False Prophecy to the Max

This is truly manipulation to the max.

Have an iphone, with all the info, and then say God is telling you what they need.

The Now and Not Yet Pilot: Mike Bird on Romans / Analytic Theology by Th...

“How Did Jesus Become God?” - Bart Ehrman and Michael Bird in Dialogue + Q&A 2016

The real stuff starts at minute 31.

Catch phrases used by believers to allow for false teachings and ideas in the church.

Have you ever faced false teachers and being criticised for it? In my case, this has happen just too often, that is depressing.

Well, Steven Kozar has gathered a list of the most used phrases that those who defend false teachers use against those who point out their teachers' heresies.

Here it's a few of the phrases, and why they are wrong:

1. “You’re just being negative and critical! Don’t you have anything good to say? I can’t believe you’re criticizing (insert famous/popular Christian leader)! At least they’re trying to help-at least they’re doing something! Why can’t you be more positive? I only listen to positive Christians-not haters!” 

Christianity is a specific set of beliefs that is based on one holy book: The Bible. “Sola Scriptura” is the Latin phrase meaning “Scripture Alone.” This principle was firmly established during the Reformation in stark contrast to the Roman Catholic Church, which claimed that church authority (the Pope) was equal to scripture. 

Because we believe the Bible is God’s Word, we must also believe that some ideas are incompatible with the Bible and must be rejected as false. While it’s true that Christians should not be primarily negative and critical people, we should be willing to say negative and critical things about false teachings, because bad doctrine is very harmful-it leads people away from God. The painful reality is that false teachers are great manipulators and they know exactly what to say in order to keep your trust (and keep their money pouring in), so sometimes it’s necessary to say negative and critical things to confront them and their teachings.  The Old Testament prophets, Jesus and all the Apostles did this. 

A lot. 

We should not be primarily thinking “positive versus negative;” instead, we should be thinking, “true versus false.” The Bible is not always a “positive” book because it contains the truth that we need to hear. We humans are like disobedient children who need correction from our Heavenly Father, who loves us enough to tell us the truth.
In Matthew 23:27 Jesus says “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.” Gee whiz, Jesus, that’s not very nice; at least the Pharisees were trying to do something.  

2. “But he’s really famous (he has written popular books, has a huge church, has a TV show, etc.), he must know what he’s talking about!” “That many people can’t be wrong!" 

This exposes the common belief that “the group is always right” (my group!); which is like saying “consensus equals truth.” Christians say that they believe the Bible, but too often what they really believe is whatever their “guy” (local pastor, TV preacher, famous author/speaker, etc.) says about the Bible. On top of that, if a local pastor is actually doing a good job of faithfully preaching God’s Word, he’s often being over-ridden by the surrounding culture. 

We have millions of Christians watching 10, 20 or even 30 hours of television per week, yet they don’t have time to read and study the Bible. But when the latest guru comes along with a new method of “hearing from God” they drop everything to “learn the secret;” yet, they’ve neglected God’s Word-the actual words from God. The situation should be seen as utterly absurd, yet since almost everyone behaves and believes this way, it’s been normalized. As a result, false teachers have free reign and a limitless customer base to promote their weird ideas and enrich themselves. 

In Mark 7:7 Jesus says to the Pharisees (quoting Isaiah): “in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” In Matthew 7:13-14 He says: “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”  Jesus is warning us not to follow the teachings of men (even if it’s a NY Times Best-seller!), and not to “go with the group.”  Psalm 118:8 “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.”

Go ahead, read the rest, they are very revealing!

Joshua 1 Be Strong and Courageous - with Sermon notes.

Be Strong and be Courageous

Joshua 1

Intro: Transitions are never easy. Some are easier than others, like when you get married, that’s a transition that you have been waiting for, and are actually looking forward. But when you change jobs, or move house, those are transitions that take a bit of effort to get used to since they may be unexpected transitions. Today we will see the transition from one leader to the next, and the transition of a whole nation from one place where they have grown comfortable, to a place where they must fight to posses it, but it’s a better place all together. Above all, we will see how God works out his promises in us, and how we are to be faithful and obedient to what he has said.

1. Announcement of a new leader.  Vss. 1-6
Vs. 1.What a way to start a book…by announcing the death of Moses. But this is needed to make a clean break from the time of Moses, to Joshua as the new leader. Who is Joshua? He is first mentioned in Ex. 24:13, and is commented to be always close the tent of meeting, cf. Ex. 33:11. He already had been publicly commissioned as the successor of Moses, cf. Nu. 27:18. He is called here Moses’ aid, but at the end of the book, he is also called “servant of God”, cf. Jos. 24:29. Vs. 2. Joshua knew his commission, he had been encouraged to take over God’s people way before in his life, Det. 1:38; 3:21-22; 23:28; 31:7-8, and finally, Deut. 34:9. So much encouragement needed, why? If you read what Moses went through with the people of Israel, to take such a task, was a real burden. Vs. 3. “I will give you” in the NIV, the NRSV and ESV translates it better, “I have given you”. This brings us back to Genesis, specifically Gen. 12 and 15:18, where the land is promised to Abraham, but also to Deut. 1:7: 11:24, where the promised is reaffirmed. Vs. 4. Wow, what a vast amount of land. This would include “the whole Jordan, large part of Saudi Arabia, half of Iraq, whole of Lebanon, part of Syria, and the whole of Kuwait. However, this was never achieved, not even when King David and Salomon were reigning. Why?? The Book of Hebrews gives us the answer, unbelief, cf. Heb. 3:19. Faith = Obedience. Unbelief = Disobedience. In the book of Hebrews we are told that they did not entered the land, and therefore, did not rest. Vs. 5. We are also conquerors, Rom. 8:31, 37. God’s promise of his presence is given to us as well, Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5-6 that quotes Psalms 118:6-7. Vs. 6. Be Strong and be Courageous. This is repeated here, and in vss. 7, 9, and 18. Notice, the land was already theirs, they are “inheriting”, not just taking from the people who were already there. It is because of God’s promise, that they are taking the land, not because how good they are.

2. Keep the Word to Prosper. Vss. 7-9.
Vs. 7 The way to succeed in the conquest of the land is to obey the word of God. Courage and Strength alone won’t do it. Not to go to the left or to the right, echoes Deut. 5:32 and 28:14 (the curses and blessings). For us today, we are also called upon gazing only at the word of God, II Pet. 1:19. It’s the only thing than can really make a change in our lives, 2 Tim. 3:16-17. NIV (servant), ESV (man), NRSV (everyone). It can work in everyone, no matter if in leadership or not.  Vs. 8. “Meditate”, is actually, murmuring. Do we murmur the word of God during the day? Day and night, echoes Psalm 1:2. Our faith does not grow through miracles or visions, or dreams, although these may help, but on hearing the word of Christ, Rom. 10:17. The key to prosperity is keeping the Word of God, no other thing will do.  Vs. 9. Just as Joshua and the people of Israel are called not to be afraid if they are standing upon the word of God, so do we. God’s promises are enjoyed when we are obedient, because our faith shows itself in our works, cf. James 2:21-26. We are then, strengthen by the Lord, Eph. 6:10; 2 Tim. 2:1; Phil. 4:13.

3. Joshua’s call to enter the land

Vss. 10-11. We see Joshua implementing the word of God right away. Vss. 12-15. Some had already been given land, and a treaty had been made for them to come over and help their brothers and sisters to conquer the land, cf. Num. 32. Maybe you here feel that you have achieved and done much in church, and want to let others go on to fight for the development of the church. Let me tell you, you still have a role here, by your attendance, mentoring, offerings, and guidance. You’ve been here longer than some of us, and we still need your wisdom. Vss. 16-18. It seems that the Israelites did not want to make the same mistake that kept them out of the Promised Land for 40 yrs, that saw their parents die, cf. Num. 13-14. Joshua and Caleb were the only ones showing faith along with Moses, cf. Num. 14:6-9, and therefore, only them from that generation went into the promise land. Do you see the importance of faith? If we have faith, no matter how big the giants may be, we will trust in the Lord to bring them down for us. Vs. 17. This second generation, had followed Moses, not rebel like their parents. They were now committing to follow Joshua. Vs. 18. Such is the loyalty that whoever would rebel against Joshua, would be put to death!! This took place in the case of Achan’s sin, cf. Jos. 7. However, he is also encouraged by the people with the very same words God had given to him, cf. Vs. 6, 7, 9.

Conclusion. Jesus is the one who leads us in this church. Yet, he appoints leaders to take us where he wants this church to be. May the leaders that are appointed be faithful to the word of God so this church may prosper and succeed. And may all of us, no matter how old, how young, where we are from, etc, support the leaders given to us by God, as long as they are faithful to his Word. 

Texts and Versions of the Bible - Michael Brown talks about this important subject

I have heard a very good programme by Michael Brown on the topic of the Texts and Versions of the Bible.

If you want to hear this important topic, I pretty much commend you to have a listen.

Go here to have a listen. 

Judaism described in the New Testament - Interview by Lawrence H. Schiffman

Bernard Starr, of the Huffington Post has done a superb interview to Lawrance H. Schiffman, on how the New Testament describes Jewish practices and beliefs of the Second Temple Judaism period.

Here it's a piece of the interview:

Q. The Sabbath mandate for rest and renewal in Jewish law and tradition invokes many restrictions on activities---particularly work. Acts 1:12 mentions the allowable distance one can walk on the Sabbath before it is considered a violation. Didn't Jews always know and practice that?
A. Yes and No. Yes we know about that law, but some say that these particular Sabbath laws only came into existence after the destruction of the Second Temple. But here we have verification that the laws existed in Jesus' time in the first century--- and that the disciples were scrupulously following Jewish law. In Acts 1:12 they were able to walk to the Mount of Olives (Olivet) on the Sabbath because it was in the allowable distance --"A Sabbath day's Journey away" of 3000 ft (2000 cubits). In fact, archaeological excavations have uncovered stones in some locations for marking the Sabbath limits. . 

It's an interesting read. Go ahead and have a look. You will learn heaps. 

5 Things We Do Today Instead of Preaching the Word - James McDonald

Preaching has fallen on bad times. Everywhere I go, and most stations I listen to, all I hear are "principles", "anecdotes", "personal stories", and plain non-sense.

I would like to offer you a very interesting article by James McDonald, where he identifies what is really being preached from pulpits today. It's sad, extremely sad.

Here it's a piece of the article:

2. Sharing
We hear a pastor say, “There are some things I just want to share with you today…”
Since when is the man of God some Dr. Phil and Oprah combo? You’re supposed to proclaim a message. If you’re not preaching, glory is not coming down. You have to preach the glory down—people have to hear a word from God.

So if you are one of the persons mentioned here, I hope you change, I really do, and start proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And for the rest of us, let us always look out not to fall into this errors.

You can read the rest of the article here. 

Helmut Koester has passed away

One of the greatest expositor of New Testament and Early Christianity,  Helmut Koester has died.

This is a small obituary:

One of the nation’s foremost scholars of the New Testament and early Christianity, Helmut Koester began teaching at Harvard Divinity School in 1958, and continued to teach at both HDS and the Harvard Extension School through the fall of 2014. He received the Petra T. Shattuck Excellence in Teaching Award in 2005. From 1975 to 1999 he was editor of the journalHarvard Theological Review, and he served for many years as co-editor and chair of the New Testament editorial board of the Hermeneia series, a critical and historical commentary on the Bible published by Fortress Press. His books include the two-volume Introduction to the New Testament (New York: De Gruyter, 1982, second edition, 1995 and 2000), Ancient Christian Gospels: Their History and Development (London: SCM Press and Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1990), Paul and His World: Interpreting the New Testament in Its Context(Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007); and From Jesus to the Gospels: Interpreting the New Testament in Its Context (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007).

His contribution to New Testament studies will be felt for sure, in generations to come.

May the Lord give rest to his servant.

You can see him in action in the following video, from 2008.

The Seven Mountain nonsense may be coming to your church

The people who support this non-sense have no biblical leg to stand on. The verse cited at the bottom is out of context.

One of perpetrators of this has been already sentenced to go to jail for misusing church funds.

Don't follow this teaching.