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April 24 th, 2009 |
Volume 4, Issue 9 |
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If you want to encourage, donations of any amount are appreciated - GH |
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In This Issue
- Biblical Frameworks for "The Power of God" - Could Gary Hinchman Be A False Teacher? - Substituting "Spiritual" Elitism for the Power of God's Presence in the Church - The Spirit of True Power: Where Potency for Piety is Found by Jefferey Bingham - Power Evangelism for Penn Gillette of Penn and Teller - Can You Recognize False Teaching? Parts 1-3 by Charles Stanley - A Biblical View of "The Power of God" from Job - A Biblical View of True Evangelism vs. Miracle Ministries as "The Power of God" - The Power of God Unto Prosperity: God Wants You Rich (A Lesson in Deception for People of Christian Folk Faith) - The Power of a Black Hole in False Teaching
Blogs Faith Blogging Scoreboard - The Top 50 Christian Blogs from Faith Blogging
News Pray first of all for all men - one article at a time [1 Timothy 2:1]. Read an article and pray in light of it.
Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem [Psalm 122:6] - one article at a time. Read an article and pray in light of it. Pray for the Leaders of the World at World Political Leaders (Choose a country pray specifically for the peace of Christ to enter the hearts of the latest leaders in the world today at the bottom of the list of names- 1 Timothy 2:1-8)
Articles
Authority from Baker's Dictionary of Evangelical Theology Power from Baker's Dictionary of Evangelical Theology Strong and Weak from Baker's Dictionary of Evangelical Theology The Power of the Blood of Jesus by Andrew Murray Christ: The Power and Wisdom of God by Charles Haddon Spurgeon from Scribd The Power of God by Bob Deffinbaugh (An excellent biblical overview of the power of God in scripture with helpful comments at the end) Discourse on the Power of God by Stephen Charnock
Audio
The Power of God by Paul Washer (Paul Washer is a passionate preacher of Jesus Christ who challenges us to walk with God honestly before others today without playing games of powerless imaging before the world.) Changing Your Thought Patterns by George Sanchez (George Sanchez explains how training is a form of empowering and submission to training is a way of gaining greater power over time. Right Click and choose "Save Target As" to download.)
Book Preview A Guide to Christian Literature on the Internet Music
Online Libraries "I know no author who is worthy the honour of being followed absolutely and without reserve." John Newton (1725-1807) Christian Classics Ethereal Library The Evangelical Christian Library
Free Bible Study Software Bible Explorer (with over 200 Free Books)
PowerPoints (Microsoft PowerPoint Presentations for You) Crucified with Christ by Gary Hinchman A Healthy Life Matrix by Gary Hinchman
Powerful Power Positions
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Story of God's Mighty Acts
It is the Holy Spirit that has been the life of the Church. When He came, all was life; when He departed, all was death. Nothing was lacking as long as He was in the midst, and when he left, nothing could compensate for His wihdrawal. When HE was present the church was the garden of the Lord. When He forsook her, every herb and flower of that garden withered. It was the fulness of the Spirit's power, possessed and exercised by holy men, awakening, quickening, sanctifying, that wrought the mighty changes that history records. Formalism, routine, and external religion - the excitements of mysticism - these are poor substitutes for the life, and glow, and energy of the Holy Spirit. Nothing but His own presence can avail to lift us out of the unreal religiousness into which we have fallen; to transform creeds into realities, and the bodily bowing of the head, or bending the knee into spiritual worship; turning the "dim religious light" into the sunshine of a heavenly noon; drawing out of our hymnals the deep 'heart music" of divine and blessed song; delivering us alike from Ratonalism and Ritualism, from a hollow externalism, and from an impulsive and unreasoning fanaticism. Horatio Bonar, The Holy Spirit
The Power of God Reported in The New York Times, March 4th, 1883 issue from Blackwood's Magazine The Power of God. -- He who has taught his mind to apprehend how the intelligence which made the worlds must surpass that of any inhabitant of this world, not in degree only, but in kind also, will readily acknowledge the presumption, the absurdity, of a man passing any judgment on the creation, or maintenance of the universe, or of any part of it. The Psalmist says, "Thou thoughtest wickedly that I am such a one as even thyself." The Creator is so infinitely beyond us in every way: He looks at his work with an understanding so immeasurably more highly informed than ours, that probably there is not any admitted fact or truth not equally apprehended by both sides, so that it may be called common ground, fit to be used as the starting point of such an argument. The same, in another degree, may be said of us in comparison with the beings whom the Creator employs in ordering His work and doing His pleasure. God, as we are told, can make things that are not, as if they were. Again, though certain things may be impossible to men, all things are possible with God. These texts seem to point to the different powers or regarding things, as we have mentioned above. If we go on to see how God sentences the heart of a people to be made gross, so that they shall not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts, we get evidence that He does choose sometimes to act on the human powers of perception - in this instance, by restricting them, but in the case of the young man who, at the prayer of the prophet, had his eyes open that he may see, and who saw sights which, in the ordinary condition of his senses, he could not see, the powers of perception were increased. Further, we are taught that the light which is in us may be made darkness: which must mean that God, if we deserve it, will take away our power of truly regarding things. So that by effecting a change in our perceptions, He may, to our apprehension, change the whole universe, and may confer much happiness or misery. And a corollary on this is that scorners, who fancy that they can contend with God, can only do so to their confusion; for the very weapons which they strive -- to wit, their perceptions of fact and truths, are in the power of Him whom they choose to make their adversary. -- Blackwood's Magazine For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12
The Power of God The power of God cannot be bought,
Not leased, traded or sold For all the paper currency For all of Fort Knox gold The power of God cannot be taught From manuscripts or schools From ministers, rabbis or priests Or tele-evangelical fools The power of God cannot be faked By deceit or slight of hand By tricksters in revival tents Healing people that was planned The power of God can only be Revealed inside of you The power of God is how you act And what you say and what you do That helps your neighbor understand That truth... And trust.... And faith... And prayer Will always see us through.... And everlasting life in peace Await a chosen few © Copyright Stop & Think Poetry
Sooner or later, man has always had to decide whether he worships his own power or the power of God. Arnold J. Toynbee, world historian
And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord. Abraham Lincoln
W.H. Rogers
I asked God for strength that I might achieve. I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey. I asked for health that I might do greater things. I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy. I was given poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of men. I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life. I was given life that I might enjoy all things. I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I hoped for. Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered. I am, among all men, most richly blessed. Anonymous
Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God's best gifts. It involves many things, but above all, the power of going out of one's self, and appreciating whatever is noble and loving in another. Thomas Hughes
Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God's service when it is violating all His laws. John Adams
Let any man turn to God in earnest, let him begin to exercise himself unto godliness, let him seek to develop his powers of spiritual receptivity by trust and obedience and humility, and the results will exceed anything he may have hoped in his leane. A.W. Tozer
Stand still... and refuse to retreat. Look at it as God looks at it and draw upon His power to hold up under the blast. Charles R. Swindoll
God wants to father all of us until we're dead sure of his approval, his guiding power and his promise of heaven. Bill Hybels
I meditate and pray all the time. The faith and respect that I have in the power of God in my life is what I've used to keep myself grounded,, and it has allowed me to move away from the storms that were in my life. I'm still a work in progress, but I know that as long as I stay close to God I'll be all right. Halle Berry
I know My God commands, whose power no power resists. Robert Greene
When you look at the inner workings of electrical things, you see wires. Until the current passes through them, there will be no light. That wire is you and me. The current is God. We have the power to let the current pass through us, use us, to produce the light of the world, Jesus, in us. Or we can refuse to be used and allow darkness to spread. Mother Teresa
The gift of mental power comes from God, Divine Being, and if we concentrate our minds on that truth, we become in tune with this great power. . . My Mother had taught me to seek all truth in the Bible. Nikola Tesla
What we call Man's power over Nature turns out to be a power exercised by some men over other men with Nature as its instrument. C.S. Lewis
Acceptance of the power of God in one's life lays the groundwork for personal commitment to both science and Christianity, which so often have been in conflict. Kenneth L. Pike, linguist and anthropologist
Martin Luther
God creates everything out of nothing, and everything which God is to use, He first reduces to nothing. Soren Kierkegaard
When you see the Father at work around you, that is your invitation to adjust your life to Him and join Him in that work. Henry Blackaby, from Experiencing God. pg. 64
Charles Price
I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out. John Wesley
Be steadfast, my boy, when your tempted, To do what you know is right. Stand firm by the colors of manhood, and you will o'ercome in the fight. "The right" be your battle cry ever, In waging the warfare of life, And God who knows who are the heroes, Will give you the strength for the fight. Phoebe Cary
It is possible to excel in mechanics and fail in dynamics. There is an abundance of machinery but what is wanting is power. Samuel Chadwick
The Power Suit If you can be deceived, you can be conquered. Edwin Louis Cole
Say not, "Too poor," but freely give. Sigh not, "Too weak," but boldly try. You never can begin to live until you dare to die. Henry Van Dyke
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. Thomas Jefferson
The man who does not learn to wait upon the Lord and have his thoughts molded by Him will never possess that steady purpose and calm trust, which is essential to the exercise of wise influence upon others, in times of crisis and difficulty. D. E. Hoste
How else but through a broken heart may the Lord Christ enter in. Oscar Wilde
The fanaticism which discards the Scripture under the pretense of resorting to immediate revelations is subversive of every principle of Christianity. For when they boast extravagantly of the Spirit, the tendency is always to bury the Word of God so they may make room for their own falsehoods. John Calvin
Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it has a God who knew His way out of the grave. G. K. Chesterton
There are many sheep without, many wolves within. Augustine of Hippo
Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Christian on his knees. William Cowper
One day George Mueller began praying for five of his friends. After many months, one of them came to the Lord. Ten years later, two others were converted. It took 25 years before the fourth man was saved. Mueller persevered in prayer until his death for the fifth friend, and throughout those 52 years he never gave up hoping that he would accept Christ! His faith was rewarded, for soon after Mueller’s funeral the last one was saved. [As wonderful as this story is, the fact that as biblically grounded and as godly a man of faith as George Mueller was, he still had at least 5 unsaved friends to pray for throughout his life. How many Christians are that close to the unsaved in their lives, much less in their prayers? - GH]
There is no power like that of prevailing prayer, of Abraham pleading for Sodom, Jacob wrestling in the stillness of the night, Moses standing in the breach, Hannah intoxicated with sorrow, David heartbroken with remorse and grief, Jesus in sweat of blood. Add to this list from the records of the church your personal observation and experience, and always there is the cost of passion unto blood. Such prayer prevails. It turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God. Samuel Chadwick
Since the days of Pentecost, has the whole church ever put aside every other work and waited upon Him for ten days, that the Spirit’s power might be manifested? We give too much attention to method and machinery and resources, and too little to the source of power. Hudson Taylor
Intercession is truly universal work for the Christian. No place is closed to intercessory prayer. No continent - no nation - no organization - no city - no office. There is no power on earth that can keep intercession out. Richard Halverson
I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because I see everything by it. C.S. Lewis
It hurts when God has to pry things out of our hands. Corrie Ten Boom
When you have robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power. He is free again. Alexander Solzhenitsyn
The history of missions is the history of answered prayer. From Pentecost to the Haystack meeting in New England and from the days when Robert Morrison landed in China to the martyrdom of John and Betty Stam, prayer has been the source of power and the secret of spiritual triumph. Samuel M. Zweimer
By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me!" [Letter to his brother from a July 9, 1755 battle in the French and Indian War] President George Washington
Expect Great Things From God, Attempt Great Things For God. --William Carey "Deathless Sermon" (May 31, 1792)It is often difficult for us to believe that in the late 18th century the majority of Protestant churches had very little interest in missionary outreach. Jesus' command to go to all nations was for the generation of apostles, they thought. From Glimpses of Christian History at Christian History Timeline
The Power Buttons of False Teachers
Click the button above and receive what false teaching offers you. Click it again and again and you will keep getting this experience. Keep clicking that button and eventually you will know a repetitive experience that gives you the same thing every time but you have done it so many times it is now a habit and part of your lifestyle so that if anyone challenges it, you will resent it because you have "experienced" it by your own efforts so many times. Go ahead, try it. Where are your power buttons that a false teacher could easily manipulate? Are they mental, emotional, or volitional? If you are given a particular logic to latch on to will you become so obsessive with that logic that you will no longer be able to think in any other categories or think reflectively from many other angles because you are obsessively fixed on only one line of reasoning with no other options? Or perhaps your power button is emotional. Do you feel powerful when someone makes you angry and upset? Or perhaps you feel "blessed" when someone tells you a heart warming or heart breaking story. Could someone press your "angry button" or "softy button" enough times that you would be putty in their hands? What about action as your power button? Are you impressed when someone has a line of action so clearly worked out that when it is spiritualized or de-spiritualized you are ready to jump on their bandwagon and "do something." Would appealing to your excitement over adventure, or will to serve, captivate you and hold your continued attention?
Now try clicking the power button above. You will get a response equal to the benefits of quality false teaching . Repeat the experience for yourself enough times and the fruit of false teaching will become apparent.
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People of "The Flame" People walking down your street see you cooking dinner in the fire pit in your backyard. The street lights have been exchanged for gas lights and oil lamps. There is a warm cozy "glow" everywhere you go as no one listens to or learns anything from the Internet, the Computer, the TV, or the radio any longer. The whole concept of "power" has been redirected from the energy of electricity and its many multifaceted capabilities to the energy of a flame and the hypnotic effect of staring into it continually, feeling its warmth, and staying fixed on it in such a repetitive fashion that you want to do nothing now but follow "The Flame." Your addiction to a balanced and powerful use of electricity has now been exchanged for a religious addiction to nothing more than "The Flame" and the huge monumental movement surrounding it. How could all those people be wrong, both rich and poor, if spreading "The Flame" was not rooted in truth. You begin purchasing candles from "The Flame" organization. We also will provide you with logs for your camp fires. We will provide literature for you to read concerning "The Flame" by your candle light in the evening. We will provide workbooks for you to do group discussions around "The Flame" in your neighborhoods. If you want, you can begin your own "Matches for The Flame" business with materials that we will provide you from "The Flame" organization and its now growing and many subsidiaries throughout the world. Welcome to the power of "The Flame." Your focus on "The Flame" has led you to deny the very electrical power you have in your home, in your car, and in your office. You are so sold out to "The Flame" movement that any discussion of another power, even one you already have and have used in the past, is interpreted to be false and silly. You are now totally mesmerized by "The Flame." And that's the way we at "The Flame" enterprises like it, because your commitment to our "The Flame" movement confirms our importance, our livelihood, our value, and our purpose in the world - to keep our "The Flame" movement alive and growing to our benefit in the name of your benefit in which we have led you to trust. We thank you for your support in supporting us in the name of supporting what is important to you [Yeah, I know. It gets kind of confusing doesn't it?]
teachers in our world today because they have lost faith in the power of the Spirit of wisdom, knowledge and understanding they have in Christ and His guidance into all truth found in and outside of the scriptures [See The Power of God Unto Prosperity below]. God bless them for their honest "good ole boy and girl for Jesus" folk faith. But when that folk faith can be modified over time into something totally unbiblical and not in keeping with God's truth as revealed in scripture, it breaks my heart to know what ignorance and just going along with the latest and greatest pop theological fad among trusted leaders will do to a group of Christians. Could Gary Hinchman Be A False Teacher? Could I be a false teacher? Sure. Absolutely. That is why I am subject to your scrutiny, the wisdom from God's Spirit He has put in your heart and the in-depth knowledge you have of God's Word. I am subject to your speaking the truth to me in love so that I don't stray from the truth in my clever, creative and innovative desire to present it to others [Proverbs 9:7-10]. I like grabbing people's attention with the truth of God's Word. This delights my heart. But God has given you, as a believer in Jesus, the keen insight by His Spirit to hold me accountable and see through me where I am off base [1 John 2:20-21, 27]. Bible teachers and preachers with a love for God's Word love to communicate it. But I am fallible and accountable to every believer led by the Spirit of God [Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:18] with "the anointing" of that Spirit which every believer has at his new birth in Jesus [1 John 2:20-21,27]. I can be wrong, just like the apostle Peter was wrong in representation of the gospel before legalists, and had the humility of heart to acquiesce to a former persecutor of the church and an outsider who confronted him with the truth [Galatians 2; 2 Peter 3:15-16]. If you have a new birth in Christ of God's Spirit to spirit presence, you have been given the same Spirit I have so as to detect the spirit of truth and error in the world around you [or in Gary Hinchman]. This protects you and corrects me and reproves me for my own good in the love of Jesus. Reprove a wise man and he will love you [Proverbs 9:8]. A wise man knows that he may be seeing a perspective from outside himself he never thought about before that is going to help him correct his path into a wiser one in the long run - despite "the sting" of possibly being wrong in the moment. I welcome this from you and others for my sharpening growth [Proverbs 27:17]. Many Christians are too afraid of such growth and shy away from it in their remaining immaturity and resistance to change. Christians who do not want other Christians to reprove, rebuke, and exhort them with patience in light of God's word demonstrate they are not wise Christians at all [2 Timothy 3:16-17, 4:2-4]. We don't have to be afraid of heretics among us if we are all taking personal responsibility for growing in God's word and then lovingly holding each other to account in light of that Word in its proper context. Substituting "Spiritual" Elitism in the Church for the Common Power of God's Presence in All Believers The very nature of a real Spirit in all true believers [1 Corinthians 12:13] allows for a "correction factor" built into all of us as we "speak the truth in love" to each other [Ephesians 4:15; 1 John 4:6]. But when it comes to the biblical truth about "the power of God" in today's world, there are many substitutes which have crept into the Church "in the name of Jesus" [Hear Jesus at Matthew 7:21-23]. These substitutes rob the Church of the very power She already has in Jesus - the power of the indwelling Spirit of God possessed by all truly born-anew believers in Jesus. Like "The Flame" movement causing many to exchange the dynamic power of electricity for a different form of energy much less powerful and shallow in ability, strength, and purpose, false teaching in the church today concerning "the power of God" is causing believers everywhere to pull the plug on the powerful faith they have in Jesus for something claimed to be the power of God "in the name of Jesus." For example, when it comes to the power of prophecy [preaching the Word of God], Martin Luther, using the scriptures in the 16th century, ripped the so-called power of a spiritual elitism concerning the gift of prophecy out of the hands of a specially gifted group and showed how Paul placed it into the hands of all believers as God willed it.
And in another place he says this:
False teachers creep in the church claiming they have something that no one else has - a special gift, a special revelation, a new "power from God" that no one else has. But according to 1 John 2:12-14, 20-21, 27, all believers have "the anointing" of the Holy Spirit and are only distinguished from each other by their maturity in relation to intimacy with God and living out His Son's Word in the world around them [1 John 2:14-15]. But false teachers want to introduce an elitism into the body of Christ which will divide believers from other believers.
"Special" in the Eyes of Men Is Not Special in the Eyes of God Only people with special gifts are really spiritual according to the false teacher. If you have the gift of tongues then you are really spiritual. If you have the gift of prophecy or apostleship you are really close to God - even if there are false prophets and false apostles in the world today [Matthew 24:11, 21; 2 Corinthians 11:13; Revelation 2:2]. If you are associated with a teaching that other believers don't have then you are really in the "in group" and closer to heaven than most. The subtle deception of all this spiritual elitism is the development of "cultic thinking" among its members that blinds and enslaves those in the group to the elitist thinking of the group leaders. Once false teaching begins to take over, no one can think outside the box of the false thinkers. Everyone is hypnotized by the elitism of belonging and their personal pride grips them as being part of "the special few" who really have the right perspective that no one else has. And this special spiritual elitism can be found in non-Charismatic groups as well as Charismatic groups. Non-Charismatic's may make their special elitist territory some form of rational proposition, like a particular Bible translation or some particular method of gospel presentation as their circle of elite spiritual identity. Charismatics may use an elitist experience of some sort associated with coming under the supposed "power of God" or having a "special" gift that no one except "special" people have. And still others may use other forms of elite identity to define spirituality - like being environmentally green, or vegetarian, or being non-drinkers, or being non-movie goers. But if you see yourself as being part of the spiritual elite in these activities, you are supposedly "spiritual" in that group. Such elitism can go as far as the acceptance of same-sex leadership in the church or other controversial topics to identify with proudly as being a form of truly "spiritual" in your group. The topic focus is your center of identity for "spirituality" - not the person and work of Jesus Christ or walking in the power of His Spirit. The apostle John shoots this spiritual elitist thinking down with a word.
All teachers of truth in the church reference off the scriptures and the presence of the Holy Spirit in each person to identify with truth. And we are subject to correction by God-breathed scriptural truth [2 Timothy 3:16-17]. But we teachers are just beggars telling other beggars where to find bread. True teachers point to and focus upon Jesus Christ and intimacy with Him. False teachers point to every so-called spiritual topic you can think of but Jesus Christ as the compass center for all teaching. They stay fixed on their favorite hobby horse teachings rather than "the whole counsel of God" in godly context [Acts 20:27]. Money "in the name of Jesus." Spiritual gifts "in the name of Jesus." Politics "in the name of Jesus." Environmentalism "in the name of Jesus." Miracles "in the name of Jesus." Popular this, that, or the other "in the name of Jesus." Associate the name of Jesus with as many good but not godly activities or perversions in association with His name as possible and what effect will that have on identity with Jesus in the popular culture? It will kill respect for Jesus and associate the Lord of glory with crazy take-offs "in Jesus name." Now who would want to do such a deceptive thing in popular culture as associate his name with everything imaginable but his death for sins and his bodily resurrection by the power of the Holy Spirit as the identity point of an exchanged life of real godly change into His image [Luke 9:23; 1 Corinthians 15:31; Romans 8:30; Galatians 2:20]? One of the greatest perversions of false teaching in the church today is the creation of this spiritual elitism around the idea of an "anointing" that "special" Christians have that other believers don't have. The apostle John says, in context, to his disciples of every Christian age in maturity [1 John 2:12-14] that they all have the anointing of the Holy Spirit. There is no "special" anointing from God that separates true believers of any maturity in Christ from true believers of another maturity of some sort [1 Corinthians 12:13; 1 John 2:20-21,27]. But because we have come to define "spirituality" in our Christian cultures as "a person of special feelings of experience," we no longer locate the idea of true spirituality as a growing godliness in one's relation to Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. Special miraculous events and experiences are the tenor of super-spirituality today. Being one of "the miraculous in-crowd" is what people have come to associate the concept of "spirituality" with and the idea of a growing godliness that is in accordance with God's word by the power of God's Spirit has totally drifted away as everyone catches "The Flame" of one special experience after another "in the name of Jesus."
High School Spirituality "In Jesus Name" But being enamored with special experiences supposedly "of God" instead of growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus over time in spiritual maturity, immature believers are looking for spiritual rock stars to identify with so they can perceive of themselves as being in a special spiritual elite that is a "cut above" other Christians. When this happens, our pride has been captivated in the snare of the devil and we have been duped, like highschoolers with all their elitist cliques, into thinking that being a part of some special spiritual clique of identity is what it really means to be spiritual. Instead of the b-ball or football team clique, there is "the prophet" clique or "the apostle" clique. Instead of the geek club or debate team clique, there is the "true Gospel presentation" or "real worship style" clique in the church [traditional or contemporary, take your pic, a clique is a clique rooted in carnal acceptance or rejection - and they are in churches just as much as outside of them]. Were you a popular cliquish person in high school? You might want to check your spirituality in the church. Two groups are affected in their spiritual pride just like we are all affected in our personal pride. The first group is the really talented cliques of the church that outshine others - just like sport teams, the art departments, and other popular high school attention getters. These "up front" groups in the church, in sports or the arts, can be affected by false teachings that appeal to their pride in being "classically right" or "contemporarily cool." Both are driven by pride in the flesh. The other Christians subject to false teachings that manipulate spiritual pride are those at the other end of the Christian cultural elite spectrum. Believers with low self-esteem [little personal confidence in themselves because of a lack of encouragement or through a broken or impoverished background of some kind]. These people will attach their identity to false teachings because they give the person a sense of prideful purpose "in Jesus name." If they can attach their identity to the name of Jesus through a "special" gift or teaching that no one else has or follows, then finally, they supposedly have "from God" something they have not had their whole dysfunctional lives - a self-esteem "in Jesus name" because of association with a special teaching or experience "of God" that no one else can claim. Never having been in an accepted "in-crowd," these spiritual groupies chase one "special" spiritual experience after another to maintain their sense of being significant persons from dysfunctional and/or low self-esteem backgrounds. They become caught in the matrix of spiritual pride because they supposedly have something that others don't have that makes them "special." The Matrix of False Teaching
The Matrix merely focused all human being's thought processes on one life program while keeping them in a powerless childlike embryo state that became energy from which The Matrix could feed and empower itself.
Biblical Instruction and Understanding of "The Power of God"
Paul began his first chapter of Romans by connecting the gospel to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As he does in 1 Corinthians 15:1-5.
Paul clearly associates the Gospel of God with the person of Jesus Christ as a Jew in the flesh and the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness . . . . Paul says nothing about Jesus' miracles or teaching content in this context. He says the Gospel of God is about the person of Jesus and his power as the Son of God which comes according to a Spirit of holiness. Jesus himself tells us what the Holy Spirit will do when he guides us into all truth. And the focus of the Spirit will not be on miracles "in the name of power," signs and wonders, special gifts, or the territorial presence of demonic spirits - even if these are realities in the church from place to place until Jesus comes. The focus of the Holy Spirit will always be on Jesus himself.
The "Sign" of Jesus' Bodily Resurrection Power In spite of all the miraculous signs of Jesus given for believing in Jesus as the Son of God [John 20:30-31] in the first century, Jesus himself says that no "sign" is given to any truly believing generation except the sign of his bodily resurrection power.
Jesus himself taught that a generation who defined the power of God by any miracle, sign, or wonder other than his bodily resurrection from the dead is "an evil and adulterous generation." Why adulterous? Because the generation seeking for miraculous signs of "God's power," other than the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, are substituting a salvation by faith in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ [See Romans 1:4-5 as it relates to an "obedience of faith"] for a different concept of salvation based upon personal "miraculous" experiences.
So when Paul gets to Romans 1:16, in biblical context, and speaks of "the power of God for salvation," he is speaking of the same Gospel in the context above it where Paul says the gospel of God is "concerning His Son . . . with power by the resurrection . . . according to the Spirit of holiness." The power of God's Gospel, in context, is the Holy Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. But if we are not careful to let our understanding of scripture always be guided by the immediate context of passages we proclaim, we could actually take God's word out of context and pervert the Gospel of God with some association of the words "gospel" or "salvation" with something altogether different than an association with the person of Jesus and His Holy Spirit. And reassociation of biblical language out of context is a mark of a false teacher. So in this article, I am staying as close to the context of biblical passages that use the exclusive phrase "the power of God" as I can. By always interpreting the power of God in light of the biblical context where the specific phrase is used, we can learn much about the focus of "the power of God" in scripture. A Biblical View of Instruction in "The Power of God" By Job The wisdom of Job makes the patience of Job in the midst of suffering pale by comparison. In the midst of his great suffering, Job's wisdom is squeezed out of him before his friends. His struggles and how he is responding through them are screaming a message to his friends that they are missing because they are so filled with their own presuppositions [basic assumptions] concerning God, they can only interpret Job's sufferings in a negative judgmental light in a subtle self-exaltation for not being in his shoes. By the time we get to Chapter 27 of Job's book, Job is fed up with the set up his friends are trying to lay on him. As they continue to plague Job with judgments for his plagues, we see that a person's closest friends can be used by God to bring a person to the end of himself until he only sees what God wants him to see. Job's friend, Bildad the Shuhite, compares man's righteousness to little more than that of a maggot or worm compared to God [Job 25:4-6, i.e., a left handed philosophical slap at Job's claim to innocence compared to his deep suffering], Job begins a long declaration on the power of God in the next three chapters [Job 26-28].
Throughout his exaltation of God's power in these three chapters Job retains his belief in his own integrity in spite of suffering. But as he begins to instruct Bildad about God's power before his friends, Job begins to associate the power of the Almighty God with one thing that mankind completely misses in his pursuits of earthly power and wealth. He spends the rest of his time pointing out how the almighty power of God relates to the wicked [27:13 to 27:23]. He then moves to the power of the wicked to find wealth and exploit the earth to gain more valuables from its natural resources [Job 28:1-11].
The Pursuit of Wealth is the Nature of the Wicked But Is Not "The Power of God" But at this point [28:12] in Job's training of his friends in the power of God [Job 27:11], Job totally separates the power of the Almighty from any and all monetary wealth pursued by the wicked. God's power is in association with something that wicked men in the pursuit of wealth never consider - wisdom gained from an intimate relationship with God himself. From Job 28:12 to 28:25, Job instructs us about something related to the power of the Almighty God. And it has nothing to do with the pursuit of wealth whatever. It is almost as if Jesus had read the book of Job when he said, "You cannot serve God and money" [Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13]. The Separation of Man's Pursuit of Wealth from The True Power of God: Wisdom
What is the point in understanding Job's instruction to his friends concerning the power of God Almighty? The pursuit of wealth and material prosperity is not the pursuit of God. And an association of pursuing money and wealth with God's name is a foolish association that is wicked in God's sight. God may bless and God may take away blessings, but the power of God is rooted in an understanding of His wisdom through a broad perspective that goes beyond a fixation on monetary earthly values. For Job, and through a very real experience of testing under Satan himself, a "prosperity gospel" is no "good" news at all. Satan's original mission concerning Job was a challenge to Satan from God concerning Job's faithfulness to God by integrity [Job 2:3]. God merely lengthened Satan's leash, as The Destroyer, little by little to see how much prosperity, wealth, and health Job could lose before He denied his God [What does this say about the economic losses and destructions happening worldwide today?]. By being stripped of all his resources Job comes to the wisdom of resting by his integrity in the power of intimacy with God no matter how much he lacks prosperity, wealth, or health [Job 13:15]. What does this tells us about the worldwide influence of "the health and wealth gospel" being promoted throughout the church today? It says that God is leading his people into temptation by Satan from a different angle with the same results as Job [see Matthew 4:1, 6:13; Luke 11:4] - the temptation of associating the blessings of prosperity, health, and wealth with being close to God [which Job's friends promoted to Job and God rejected them for by the way ] against contentment with an intimate relationship with God in wisdom, regardless of riches and personal security. Bottom line on Job: Do God's people want God and His Spirit of wisdom or just the material blessings that are in association with Him? A friend of mind suggested to me recently that God allowed false teaching cultures in the church [liberals, legalism, false miracles and prophecies, deceptive signs and wonders, etc.] to siphon off poisonous elements in the church to "pools of liberal perversion" to help the purity of local fellowships committed to His Word. This is a very wise perspective. God allows Satan to test the body of Christ in the same way as Job was tested in a variety of ways. Those without the integrity of Job in the face of loss or the contentment of a true godliness born of God's Spirit are then enamored with the teachings of a prosperity gospel from false teachers and other supposed "power" ministries. From Job's time, to the first century church, to today's time period, God has been allowing Satan to test the depths of faith in God's people regarding material gains compared to contentment with God himself.
To associate godliness with material gain is totally against the healthy words of Jesus Christ. And yet God continues to allow Satan a certain measure or leash to to test his people with material gains or lack of them - just like Job.
A Biblical View of True Evangelism vs. Miracle Ministry as "The Power of God" Philip the evangelist preached the gospel of Jesus with confirming miracles [Acts 8:5-8]. There is no denying that if you trust in the book of Acts as a historically accurate revelation of the early church. But we need to pay attention to how Luke put his historical stories of the early church together. We need to pay attention to the broader context of these passages that tells us that confirming signs accompanied the early evangelists and apostles, if we are going to see truths in scripture from the breadth of perspective that God's wisdom might give us. And one of the first things we see in the text after Philip comes preaching the gospel with water baptisms, signs and miracles is that a master magician, named Simon, wants to duplicate the experience as part of a "salvation magic show" that associates him with "The Great Power of God" [Acts 8:9-23]. For Simon it was all about a "show of power" "in Jesus name" even though, as a believer in Jesus, he did not have the Holy Spirit in his life at all. Luke has a plain and yet very spiritual lesson for us in his literary contrast of these two stories about Philip the Evangelist and Simon the Magician. One was the real thing and the other was a fake. One had pure motives and real power from God. The other thought the power of God could be bought and sold with hard cold cash. One put the message of the Gospel of Jesus first [see Acts 8:1-2]. The other wanted only to associate the power of God with his showmanship and public circus that gave him a popular reputation among crowds of people. Since we see this clear contrast in the early church, we would be foolish not to think the same thing has existed throughout the history of the church and that many modern day miracle ministries are in it for the money and fame that associating one's self with "The Great Power of God" can bring. Furthermore, we can also see from these two stories just how close the fakes can come into association with the real thing. Simon the Magician is called a "believer" who was won to Christ and baptized by Philip, the Evangelist, himself. But where Philip's focus was on the Gospel message, Simon's focus was on the miraculous expression of power that accompanied Philip's evangelistic message. The real believer put the message about Jesus before the miracles. Fake believers make the miracles everything "in Jesus name."
Having come out of a background of staged showmanship using magic, Simon was fascinated with the miracles themselves. This tells us something that can exist in the history of the church. There can be immature believers who are "constantly amazed" by the miraculous and chase after Christian leaders, just like Simon followed Philip, for no other reason than to see and be amazed by the miracles and the showmanship that surrounds the event. These are literally spiritual groupies seeking shows of power "in Jesus' name" to keep them "constantly amazed." The self-deception is this, "I must be 'spiritual' if I am in association with and taking part in super-experiences of 'power' like these." "Spirituality" is redefined from "a growing maturity in Christ that transforms one into a godly person" into another spirituality that immature believers, just like Simon the Magician, fall for - the supposed "spirituality" of "signs and great miracles taking place." I am not saying that God cannot give a sign or do miracles today. I am saying that chasing after such things as true "spirituality" can be a Christian sub-culture phenomenon that false teachers can prey on by reaching out to immature believers, like child molesters and child abductors offering candy to little kids to hold their attention for deceptive motives. The Great Power of God Simon the Magician carried some baggage with him into his new found faith, a history of earning a living in the name of being "The Great Power of God." In his spiritual immaturity as a new believer, Simon was still ego-driven and self aggrandizing in his motives. So what he saw was a way to continue to make a buck on the name of Jesus by a new form of power that you got from the head-honchos of the faith at that time - the apostles of Christ, Peter and John. But when money was associated with the power of God by the Holy Spirit, the true apostles of Christ were very strict in their communication of how serious a crime before God and others it was to wrongly associate money with God's power. In Acts 5:1-12, we learn that lying to the Holy Spirit before others in relation to a real estate deal and a gift to the church can end in immediate death. And now, when Simon offers money for the gift of the Holy Spirit [Acts 8:18-21], we learn that this alone is enough to have him totally rejected by the apostles of Christ, as not being "true Christian material" at all given his attitude of heart, regardless of his intellectual faith in Philip's evangelistic message or his public water baptism. Evangelism is the proclamation of Jesus Christ's deliverance from sin by faith alone. One can believe in this message and still not have received God's Holy Spirit into their lives yet. I grew up in a rural church culture, going to "fundamental" churches all my life. I learned the folk traditions of faith, followed the practices told to me, and imitated the local Baptist folk religion I was told to imitate. But I did not receive the Holy Spirit of God into my life until January of 1972, when a genuine faith in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross brought a real presence of the Holy Spirit into my life. My cultural folk faith in Jesus was not the same as the personal faith and reception of the Holy Spirit into my life many years later. I had not received the life of Jesus' Spirit to bring life to my human spirit until years later. This is what was happening in the early church. The apostles, following Jesus directions to begin in Jerusalem, then move to Samaria [where Philip and Simon were in Acts 8], and then to the utter most parts of the earth [Act1:8] went to Samaria to bestow the Holy Spirit on believers in the Gospel. Repentance and faith in Jesus with a water baptism was a great entry into association with Christian cultural beliefs. But only the reception of and leadership by the Holy Spirit makes one a true Christian [Romans 8:9,14] - not mere mental assent after being excited by a miracle show of some sort. Separating Experiences of Faith from a Life of Faith by the Spirit of God's Presence Well-known reform minister Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones affirmed to evangelicalism "a distinct post-conversion experience of the Holy Spirit" by his teaching concerning the work of the Holy Spirit. In his book, Joy Unspeakable: Power & Renewal in the Holy Spirit, published in 1984, but consisting of sermons preached in Westminster Chapel in 1964 and 1965, Lloyd-Jones declared that he "believed passionately in the baptism with the Holy Spirit as a distinct, post-conversion experience"; that all the gifts exist today; that the experience of the baptism with the Holy Spirit is the only thing "that holds out any hope for us today"; and that whoever denies the baptism with the Holy Spirit is guilty of quenching the Holy Spirit (Wheaton, IL: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1984, pp.13, 54, 278). Let me say that I can agree with Dr. Jones as to the importance of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the Church. And I do not limit my God by denying that all the gifts of God's Spirit can exist today if God so desires. But why do we have to say that everyone who has intellectually believed and associated themselves with a Christian sub-culture is truly converted in the first place - the apostle Peter didn't? Some may have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit at their first walk down the aisle of a church as a child and some may have just been caught up in a crowd experience of trying to "do something" to earn their salvation, not finding out until years later that all their motives for a supposed belief in Jesus were shallow because they needed the presence of God in the person of the Holy Spirit in their lives to create a genuine "Abba Father" cry from their heart [Romans 8:15]. Dr. Jones and others have done something that the book of Acts does not do. The book of Acts does not assume that belief in the Gospel automatically equals reception of God's Spirit into the life. Mental condoning of the doctrines of faith in a particular Christian culture [there's that folk religion again] does not assure a genuine reception of the life of Jesus into the heart as Paul describes it in Romans 8.
It is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the heart that confirms spiritual relationship to God, not mental assent to a set of doctrinal laws of faith ascribed to out of fear of hell or fear of not measuring up to a local church's religious expectations on a social basis. Belief in Jesus is a first-step doorway to receiving His Spirit into the life for a true new-creation life in Jesus Christ. False Assumptions Between Folk Faith Traditions and Biblical Faith Living We assume, because folk faith repeats its doctrinal beliefs over and over again to its members from local church to local church that agreement with those doctrinal beliefs equals salvation. But that is not what the Bible says at all. Believing the socially acceptable doctrines of my local church may be only another "good work" I use to earn favor with men before God. "The just [truly righteous in God's sight] shall live by faith" [Habbakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:16; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38], not by a one time walk down the aisle as a child or after a prayer said over an evangelistic booklet in college, or after a miraculous experience felt in a special heart touching service, or by any one time or a few times act that is said to have earned salvation in some way. It is a life of faith with the Lord Jesus that demonstrates true salvation. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved" is a life long experiential growth, not a one-time mental-emotional experience in a church service.
All true election of believers is in the hands of God, and I personally don't think any Christian has the right to say who is saved and who is not saved - and should not even try. There is only One Judge to determine salvation, and He is not us [James 4:12]. But we do have the right to say that all true believers live a life of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ or they may not be Christians at all. The so-called Christian who has no real life of faith puts his claim to faith in Christ and His calling in question. In fact, the apostle Paul renames any supposed believer whose life is dominated by undiminished fleshly desires by calling him a "so-called brother" [1 Corinthians 5:11]. Living Moment-by-Moment Faith vs. Acts of Faith in the Moment Simply clinging to works of the flesh in the past as "acts of faith" is not living a continued faith at all. But the presence of the Holy Spirit is the determining factor for eternal salvation in the elect, not mental assent to a faith in Jesus.
Only the Holy Spirit of God is an "eternal life" received "through Jesus Christ our Lord" so as to give us a "born from above" human spirit, John 3:5-7; 1 Corinthians 12:4, 7; Ephesians 3:7; 2 Timothy 1:6-7; 1 Peter 4:10]. This is not as a result of works [even the "work" of faith], so that no one may boast. The only faith that "works" for eternal life is a faith that believes in the broken but resurrected body and blood of Jesus in order to receive the power [i.e., authority, John 1:12] of God's Holy Spirit into one's life - the very breath of His person and kingdom within [Luke 17:21]. Only the presence of God's Spirit through faith makes a genuine Christian [John 3:5-7; Romans 8:9,14]. So then, faith in Jesus without the Holy Spirit does not equal true conversion. Only a conversion by the Spirit through faith in Jesus will end in a salvation born of God through The Power of His Son's resurrection [Romans 1:4].
It is "by faith" that the Spirit is received. But it is the reception of the Spirit that makes a person a true child of God, not the faith itself. This is why "the elect" of God cannot fall away from the faith [being born anew by the eternal Spirit of God himself and enlightened to detect all deceptions - Matthew 24:24, Mark 13:22; 1 John 2:12-14, 19, 20-21]. And yet, at the same time, a believer can shrink back in his faith to the destruction of his soul [Hebrews 10:35-39], even committing a sin that leads to the death of that soul [1 John 5:16-17], through the shipwreck of an unfocused faith and loss of clear conscience [1 Timothy 1:19] that leads to the loss of rewards before Christ [2 Corinthians 5:10] and an entrance into His presence with no rewards but the smoke of a fiery judgment on his eternal "new creation" life [1 Corinthians 3:12-17]. Peter includes the reception of the Holy Spirit after one's faith in the cross of Jesus Christ for forgiveness, with a public acknowledgement of that faith by a water baptism in Acts 2. But he clearly separates the gift of the Holy Spirit from initial faith and water baptism. This only means that new-birth by the Holy Spirit, as Jesus taught was required [John 3:5-7], comes after true faith. It does not prove that the life of Jesus is there just because a person says they believe a doctrinal creed of folk religion "in Jesus name" or undergo a water baptism. Paul tells us the Holy Spirit is received with or through faith in a message heard concerning Christ:
But Paul's entire argument in the context of the book of Galatians is that a false Gospel is being promoted in Galatia by false teachers who want to replace the Gospel of receiving the Spirit by faith in Christ's cross and resurrection with a subtle perversion and altered way based upon "works" of some kind - a way of doing some kind of fleshly work "under Law." In the case of the Galatians, the work of the flesh was a physical circumcision being forced on Gentiles who were not Jewish in origin. Folk Faith Actions Added As Means to God's Presence Which Replace the Holy Spirit as the Power of God But in our modern era, we have seen other works of the flesh taught by churches "in Jesus name" used as outward signs of receiving Jesus [walking down an aisle in a service, kneeling at a prayer bench or altar, signing a prayer card, praying a sinners prayer in a certain way, receiving communion, attending church, demonstrating a gift of tongues speaking, water baptism and any other physical action [including snake handling] which a person can "add to" their faith in place of the Holy Spirit's new birth presence and continued filling which gives life and maturity in Christ - John 3:5-7; Ephesians 1:17, 5:18]. How many "Christians" exist in the church today who have never had a new birth in Christ because they were taught some fleshly action "in Jesus name" was required first to prove they had faith? Once the adoption of the folk faith action becomes the standard of the folk faith culture, then heads can be counted as to who is "saved" and who is not based upon these outward "signs" and actions "in the name of Jesus" in a variety of Christian sub-cultures. Sin in the flesh of a self-deceived heart could equate the fleshly action done "in Jesus name" as the "means" of salvation. So rather than trusting in the bodily death and resurrection of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit to eternal life, well-meaning "churched" people adopt folk faith alternatives and actions of their own, based on personal performance of folk faith activities, as their false standard of being "saved."
Nothing in the text of the Bible ever mentions "two baptisms of the Spirit" or "two receptions" of the Holy Spirit, one received when you initially believe and another special one later. In fact, Paul says there is only one baptism of the Spirit [Ephesians 4:4-7]. Two baptisms of the Holy Spirit are not in the Bible anywhere. It is not in the text of scripture. There is a water baptism to repentance under the ministry of John the Baptist [and I guess all good Baptists could be said to have had at least the first baptism unto repentance with water baptism as the outward statement of an inner repentance toward sin and even a faith in Jesus death burial and resurrection for that sin - Acts 18:24-28, 19:1-6].
The passage in Acts 8, where the faith of Simon the Magician wins him to follow Philip the evangelist, but does not transform him with a baptism of the Holy Spirit, supports this separation of a belief in the message of the Gospel from a reception of the Holy Spirit unto eternal life in light of that message. Faith in Jesus is the conduit and the Holy Spirit is "the juice" or "power of God" for a salvation that changes the entire Christians life by a setting apart to God [1 Thessalonians 5:23] that every Christian must have to be truly saved [Hebrews 12:14]. So just as an electrician can carry empty conduit or wire around with him in his truck with no electric power running through them, believers in Jesus can carry around an empty faith with no power of the Holy Spirit running through it whatever.
According to Acts 8, it is possible to believe the message of the Gospel, responding to it even through an evangelist called to preach the gospel, and not receive God's Holy Spirit at all. But only those who believe and receive God's Holy Spirit are true Christians [Luke 8:13; John 5:44; Romans 8:9, 14-15]. A cultural upbringing in some Christian form of folk religion "in Jesus name" does not make one a born-anew Christian as Jesus teaches must occur in each individual's life [John 3:5-7]. But many folk religious people, ignorant of their Bibles, being led by equally untaught leaders, but "believing" in their cultural traditions of faith, assume they are saved even if there is no new birth by God's Spirit in their lives. We should expect this in the church, with a subsequent reception of the Holy Spirit and a true new birth in a true believer's future history. I know many Christians who have come to a genuine faith and reception of God's Spirit after living years in the church with just a social and cultural folk faith about God that was shallow and empty. But it is hear that shallow and empty folk faith can be manipulated by false teachers.
The Manipulation of Folk Faith Believers by False Teachers And it is these people, millions of them, with a folk religion "in Jesus name," Roman Catholic or Protestant, Fundamental/Evangelical or Charismatic, who can so easily have their faith manipulated by false teachers using their folk faith and its traditions against them. All these teachers need to do is use commonly believed in cultural language from one denominational pocket of belief to another, and then alter it so as to lead these folk believers into one false teaching movement after another. Common folk belief then becomes commonly deceived folk beliefs which change from commonly deceiving folk belief movements, one after another. Once the false teachers have established themselves as "mainstream leaders" in their publicly accepted movements, they can take people of common faith [without the commonality of the Holy Spirit born of genuine faith in Jesus Christ] anywhere they want to lead them with "charismatic" or "studious" folksy charm and bellowing self-confidence that leads watching sheep to all nod their heads up and down or side to side as the false teacher prompts their folk language responses like Pavlov's dog prompted at the ringing of a bell to seek food. Pavlov's Sheep They are mesmerized in thoughtless folk faith responses that are interpreted as "of the spirit," or " touched by God," or "anointed speaking," or "spirit-filled activity," or whatever the common folk faith language wants to call a shared group experience that everyone has been trained to see as "the power of God," whether the true power of God was ever present or not. In non-Charismatic as well as Charismatic circles this stimulus response "group think" approach can be heard with a "Can I get an amen on that?" or "Do I hear a 'Praise the Lord' to that?" or "Praise and glory in the house of God!" These behavioral stimulus-response statements are not always done by false teachers. But as they become an accepted part of the folk religion of a particular Christian culture, they can easily be used by a false teacher to give credibility to what they are teaching "out of biblical context" in the moment. "Pavlov's sheep" have been mindlessly trained to respond to these stimulus response statements and then associate whatever is being taught in an impassioned moment as absolute truth to stand on and die for - even if it is out of biblical context and predicated on lies that the ignorance of the congregation can't defend themselves against. You see the problem with folk faith culture now, don't you? Intelligent faith in "what" and "why" we believe is exchanged for a faith in the cultural traditions and trappings of faith at a certain time in the history of any one particular Christian culture. For one Christian culture it is any teaching in association with a processional down an aisle. For another Christian culture it is any teaching in association with a platform healing service. For another Christian culture it is any teaching in association with a cool praise and worship band. For another Christian culture it is any teaching in association with a well-known celebrity Christian name. For another it is the use of a sinner's prayer card. "What" and "why" we believe something is exchanged for the cultural experience associated with believing it and the well-meaning sheep are led astray by deceptive wolves in sheep's clothing bleating the sheep's favorite folksy catch phrases ["Can I get an "Amen, Hallelujah, or Praise the Lord to that, brothers and sisters?"].
Mirroring the Folk Beliefs of NonChristian Culture This same phenomenon of commonly held folk faith movements happens in the nonChristian world around commonly held Christian or nonChristian convictions against smoking, against eating meat, for same-sex marriage, for being "green," for being pro-global warming, for being anti-global warming, and on and on. The creation of mass movements to manipulate the values of a culture work inside and outside the church. For the biblical Christian, some of these are "of the truth" and some are not. Some of these have healthy biblical foundations and some do not. Some of these are worth following actively, some passively, and others not at all. But only those led by the Spirit in light of God's revelation through scripture are safe against being misled by false teachers inside and outside the church. It is the living power of God within us that guides us and if all you have is a folk driven faith [intelligent or not so intelligent], then you are subject to easy folk religious manipulation by the constantly changing status quo from one popular movement to the next in and outside the church.
False Teachers Who "Believe" Without Having "Received" God's Spirit At All But this is exactly how false teachers can come into the church, learn the "Christianese" of the church, run so-called Christian miracle ministries "in the name of Jesus" and "in the name of the power of God," collect money from the saints of God from church to church, and never have been truly inducted into the body of Christ by receiving the Holy Spirit of God at all. Simon the Magician was one of these would-be believers with a propensity and fascination for miraculous showmanship "in Jesus name." He believed but he had never received the Holy Spirit of God at all. True conversion is by reception of the baptism of the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ. Just because faith is there, does not mean the Spirit is there too. For each person, their connection of faith with God's Spirit is a personal God-to-the-believer matter. If such people could exist in the early church and come into contact with evangelists like Philip, full of faith and the Holy Spirit [Acts 6:5], or the apostles of Jesus, how much more can these fake believers exist in the church today where miracle ministry after miracle ministry puts on a show "in Jesus name" and surrounds itself with the Christianese of Christian folk religions from one location to another? I am not denying that God can use miracles in the church today, give miraculous spiritual gifts that are a "sign" to unbelievers [1 Corinthians 14:22] where necessary, or choose to heal in ways that are amazing to see or be associated as "from God." What I am saying, in light of what Luke is saying in his contrast between Philip and "The Great Power of God" believer, Simon the Magician, is that so-called believers, who have not received the Holy Spirit of God, can so associate with a Christian folk faith and its leadership that they can win the trust of well-meaning people in the church and then dupe them into money-making ministries that bring shame to the name of Jesus Christ. If the early church had to face such temptations to manipulate the faith at its beginning, we can easily expect to face it in the church today by fake believers who know all the Christian slogans and traditions of folk faith to get them by, but have nothing of God's Spirit of Truth and Power in them whatever. "On with the show 'in Jesus name'" is their real faith - a subtle faith without God's Spirit of Power in it at all.
Gary Hinchman Power Evangelism for Atheist Penn Gillette: A Simple Gift Magician Penn Gillette of Penn and Teller explains the power of a simple gift given by faith in honest evangelism. Gillette is an intelligent guy [minus the wisdom of God that comes by faith] and has done many well-produced specials seeking to give an intelligent but humorous take on faith from an atheist perspective. This video shows that power evangelism is truth presented at the right time in the right place in love with respect.
The Power of God Unto Prosperity: God Wants You Rich (A Lesson in Deception for People of Christian Folk Faith) This message below, found on You Tube, is a travesty and perversion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, presented by Paul in Romans 1:16 in its context. Paul's Gospel is changed into The Prosperity Gospel using what looks like [and I repeat, "looks like"] an analysis of a biblical text where the true meaning of the text is reassociated from its original context and the author's intent [The Apostle Paul's context for the entire book of Romans]. But the way this prosperity gospel preacher twists the text to say what he wants it to say is telling. He uses a form of manipulation on his listeners in the way he delivers and mesmerizes his hearers. Note how he uses the following patterns to capture the attention and hold it. Then he keeps his message fixed on his prosperity message "out of context" with the biblical passages he discusses. Creating a "head nodding" upbeat, repetitive experience that carries the listener into an assumption of truth without real understanding is what is happening. For many, if the preacher says its so, it must be so. Thinking actively by the power of a renewed mind coming from the wisdom of the Holy Spirit is not necessary if you just let the preacher do your thinking for you [Romans 12:1-2; 1 John 2:20-21, 27]. The Use of Protestant Folk Faith Culture to Deceive Well-Meaning Believers in Jesus By mixing culturally acceptable religious assumptions with some truth, false teachings can be introduced into a culture of faith not on the basis of a healthy Spirit-renewed mental argument based upon the context of a text in the Bible. By using emotional manipulations in the presentation of the message, the appearance of authority is maintained, as the "folk faith buttons" of gullible, untaught, but well-meaning believers, are pushed so as to lead them into a habitual repetitive acceptance of the message "out of context" with the apostle Paul's real context in the whole of Romans. The Use of Folk Faith "Christianese" To Deceive ["If we say it with the Christian folk phrases you are used to hearing, then we must be telling you the truth, right?" Wrong.] Repetition of words like "Hallelujah," or other Christian catch-phrases gives the impression of rejoicing over "truth" whether it is actual truth or not. The honest emotional and social experience of saying "Hallelujah, Praise the Lord" has been reassociated with an excitement over the false teaching, whether the hearers understood the text in its context or not. The fact that the reassociation uses a "feel good" phrase of excitement and joy to boost its false message does not mean "feel good" phrases of Christian truth are wrong. The subtle deception is taking "feel good" phrases of accepted Christian truth and then misassociating them with "new teachings" that are contrary to the biblical text in its context. Once everyone is unthinkingly nodding in agreement, as they hear their favorite Christian catch-phrases repeated over and over again, the false preacher is able to use their ignorance and favorite folk religion Christian terms against them and easily mislead and deceive. This is probably the greatest example of a wolf putting on sheep's clothing. By putting on the folk Christian culture of a particular locale, the false teacher wins the hearts of good-intentioned believers and then guides them into falsehood little by little. The use of a "born again" invitation at the end of this message does not change the fact that this false preacher and teacher has just led an entire group of people away from the Gospel of Paul in Romans to a redefinition of that gospel into one about prosperity and becoming rich "in Jesus name." Is it surprising that a man with the same blatant "gall of bitterness" held by Simon the Magician, who associated money with the Spirit's power, would so subtly manipulate God's people right before their very eyes [Acts 8:18-23], using their own folk religion practices to do it? How much more deceptive can you get than to still use the term that every believer identifies with as from the words of Jesus [John 3:5-7], by referring to being "born again"? If he would pervert Paul's Gospel in Christ and Jesus' "gospel of the kingdom," what better way to do so than to hide it behind the popular Christianese term "born again" and the even more popular folk religion practice, begun in the mid-1800s in rural America, of an altar-call? As long as you use all the traditional forms of folk religion that honest folk faith people trust in, you can slip poison into the teaching water easily as they drink in the folk religion experience in the moment. The Use of Traditionally Accepted Folk Faith Bible Authorities to Reassociate Textual Meanings with the False Teachings Being Taught The Scofield Reference Bible is a traditionally accepted biblical authority among rural American people of Christian folk faith. So to use their trusted authorities, which many may have only heard about, gives the appearance of some kind of credible Bible "scholarship" when there is no real effort at studying the texts of the Bible in their context at all. This false preacher and teacher doesn't even mention C.I. Scofield's statement about "salvation" in the context of Scofield's own view of salvation in his notes. He just wants to use Scofield's name to manipulate his hearers into thinking that if he is using Scofield, he must be credible in his teaching. Below is what Scofield's Bible notes say in their complete form. But the false teacher on the video targets the word "healing" in Scofield's definition of salvation without mentioning what Scofield meant about being "saved" in the rest of the note on Romans 1:16.
Scofield says "salvation" is related to the person and work of Christ in delivering a believer from sin, exactly what Paul says in the context of Romans 1:16 [Romans 1:1-6]. This false preacher and teacher in the video below [time stamp on YouTube - 13:25], on the other hand, says, most Christians when they read that [Romans 1:16, "the gospel of Christ"] think it means the Gospel of Christ . . . . So when it says "the gospel of Christ it doesn't mean the Gospel about Christ . . . it means Christ's gospel . . . the gospel of the kingdom." Do you see the subtle shift away from Jesus' person to his gospel of the "kingdom." The "gospel of the kingdom" is being subtly changed from dealing with personal sin within by a relationship with Jesus through his Spirit presence ["the kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed [like money and prosperity] . . . . For behold, the kingdom of God is within you [Gk., "in your midst," where Jesus was at that moment - Luke 17:20-21] to "signs of kingdom blessing" through prosperity and wealth. The false teacher's focus is moving away from a relationship with Jesus to a relationship with signs of being in His kingdom, that is, prosperity by monetary wealth. Instead of Jesus' change of each person in His kingdom from the inside out by growing godliness, the false teacher changes the focus to a kingdom without needing physical or financial healing with monetary wealth. This is done by mixing verses of scripture "out of context" to say what you want your end conclusion to say. It is taking words about "prosperity" and "healing" and reading them into the text what you want it to say. "There is power through money in that gospel somewhere" becomes the primary motive of church "in Jesus name." This is a subtle deceitful misleading of well-meaning people who believe in Jesus who are so locked up in the context of a cultural folk faith, and its traditional associations, they can't even think straight from a biblical perspective any longer and are easily manipulated by the cultural experiences created by a bold attention-getting manipulative, but "folksy" speaker. When the true power of God, the Holy Spirit of Jesus, is diminished to the point where Christians operate totally in the flesh based upon their folk religion traditions and forms "in Jesus name," they become easy prey for false teachers who know how to use that folksy faith, and all of its trappings, for manipulative and deceptive purposes. The Use of Increased/Decreased Volume to Capture Attention in Order to Claim The Appearance of "Authority" Through Yelling at The Audience As if "Loudness" Equaled "Rightness" Loud volume does get attention. And it can intimidate and motivate as well. But just because loudness gets an emotional reaction, that does not mean what's being said is true to the text of the Bible or from the Lord. The "power of loud" is not the "power of God" [1 Kings 19:11-12]. The Use of Repetitive Phrases to Hammer His Prosperity Message Without Relating It to the Scriptures with Any Detail in Context By having the audience repeat phrases over and over, the false teacher creates an experience that "feels" like there is substance in the teaching when there is no real substance at all. This would be like a banker wearing you out by giving you an excited tour of his bank and leading you out the front door without you ever getting any real money in the process. You "feel" like something just happened because of all the "electric" activity, even if you left with nothing of real value in the process - including what you were just willing to leave in his bank. You had an "emotional ride" without any mental or long-term life changing value - like a child taking a repetitive merry-go-round ride that has come to an end "in the name of Jesus."
God Wants You Rich
Can You Recognize False Teaching? Part 1 Charles Stanley Teaches on the Topic in Three Parts
The Spirit of True Power: Where Potency for Piety Is Found D. Jefferey Bingham, August 31st, 2007, Chair and Professor of Theological Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary The Power of a Black Hole in False Teaching In the American imported BBC series Dr. Who, every show begins with Dr. Who traveling through time and space by means of his British phone booth space ship via a Black Hole to reach some other part of the universe. From that "multi-verse" perspective a thousand fictional story lines can be created from place to place in the universe. With exactly the same concept, the sci-fi series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis use the same travel-through-a-multi-verse-by-means-of-a-Black-Hole by going through a star gate that allows you to pass through space [and time if the story dictates it] to other parts of the universe. Many other literary and film stories have used the Black Hole scenario to build its storyline upon. Now consider false teaching the "Black Hole" that leads away from the universe that God has revealed in His Son. By leaving the known universe of scripture, as led by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of born-anew believers, the false teachers suggest strange new worlds that no one has heard of before that distract everyone from the true home world rooted and grounded in the resurrected Jesus Christ. By seeking exciting new multi-verse experiences "in the name of God" or "in the name of Jesus," or "in the name of Atheism," or "in the name of an anti-Christian lifestyle," believers and unbelievers are led astray from truth that has already been revealed for two thousand+ years by God's Spirit but not mastered or matured in yet from individual to individual and church to church. The Black Hole scenario is a great way to lead people from the known to the unknown in a fictional story where a variety of locations are a "my-story" in and of themselves instead of a history in real time and space. But notice what happens when everyone is traveling down one Black Hole after another into a variety of imaginary, but plausible, worlds of possible reality - Christianized or anti-Christianized. You never stay at home to explore your own home world in Jesus any deeper than you have because you are always traveling somewhere else for an exciting experience "in Jesus name." False teaching distracts from the true teaching of the Holy Spirit in all believers as revealed by the bodily resurrected Lord of the universe through his trained apostle's writings. False teaching will always glorify something other than the bodily resurrected Jesus Christ who reigns with all authority over the entire universe now. False teachers are given to creating Black Holes of distraction by which to lead people away from The Way, The Truth, and The Life [John 14:6]. And in this we see the nature of all false teaching. It will always lead to any Black Hole way but the bodily crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ. It will always lead to any Black Hole truth but the truth of the crucified and bodily resurrected Jesus Christ. And it will always lead to any Black Hole life but the life of the bodily crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ. And the imagination of man is like a huge Black Hole until the Spirit of God fills it with a holy imagination renewed and directed by God himself. And in this, mankind, without Christ, is traveling down one Black Hole after another into a variety of multi-religious and multi-irreligious worlds until faith in Christ brings the Spirit of God into the heart of men and women, filling the insatiable Black Hole of man's imagination with the inexhaustible presence of God that brings every way, every truth, and every life to rest in its Creator's Way, Truth, and Life - His beloved Son, Jesus. Gary Hinchman |
