Is Jesus Equal to the Babylonian Moon God?

Matthew 7:15 "Beware of false prophets. They come in sheep's clothing, but...are ferocious wolves"

Discerning Right Doctrine in Prayer Part 1

A Mixture of Christianity
and Eastern Religions

Have you ever heard the phrase "contemplative prayer?"

Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-1816 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Corinthians 14:15, Paul instructs us to pray with our minds. So, clearly, prayer does involve contemplation.

Unfortunately, there has arisen a part of the so-called "emergent church" movement a meditative process where the practitioner focuses on a single word and repeats that word over and over for the entire "prayer." Supposedly, one can clear one's mind so that God's voice may more easily be heard. Following the vocal part of the "prayer," the practitioner is to sit still and to listen for direct guidance from God.

Contemplative prayer, is essentially Eastern/New Age meditation disguised with Christian terminology. You'll hear such things as "empty oneself and be in God's presence," or "The silence is there within us. What we have to do is to enter into it...to become the silence...Silence is the language of the spirit." Contemplative prayer might sound like an innocent or sincere exercise but contemplative prayer is anti-Biblical; it has no Scriptural support. Instead, it focuses on some mystical interaction with God.

God is indeed mysterious. But He is not mystical. He has given us His Word upon which we are to base our faith. The Bible presents to us the essence of Truth, which is a who, not a what. His name is Jesus.

What we know about God is based on Biblical fact. Trusting in experiential knowledge over the Biblical record takes a person outside of the standard that is the Bible.

Contemplative prayer is no different from the meditative exercises used in Eastern religions and New Age cults. It has no basis in Christianity and Christians should have no part in it.

If someone in your sphere of influence (a church friend, a neighbor, a TV preacher, a pastor or any other entity) tries to introduce you to or encourages you to practice contemplative prayer, do not walk away from them; run away from them as fast as you can. They are spreading the word of Satan, not of God.

So, What's Alright As Far As You're Concerned?

What would you do if you discovered that someone in your church was enamored by a pagan practice and made it publicly known? Would it matter to you? Do you think the Bride of Christ can coexist with pagan practices and beliefs?

For instance, what if you discovered that a leader in your church believed that certain elements have extraordinary physical and emotional healing powers that are associated with Chakra?

What? You don't know what Chakra is? Well, let me enlighten you.

Chakras are a part of a Hindu belief system that teaches that the body has "subtile energy points" that correspond to the physical body and are the "meeting points" of energy channels called "nadiis." There are 7 Chakras: 1) The Root Chakra; 2) The Sacral Chakra; 3) The Solar Plexus Chakra; 4) The Heart Chakra; 5) The Throat Chakra; 6) The Third Eye Chakra and 7) The Crown Chakra.

One of the features of this belief system is that there are certain elements that have metaphysical and physical healing powers. One of those elements is a gemstone called Malachite. Malachite was used by ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans in amulet form to protect the wearer against the "evil eye." It was also used in the Middle Ages to protect children from witches and Satanic influences. The use of these gemstones and other artifacts of Hinduism are explicitly pagan in nature.

So, let me ask again. What would you do if a leader of your church believed in and promoted such a Hindu dogma?

Let me tell you that there is no mystical healing power in stones of any kind. The only healing power in the universe is Jesus. No person who trusts in anything other than the all-sufficiency of Christ is saved and definitely should not be in a leadership position in any church that considers itself a part of the Bride of Christ. Such a person needs to be re-trained as a Christian and most likely needs to repent and be saved.

How has the church come to turn a blind eye toward the quirky and heretical beliefs of its members and leaders?

The church has seriously failed to "vet" (to use a current popular term) its members and leaders. In other words, church members have sat idle while its congregation was infiltrated with "Christians" who hold aberrant beliefs that do not conform to the New Covenant standard. They have shown a total lack of discernment in receiving such members and in making such members leaders.

If this seems narrow minded, so be it. Jesus said the path to eternal life is narrow and few there are who find it. He said that the path to eternal destruction is wide, and lots of people will be on it.

Such a church is like the church at Ephesus referenced in Revelation 2:4, "Yet I hold this against you. You have forsaken your first love." The "first love" is Christ. There is room for no other.

The local Bride of Christ must not be "all-inclusive." It must conform to the basic precepts of the New Covenant or it should not exist.

New members must not be subjected to some sort of orientation class and then dropped like a hot potato, never to endure any further training.

We must school our members in right doctrine. That's what the WHOLE book of 1 Timothy is about.

As far as I am concerned, holding to the mystical belief of Hinduism has absolutely no place in Christ's church. If someone who holds to that belief does not repudiate it and repent, he should be disallowed to lead, deac, preach or anything else.

It Is Hard to Argue with God

Not too long ago a pastor stood before his congregation and proclaimed, “God told me….” He then proceeded to explain to the congregation what they were going to do. Trusting him, they went along with what he said God said to do. The result was catastrophic for the church.

When a pastor (or any Christian, for that matter) claims a revelation, vision or word from God, it is hard to argue with him because he thinks he has received divine direction. The Bible tells us we can “test the spirits,” but how do we do that?

The answer, of course, is that we test them against the revealed Word of God, the Bible. If a “word from God” does not conform to Scripture, it is a word from Satan, not God. The trouble with that comes when interpretations of Scripture are so divergent.

Let’s consider some things.

First, a true word from God is always verbal, the very words of God. It’s never an impulse or an impression; it’s never a feeling that needs interpretation. Rather, a word from God must be a precise message.

Second, a true word from God is testable as either true or false. If someone invokes the Holy Spirit as the source of his word from God, but what he says is false, God commands His people to reject both the “word from God” and the prophet (or preacher).

Third, a true word from God is infallible. Whatever God spoke through His pastor must error-free and utterly unaffected by human fallibility.

Fourth, because a true word from God is verbal, propositional, and inerrant, the only conclusion to draw is that it carries the full weight of divine authority. Since the end of the apostolic age and the completion of the canon, only Scripture can legitimately claim that level of authority.

Finally, a true word from God would result in Him being glorified, His church being edified and His gospel being propogated.

So is it remotely possible that the action recommended by that pastor and followed by the congregation that led to disaster was truly a word from God?

No. That is not possible.

The sad thing is many churches follow their leader wherever he takes them. They lack the Biblical knowledge to know whether he is leading the astray. They have never been trained in sound doctrine and true Bible study has been ignored so long that they do not know the difference.

As a consequence of that “followship,” some churches have been driven from a pattern of growth to a pattern of limp sheepishness.

God’s Word lays out all of the basic principles we need to know about the orderliness of God and how His business is to be conducted. It is too bad that so many churches don’t even know what those principles are, vilify the “organization” required to enact them and are too lazy to do so anyway.

After all, God is just supreme, sovereign, all powerful, everywhere at once and all knowing. No reason to be so serious about so-called “words from God.”

Characteristics of Teachers of False Doctrine

Scripture has a great deal to say about false doctrine and those who teach it.

Matthew 7:15 warns: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits.”

First Timothy deals extensively with teachers of false doctrine. In fact, that’s what the whole book is really about.

Romans 16:27 -  “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.”

We often emphasize the “divisions and obstacles” in this passage, but we tend to ignore the “contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught” part.

There are references to false teachers in 1 John, 2 John, Titus, the Revelation and many other places.

What are some characteristics of teachers of false doctrines and how do you recognize them.

Teachers of false doctrines typically promise what they cannot deliver. Their promises are often based on some imagined “word from God” that causes them to teach contrary to scripture or to teach practices that violate God’s set laws of finance. They eventually end up destroying the church they are supposed to serve.

In other words, the fruits of false doctrine are often collapse and church splits. Those are not acceptable fruits.

Teachers of false doctrine often stray from the gospel and teach some sort of prosperity faith, faith-healing or spiritual heresy.

Many teachers of false doctrine are leaders of very large congregations and are very charismatic. They teach a sort of “positive thinking” theosophy resulting in leading hoards astray.

Sometimes teachers of false doctrine are not the leaders of “mega-churches,” but of churches that should be growing but because of their false teachings and/or their inattention to the gospel, end up splitting instead.

Another characteristic of teachers of false doctrines is that they “experiment” with a variety of styles of both worship and education. They leave the methods that follow the principles laid out in God’s word and follow the crowds of those who are bent on becoming modernists.

The really sad thing is that leaders of the congregation who really “like the pastor” follow him over the cliff of failure and despair, blaming everything but themselves for being led down the wrong path.

More than anything else, Christians need to learn how to “rightly divide” the word, understanding that it is God’s revelation of His character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption.