Pastor Joel Osteen, Lady Gaga, Gay Pride Month; The Enemy Within & A Bright Future

            Any school going teen raised within the confines of Historic Christian worldview will consider gay marriage as an aberration. But LGBTQ movement is gaining traction in every nook and corner of our world. This unholy movement will continue to assault the traditional heterosexual marriage (between a male and a female). So our next generation may even consider gay marriage at par with the monogamous heterosexual marriage.

            Given this existential reality, we who subscribe to Historic Christianity should be concerned with another entity. Not the secular world, but another entity.

            Beware of the enemy within!

            ““Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves,” says the Bible about the enemy within (Matthew 7:15, NET).  

            The enemy within could be far more dangerous and destructive than the enemy outside our domain. In this context, the enemy within is the group of Christians who actively endorse the LGBTQ agenda. Call them the Progressive or Liberal or the Postmodern Christians.

            Do not be deceived when you observe Pastor Joel Osteen and his wife attend Lady Gaga’s gay pride event, “Joel Osteen has fallen so far down into apostasy that his seared conscience doesn’t even alert him anymore when trouble is on the horizon, such was the case on Monday night at the SiriusXM and Pandora merger event in New York City. Joel and his wife Victoria were in attendance at the Lady Gaga Pride concert featuring drag queens, amazingly foul language and the endless glorification of the LGBTQ+P for Pedophile agenda. It seems that the Osteens had no problems at all attending such an event, which is not surprising considering how they have been creeping ever closer to supporting same-sex marriage.”¹

            It’s a known fact that Pastor Joel Osteen tacitly endorses the LGBTQ agenda, “On October 2, 2013 Pastor Osteen joined Josh Zepps on HuffPost Live for a more relaxed and intimate interview.

            Zepps read a piece that he liked from Osteen’s new book: “It doesn’t matter who likes you or doesn’t like you, all that matters is that God likes you. He accepts you, he approves of you.” Zepps followed up by asking if that included homosexuals.

            “Absolutely,” Osteen insisted, “I believe that God breathed life into every person and that every person is made in the image of God and you have accept (sic) them as they are, on their journey. I’m not here to preach hate or push people down.””² (Emphasis Mine).

            God loves everyone, sinners included. Therefore, God loves homosexuals. But God does not approve of the practice of homosexuality. In other words, God loves the person, who is a homosexual but detests the practice of homosexuality.

            So when Pastor Joel Osteen says that God approves of homosexuals, he seems to say that God approves of homosexuality, but nothing could be further from the truth.

            Sincere yet naïve Christians who may adore celebrity preachers like Pastor Joel Osteen should beware of such false teachings.

            The secular world may force its LGBTQ agenda into our domain. This is expected of them. But instead of remaining true to the Bible, a significant portion of Christian denominations and its leaders, especially the celebrity preachers whom many Christians adore, endorse sins and declassify them as acceptable practices. In the process, these people try to usurp God from HIS throne. But God cannot be usurped. What God termed a sin will always remain a sin. Of course, I am referring to LGBTQ practices.

            We who worship the living God should have the mind to reject such teachings because such teachings contradict the Word of God. If we endorse homosexuality because we blindly accept the teachings of these heretical celebrity preachers, we tread on dangerous ground.

            So beware of the enemy within!

            The future, however, seems to be bright for those who remain true to God’s Word.

            Nancy Pearcey quotes Andrew Sullivan to assert that the support for LGBTQ agenda among our younger generation is reducing. Here's an excerpt of Andrew Sullivan's article from Nancy Pearcey's Facebook page:³

Andrew Sullivan (homosexual columnist) says support for trans ideology is going down

For the first time, we’re seeing a sharp drop in tolerance of “LGBTQ” people among the younger generation. This is an entirely new phenomenon. It used to be the young that spearheaded toleration and inclusion. Now they’re suddenly bolting in the opposite direction:

“The number of Americans 18 to 34 who are comfortable interacting with LGBTQ people slipped from 53 percent in 2017 to 45 percent in 2018 — the only age group to show a decline,” according to the annual [GLAAD] report. And that is down from 63 percent in 2016. “36 percent of young people said they were uncomfortable learning a family member was LGBTQ in 2018, compared with 29 percent in 2017, and 24 percent in 2016. 34 percent were uncomfortable learning their doctor was LGBTQ vs. 27 percent a year earlier. 39 percent were uncomfortable learning their child had a school lesson on LGBTQ history vs. 30 percent in 2017.”

Or check this out: 62 percent of young men regarded themselves as “allies” of LGBTQ people in 2016; only 35 percent now say the same — a near-halving of support. Women “allies” have dropped from 65 to 52 percent.

The turn began in the year that the Obama administration — with no public discussion or congressional support — imposed critical gender theory on America’s high schools, determining sex to be whatever a student says it is. The imposition of trans ideology by fiat on the entire country’s young — along with severe public stigma for those with even the slightest questions — was almost textbook left authoritarianism. Well meant, perhaps. But dictatorial.

Even GLAAD, the culture police for the gay left, concedes that the transformation of the gay-rights movement into a trans movement steeped in critical gender theory in the past few years is likely the reason... GLAAD vows to crack down ever more firmly on those who aren’t fully onboard with its agenda. The last thing GLAAD would do is ask itself if it is actually exacerbating the problem, and that the redefinition of almost everyone’s sex and gender to accommodate less than 1 percent of the population is why this resistance is happening....

Kids are not stupid. They know they are being propagandized. This poll suggests the backlash has arrived, and it will likely grow."

Endnotes:

¹https://www.nowtheendbegins.com/little-monsters-joel-osteen-wife-victoria-honored-guests-lady-gaga-pride-concert-new-york-city-monday-night/

²https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joel-osteen-larry-king-homosexuality_n_4591090?guccounter=1

³https://www.facebook.com/nancy.pearcey.7/posts/10157425523754241

Websites last accessed on 30^th July 2019.

10 False Teachings That Could Ruin The Soul

            The Bible instructs every Christian to “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11, NIV). False teaching,¹ most certainly, falls into the category of the ‘fruitless deeds of darkness.’ Hence, it is incumbent upon every sincere Christian to expose the false teachings prevalent in churches today.

                        Here’s a list of 10 most dangerous false teachings, which, I believe, have the potency to ruin our soul, if we believe and act according to them. In other words, we may not² be saved if we believe and live according to any of these teachings:

            1. No Truth: Postmodernists claim there is no truth. In other words, there are no objective standards of truth, rationality, and logic. They subscribe to alternate concepts such as relativism and subjectivism. Postmodern Christians subscribe to this notion as well. The Emerging/Emergent Church Movement is a derivative of postmodernism. The devious import of LGBTQ agenda into the church of Jesus Christ is an outcome of the postmodern thought process.

            2. No Bible: The detractors of Historic Christianity claim that the Bible is not the sole authority for a Christian. You can assimilate just about any religious book and trust just about any book that may seemingly offer you wisdom. This is another postmodern thought.

            The Roman Catholic Church buys into this thought as well. The Catechism of the Catholic Church believes that Muslims, just as Christians, would be saved even though they do not believe in Jesus or the Bible, so much so that the Catholic church considers the Quran and the Bible as coequals, “841 The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."³³⁰”³       

    

            Another variant of this teaching is to believe that the Bible is corrupt (filled with error) and fallible. This erroneous belief led the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, to start a new religion.

            3. No Jesus: Those who deny Jesus may believe in HIS divinity, but they also believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is not the only way to heaven. You can believe in just about any god and still go to heaven, they claim. Even if you do not believe in God, you can go to heaven. These are some of the various strands of Universalism. Quite a few Christians believe in Universalism or Inclusivism.

            4. No God, this Jesus: Jesus Christ is not God. Jesus Christ was a mere man during HIS life on earth. “Any teaching that redefines the person of Jesus Christ. Doctrine that denies the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, His sinless nature, His actual death, or His physical resurrection is false doctrine. A group’s errant Christology readily identifies it as a sect or cult that may claim to be Christian but is actually teaching false doctrine. Even many mainline denominations have begun the rapid slide into apostasy by declaring that they no longer hold to a literal interpretation of Scripture or the deity of Christ. First John 4:1–3 makes it clear that a denial of biblical Christology is “anti-Christ.” Jesus described false teachers within the church as “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15),” says Gotquestions.org.⁴

            Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus was a mere man when he was born on earth.

            5. No Resurrection: Jesus Christ did not [bodily] resurrect. Proponents of this erroneous teaching either subscribe to a notion that Christ did not resurrect or Christ’s resurrection was not a bodily resurrection. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Christ’s resurrection was spiritual and not a bodily resurrection.

            Another false teaching that can be accommodated into this category is that Jesus did not die, but lived on to marry and have children. This was the main theme of the bestseller book Da Vinci Code.

            6. No Trinity: “Mormons believe that the Trinity consists not of three persons in one God but rather of three distinct gods. According to Mormonism, there are potentially many thousands of gods besides these,” says an article in The Gospel Coalition.⁵ 

     

            Christian apologist J. Warner Wallace claims that those who deny the Trinity subscribe to some form of polytheism or they deny the deity of Jesus Christ.⁶

            Trinity is actively denied by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Oneness Pentecostals, and Unification Church, etc.

            7. No Hell: Seventh Day Adventists believe that hell is not infinite torture. An article in Christianity.com states, “Adventists believe that hell is not an eternity of suffering and torture. They believe God is just but also merciful and it’s not in the nature of God to torture the unrighteous for eternity. Instead, sinners and unbelievers will ultimately die for eternity.

            Most Adventists believe some variant of annihilationism, which says that after final judgment, all unbelievers will be destroyed rather than suffering in hell. In this belief, the Old Testament and New Testament say that the final end for nonbelievers is total extinction. For example, in Romans, Paul describes hell as a final punishment, where the wicked die, perish or are destroyed.”⁷

            Annihilationism proposes a lack of hell. Those who subscribe to annihilationism believe that the wicked will die once and for all, thereby escaping the horror of hellfire. 

            8. No Grace, But Hyper-Grace: Hyper-grace teachers abuse God’s grace and teach people that our sins are forgiven once and for all (past, present, and future). Hence, there is no need to confess and repent our sins to God. “In short, hyper-grace teachers “pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality” (Jude 1:4) and flirt with antinomianism…Hyper-grace preachers also claim the Holy Spirit will never convict Christians of their sin. Mature Christians should recognize this fallacy right away. Every disciple of Christ has felt the overwhelming conviction of the Holy Spirit when he or she has sinned. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit “the Spirit of Truth” (John 15:26). Truth, by its very definition, will not tolerate anything false. When the Spirit of Truth abides in a believing heart (1 Corinthians 6:19), He brings conviction about anything that is not truth,” says Gotquestions.org.⁸

            The Lord Jesus said, ““But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the open sea…” (Matthew 18:6, NET). Hence, if hyper-grace teachers teach people that sinning is acceptable in the presence of God, they negate the Bible.

            9. No Grace, Yes Works: “Teaching that adds human religious works to Christ’s finished work on the cross as necessary ingredients for salvation. This teaching may pay lip service to salvation by faith alone but insists that a religious ritual (such as water baptism) is salvific. Some groups even legislate hairstyles, clothing options, and food consumption. Romans 11:6 warns against attempts to mix grace with works. Ephesians 2:8–9 says we are saved by the grace of God, through faith, and nothing we do can add to or take away from it. Galatians 1:6–9 pronounces a curse on anyone who changes the good news of salvation by grace,”⁹ says Gotquestions.org.

            The Bible does not say that Christians should not do good works. Doing good works, for a Christian, is a logical corollary/consequence to his/her salvation. This verse in the Bible sums it up well, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2: 8-10, NIV).

            Major religions emphasize doing good works (e.g. Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, etc.). Only Historic Christianity teaches that we are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will be saved, “…because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10, NET).

            10. No Historic Christianity, Yes New Age: If you wonder why many churches around the world adopt yoga, then you need to keep the New Age Movement in your radar. Yoga is a Hindu salvific exercise.

            In an earlier blog of mine entitled “Should Christians Practice Yoga,” I stated the false teachings prevalent in the churches:¹⁰

False Teaching In Christianity To Encourage Yoga

Some false teachers within Christianity who encourage yoga⁸ emphasize that the yogic codes such as Yamas and Niyamas can strengthen our appreciation towards the Christian teachings. They maintain that the yogic codes resonate with the Christian moral teachings.

“Ahimsa” (non-violence) is one of the “yamas” (restraints) of the yoga sutras of Patanjali (an Indian sage - considered to be an incarnation of the mythical serpent Anantha, as some believe). It seems Ahimsa resonates with the Christian moral teaching “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Similarly, one of the “Niyamas” (observances) of Patanjali’s yoga sutras is “Saucha” (Cleanliness or purity). Saucha teaches the necessity of purity or cleanliness in body and mind so to attain union with God. Apparently, Saucha resonates with the cleanliness teaching of Matthew 15: 16-20, and prayer, fasting and Scripture reading that focuses on the cleanliness of the heart.

Exposing The False Teaching

At the heart of the false teaching that yogic codes are essential to appreciate Christianity is the notion that all religions should converge, and truth (from various disparate worldviews) is always convergent.

This is Syncretism (fusion of divergent religions) in full force. Syncretism presupposes an inadequacy of any single religion to comprehend the divine on its own.

But every Christian should understand that God can be adequately understood from HIS Holy Word – The Bible. Christianity does not require Hinduism or one of its practices, namely yoga, to help understand and believe in God and HIS Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

What is the significance of these similarities between Patanjali's Yamas and Niyamas with the Bible? None! There is absolutely no significance! So what if two worldviews teach similarly? Does similarity in teaching syncretize religions? No!

Hinduism and Christianity are two fundamentally different religions (Godhead, salvation etc). Certain points of interconnect in the teachings of these religions will certainly not harmonize these religions. 

            By now you may wonder why Prosperity Gospel (Health & Wealth Gospel) does not feature in the list above.  I do not think that those lay Christians who subscribe to health & wealth gospel would go to hell because they do not deny any of the essential tenets of Historic Christianity. But their proponents aka the teachers, who twist the Bible to their own benefit, are most certainly treading on dangerous grounds, with respect to their own salvation (cf. Matthew 7: 21-23).

Endnotes:

¹Any teaching that contradicts the Bible is a false teaching or false teaching could be defined as that which denies the essential tenets of Historic Christianity. The essential tenets of Historic Christianity being God’s Triunity, Christ’s Birth, HIS sinlessness, death, burial, bodily resurrection & ascension, Christ’s 2nd coming, the final judgment, heaven & hell, the inspired and the infallible Bible.

²I do not want to sit in the judgment seat, which only belongs to Christ, so I say ‘may not.’ However, the chances of them not being saved are very high.

³http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p3.htm

⁴https://www.gotquestions.org/false-doctrine.html

⁵https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/the-8-beliefs-you-should-know-about-mormons-when-they-knock-at-the-door/

⁶https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/why-is-the-trinity-an-essential-christian-doctrine/

⁷https://www.christianity.com/church/denominations/10-things-everyone-should-know-about-seventh-day-adventists-and-their-beliefs.html

⁸https://www.gotquestions.org/hyper-grace.html

⁹https://www.gotquestions.org/false-doctrine.html 

¹⁰https://rajkumarrichard.blogspot.com/2014/02/should-christians-practice-yoga.html

Websites last accessed on 7^th June 2019.

Could We Accuse God’s Anointed?

          Pastor Benny Hinn, during a Pastors conference in Lagos, Nigeria on February 10^th 2017, cautioned that God’s anointed should not be criticized.¹ He’s not alone in making such statements. Quite a few servants of God pummel their audience to submission with such threats.

            “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm” (Psalm 105:15 & 1 Chronicles 16:22) is an oft resorted verse by fulltime Christian workers (Pastors, Evangelists etc.). This is to protect them against criticism.

            The Bible narrates instances of people being cursed for accusing God’s anointed. In Numbers 12, Miriam was cursed with leprosy for criticizing Moses. 2 Kings 2: 23-25 shares the narrative of the boys mauled by two bears because they cursed Elisha.

            Many Christian leaders are accused of immorality, false teaching, lack of financial accountability etc. So could we accuse these anointed servants of God who serve in HIS vineyard around the clock?

            Anointing is a prerequisite for God’s workers. However, our innate propensity to sin ensures that accusing God's anointed is indeed a complicated predicament.

            There are two broad categories of God’s servants – the true and the false servants of God. The true servant of God is called and anointed by God to employ his/her gift to serve God’s people in HIS Kingdom. Then there are false workers in God’s Kingdom, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” (Matthew 7:15, NIV).

            These false workers need not be anointed by God, since they are not called by God, yet they serve God full time. These false workers undertake God’s work as their permanent vocation for selfish gains.

            If there are false workers in God’s Kingdom, would not our criticism of them be appropriate? Yes and no; this is not as easy as it seems. This is another complicated predicament.

            Consider this complication. How do we absolutely identify a false worker? Confessions and other investigative mechanisms do prove people’s duplicity. However, when confessions are missing and when there are no solid evidences to prove a person’s hypocrisy, we tread dangerously. We do not possess perfect knowledge. So with what certainty or authority do we accuse a servant of God as a false prophet? There is always room for error in our judgment.

            Some Christians argue that God’s workers could be criticized irrespective of Psalm 105:15 & 1 Chronicles 16:22 because these verses do not refer to criticizing God’s servants, “Christians are to hold one another accountable for one another's behavior (1 Jn. 3:17; Gal. 6:2; Tit. 1:9; 1 Tim. 1:3,4; 4:16; II Tim. 4:2; Matt. 18:15-16). … Christians are to be accurate and balanced when giving criticism. When a person or group that claims to be Christian and yet seriously departs from the historical biblical doctrines of orthodox Christianity, one cannot stand idly by in silence. (Matt. 18:15-16). To not speak out would be dishonoring to God and unloving, not only to Christians, but also to the propagators of the error.

            …They point to biblical proof texts such as Psalm 105:15, "Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm" (KJV). But if one looks at the passage, it will reveal that it has nothing to do with questioning the teachings of church leaders.

            In the Old Testament the phrase, "the Lord's anointed", is used to refer to the kings of Israel (I Samuel 12:35; 24:6, 10, 16, 23; II Samuel 1:14, 16; 19:21; Psalms 10:6), and not to prophets. In the context of Psalms 105 the reference is to patriarchs in general (vv. 8-15; ef, I Chronicles 16:15-22).

            Psalms 105:15 has nothing to do with the issue of questioning the teachings of any of God's "anointed". In the context of this passage, the words "touch" and "do harm" have to do with inflicting physical harm upon someone.

            Specifically, in I Sam. 24:6, the phrase "touch not the Lord's anointed" refers to David's refraining from killing King Saul when he had the opportunity. It means in that context, "not to kill".

            The fact is that David did rebuke Saul publicly more than once and called him to account for his actions before God.”²

            You may be inclined to criticize the teaching of the person or the very character of that person. However, there is a word of caution associated with criticizing God’s servants when there are no confessions and/or no solid evidences against the said person.

            If you are inclined to slay the character of a God’s servant, then ensure that you “Try everything in your power to contact the person and have them or a representative explain themselves.”³ Do not blindly trust the media or ride the gossip bandwagon. We would be better off to err on the side of grace/caution. We should do our due diligence before attacking the character of God’s anointed.

            Whatever the case may be, if you are to criticize God’s anointed, do know that “…there is scrutiny and there is malicious intent—two very separate ideals. When you scrutinize someone, please make sure it's with 1) Godly intent about his or her teaching,  and 2) not against the person themselves. I've read many examples—especially on message boards—where a preacher's character is maligned because of something he or she taught or is NOT teaching…That's where people fail to take care when they "touch God's anointed." Their words are simply malicious.

            And, malicious intent against anyone, much less God's anointed, isn't without its consequences.

            We know from 2 Kings 2:23-24 what happened to 42 youth from Bethel who maliciously mocked Elisha, certainly one of God's anointed. "He went up from there to Bethel, and going up on the way, little boys came out of the city and made fun of him and said to him, "Go up, you bald head! Go up, you bald head!" He turned around, saw them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and ripped open forty-two of the boys."

             This type of mockery implied malicious intent, perhaps to maim or kill Elisha. At that time, the epithet "baldy" signified contempt in the East and showed severe disrespect for Elisha's message and God's power. God sent the bears as a judgment for their callous unbelief.

            God may not be so blatant these days. But again, there are consequences.

            So what should Christ followers do when they find themselves in disagreement with someone in the ministry? At least these three things:

            Make sure that what you are disagreeing with is something that person actually said. I've seen a lot of people comment on things they don't even investigate and simply assume it's true because they read something somewhere or heard it from someone else.

            Most importantly, check it against Scripture. This is the ultimate test.

            Don't go off half-cocked and rebuke anybody at time in any place—most specifically on the Internet—when you disagree with someone. Try everything in your power to contact the person and have them or a representative explain themselves. Matthew 18:15-16 says, "Now if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, then take with you one or two others, that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every word may be established" (MEV).

            There certainly isn't a lack of public rebuke on the Internet. A great deal of it is mean-spirited and not meant for godly correction, but as it appears, for some people to simply make themselves feel better…Pastor Kenny Luck calls it "spiritual nitpicking."

            It is important—nay, crucial—for Christ followers, as Hux says, "not (to) render a condemning judgment upon anyone (that alone is for God), but to render a discerning judgment upon all teachings. It is important for Christians to test all things by Scripture" as the Bereans did with Paul in Acts 17:11. "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with all eagerness, daily examining the Scriptures, to find out if these things were so" (MEV).”⁴

Endnotes:

¹https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyDaYlEIYM8  (Go to the 1:36:38 mark to listen to this caution)

²http://www.watchman.org/articles/other-religious-topics/accountability-the-way-to-touch-gods-anointed/

³http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/54342-be-careful-when-you-touch-god-s-anointed

⁴Ibid.

Why Pastor Osteen Why? (Response to Pastors Victoria & Joel Osteen’s Sermon Viral)

            Forbes cites Lakewood church as the largest church in America.¹ Pastor Joel Osteen with his wife and co-pastor Victoria Osteen lead Lakewood church.

            A recent video posted on YouTube shows Pastor Victoria Osteen’s remarks, which have gone viral on social media attracting scathing criticisms as well as sympathetic defense. She said, “I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we’re not doing it for God—I mean, that’s one way to look at it—we’re doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we’re happy. That’s the thing that gives Him the greatest joy… So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy,” she continued. “When you come to church, when you worship Him, you’re not doing it for God really. You’re doing it for yourself, because that’s what makes God happy. Amen” (Emphasis Mine).

            I disagree with Pastor Victoria’s theology. Let me merely introduce Pastor Victoria’s error.

            The crux of her message was “self over God” (narcissism), which is an outright idiocy. Man worships God for the Almighty God is to be worshiped in spirit and in truth.

            Holiness is the key theme in the book of Leviticus. We are not called to be holy for our sake, but we are called to be holy for God, whom we worship, is holy (Leviticus 11: 44 et al.). Therefore, when we worship God, we are not doing it for ourselves, but we are solely doing it for God. This thought pervades the Bible.

            Our joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We bear the fruit of joy if and only if we remain in Christ. Apart from Christ we can do nothing.  Therefore if we are joyous, God would be pleased with us, not for being joyous, but for being in HIM and HIM alone.

            Think about this as well; are we in the business of keeping God happy?  Alternatively, would our failures cause sadness in God? If this be true, and if the whole world, Christians included, are sinners, we are looking at the possibility of a very sad God. This God cannot be happy at all.

            On the contrary, if God is ‘perfect’ (of course God, as a maximally great being, has to be and is perfect), then HIS perfect being entails HIS happiness. Therefore, as the much acclaimed Aristotelian philosopher Thomas Aquinas said, “God is happiness itself.”²

            I hope this introduces the error. 

            As pastors of a church boasting attendance of 45000, Pastor Joel and Victoria Osteen would be much scrutinized. They would be much sought after and scorned by quite a few. This is the dilemma and the inevitability of success. Yet their immense popularity and mass acceptance would drown these negativities, even if these negativities are justified.

            Let’s look outside the persona and into the nature of the teaching. Why do preachers preach errors at the local church?

            Erroneous teaching would continue in the local church for the very simple fact that Christian or shall we say some of the so-called Christian seminaries teach these errors to their so-called gullible students. Thus, pastors graduating from these seminaries would preach errors to drag their congregation into deplorable theological pits and existential pitfalls.  

            This is the sad reality in the church today. When errors are preached by the pastors, the congregation simply believes the error as if the preacher’s words are infallible and inerrant. But in fact, it is the Bible that is infallible and inerrant because it is inspired by God.

            Since the average Christian is too busy to study and understand the Bible, and even discuss in Bible study groups, they render themselves vulnerable to the evil schemes of satan, which also could be in the form of church leadership (Cf. 2 Corinthians 11: 14).  When the average Christian refuses to study and understand the Bible, he/she loses the ability to discern the right from the wrong.

            When the average Christian loses the ability to discern the right from the wrong, he/she mindlessly applauds the heresies proclaimed by the preachers. These preachers are motivated by the applause, and they continue in their people-pleasing endeavor. The vicious cycle continues.

            So, it is not right to only blame the preachers for preaching errors. Please blame those in the congregation who hear and applaud these errors rather mindlessly. As some say, biblical illiteracy is at an all-time high.

            Here is a disclaimer. Not all churches and not all preachers preach errors. There are preachers and churches that remain faithful to God and HIS Word. Similarly, not all Christians remain without a great desire to study the Word of God. There are quite a few and I am blessed to know a few who have a deep desire to know more of God and HIS Word.

            So what do we do when we encounter errors? C.S Lewis once said, “Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered.” We ought to pray that God opens a door or even a window of opportunity where we can engage the error so to present the truth with a view to liberate the many who may have believed in the error.

            So those who are empowered to counter the errors should not remain silent, instead voice out the truth so that the truth will set them free. Having said this, the truth does not set everyone free, for many will reject the truth. But rejection of truth need not dampen the voice of truth. Truth should be proclaimed always, especially by those empowered to negate errors.  

            So let’s understand the Bible (2 Timothy 3: 16-17) through the anointing of the Holy Spirit and continue to destroy “ …speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God…” (2 Corinthians 10: 5a, NASB), and may we do so in the power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Endnotes:

¹ http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/26/americas-biggest-megachurches-business-megachurches.html

² St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae (A Concise Translation), p61.