The Internet chatter and speculations over Benny Hinn’s wishy-washy repentance from the Prosperity Gospel has pretty much died down at this point, with only a few rumblings here and there. The last rumble I encountered was on the September 30th episode of Too Wretched for Radio with Todd Friel and Phil Johnson.
People generally conclude that Hinn has yet to demonstrate any real repentance. Please, though, read that conclusion with sorrow, joining me Read More »
Michelle Lesley of Discipleship for Christian Women responds Biblically to the latest Beth Moore stunt in her piece, The Mailbag: What did you think of Beth Moore’s “A Letter to My Brothers”? This thoughtful analysis covers a wide range of Moore’s remarks while pleading with Moore (and her followers) to repent.
The woman who writes at Biblical Beginnings examines a popular false teaching in Twisted Tuesday — First Born by showing us how context interprets a phrase in God’s Word. What a wonderful demonstration of correct Bible Study methods producing good discernment!
Doug Wilson of Blog & Mablog expresses his Gratitude & Update to those who prayed about his cancer surgery.
The Ligonier blog features Sinclair Ferguson’s wonderful ruminations on The Gracious Work of the Holy Spirit in the salvation process. I particularly love the way he connects the Holy Spirit with the Word of God.
Cale Fauver’s article, Christian, Don’t Follow Your Heart, appears in For The Church to address a very common problem in society at large and among evangelicals in particular. Of course, evangelicals should know better. Pastor Fauver’s reminder cannot be repeated too often!
My regular readers know how adamantly I advocate for reading the Bible in context. So they’ll understand why I appreciate Alan Shlemon of Stand To Reason for writing Double the Trouble if You Ignore the Context.
Why would Leslie A of Growing 4 Life open a blog post talking about how mice infiltrate houses? Read The Smallest Crack for her accurate and convicting spiritual application.
Inspired (in a strange way) by the frustration that many women feel in response to Proverbs 31, Steven Ingino of The Cripplegate offers perspective and encouragement with Studying Proverbs 31…the right way. Ladies, although our husbands will benefit from reading this piece, enjoy the refreshing words for yourselves.
How can a blog post about hell end on a positive note? Allen Nelson IV, blogging for Things Above Us, answers that question with The Overwhelming, Never-ending, Reckoning Wrath of God. The post, as an extra bonus, gives us a couple verses to use in witnessing to Jehovah’s Witnesses.
If I comment on Even more than the watchmen of the night! by Elizabeth Prata in The End Time, I’d surely spoil it for you. But if you take time to read it, I promise that you’ll be glad you did.
Writing for Ligonier, W. Robert Godfrey examines The Word-less “Church” that permeates the evangelical landscape these days. Ignoring God’s Word has grave consequences that churches must recognize in order to responsibly honor the Lord Jesus Christ.
Unlocking the Bible features Pastor Tim’s Bible Q&A: What Should I Do If I Am Doubting the Goodness of God? Sometimes my sin causes me to question my salvation, and so Pastor Tim’s points offer the assurance I need.
Even though John Chester writes When Preaching Wears a Mask for pastors, I believe his thoughts can help all of us be discerning about the preaching we sit under. You’ll find this post on the Parking Space 23 blog.
“The issue of inerrancy is an issue of the integrity of God” according to Eric Davis of The Cripplegate. His article, How True is the Bible? — Inerrancy examines the trustworthiness of Scripture as the expression of God’s character. Yes, it’s a lengthy piece, but its length underscores the critical importance of the topic.
Yes! Emphatically YES! Michelle Lesley of Discipleship for Christian Women hits the nail on the head with Throwback Thursday ~ The Daily Wonder of Easter. We need committed pastors, not creative ones. Thank you, Michelle, for reprising this essential essay.
Writing for Southern Equip (a blog produced by the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary), Thomas Schreiner discusses Faith that moves mountains: What Jesus didn’t mean. He provides an excellent example of understanding Scripture in its correct context, as well as extricating familiar verses from popular misinterpretations.
Don’t miss Your Testimony Is Not The Gospel by the late R.C. Sproul on the Ligonier blog. His observations in this matter clarify what we should emphasize in our evangelistic efforts.
Normally I don’t link to anything posted prior to the dates listed in a Sampler title bar, and I can’t remember ever linking to a podcast. Andy Olson’s February 17 episode of Echo Zoe Radio, Costi Hinn: Defining Deception, causes me to make exceptions on both counts. Costi once ministered with his uncle, Benny Hinn, but has since become a cessationist. His testimony will absolutely fascinate you.
We all want discernment. Definitions of discernment vary according to theological convictions, of course, with Charismatics believing that it entails mystical gut feelings that supposedly identity some level of spiritual warfare and/or demonic activity.
I think specifically of a friend of mine in Memphis who believed God had given her the gift of discernment. During my first few months in the nursing home, she noticed that another middle-aged resident had befriended me.
This resident happened to use thick glasses that greatly magnified her eyes. Admittedly, she wasn’t a Christian and tended to use gossip as a way of establishing her importance, so she obviously wasn’t the sort of person I should have as a best friend. But nursing homes don’t allow for much socialization, so I accepted the resident’s friendship. She also needed a friend, after all.
One day my self-proclaimed discerning friend came to visit. With a knowing look on her face, she informed me that she sensed a demonic spirit in the resident who had befriended me. She claimed she could “discern” it in the resident’s eyes.
Should I mention that a year later this “discerning” woman attended a Benny Hinn meeting, believing that God would use Hinn to heal her diabetes?
In my over 30 years in Charismatic circles, I’ve witnessed many other instances of people (usually women) exercising the kind of mystical “discernment” that my friend in Memphis supposedly exercised in detecting a demonic spirit in the resident’s eyes. But this type of discernment, from what I see in Scripture, belonged to the Apostles. Notice that 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 lists the gift of discernment among the gifts that expired at the close of the Apostolic Age.
Rather than being a spiritual gift for post-apostolic Christians, Biblical discernment is a cultivated skill that all Christians can (and should) develop through reading and studying God’s Word.
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ~~Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)
The Word reveals Who the Lord is and how He thinks. Consequently, it enables us to discern good teaching from poor teaching, truth from error and wise decisions from unwise. For example, studying Scriptures about gossip would have been a better warning regarding the resident in the nursing home than a gut feeling based on glasses that magnified her eyes. And a good knowledge of Scripture would have made it obvious that Benny Hinn is neither a Biblical teacher nor someone with the gift of healing.
Let’s get over the idea that discernment is a mystical sensation that “gifted” believers possess. That misconception actually draws people away from God’s Word instead of helping them develop true discernment skills.
Since I’ve been blogging about the various problems with many discernment ministries and discernment bloggers over the past couple years (and especially in recent weeks), some of you may have the impression that I look down my nose at discernment in general. If so, you’ve misunderstood me. I actually value discernment quite highly as something every Christian absolutely must exercise. The Word of God says that Christians should grow in discernment.
9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. ~~Philippians 1:9-11 (ESV)
Do you notice that Paul would have discernment, as well as knowledge, connected with abounding love? Did you also notice that he would have Christians abound in love, knowledge and all discernment for the purpose of glorifying God with purity, blamelessness and righteousness? God indeed calls us to discernment, but the discernment He means is a great deal different from the thing that many self-proclaimed discernment bloggers exhibit.
Discernment certainly includes naming names to identity false teachers. Please don’t misunderstand me as saying that we shouldn’t call out Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, Rick Warren or any of the other evangelical celebrities who have damaged the Body of Christ in recent years. The Bible Study I led you through on Jude just last year made it clear that discernment requires us to recognize those who distort God’s Word. So yes, doing so remains an indispensable function of discernment ministry.
But, dear sisters in Christ, it’s only one of several aspects of discernment. Biblical discernment, at its heart, distinguishes between good and evil, and then makes further distinctions between good, better and best. It rightly interprets Scripture using proper hermeneutics to judge teachings and behaviors to ensure our conformity to the Lord’s will.
Discernment ministry should never exalt our supposed discernment skills. Personally, I find it off-putting when someone tells me she has the gift of discernment. I’ve seen too many women who believe they have that gift who are really gullible. (One friend of mine who prides herself on being discerning sought physical healing at a Benny Hinn crusade.) When we set ourselves up as purveyors of discernment, we display a type of pride that can seriously undermine our credibility.
I pray for discernment, but the Lord repeatedly humbles me by allowing me to see how often I still lack it. Thankfully, His Word offers me a way to develop discernment as I go through life. As I submit to His revealed will in Scripture, He enables me to discern His will in any given situation. He also helps me determine whether or not something conforms to His Word.
I’ll keep blogging about discernment, not because I fancy myself as being discerning, but because I want to grow right along with you in being a godly woman. I want discernment for the sake of honoring the Lord, not for the purpose of building my own blogging empire. If so-called discernment doesn’t direct hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ, is it really discernment?
The teachings on romance with Jesus stem from a greater problem within evangelical circles, as yesterday’s post on The Cripplegate reminded me. The Dangers of Man-Centered Theology demonstrates (in quite convicting ways) how easily we make the Gospel all about us. We may give lip-service to the fact that Jesus deserves all the praise, honor and glory, but honesty forces us to admit that most of the time we follow Him with the expectation of receiving goodies.
I can’t help thinking of this passage:
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” ~~John 6:25-40 (ESV)
The crowd wanted Jesus because He met their temporal needs, not because He deserved their adoration. He fed the 5000 to reveal Himself as the Almighty Creator, but the people chose to focus on Him as a cosmic Waiter Who bore the responsibility of satisfying their appetites.
We do pretty much the same thing now. Maybe most of us have enough delicacy to avoid the blatant Name-It-And-Claim-It teachings of people like Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer and Benny Hinn, but how many of us fall for Beth Moore, Rick Warren and Sarah Young as they offer a watered-down Jesus that romances us, gives us purpose and whispers in our ear? Instead of physical bread, this man-made Jesus lets us feel special about ourselves.
Certainly, the Lord loves His people, and He graciously cares for our needs. He does so, not because we deserve His mercy (we don’t), but because He is amazingly kind and generous in the face of our unworthiness. His kindness shouldn’t stimulate our greed, so that we constantly dream up new ways for Him to shower us with blessings. Quite the contrary, those blessings ought to cause us to shower Him with praise and adoration. They should place our attention back on Him.
The Outspoken TULIP 