Christian book industry 'sinks into the mire'

 Reposted from: World Net Daily

Exclusive: Jim Fletcher exposes dark underbelly of publishing 

Published: 12 hours ago

Jim Fletcher 

Blogger and researcher Jim Fletcher has worked in the book publishing industry for 15 years, and is now director of the apologetics group Prophecy Matters. His new book, "Truth Wins," provides important analysis of Rob Bell and his Emergent friends.

 

  I picked at a cranberry salad as my friend wolfed down a double-decker cheeseburger. He barely paused to wipe his mouth as he ranted about New York Times bestselling author (cue laugh track) Mark Driscoll’s hasty departure from the House that Mark Built, Mars Hill in Seattle. For those of you who have better things to do than keep up with the latest shenanigans within evangelicalism, Driscoll is the hipster loose cannon who recently succumbed to a year’s worth of bad publicity, spurred by his bad behavior.

Reports of spiritual abuse, plagiarism, misuse of ministry donations and other ugly issues forced the sometimes profane and always brazen Driscoll to resign as senior pastor. My calorie-ingesting friend was focused, however, on Driscoll’s “book writing” abilities.

“How many of these big ministry guys actually write their own books?” he asked.
I absentmindedly turned up my glass of water and two ice cubes hit me in the eye. I tried to appear nonplussed and continued pontificating on the state of Christian publishing.
“Well, it’s like this,” I blustered as I dabbed my eye with a napkin, “A few of them put in the work and actually write. But you’d be shocked and disgusted by how many of them don’t. It’s virtually a scam.”

The real scandal though? The absolute refusal of what some call the Evangelical Industrial Complex to acknowledge and discipline the jugheads within their own ranks.
Put researchers on the church payroll to compile your next bestseller? No problem, you are rewarded with conference speaking gigs to help promote the book.

Use the tithes of hard-working congregants to puff your book through a New York publicity firm? Congratulations, son, we’re going to distribute your stuff through the Catalyst network, good-old-boy Christian retail channels, etc.

Months ago, when Driscoll’s shoddy, plagiarism-driven books were outed by a few brave souls like Janet Mefferd, those exposing the wrongdoing were lambasted, while prominent evangelical leaders uttered nary a peep.

Think about it. Is Rick Warren going to reign in his protégé, Driscoll? Of course not. Did Driscoll’s outrageous behavior from the past disqualify him from speaking for Catalyst?
Are you kidding? There’s money to be made!

Rank-and-file Christians have no real idea how the Evangelical Industrial Complex controls the narrative within the American church. They do it through media and force of personality.
I know one – one – publisher still willing to produce hard-hitting books that will challenge evangelical leadership and inform the rank and file. The publisher recently told me that a brand new release (they require their authors to write their own books, btw) had sold 10,000 copies in the first month and was now in a third printing.

Praise God. Seriously.

Now, one can hope that the major publishers, who create, nurture (and, if necessary, prop up) the Mark Driscolls of the world will be more circumspect when signing up the new breed of evangelical “pastor.”

But that’s probably being too idealistic. No doubt Driscoll, already being rehabilitated by his friends before the ink was dry on his resignation, will emerge in some new ministry venue in 2015. He’ll take off for the holidays.

Days after departing Mars Hill, he was called to the stage to speak by the organizer of the Gateway Leadership & Worship Conference, Robert Morris.
Morris, a Dallas-based pastor, also made a crude comparison between Driscoll’s public “crucifixion” (because, you know, the Lord was crucified, too, by mean-spirited fundamentalists) and Jesus, and no one really blinked. In fact, there was applause.
So this is the state of Christian publishing today, by and large. Yes, you can rightly call me to task for painting with a broad brush; I acknowledge of course that there are fine efforts still going on within the industry.

But they are in the minority. So long as ICRS (International Christian Retail Show) allows books by change agents like Brian McLaren on the summer conference floor, and Warren, Bill Hybels, and Andy Stanley keep enabling spiritual abusers, publishing will continue to sink into the mire.
It’s a sorry state.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/11/christian-book-industry-sinks-into-the-mire/#3Xw3cyyedLQkGixJ.99

Peace and Religion Report.pdf

Peace and Religion Report.pdf

Interesting...What  do you think?

After 6000 years of written history and its lessons it taught us that we should have learned by now, the technological advances and the good will of men all over the planet to solve the overwhelming problems facing civilization, why are we on the brink of extinction?

This is the primordial question that should be the subject of reflection of every sentient and conscious human being. Maybe we are looking in the wrong place. This is what this blog is about.

We have all the facts, all the information we could ever need to make our planet a paradise on earth... keep on asking, keep on knocking, keep on seeking the one Creator who made you, who knows you, who loves you and the only one who can save your soul. Nobody else but you can unravel the mysteries of life to your own satisfaction, this is a personal quest. Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father, but by me".

Today invest some time in looking for the answers to your soul´s questions. Read the Gospel of John humbly asking God to reveal  the truth of the Scriptures.

In John 7: 17, the Lord Jesus said of his Father and you and me: If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine (teaching), whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. 

For a personal testimony, read A single sentence that saved my life

Jean-Louis. 

Hollywood tackles the End Times with “Left Behind” film. But is “The Rapture” a Biblical concept, or a fictional plot device?

Reblogged from:Joel Rosenberg´s Blog
In Uncategorized on October 5, 2014 at 12:09 pm



This weekend, Hollywood tried to tackle one of the most intriguing and controversial topics in Biblical eschatology: “The Rapture.”

A new motion picture — Left Behind — starring Nicolas Cage and based on the best-selling novel series by Dr. Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins was released on more than 1,700 screens nationwide. It depicts the sudden and cataclysmic disappearance of Christ-followers in the last days of human history.

I have not seen the film, and likely won’t for several months at least given my schedule here in Israel, so I cannot review or comment on it.
But I do want to discuss the concept upon which the novels and the film are based, and several related questions. Among them:

• What exactly is “The Rapture”?
• Is “The Rapture” a Biblical concept, or merely a fictional plot device?
• What does the term mean?
• What are the implications of “The Rapture”?

While the Bible does not indicate precisely when the Rapture will happen, the Holy Scriptures do teach that all true followers of Jesus Christ will be removed from the earth prior to the beginning of the Tribulation. 

Because God has not chosen believers to suffer the wrath of the Tribulation, people who have received Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord prior to the Rapture will thus be rescued from the worst of the persecution, wars, natural disasters, and judgments that the Book of Revelation, the book of Daniel, and other Scriptures explain will occur during the seven years leading up to the Day of the Lord. People who are not born-again believers in Christ at the moment of the Rapture will remain on the earth.

If a person honestly and genuinely repents of his or her sins and receives Christ as his or her personal Savior and Lord at any point after the Rapture — including during the Tribulation — the Bible teaches that person will without a doubt be forgiven of all sin, be regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God, and be saved from ultimate judgment. This is God’s grace and mercy, and it will be available even after the Rapture, though the Bible indicates that such new believers will still have to endure the terrors that will occur on the earth during that time. Indeed, many will face martyrdom. Only those who are believers before the Rapture will be saved both spiritually and physically from the wrath to come.

Read more: Joel Rosenberg´s blog

Muslim Areas Of Sweden Are No-Go Zones For Swedish Police - Investors.com

Political Correctness: The perils of multiculturalism and open borders have reached critical mass in Sweden. There are Muslim enclaves where postal, fire and other essential services — even police officers themselves —require police protection.

A police report released last month identifies 55 of these "no-go zones" in Sweden. These zones are similar to others that have popped up in Europe in recent years. They formed as large Muslim populations emigrating to politically correct and tolerant European states refuse to assimilate and set up virtual states within a state where the authorities fear to tread.

Soeren Kern of the Hudson Institute has documented the proliferation of these zones. They are de facto Muslim micro-states under Shariah law that reject Western values, society and legal systems. In these districts non-Muslims are expected to conform to the dictates of fundamentalist Islam or face violent consequences.

"A more precise name for these zones," says Middle Eastern expert Daniel Pipes, "would be Dar al-Islam — the House of Islam or the place where Islam rules."

Read More At Investor's Business Daily: 

Follow us: @IBDinvestors on Twitter | InvestorsBusinessDaily on Facebook

Muslim Areas Of Sweden Are No-Go Zones For Swedish Police - Investors.com

Note from this blog´s author:   Could it happen in the US? Give it a few years of inertia, complacency on the part of the general population and a hard push from the subversive, progressive elements in the country, given the lack of control at the borders and the untenable situation in the Middle-East, one day we might wake up with a call of worship to Allah and worse instead of a rooster call or Good Morning America. We will see what the Republican victory will bring.

The Day of the Lord - Hal Lindsey Report

This morning I was greatly encouraged  by this timely video. Here are the verses that remind us to keep our shield of FAITH up as the Holy Spirit who has poured the LOVE of God in our hearts and keeps refilling us so we can love him and others as an active manifestation and expression of our faith in action. 

⁴ But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you ^[a]like a thief; ⁵ for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; ⁶ so then let us not sleep as ^[b]others do, but let us be alert and ^[c]sober. ⁷ For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. ⁸ But since we are of the day, let us be ^[d]sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. ⁹ For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. ¹¹ Therefore ^[e]encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:4-11 (NASB)

Faith and love go together in providing balance and stability to our hearts and mind in these hard times of trials and tribulation. 

 Another verse about the hope related to the love that God has for us comes to mind: 

See ^[a]how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. ² Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. ³ And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.  I John 3:1-3.


The HOPE of the resurrection of our bodies is a strong component of that faith: Peter expresses this hope in these terms:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵ who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various ^[a]trials, ⁷ so that the ^[b]proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which ^[c]is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 
I Peter 1:3-7

Misusing Malachi 3:8-10 - Qs and As

Reposted from http://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher

Friday, October 31st, 2014 

Tithing

Q.  On more than one occasion, by more than one spirit filled minister, I have heard the teaching that if we as Christians don’t give 10% of what we get to the Church then we are ‘stealing from God’.  The only scripture they offer to support that statement is in Mal.3 where the priests were actually stealing the tithes to use for themselves.  I have totally rejected this teaching with my comment; “You’re saying then that Jesus’ sacrifice is not enough, and we must buy our way into Heaven?”


A.  Tithing and Salvation are not connected.  No matter how much you give you can’t buy your way into heaven, nor is tithing ever presented that way in the Bible.

It seems clear to me that when God said the Israelites were robbing from Him by not bringing the full tithe into the storehouse that’s exactly what He meant (Malachi 3:8-10).  It wasn’t that the priests were stealing the tithes, it was that the people weren’t bringing them.  Tithing was required by law and by not doing so the people were breaking the law, in effect stealing from God.

But pastors who quote Malachi 3:8-10 in an effort to get more money from their congregations today are misusing the passage.  In the Old Testament people tithed out of obedience, but in the New Testament we do it out of gratitude.

Paul said whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will reap generously, but we are to decide in our own heart what to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:6-7).  Jesus said with the measure we use in giving to the needs of others it will be measured to us (Luke 6:38).  In other words, our generosity toward others will determine His generosity toward us.

We are not under the Law but under Grace.  No other group in the history of mankind has been or will be as blessed as we are, and our generosity is one of the ways we can express our gratitude for that.

Anti-Semitism and the American Liberal: Obama Administration Calls Netanyahu a “chicken****”

Reposted from King Jester Blog
Have you heard about the latest garbage perpetrated by the Obama Administration in their long-lasting animus toward the nation of Israel?
Senator Ted Cruz explains the consequences of the Obama Policy of Animus toward Israel for our nation in an Op Ed for time.com .

This week, the world was treated to yet another embarrassing display of the Obama administration’s incompetent foreign policy.
According to The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, various anonymous officials referred to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as both “a chicken****” and “a coward.” While these indefensible comments have received the lion’s share of media attention, the substantive remarks about Iran were even more troubling. Goldberg wrote that another senior official claimed that due to their pressure on Netanyahu, it is now “too late” for Israel to stop Iran from amassing an “atomic arsenal.”
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told the White House press corps on Tuesday that the President likely does not know who did this, and there is no effort underway to find out. Other officials have signaled that these persons may be disciplined in ways that are have not been disclosed. But, regardless, they will continue to serve at the pleasure of the President because, as Earnest said, such things happen almost every day in this administration.
In other words, this is no big deal.
With all due respect, this is a very big deal. This is an unprecedented attack on a critical ally of the United States at a moment of international crisis. It is a de facto admission to the mullahs in Tehran that the Obama administration thinks it is too late to prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons. It is an inexcusable betrayal of the national security of the American people.
Do the Democrats agree with what Obama administration officials are saying about Israel and its leaders? Do they also concede that a nuclear Iran is inevitable? If not, will they call on the President to identify and fire the persons making these assertions? These questions should be asked—and answered—before Americans head to the polls next Tuesday.
It is my hope that Congress can unite to reverse this administration’s approach by defending our allies and standing up to hostile actors in the world. When the White House acts recklessly, Congress should swiftly act to defend our nation. We will not be able to do so if the Senate is led by Harry Reid acting as a rubber stamp for President Obama. Either the Democrats should denounce the Obama Administration’s dangerous policies or the voters should send them home in November.
As disgraceful as these comments were, at least they bring crystal clarity to the choice we face as a nation on November 4th. Choose wisely.

Indeed.
While we are on the subject of Israel…
Why do Liberals hate Israel?  And, why are the majority of American Jews Liberal?
This is a paradox that has perplexed Christian Conservative Americans, such as myself, for a long time.  What is it about the existence of the state of Israel that vexes the minds of Liberals and Progressives so?
David Mamet, a former Liberal turned Conservative author wrote a book titled, The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture, which studied in depth the themes he announced in his 2008 op-ed for the Village Voice, “Why I Am No Longer a ‘Brain-Dead Liberal.’
June 11th, 2011, americanthinker.com’s Rick Richman posted an article, reviewing Mamet’s new book. In this article, the author touches upon the subject of Liberal Anti-Semitism:

In a chapter entitled “The Intelligent Person’s Guide to Socialism and Anti-Semitism,” he first argues that “social justice” is a sort of Sunday religion that does not carry over to the pressures of the workweek, and he illustrates his thought as follows:
One may bemoan the plight of the Palestinians, who have elected a government of terrorists and daily bomb their neighbor to the West, but we realize that any support past the sentimental is elective: we do not want to live there, nor to go there, and we blink at the knowledge that monies spent in their support may be diverted to the support of terror, and of organizations pledged not only to kill all the Jews, but to kill Americans and Westerners of all faiths.
Where does sympathy stop, and where may it not become sanctimony and hypocrisy?
And then he answers his own question with a mini-drama:
Our American plane has been forced to land at some foreign airport, by the outbreak of World War III. It will not be allowed to depart. Two planes are leaving the airport; we must choose which we want to board. One plane is flying to Israel and one to Syria, and we must choose.
That’s where the sympathy stops.
No one reading this book would get on the plane to Syria. Why? It is a despotism, opposed to the West, to women, to gays, to Jews, to free speech. … And yet one may gain status or a feeling of solidarity by embracing the “Arab cause.”
Mamet’s mini-drama works even if you believe Israel is not a “laudable precious democracy” but “guilty of all the horrors” alleged against it:
I assert that you would still fight with every force and argument at your command to get on the Israeli plane, you and every hard Leftist and every head-shaking misinformed One Worlder and anti-Semite up to and including Jimmy Carter and Noam Chomsky, would, if the issue were his life, suspend his most cherished convictions of Israeli perfidy, and plead for the protection of that state you would then not only acknowledge but assert to be your ally …
There is nothing any reader of this book would not say or do to get himself and his family on the Israeli plane.

Per the americanthinker.com article, one of Mamet’s own previous books: The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Self-Hatred, and the Jews, which is basically an extended letter to his fellow Jews, has a Foreword to the book which ends with this striking paragraph:

To the Jews who, in the sixties, envied the Black Power Movement; who, in the nineties, envied the Palestinians; who weep at Exodus but jeer at the Israel Defense Forces; who nod when Tevye praises tradition but fidget through the seder; … whose favorite Jew is Anne Frank and whose second-favorite does not exist; who are humble in their desire to learn about Kwanzaa and proud of their ignorance of Tu Bi’Shvat; … who bow the head reverently at a baptism and have never attended a bris – to you, who find your religion and race repulsive, your ignorance of your history a satisfaction, here is a book from your brother.

Also, per the article, in his new book, The Secret Knowledge, Mamet asks the following pertinent and poignant question:

Why would any American Jew wish to become a “citizen of the world”? This fantasy is akin to one who believes in the benevolence of Nature. Anyone ever lost in the wild knows that Nature wants you dead. Enjoy the benefits of liberty and defend them as an American, rather than posing as a “citizen of the world.”

In an earlier article, posted on June 2, 2011, on americanthinker.com, Why Does the Left Hate Israel,  Richard Baehr attempts to answer David Mamet’s question:

…I have been to several of the left wing Israel hate fests. They are scary. There is real passion in the air. There is something about Israel that gets the juices going. Anti—Semitism is a part of it. There are a lot of people who are envious of Jews, on the left as well as the right. Patrick Buchanan thinks Jews have hijacked the conservative movement. But on the left, particularly in the academy, and in journalism, I am certain there is professional envy of the many Jewish faces and what better way to get even, and get back for sometimes losing the competitive battle, than by picking on the Jewish state as a surrogate. Leftist Jews sometimes lead the assault against Israel in these venues, thereby giving the attacks, whatever their reason, greater moral authority. Few Jews will stand up for Israel in these environments, because of the great pressure on the left to conform to the group think in the institutions they control.
…The evidence I believe is clear today that Israel faces far greater threats from the left than the right. The left is reflexively anti—Israel and has established important beachheads in significant American institutions— academia, the media, and the old line Protestant ‘high’ churches, as well as in the very seats of government power in many Western European countries, and their intelligentsia. It is not surprising that Israel seems unable to get a fair shake from college professors, the BBC, Reuters, NPR, or liberal churches. Being anti—Israel has become part of their religion.

As a Christian American, I know whom I support in the Middle East:  God’s Chosen People. 
You see, I’ve read The Book.  I know the ending.  Hallelujah!
In the meantime, pajamasmedia.com’s Andrew Klaven presents the following solution to the problem of Israel, with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
As he himself says:

Now, why didn’t somebody think of this before?

Muslims are trusting their god - are we trusting ours?

Reposted fromhttp://www.onenewsnow.com

Bryan Fischer   - Guest Columnist http://on.fb.me/1pFPvvd Thursday, October 30, 2014

Sophisticated weapons used with no trust in the living God will in the end be no match for unsophisticated weapons used with trust in a powerful demon god. Let's hope and pray that America and her leaders realize this before it's too late.

---

The October 28 New York Times features a story about how our Muslim enemies in Iraq and Syria have acquired sophisticated surface-to-air missiles, some of Chinese manufacture and others made by Russia.

The real takeaway, though, from the article is the following pull quote. Referring to written instructions regarding the use of these missiles, we are told, "The authors urged 'strong confidence in God and composure,' and certainty 'that this operation will cause a disaster to the foes and destroy their arrogance.'" (Emphasis mine.)

By "God," of course, the Muslims refer to Allah, the god of Islam. Now make no mistake: Allah is not the God of Christianity, for our God has a Son while their god does not. Muslims regard the claim that Allah has a Son as rank heresy and blasphemy. In many Muslim countries, they will cut your head off for even believing it.

On top of that, Christians worship Christ himself as God. Muslims do not. So it is plainly self-evident that we do not worship the same God our Muslim enemies do.
The god of Islam is not the "Creator" the Founders referred to in the Declaration, who alone is the source of all our inalienable civil and human rights. The god of Islam is a different god altogether. If the Scriptures are to be trusted - and they are - Allah is not a "god" at all but a powerful demon whose throne is in the bottomless pit of satanic darkness.

As Scripture says, "[W]hat pagans sacrifice, they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons" (1 Corinthians 10:20-21).

Here's what is imperative to note. Muslims, in their war on Christian civilization in general and on the United States in particular, understand that they are involved in spiritual warfare. It's their god against ours.
They understand that the conflict is about a lot more than guns and soldiers and tanks and rockets. It is ultimately a battle whose outcome will be determined by the powerful but unseen forces which operate in the unseen world.
So Muslims understand that we are engaged in spiritual warfare. Here's the real question: do we?

You cannot beat something with nothing, and you cannot defeat demonic powers with the arm of the flesh alone. Spiritual battle requires the use of spiritual weaponry. Muslims understand this. I am certain that our president does not. Or if he does, it is a truly alarming possibility that his sympathies may lie more with Islam and its god than with Christianity and its God.

With his relentless attack on Christian expression in the military and his relentless suppression of Christian chaplains, our commander-in-chief is weakening our military in a far more serious way than by reducing funding and troop strength.

George Washington understood clearly that spiritual might was a far more precious military asset to his army than weapons. That's why his first order of business as our first commander-in-chief was to order the appointment of Christian chaplains and to order his troops to attend "divine service" unless they were required to be at their post.
Another commander-in-chief of long ago, who was virtually undefeated in battle, wrote, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord (lit. 'Yahweh') our God" (Psalm 20:7).

Our defeat of the Nazis in WWII came in no small measure through our faith in God. FDR himself prayed to Almighty God on national radio as our soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy. Our God proved to be superior in strength to the occult powers Hitler worshiped.
Sophisticated weapons used with no trust in the living God will in the end be no match for unsophisticated weapons used with trust in a powerful demon god.

Let's hope - and pray - that America and her leaders realize this before it's too late. If we don't, the flag of Islam may indeed one day fly over the White House.

We've gone from ministering and serving to releasing. Yes, words matter

Reposted from Elizabeth Prata´s the-end-time.blogspot.com
Release the hounds!

The phrase 'release the hounds' comes from fox hunting. Photo source

Release the Kraken!

“Release the Kraken!” is a catchphrase and image macro series based on a memorable quote uttered by Zeus in the 1981 fantasy adventure film The Clash of the Titans as well as the 2010 3D remake. Despite the dramatic delivery of the line in the reboot, the quote was perceived as unintentionally funny and quickly became a target of image macro jokes on the web.

You've heard the word "release" applied to many different cultural contexts, above are two examples. The word 'release' has also been used more frequently these days in Christian situations. "Release" is a frequently used word. It is a very bad word in Christianity. I don't like it.

Why? It isn't used to say that prisoner Barabbas was released. It isn't used to say that Paul was released from jail. It isn't used in the Old Testament way to indicate a release from debt in the Sabbatical Year (Deut 15:1).

The word 'release' is used as a substitute for ministering or serving. When we minister or serve, we are under someone or under an authority. When we release, it means we have the power over something or someone. Here are some examples.

Compassion International has edited their mission statement to say, "our mission of releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name."

What they are saying is that they have the power over poverty and the authority to release from it the people whom they choose, in this case, 'children'. They are not saying they are serving or ministering to children in poverty. They are saying they have the power over poverty.

False teacher Joseph Prince preaches how to "release the anointing into your situation."

Prince is slyly saying that we have an anointing but there is a trick to releasing it. Most false teachers strive to tell you some kind of secret or action or trick to releasing it. However, this mysterious anointing isn't mysterious and it isn't laying dormant until you learn the secret password to having power over it. The anointing is the Holy Spirit in us, and all Christians have the Spirit. (1 John 2:27, more here).

What Prince is saying is not that we submit to the Spirit, or minister in the Spirit, but that we can obtain a certain kind of power that we wield as we wish, for ourselves, into ourselves.

Word faith false prophetess Joyce Meyer tells us "What words you choose will reveal what you believe and release the power of that belief."

She is not saying submit to Jesus in faith and belief, she is saying we have the power to choose certain words that have power in and of themselves, and moreover, these words can release certain powers over myself at my behest, timing, and choosing.

And so on. There is a big difference between ministering and releasing.

Do we have power to release anointings, blessings, beliefs, finances, health, cures, or anything else? No.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. (Romans 13:1)

Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” (John 19:10b-11)

To suppose that we have any power on our own is unbiblical.

Now, some might argue that these teachers are not false, that they are saying we are releasing power that God grants us. Not so again. We are His servants ... His slaves. Any power in us is from the Holy Spirit. We submit to that power. We serve that power. We minister in that power. God decides when and where His power in us is released, and to what degree. We do not decide when or how to use His power and certainly NOT for our own ends, like to get a bigger house, or a better parking space.

While the false teachers tell you that you have power over things, power enough to release "into your situations", the truth is actually the opposite. The weaker we are, the stronger we are. God shows His power through weakness. Paul wrote,

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

Be aware of the word 'release' and how it is used. It isn't always used in unbiblical contexts. But more and more often, it is.

The Best Verses In The Bible

 

Reposted from: http://gracethrufaith.com/

Wednesday, October 29th, 2014

• Grace
• Past Featured
• Salvation

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
Here we have God in His most active mode, deliberately weaving every event of our lives together into a tapestry of beneficial effect. He is managing whatever happens to you to somehow benefit you. If you haven’t discovered how a particular experience you’ve had fulfills this promise, ask God to reveal it to you. (Remember, you’re after His perspective, which might differ a little from yours.)

Let’s take the entire passage of Romans 8:28-38, pick out the key words and phrases, and look at each one more carefully to gain the full impact of His promise. I think you’ll soon see why I call them the best verses in the Bible.

The Greek word translated as “the called” in verse 28 is kletos, meaning to be called or invited (as to a banquet). It refers to the Church. The purpose for which we’re called is best described in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

According to Paul, God’s purpose in calling us was to create a new race of human (Ephesians 2:15-16).  Although taken from among both the Jews and the Gentiles, this new race would be called the Church and will have a destiny that’s different from either of the groups it came from.  Through the Church He would demonstrate the incomparable riches of His grace in ages yet to come (Ephes 2:7) in order that the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms (Ephes. 3:10).

Being called out from among the least worthy, the Church has become the most blessed.
The only coming age that we know about is the Kingdom, because the Bible closes at its end. But this passage hints at an untold number of ages yet to come. And during all of them the Church will shine forth as God’s crowning achievement, His work of art, the highest and best example of His creative capability.

The Church is His consuming desire, set apart by Him as holy and blameless.  He longs for us to know how much He loves us, and so His every word and action has brought us honor and expressed His devotion to us. He gave His life for us and has covered all our imperfections with His love.

Knowing we can’t ever repay Him for what He’s given us, He asks that we live our lives for Him, turning aside from the seductive call of this world, and toward an eternity with Him. It’s called being born again.

What Good Does That Do Me?

When we’re born again a whole new eternity opens up to us, and Paul explained it in the next verses of Romans 8.
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29).
The Greek word proginosko is translated foreknew here and means to know beforehand or ahead of time. Understanding the meaning of this word helps solve the man-made problem with the next one, predestined. This Greek word is poorizo and means to determine beforehand or pre-ordain.

As humans, we’re bound by the constraints of time, but God is not. He knows the end from the beginning. Taken together these two Greek words teach us that because He knew before He created Adam that we would choose to accept the pardon His Son bought for us at the cross, He determined at that time  to honor our choice, even though it would be thousands of years before we would make it, and He reserved a place for us in His Kingdom that no one can take away. We were foreknown and predestined to be made over in the image of Christ and to dwell with Him forever.
And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:30).

The word for “called” is kaleo, a root of the word kletos above. It has a pretty straightforward meaning; to call forth.  At just the right moment in your life, the Lord called upon us to take action on the choice He always knew we would make.

The word we translate as justified is another one of utmost importance in our understanding. It’s dikaioo and means to regard as though innocent. When the Lord saved us, He didn’t just ignore our sins; nor did He only pay the penalty for them. He removed us from them to such an extreme extent that He now considers us to have always been innocent of all charges. It’s as if we never sinned at all. He’s distanced us from them as far as the East is from the West. (Psalm 103:12)

And finally He glorified us. The Greek word is doxazo and it means to render glorious, of good reputation. In His eyes, we’re not an ex-convict who deserves another chance even though our reputation has been blackened by past behavior. No, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor. 5:17) because God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5:2) Knowing we’ve accepted the pardon He arranged for us, He now considers us to be as righteous as He is, without any stain or blemish, worthy of the highest honor!

What Do You Say To That?

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32).
If God gave His only Son for us, what will He withhold? What is so much more valuable, more precious to Him than the life of His Son, that He would be unwilling to also give it to us?

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us (Romans 8:33-34).
In what court can the one who seeks to condemn us appeal God’s findings? Who is superior to God, that he could overrule God’s judgment in our favor? Especially with God’s own Son sitting at His right hand reminding Him (as if He needed reminding) that all our sins were paid for at the cross. If God is our supreme judge, then His Son is our defense attorney, and they’ve already put their heads together and pronounced us innocent. Who can contest that?

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-38)

It Isn’t Gonna Happen

No force in the Universe is capable of severing the relationship between our Lord and us! Some contracts or agreements we have on Earth automatically terminate upon our death. Not this one. Perhaps some can be cancelled by spiritual powers, good or evil. Not this one. Some can be rendered null and void due either to a present or future violation, or a misrepresentation of facts or circumstances, or wars, or uncontrollable “acts of God.” Not this one. Look as high or as low as you want. Search the Creation from stem to stern. You won’t find anything.

Why? Because we aren’t parties to the agreement The Father and the Son are. We’re merely the beneficiaries. They agreed on the terms and conditions that would purchase our pardon. The Son agreed to die for us, and the Father agreed to forgive us. We simply had to accept their actions as payment in full for our sins to receive the benefit. It’s all we had to do; it’s all we could do. When we did, they confirmed it by the seal of the Holy Spirit, placed within us. The issue now is not our faithfulness, it’s theirs.

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession–to the praise of his glory. (Ephes. 1:13-14) Selah 2-27-05