of the Word of Faith movement (Jakes is actually more known for his Oneness Pentecostal beliefs but mixes in with the WF) sweeping our nation. What is wrong with that? The movement and what these teachers preach/ teach is heretical and anti-scriptural. I know some of you who read this blog follow some of these people, reading their books and participating in their Bible studies so you may take offense to this post- I'm ok with that. I challenge you to research the Word of Faith movement yourself, measure it against what scripture says, and see what you come up with. I am specifically referring to what these teachers believe and spread concerning Jesus's death on the cross, the Trinity, and the believer's role today. I too am developing my thoughts on these teachings as proposed by these teachers and will share what I find in the coming days. This is a snazzy site to start some research. The scariest part of this is my former church has propped up some of these people and I'm afraid still ascribes to some of their teachings. Some of you go there now. Could you be under heretical teaching? I'm looking into it myself. It makes my heart ache to think it true.

Remember This:

"My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. 'Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.' " Hosea 4:6

OK, quick update: I after doing some additional research I DO NOT believe our former church is under heretical teaching. They are following the Purpose- Driven model making it "seeker-friendly" which need some warnings, but I don't believe heresy is a part of that.

Heresy= the holding or teaching of) an (especially religious) opinion which differs from the official opinion (The opinion I use is the Bible.)

Torn

For 6 years CJ and I have been members of our church. Even when we moved to Birmingham, AL we never moved our membership from Mt. Pleasant because we hoped God would bring us back- and He did! We were so ecstatic and could not wait to become a part of our church family once again. We did and it was awesome! We were even more excited when satellite campuses began and one was practically going to be in our back yard- yahoo! We believed in everything our church was doing. We loved their mission to do whatever it took to reach the lost and they do have the most phenomenal worship programs- hands down. We thought we would be a part of this fellowship for a long time. Little did we know things would slightly begin to unravel.

I have a Bible degree. I am not bragging- not by any means. Instead, I am humbled by how much I do not know. But as good as it sounds, at times it can become a stumbling block. You know the saying ignorance is bliss- it's true. But ignorant is NOT how God calls His people to live for Him. On the contrary, we are called to worship in spirit and truth. Sadly, our church generation usually lacks one or the other. Not my beloved church. Yes, sadly, even mine. I fear they are moving farther and farther away from the truth of the cross. In order to keep in step with doing whatever it takes to seek the lost, they have watered down the gospel. Biblical theology is traded for what will keep the masses entertained. I am heart-broken. My stand is this: I believe the church building is for the believers and the church body is for the lost. Why else did Jesus say, "GO and make disciples..." (all caps mine)? He did not say, "Stay here and have them come to you so you can make them disciples. Believers as the body are to go out and share the good news- God loves you and sent His son to die for you- yeah, you. We aren't called to judge or convict the unbelieving generation. However, we are to hold believers to a completely different standard, but that is another blog entry.

Although I have had some major theology issues with my beloved fellowship in the past as well as some serious accountability and leadership issues, I have set them aside- until this past Sunday. I am not nearly as outspoken about these issues as I once was. Much of that has to do with the fact I have a believing husband and look to him to make outward statements. I did, in fact, go to him after the sermon (and a little during the sermon) pointing out what was WAY OFF. It grieved my spirit to know a major teaching pastor of ours taught Jesus "took off" his God-suit during the 40 days of temptation (the correction would be he was temped after 40 days and HE CAN'T TAKE OFF HIS DEITY ) and making the statement that he needed to be tempted so he could relate fully to us. Negative. God DOES NOT NEED US!!!! He wants us even after we are born so vile. One of the most beautiful love stories in scripture is the book of Hosea. It speaks of how God desires a relationship with us after we have betrayed Him so willingly and often. The core of the matter is, the sermon demoted Jesus's god-hood and thus downplays the cross. I am not saying this is what the pastor intended to convey. He may or may not. My sadness comes from the fact he would not take the time to expound.

Sadly, this is not the first time we have had theological differences with our beloved fellowship. We have stayed because of my husband's devotion to the youth group. He understands abandonment more than I wish he did and felt the need to stay after the youth pastor had a forced resignation. When the youth pastor left, he really left and didn't turn back. Many kids felt "left" because although he stayed within the "organization" they were no longer on his radar and several of them were heartbroken. CJ's heart hurt for them as well and wanted to make sure they knew they were loved and wanted. We still go back and visit even though we haven't lived there in six months. But, it has become evident God is calling us elsewhere.

I still believe in the work this church is doing outside of its walls; but I have been disillusioned with what was going on inside. I am not angry and admit I have not contacted this pastor for any clarification. I don't feel comfortable doing that because of the way the leadership is organized. Besides that, I don't come across very diplomatic in email. I try to type lovingly, but the reader ALWAYS misinterprets my intent. Besides that, I think my meanderings would be like a drop in the bucket.

So, now I am torn. We know we must venture out, but we don't know where. I grew up southern baptist and have no desire to go back and CJ didn't grow up at all in church. And did I mention the worship time? Hmmmmmm, so sweet. Guess I'll be breaking out my CD's.

Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

I am disgusted!!! I am SO sick of the hypocrisy of people it makes me want to vomit! Anyone who knows me knows I am not out to win any popularity contests. My few solid close friends- the ones who I can count on no matter what is going on on their lives or mine- are far more important to me than having a slew of cronies. Depth has always been far more important to me than width. I am aware of the scripture of how Jesus found favor with God and man as he grew and also if at all possible live in peace with one another; but I tell ya, to live at peace with most people in this world is to be totally against God. It is getting harder and harder to do both. Rarely will anyone have to guess if I am for you or against you; I'm pretty transparent. And I hate it when believing people seek to be friends with the world. Hello?!?!? Be in it, not of it, remember? GAG!! Yet, over and over again people choose the popular and/ or easier road instead of the right road. And then have the nerve to shove it in your face! They parade it around like it's okay. Tacky, tacky, tacky! Blatant disregard of honesty, righteousness, and faithfulness gets my blood boiling and is enough for me to be done! So, now I am!