This post keeps track of the latest trends and exposes false doctrines and bad ministry practices.
Companion posts are here:
Season of Judgment and Discernment: A List of Bad Doctrines and Practices
The Leftward Drift of the Church Must Be Stopped
Let’s begin.
I..(1) Disrespect of Scripture
A.. But authority and inerrancy is not optional
If any leader denies the full authority of Scripture for life and morals and doctrine—setting aside the debate between inerrancy in all its parts and infallibility in its doctrine and practice—is not doing the will of the Father. Jesus had a very high view of Scripture, saying David spoke by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 22:43). Obedience to Scripture and Jesus’s teaching is not optional. Though he came to fulfill the OT, he also said it’s a bad idea for teachers to tell people to break them. This is especially true of moral law, which has been imported into the New Covenant.
B.. Take Scripture seriously
No Christian should regard the Bible lightly, but to see it as still inspired, authoritative, and inerrant for theology doctrine and Christian life and morals. It is highly reliable and accurate on cultural and historical matters. Though an ancient text, it is relevant and applicable to the needs of the world today. And the New Testament should not be unhitched from the Old Testament. Both are authoritative and inerrant, though the Old is incomplete without the New.
3 Authority and Inerrancy of the Bible
The 1978 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
2 How to Begin Interpreting the Bible
II.. (2) Bad National Policies that Churches Should Not Advocate
A.. Progressivism
Progressivism is infiltrating and destroying the church, little by little, and now rapidly. Advocating for favorite progressive doctrines and doing them is to practice lawlessness and will deserve the sobering words: “Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness! I never knew you!” (Matt. 7:23). Judgment is coming.
The solution is to preach grace and moral law.
Progressivism Is Bad for the Church
The Earliest Disciples Did Not Practice Modern Communism or Socialism
14 The Church and Postmodernism
Postmodern Roots of Leftist Policies
General and Special Revelations and Moral Law
Begin a series on Postmodernism and the Bible, here:
1. Postmodernism and the Bible: Introduction
B.. No to socialism
1.. Honesty in politicians?
Many Democrats today see themselves as socialists, but of course they hide the term. (Only Bernie Sanders has been consistent about it.) This ideology explains to a large degree why they want as much control over our lives as possible.
2.. Examples:
- Socialists want to control the education of children through powerful teachers unions (the tools of the governmental Few), without representing the proletariat’s (the Many) free choice to send their children to the right school for them.
- They control (wrest) private property through the EPA in the name of protecting the environment, by stopping property development without compensating the landowners.
- They slap business with heavy-handed regulations, which is another way to control them without actually taking them over.
- Some are suing religious business owners who don’t toe the leftist line, denying through the courts and commissions (the State) the free expression of the owners’ deep religious convictions.
It’s difficult for me at least to figure out where to draw the line between European-style socialism and the American Left and the Democrat Party, but those examples say the line should be drawn. Maybe they should be called neo-socialists.
3.. Liberty v. Restrictions
Please understand that the Left minimizes your liberty by concentrating power in the hands of the new governmental Few (flawed, powerful humans) who pass laws or sign executive orders implementing their power.
The Right maximizes your liberty by devolving power away from a centralized Few towards the fifty states and many flawed but equal humans before the law.
4.. Fatal flaw
Control by the powerful, imperfect governmental Few is the fatal flaw in socialism, and it must be stopped in the land of the free and in churches.
The Earliest Disciples Did Not Practice Modern Communism or Socialism
Does Book of Acts Teach Modern Communism or Socialism?
Socialism Is Wrong for Society
C.. Solution to socialism: caring for the poor the biblical way
1.. Main principle
The church should advocate for this.
The main principle that comes across clearly is that the ordinary citizen participated in charity. Call it participatory charity, both from the giver and receiver.
2. No centralized government welfare
This principle also appears in the biblical text: since the ancient Hebrews did not have a centralized powerful government early in their history, which comes later in their theocratic monarchy, they had to work out a system that bypassed bureaucrats doing charity in their place.
Even the numerous Old Testament verses relating to the poor, written during the monarchy, do not necessarily assume a centralized government doing charity in place of the people of mean, as follows:
Psalm 10:12-14, Psalm 12:5-8, Psalm 15:2-5, Psalm 72:12-14, Psalm 112:5-9, Proverbs 6:6-11, Proverbs 13:23, Proverbs 14:21, Proverbs 21:13; Provers 22:13, Proverbs 24:30-34, Proverbs 28:27, Proverbs 31:1-31, Isaiah 58:10-11, Isaiah 61:1-3, Jeremiah 7:5-7, Amos 2:6-8, Amos 8:4-6, Micah 6:6-8
3. The best charity is local.
Incidentally, though much of poverty, according to the Bible, is caused by no fault of ordinary people, the Bible directs some criticism at those who become impoverished due to their own laziness (Proverbs 6:6-11; 24:30-34), greed (Prov. 11:24; 28:22), and failure to follow counsel (Prov. 13:15-18).
However, these self-inflicted poor are not the concern of this section; rather, we are talking about the genuinely poor.
4. Summary
The solution is participatory charity. The poor work on farms (or modern businesses), and the giver gives directly or to a local charity. The best charity is local. That’s true and full Biblical justice. That’s the moral high ground.
For a detailed look, more than I can produce in this small section, please go here:
The Biblical Way to Care for the Poor
D.. No to climate change alarmism
1.. Grim predictions
Are you all for electric vehicles? Living on small farms? Trashing the economy to stop the oceans from warming up 2-3 degrees Celsius over the next 50-100 years (as if this would really happen, and as if predictions so far into the future are always right)?
2.. Major reports
In reply, click on “World Climate Declaration.” Note how over 2000+ real scientists and science adjacent types (not just concerned citizens or celebrities) declare: THERE IS NO CLIMATE CRISIS. Many people don’t know about this recent declaration because the leftwing media (= the mainstream media) do not report on it. It does not fit the narrative, which is that leftwing solutions are always and obviously right. No. They are obviously wrong.
UPI reports on May 19, 2026, that the U.N. agency to reverse worst-case climate scenario. Maybe the tide is turning towards balance and sanity.
E.. No to unrestrained mass immigration
1.. Millions in four years
What about mass migration, to the tune of millions in four years? (Legal immigration, yes. But not this.) Sojourners website or the organization, to cite only this one example, is all about rescuing immigrants from oppressive ICE because this is justice, according to it . No doubt the Feds have made mistakes (and there are numerous lies reported, too), but they have also deported real-life criminals.
2.. Obama administration
You can google each of these points:
(1) He deported 3.1 million illegal immigrants. (2) He built the migrant cages. (3) Fifty-six to sixty-seven people died in ICE and immigration custody. (4) He awarded Tom Homan, the head of ICE, with a Presidential Rank Award for his efficacy in 2015 for keeping Americans safe and securing our borders.
(Source)
The Left did not go crazy when Obama was the president, even though Homan was doing the same thing back then that he is doing now. But the leftwing mayors cooperated with Homan because Obama was their leader. Now under Trump the leftwing politicians and billionaire lefties who fund the protests have turned this into a major campaign issue. Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) is real.
3.. Biden’s cynicism
The Biden administration orchestrated this cynical ploy to change the vote towards its own party, in the near future. It was an American democrat power grab, as the left is prone to do. It was never about economic justice and compassion.
4.. Child trafficking
And it’s a sure thing that Sojourners (and other lefty religious organizations) has started looking for 300,000 kids that have been lost in the darkness during the mass migration, right? I imagine the kids are not living the American dream. ICE raided a marijuana farm in central California, where children were working, and there were at least two adult pedophiles in the group. Sojourners celebrates the rescue, right? Sojourners celebrates the deportations of rapists, murderers, and pedophiles, right? They have written about this at their website, giving these positive reports equal time, right?
No doubt Sojourners and other social justice warriors celebrate the fact that as of December 7, 2025, Tom Homan, leaders of ICE, says his organization has rescued 62,000 children from human trafficking so far. Let’s hope we hear more positive news.
5.. Clearer perspective
The fact is that Mexico has the 12th largest economy in the world and 120 million citizens. They should be able to handle no- or low-skilled workers in their own nation. Mexico currently has a leftwing president, and for the left sending government checks to such unemployed (and probably unemployable) workers is the answer. Apparently not, however. The leftwing Mexican government allowed millions of them to crash our gates and migrate up here. Now they are our problem. (I can easily imagine the Mexican politicians high-fiving each other behind closed doors when they saw all the low-skilled or no-skilled workers walking northward.)
F.. No to cannabis legalization
1.. Health risks
Here is a summary of the risks to health and of altered behavior and diminished achievement.
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry issued this statement:
Use of marijuana can lead to:
• School difficulties
• Problems with memory and concentration
• Increased aggression
• Car accidents
• Use of other drugs or alcohol
• Risky sexual behaviors
• Increased risk of suicide
• Increased risk of psychosis
Long-term use of marijuana can lead to:
• The same breathing problems as smoking cigarettes (coughing, wheezing, trouble with physical activity, and lung cancer)
• Decreased motivation or interest
• Lower intelligence
• Mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, anger, moodiness, and
• Psychosis
• Decreased or lack of response to mental health medication
• Increased risk of side effects from mental health medication
2. Human lives at risk
Kevin Sabet summarizes the risks in terms of emergency room admissions from using THC-intensified marijuana: “The nationwide total went from an estimated 16,521 emergency room visits in the United States related to marijuana use in 1991, to exceeding 374,000 emergency room admission in 2008—a nearly twenty-five fold increase in just seventeen years” (Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths about Marijuana, 35-36).
Most importantly, behind these policy statements and scientific findings and convenient hyper-skepticism about motives and science are human lives.
Think before you take up this drug. Your quality of life will be negatively affected. If you currently take it, be persuadable and stop.
Given these health risks, states must no longer vote to legalize recreational marijuana.
And states that have legalized recreational use must reverse their unwise decision.
3.. Scriptures about intoxication
Here is a long list of vices. Note drunkenness in bold font:
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal. 5:19-21, emphasis added)
Intoxication from regular cannabis smoking or ingestion can exclude someone from the kingdom of God in the future, the eternal kingdom. God is willing to work with you until you break the habit.
Jesus warns against it and partying, just before the Second Coming. People have to be vigilant and sober-minded:
“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. (Luke 21:34, emphasis added)
Jesus tells this parable to be vigilant. But the servant in charge of the household strays from the master’s warning:
48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. (Matt. 24:48-49)
The Second Coming has not happened yet. So do not get morally and spiritually lazy. Stay sober until the Blessed Hope, the Return of the Lord, happens.
Other verses: Proverbs 20:1; 23:20-21, 23-35; Isaiah 26:7-8; 56:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:6-8; 1 Timothy 3:3, 8; Titus 1:7; 2:3.
1 Twelve Health Risks from Smoking Cannabis
2 Ten Marijuana Myths that Damage Society and You
3 Do Not Legalize Recreational or Medical Marijuana
III..(3) Unbiblical Marriage and Abnormal Sexuality
A.. No to same-sex marriage
1.. God’s original plan
Jesus says that originally God’s plan for marriage was one man and one woman, and they alone can have a union that makes them one flesh. Two women cannot, nor can two men. The physical union between male and female touches the core of the soul, and two women and two men cannot have this.
2.. Extreme cases make bad policy
And yes, it is true that sometimes a couple cannot have children because something has gone wrong with the reproductive side of things. We can pray for God’s healing, either supernaturally or by treatment. But if they cannot have them naturally even after prayer or treatment, then we should not let these extreme cases set biblical norms. As the saying goes: extreme cases make bad policy. The good news is that this couple can adopt and give a wonderful home to needy children.
3.. Same-sex adoption
No. A child needs a father and mother. But if various states pass laws that (wrongly) permit same-sex couples to adopt, two men should involve a trusted woman (e.g. a sister or mother) to be involved in the child’s life. And two women should get a trusted man in the child’s life.
B.. No to same-sex attraction (homosexuality) and LBGTQ+ movement
1.. No compromise to culture
Pastors are endorsing same-sex marriages and relationships. If we don’t (so they tell us) people will leave the church in droves or never come. Some even assert that cross-dressing and trans-rights should be normalized. No, these people need help. As noted in the post on repentance, the NT Greek noun for repentance means “change of mind” (metanoia). They need their minds healed and changed by the power of the indwelling Spirit and long-time discipleship.
2.. Repentance and transformation
Same-sex couples and same-sex ‘married’ partners have to repent and break off their relationships, by God’s mercy and hope.
The LBGTQ+ movement are in great need of transformation and healing and salvation, by God’s grace.
TFC will come alongside them on their journey toward sexual wholeness. When they complete their journey, they can then lead in safe roles in our churches.
C.. No to transitioning
1.. Verses often misinterpreted
Here are verses that some use to justify transitioning kids:
10 His disciples said to him, “If the case of a man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone accepts this word, but to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who are born that way from the mother’s womb. And there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by people, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. Let him who can accept this accept it.” (Matt. 19:10-12)
2.. Three cases from the above passage
Jesus mentions three classes of eunuchs, which in one category seems to be celibacy. But the implied, better path is to get married and have children.
a.. Eunuchs were born this way, presumably without sexual organs or with malfunctioning ones;
b. Eunuchs who were made this way by people, presumably to watch the harem in royal courts;
c. “Eunuchs” who gave up sex or lived the celibate life for the kingdom of heaven, much as Jesus and Paul were doing and Paul recommended, with reservations (1 Cor. 7:7-9). The verb “it is given” is in the passive, so some scholars (Turner) say this is the divine passive or an understatement of God working behind the scenes, giving power to be celibate.
3.. Modern society and excesses
In modern society, certain advocates push the idea that Jesus endorsed self-mutilation of certain body parts, as we see among the trans advocates. But this interpretation takes things far out of context. “Making oneself a eunuch” instead means that a person gives up everything, even marriage and family, for the kingdom of God. No one has to mutilate himself or herself to fulfill God’s kingdom call on his or her life to be single and serve him wholeheartedly and single-heartedly.
4.. Bottom line
God created people male and female.
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:27)
People are not placed in the wrong body.
No one should advocate transitioning children. It is abusive. It is time for the mind virus to stop.
Those who have undergone transition surgery need ministry to return to sexual and mental health, by God’s love.
Do Not Deconstruct Gender Differences
D.. No to abortion
1.. The Bible’s clear teaching
The Bible is unambiguous and consistent about preborn human life. The legal portion or the narrative or story portion of the Torah, the Psalms, the Prophets, and the Gospel of Luke – along with the flow of the entire Bible – uphold the highest human status for the spiritual and moral and biological life in the womb. According to the Bible, God sees pre-born babies in the future as adults fulfilling special callings he places on them. And God says they are blessed in the womb, just as grownup Elizabeth was blessed and pre-born baby John the (future) Baptist responded (Luke 1).
In God’s eyes, the prenatal baby is just as sacred and deserving of a right to live as the postnatal baby.
2.. If you had an abortion …..
All you have to do is ask for God’s forgiveness, and pray to receive Christ into your life. Say these words: “Lord, I messed up and missed out. I sinned. I repent. Come into my life by your Spirit and change me from the inside out. I give you my entire life. Make a new plan for me.”
3… Life-changing verses
Here are some verses you can read aloud or from the heart that will guide in giving your life to God through Christ:
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9-13)
Always remember God loves you and wants to know your personally and redeem you.
Redemption means he takes you out of your condemned state (think of a condemned house) and makes you fit for his purposes. He repairs your life.
The Bible Speaks on Prenatal Life and Abortion
E.. Summary
All people who are sexually broken must be willing to allow God to transform them to sexual wholeness, through the indwelling power of the Spirit, repentance, the renewing of their minds by Scripture, regular discipleship and fellowship within the redeemed community meeting together, and consistent prayer.
IV..(4) Church and Politics: Toxic Mixtures
A.. Christian Nationalism
Let’s now go in the opposite direction from Progressivism.
1.. Influencing government
Yes, America was founded on Christian principles, but we also have the First Amendment, which promises religious liberty. Christian Nationalists push to make laws conform to Christian principles. I concede that if a Christian Nationalist persuades a political party to vote for a particular bill, then he used persuasion, and this is reasonable and permitted. He did not use coercion with a militia behind him.
But the movement’s leaders seem confused and unstable. They support one radical and irrational issue at one moment, and then they seem reasonable the next. I could never join such a complicated and disorganized movement.
2.. No to imposing religious restrictions
Some leaders wish to restrict other religions, like Roman Catholics putting a statue of Mary on a platform and carrying her in their parades. Though I would never honor Mary in that way, once again, we have the First Amendment, so it must be allowed. Jefferson said a man can worship no god or twenty of them. Just don’t pick his pocket or break his leg. In other words, if a religious practice does not infringe on my liberty in practical ways, then on what political grounds do I stop it, in the American Republic, the land of liberty?
3.. Patriotism = gratitude
To me, gratitude for one’s country adds up to patriotism. I am grateful to God for the country I live in, but I don’t take things farther than that. I personally do not put the two terms Christian and Nationalism together. I prefer just being a grateful citizen of the American Republic, without joining a controversial movement. I like simplicity.
Observations on New Apostolic Reformation and Christian Nationalism
I am a Christian ‘Kingdomist,’ Not a Christian Nationalist
B.. Dominionism, Seven Mountain Mandate, Kingdom Now!
These three doctrines and practices are tied to Christian Nationalism.
1.. Dominionism
Dominionism says that Christians should take dominion over society in politics and culture, bringing them in alignment with biblical laws.
2.. Seven Mountain Mandate
The Seven Mountain Mandate brings more focus than Dominionism does. Christians are called to take over politics and culture in seven areas: religion, family, education, government, media, arts/entertainment, and business. (I have to ask where the medicine mountain is, but this is a summary post.)
3.. Kingdom Now!
Kingdom Now! is another term for taking over society by bringing the kingdom of God down to earth by human effort. Yes, the kingdom Jesus inaugurated is already here but only in part, and not yet fully–the “already and not yet” of the kingdom. Kingdom Now! advocates want more and more of the “already here.” They cannot wait patiently for the Second Coming, which is the only time the kingdom will be here completely and powerfully and eternally.
4.. Wisdom
I heard a solid podcaster (John Mark Baker) say a wise thing. A goal of the Seven Mountain Mandate is to take over one of the mountains: government. But if political Christians did take it over, they would not punish certain Christian criminals but restore and turn them loose on society. Many Christian leaders who believe they are wise are actually fools. Don’t let them near the reins of government power.
Observations on New Apostolic Reformation and Christian Nationalism
5 The Kingdom of God: Already Here, But Not Yet Fully
V..(5) Bad Church Governance
A.. New Apostolic Reformation (NAR)
1.. NAR’s goal is misguided
This point is related to the next one about false apostles. The NAR Movement’s goal is to instate apostles and prophets to govern the church. However, this artificial movement needs to be left behind. The man or men who started it had no mandate from God, nor do those who keep it alive. How do I know this?
2. Bad understanding of Scripture
They did not follow Scripture in defining what an apostle is. They defined it too broadly. Now the floodgates are open to all sorts of apostles who are popping up everywhere in American Christianity and elsewhere around the globe, poisoned by American Christianity. Confusion and arrogance. Everyone needs to stay in their lane. Then the self-deception and demonic attacks will diminish.
Analyzing the New Apostolic Reformation
Review of C. Peter Wagner’s Book ‘Churchquake’
Review of Joseph Mattera’s Book ‘The Global Apostolic Movement and the Progress of the Gospel’
B.. False apostles everywhere
1.. Danger and confusion
This false doctrine and practice flows out of the previous point about the NAR. I see all of the movements to restore apostles in a Second Apostolic Age as a danger to the church. The rapid, numerical growth of apostles and apostolic leaders sows confusion and deception and self-promotion, because the promoters do not do sound exegesis and therefore do not base their definitions on the strict and narrow biblical view of apostle and apostolic. Maybe if they did proper exegesis, they would have to renounce their apostleship (I would hope).
2.. Deception by misreading Scripture
Worst of all, today’s apostles are setting themselves up without a commission from the risen Lord and without reading Scripture more carefully. They have “extraordinary authority” without earning it, biblically. They are in danger of deceiving themselves and large swathes of the church.
3. Warning
Jesus to the church at Ephesus:
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. (Rev. 2:2, NIV, emphasis added)
C.. False prophets everywhere
1.. Outlandish displays
They rock back and forth on the platform and appear to go into a trance when they prophesy. They refuse to judge their own prophecies or teach God’s people to judge these prophets’ prophecies (1 Cor. 14:29; 1 Thess. 5:21). They affect their voices with a quiver and a vibrato, for extra pathos.
2.. False prophecies
They say weird things, like they know what Charlie Kirk and Queen Elizabeth II are doing in heaven. God told one of them. They take trips up into heaven regularly and see a T-Rex and a mountain of Jell-o. They talk with people who have passed on (necromancy). They tell us that the names of winning horses and jockeys in the Kentucky Derby have social and national meaning. They claim they can prophesy over everyone in a room, not understanding how risky it is to force God’s hand. They cannot prophesy at will. No. The Spirit distributes the gift of prophecy, as he determines (1 Cor. 12:11).
3. Unaccountable
They are accountable to no one, especially the ones on YouTube, unless it is to a few compliant yes-men.
4.. Reject the video prophets
Reject all of the YouTube prophets. Keep prophecy inside a church, where people are instructed to judge all prophetic words (1 Cor. 14:29; 1 Thess. 5:21).
Three Sources of Prophecy (only one is good)
Review of C. Peter Wagner’s Book ‘Apostles and Prophets’
Review of “7 Simple Ways to Test Prophecy” by Joshua Lewis of Remnant Radio
VI..(6) Bad Church Practices
A.. Novelties and Gimmicks
1.. Culture
Novelty and hot trends are a huge source of deception. We live in the nation of Disneyland and Disney World (and lesser-known amusement parks), Silicon Valley, NASA, military technology, Wall Street, Hollywood, thousands of new inventions, and thousands of startups. There is nothing wrong per se with innovation in those listed areas.
2.. Don’t follow culture
However, the church should not absorb these fast-paced innovations and trends. We should influence culture morally and spiritually, not the other way around. Novelty that drifts from Scripture is wrong. The “First Church of Disneyland” is too far. Maybe we should do a new thing, which is to return to the old thing–the Bible. But it cramps their style. They ignore it, except for passages that please them.
3. No novel interpretations of Scripture
Doctrinally I have observed teachers who appear to feel pressure to come up with the most surprising interpretation of Scripture, each one more surprising than the last one. I recall one example years ago. Why did David pick up five new stones from the nearby stream (1 Sam. 17:40). Five is the number of grace! Of course!
How about we return to the plain and main truths of Scripture?
Sixteen Characteristics of a Healthy Church
Sixteen Characteristics of an Unhealthy Church
2 How to Begin Interpreting the Bible
B.. Cessationism
1.. Definition
This is defined as denying that specific gifts are in operation today, such as prophecy, healing, miracles, visions, and tongues. Hence the name cessation or a ceasing. It is a debilitating error.
2.. No support of Scripture
It has no support in Scripture, while its opposite, continuationism, does (1 Cor. 1:7; Eph. 4:11-13). The gifts continued on in church history.
3.. Repentance needed
Cessationists need to repent of their deficient research and come back to a reasonable interpretation of Scripture. It is a bad idea to stand before God at final judgment after teaching the people that they have to be deprived of every gift God has available for them to complete their mission in a tough, resistant world. I shudder to think what God must think and how he will judge them.
Brief Teaching on the Gifts of the Spirit
Begin a series on the gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:
Gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 and 12:28
Gifts of the Spirit in Romans 12:
Gifts of the Spirit in Romans 12:6-8
Gifts of the Spirit in early church history:
1. Gifts of the Spirit in Early Church Fathers
2. Healing and Deliverance in Early Church Fathers
3. Prophecies, Visions, and Hearing from God in Early Church Fathers
C.. Unscriptural Prayers
1.. Decreeing
God alone decrees. We pray to God, and then we command healing and diseases and demons in our jurisdiction down here on earth, towards people right in front of us. We can certainly issue the command, “Be healed!” But even our commands must submit to God’s will and sovereignty (1 John 5:14-15). We’re not powerful enough to decree. Not in our bailiwick. We do not become gods and boss the true God around.
Is ‘Decreeing’ Biblical for Christians?
Watch God Work When We Pray, Command, Believe, Receive.
With Faith Command Your Obstacle to Go. Then Watch God Work
2.. Praying against and taking down principalities and territorial spirits in heavenly places
a… Struggle is personal down here
Ephesians 6:10-12 says that we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, but against spiritual beings and dark, wicked forces of evil in high places. And then Paul counsels believers to put on personal armor, so they can defend themselves when the evil beings attack, not so believers can rebuke spirits in the air. The struggle is personal, not impersonal way up in the heavenly realms.
b.. Daniel
Next, an angel informed Daniel that there were territorial spirits (Dan. 10:10-14). But Daniel did not rebuke the spirits. He let God do the fighting, and God sent the archangel Michael to fight.
c.. Put on full armor and pray in the Spirit
Instead of praying against and rebuking these evil ruling spirits in high places, Paul personalizes the spiritual warfare in the individual Christian’s life and tells him to put on the armor of God (Eph. 6:10-11; 13-17). He never tells believers to pray against these evil beings out there in the heavenly, spirit realm. Paul finishes this section of Scripture with encouraging the believers to pray in the Spirit and to be alert and to pray for him. They pray to God; they do not rebuke territorial spirits (Eph. 6:18-19).
d.. Quick summary
In sum, Paul taught us to put on the full armor of God, down here on our earth, in our realm (Eph. 6:10-17). Then he told us to pray for one another (Eph. 6:18:-20). That’s how we fight against ruling powers and spirits of wickedness in the heavenly realm.
D.. Platform bullying
Preachers use their platform to keep their people under control. They preach at them that they are being sifted by Satan if they think of leaving the bullies’ churches. Separate from your family members, the bullies say. Don’t listen to biblical wisdom and common sense, they say. They target individuals by name, as the individuals sit in the audience. They put pressure on people to tithe.
This is wrong. Leave their churches immediately. Don’t listen to the unbiblical curses they put on you for leaving.
2 Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow,
an undeserved curse does not come to rest. (Prov. 26:2)
True Church Leaders Do Not Lord It over God’s People
Mike Bickle and His Team v. John Wimber and His Team
True Church Leaders Do Not Weaponize Matthew 18 against Victims of Abuse
E.. Exploiting church positions of power to groom (seduce) women
These examples are multiplying. Some pastors have children by women in their churches, but the elders refuse to fire the seducers because they’re too special. But the groomers and manipulators need to be chased out of ministry, permanently.
Review of Sam Storms’ Book ‘The Rise and Fall of the Kansas City Prophets’ (offers examples)
Mike Bickle Is Forever Unfit For Ministry
My Take on the Shawn Bolz Situation
F.. Endorsing sexual misconduct.
Any leader who endorses sexual misconduct because he is “evolving,” allowing, for example, two people to live together (e.g. same-sex couples or opposite-sex couples), is a worker of lawlessness. Yes, we can be patient with these couples, as God deals with them, but to endorse or allow their unrepentant lifestyle without the truth is lawlessness.
Pastors who sexually abuse people, particularly children, are practicing lawlessness and not even close to doing the will of the Father.
Matt. 5:28 and Adultery in the Heart
Unlawful Sexual Relations in Leviticus 18 from a NT Perspective
G.. Twisting Scripture to defend Charismatic Coverup Culture
This point is related to the previous one.
A mean and angry pastor used his pulpit to defend himself and the Charismatic Coverup Culture. He twisted Revelation 12:10 about the accuser of the brothers. The critics are not of God, he said. No. He’s wrong. The exposure ministries are using the true meaning of Scripture to uncover all the rot in the Charismatic Coverup Culture.
11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. (Eph. 5:11)
Mature Disciples Do Not Make Excuses for Unsound Christian Leaders
H.. Restoring repeat offenders (wolves) to ministry
This point goes along with the previous one. They can be restored to their relationship with Christ and fellowship in a church, but not to ministry. Very few exceptions exist. Do we restore child predators back into the nursery? No! They cannot be trusted, no matter how loudly they proclaim they repented and were healed through counseling and miraculous, divine intervention.
Restoring Fallen Church Leaders to Ministry?
Mike Bickle Is Forever Unfit For Ministry
I.. The ‘phenomena’
They are outlandish displays, like writhing around on the ground and barking, roaring (and other animal noises), and the laughing fits. Nowadays Pentecostals are jumping around from pew to pew. They are sometimes called ‘manifestations,’ which is different from the true definition in 1 Corinthians 12:7.
If we are permitted to judge prophecies without treating them with contempt (1 Cor. 14:29 and 1 Thess. 5:21), then surely we can judge these physical manifestations. If leaders do not clarify this issue, then people will be confused. Satan will also infiltrate the churches and prompt people to act strangely or exotically. Leaders and the people must be vigilant.
Anaheim Vineyard and the ‘Phenomena’
Biblical, Physical Responses to Worship, and How to Judge Charismatic ‘Phenomena’
J.. Multi-Level Marketing
Pastors and their wives recruit members of their church to sell a product, and the money trickles upward to the founders or starters who get rich. The salespersons recruit other salespersons “downline,” and then get a commission from their new recruits. The ones at the top of the pyramid or start of the whole thing profit the most.
Run from a church that practices MLM. The leaders are greedy and manipulative and lost the vision of what God’s Son’s church is all about.
Disciples Serve God over Mammon (Money)
K.. Invented Numerology
They take advantage of certain numbers that have true biblical meaning, like seven or twelve. This gives them permission to fabricate significance from silly numerical sequences. Thus the Jewish year adds up to a hidden meaning. On a special day or year, like 2020, they scour the Bible for verse numbers. In 2 Chronicles 20:20 King Jehoshaphat said to have faith in the LORD’S prophets. No wonder the “numbers guys” liked it. It is prophets who promote this nonsense. They got lucky with that year (yes, I wrote “lucky”).
Ignore them. Just stay with the plain and main teaching of Scripture.
L.. Enneagram
It is wrong to depend on it. It can be inaccurate. Some Christian apologists say it has a dubious origins. Churches should stay away from it.
This does not cancel real psychology tests given by credentialed counselors.
VII..(7) “Hyper” Doctrines
A.. Hyper-charismatic pastors and evangelists
Yes, the gifts of the Spirit, like tongues and prophecy, are still in operation today.
1.. Outlandish displays
But hyper-charismatics shriek and freak, dance and prance, and yell and sell the gospel. One commenter on a Facebook post came up with this alliteration: “proud preachers, prancing prophets and perverted predators!”
2.. False doctrines
The calmer ones teach the dumbest things, like astral projections, flying up into heaven to battle principalities and powers. They teach that you have to travel back in time to forgive, rather than just forgiving people who abused you in the past. They teach the courts of heaven, a complicated Gnostic doctrine. No, just approach God’s throne of grace boldly and confidently (Heb. 4:16). They teach that powerful Christians will not have gray hair or ageing faces. Never mind that Scripture honors age and gray hair:
Gray hair is a crown of splendor;
it is attained in the way of righteousness. (Prov. 16:31)
They claim to see gold dust and angel feathers appearing out of nowhere. (Either this is contrived or demonic. Jesus’s signs and wonders helped people with healing and deliverance. He worked miracles to help people. He never produced gold dust or angel feathers.) They prophesy about bitcoin. They prophesy about the significance of national sporting events and the names of winning horses and jockeys. They call evil good and good evil and get confused about what is light and what is dark (Is. 5:20).
3.. Decreeing
Hyper-charismatic ministers and evangelists believe God has to obey their decrees: that is, it works out to their becoming gods, and as if God lost his throne. (See below, for Decreeing)
4. Basic characteristic
The basic principle or characteristic that defines hyper-charismatics is their twisting of Scripture and showing off their strong personality, which they confuse with an anointing, to the dazzlement of the crowd. Watch out for it.
Is ‘Decreeing’ Biblical for Christians?
Be Balanced and Avoid Hyper-Teachings
2 Miracles: Warning! Discernment Needed!
God’s Signs and Wonders versus Satan’s Signs and Wonders
Ancient Heresy of Gnosticism and Its Postmodern Teachers
B.. Hyper-faith
Yes, faith is biblical: “Your faith has made you well.”
1.. Kingdom now!
But another teaching, which is called Word of Faith, which I call Word of Hyper-Faith, is erroneous because it claims faith itself is an impersonal force. God wants everyone healed, every time they ask. The teachers falsely tell us the kingdom has come in such great power that people always get healed. Kingdom now! They misdefine “the already and not yet” of the kingdom and focus on the “already here, right now!” However, if a person is not healed, then he did not have enough faith and did not call down the kingdom come hard enough.
2.. Lying
The hyper-faith men teach that the sick person has to lie: “I don’t have cancer. I have a healing!” This skips over God’s sovereignty and just plain Bible-based wisdom and common sense. Remember, Luke, the author of the Third Gospel and the Book of Acts, was a “beloved physician” (Col. 4:14). If people are not healed immediately, they should go to the doctor’s office.
Be Balanced and Avoid Hyper-Teachings
Why Doesn’t Divine Healing Happen One Hundred Percent of the Time in This Age?
Does God Want to Heal Everyone Every Time They Ask?
Kenneth Copeland Gets a Pacemaker
C.. Hyper-prosperity
1.. True prosperity
Yes, prosperity is legitimate if someone owns a business, the owner works hard, and God blesses it (Deut. 8:18).
2.. False promises and curses
But it should not come by a ministry platform like TV when a preacher twists Scripture to enrich himself. Now he lives in conspicuous luxury, while the people who sent him money on the false promise that God will enrich them too live ordinary lives, just as they did before they gave. Or worse, they’re now broke. One tithe teacher, now fallen from ministry, said God’s people are under a curse for not tithing, based on Malachi 3:8-11. But God’s people are never under an Old Covenant curse (Gal. 3:13).
3.. Don’t give to the Scripture twisters
Therefore, any leader who lives an extravagantly wealthy life from the donations of Joe Factoryworker and Jane Shopkeeper is greedy and is a worker of lawlessness. He is not doing the will of the Father. Prosperity modestly defined is biblical; becoming wealthy by good business practices is also biblical (1 Tim. 6:17-19). But Christian leaders manipulating and pressuring Joe and Jane to give and then living in massive houses and owning conspicuously luxury items that Joe and Jane could never afford is wrong.
Generosity in the New Testament
Disciples Live in Unity and Generosity
Why Tithing Does Not Apply to New Covenant Believers
Be Balanced and Avoid Hyper-Teachings
Apostle Paul Traveled on Cargo Ships
D.. Hyper-grace
Grace is certainly biblical. God empowers us with it to overcome sin.
However, any leader not obeying Jesus’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount and the rest of the Gospel (and depending on God’s power and grace to help him) is bound for a crashing fall. This obedience to his teaching includes righteous living and actions. The hyper-grace teachers are revealing themselves to be workers of lawlessness. Yes, God is willing and loving enough to work with our failures (as he does mine daily), but our repentance must bring forth works worthy of repentance (Matt. 3:8; Acts 26:20), sooner rather than later. Any leader who says repentance is not so important is also a worker of lawlessness.
8 Righteousness of the Kingdom
VIII..(8) Reflections
A.. Humility and repentance needed
1.. Humility
Major sections of the American church are arrogant. They need to see the problem and repent. 6 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:6). Can the arrogant see their arrogance and humble themselves?
2.. Repentance
If they do not see the problem, they see no need to repent. But they have to. Humbling themselves under the mighty hand of God will lead to repentance.
B.. Live the crucified life.
One of the most important verses for TFC is Luke 9:23, which is spoken right after he predicted his own suffering, rejection, crucifixion, and resurrection.
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23)
He is the Lord, not us. He sits on the throne of our lives, and we climb down from it. Dying to self daily also means to crucify our sins, vices, foolishness, bad past, shortsightedness, and stubbornness (etc.). You don’t surrender to the devil, people, circumstances or whims. You surrender only to Jesus. Trust that he has a resurrection for you, that is, small victories, daily.
If you want to hear from God more clearly, live the crucified life, every day.
C.. A new generation
Most of the troubles in the American church began many years ago. The men who started these trends are either old or have passed on. We need to raise up the next generation, fed on the previous ten solutions, and the next one. God is patient. He waited forty years for the older generation to die off in the wilderness before the younger generation entered the Promised Land (Num. 14:29-35, 32:13).
So with repentance and revival and the next generation, I see hope for the American church, but the journey will be long and difficult.
D.. Heed these warnings
19 Sin is not ended by multiplying words,
but the prudent hold their tongues. (Prov. 18:19)
36 “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matt. 12:36-37)
Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. (James 3:1)
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 