What is the Gospel? It is the true Easter message

The Resurrection of Christ

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,  and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Creflo Dollar removes posts claiming Jesus died to give us “financial prosperity”

I am a huge proponent of screencap. Capturing an image before a false teacher or wolf or talk show host or author realizes he’s been caught peddling falsehoods is often the only way sheep will realize just how deceitful their beloved Christian celebrities really are.  So when I saw that someone had captured yet another horrific, blasphemous lie on social media this morning, I just about fainted:  “Jesus bled and died for us so that we can lay claim to the promise of financial prosperity.”

And the hashtags #ProsperityInChrist, #WealthyLiving and #AbundantLife.

Screencap is good, but being a Berean is better. I had to check this out for myself. I could not find Creflo Dollar’s statement on his Facebook or Twitter profiles. But I did find an article by Andy Walton on Christian Today, confirming that Team Creflo indeed removed the post after hundreds of Bereans criticized him for his statement:

Pastor and popular preacher Creflo Dollar has carried out an apparent u-turn over a post which endorsed the prosperity gospel on his official Facebook page. The post was on the site for around 24 hours before seemingly being removed.

While Dollar has been accused of promoting the prosperity gospel many times before, this was the most obvious and blatant statement of those beliefs. Soon, he was being heavily criticised in the comments under the update as well as roundly mocked for the statement, which is so clearly at odds with orthodox Christian teaching.

The statement was then removed from the Facebook page without comment from Dollar or his team. While there seems to be no trace of the original post remaining on his Facebook page, screengrabs were taken of it which are readily available online.   Story here.

When a wolf shows his true colors and his fur peeks out from the white wool he has been pulling over the eyes of sheep around the world, it is not mean to point it out and warn the flock.  Do not be deceived.  Please research this movement called Word of Faith, and read our white paper on it.

Nothing will create more euphoria in the average person than the promise to make them wealthy, and this the Word-Faith leadership knows very well. The Word-Faith teacher’s lifestyle is clearly identified by opulence, luxury, riches, and the assurance that all of this can be his followers as well — if only they apply certain principles.

Dancing on Money [VIDEO]: Creflo Dollar’s Cash Foundation

If you’ve never seen this video of prosperity preachers Creflo Dollar and LeRoy Thompson dancing across their stage on the dollar bills of congregants, you’d best gird your loins first with truth:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools..  Romans 1:18-24

Creflo, who recently removed his post stating that Jesus’s blood was shed so we could be wealthy, has always been a wolf. His love of money knows no satisfaction, even guilting his followers into funding a $65 Million private jet.  Thompson boasts about his $16,000 dog and his $3.6 Million home.

Hat tip to Jeremy Siefert for finding this video for me:

Birds of a feather? David Jeremiah teams up with Osteen and Meyer

Join us as we share the journey of what God has done through our Dream Center, dynamic outreach, and community engagement. You’ll leave inspired and purposeful to make a bigger difference in your community. Be sure to bring your leaders and associates with you to this purpose-driven event.

So what do we have… Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer…what’s David Jeremiah doing there?

The big question isn’t who is going to speak at the big Jump Start conference in Chicago this May, but why anyone would want to hitch his pony to the heretic express?

Keeping 2 John in mind, “Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.”

The Billion Souls network wants churches to Bring Back The King

There is a major effort by the “Billion Souls Network”  to “Bring Back The King” by finishing the Great Commission by AD 2100. This Dominionist movement is not only not biblical, it is downright dangerous. (see our White paper on NAR Dominionism to begin your research.) What is the Billion Souls Network?

When I first heard of that organization about three years ago the red flags went off for me and I started doing some digging around.  Back in 2012, Buddhist Ken Blanchard (a favorite of evangelical leadership trainers), teamed up with Tony Blair, Bill Hybels, Henry Cloud, Patrick Lencioni, Craig Groschel, Erwin McManus, and many other Emergent Church founders.  You can read more on this here and watch the very disturbing video.

In 2016, that movement will gather a few more speakers in its effort to synergize the global church to save the world. (Who is it that saves the world? The global visible church?) This gathering is called, Synergize 2016: Where the Global Church Gathers to Save the World. True to the Dominionist movement, the conference promises plenty of experiential supernatural moments and an imparting of empowerment in harmonizing, healing and harvesting souls.  Speakersfor the January event include names you never heard of, and one you should know: NAR teacher John Bevere and Leonard Sweet, one of the forefathers of the Emergent Church. (What’s Ravi Zacharias doing there?)

Sponsors include International Pentecostal Holiness Church, Assemblies of God U.S.A., FourSquare Church, Global Coaching Network and others.

Do your research on the New Apostolic Reformation to learn more about why this movement is one of the most dangerous, fastest-growing cancer in the visible Church today.

Church of Scotland minister says to teach Jesus died for sins is “ghastly theology”

“Jesus did not die for our sins. No No No No. That is Ghastly theology. Don’t go there.”

This “Pastor” has now joined the ranks of rank heresy shared by Brian Mclaren, Tony Jones, Rob Bell, Jay Bakker and many others who deny propitiation, or atonement for sins that Jesus’ blood covers.

Pastor Scott McKenna, minister of Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church in Edinburgh, has now openly denied one of the most accepted teachings of mainstream Christianity and told his congregation that it was “ghastly theology” to believe that Jesus Christ died for sinners. (Never mind that the bible is full of verses like Hebrews 9:12 and 1 John 2:2 that point us to this basic Christian doctrine)

Listen to his own ghastly words:

The growing move among the progressive Christians away from Jesus’ atoning work on the cross was a spark initially ignited by Brian McLaren a few years ago, and more recently promoted by Tony Jones and others. As you can see from the link to this article, this blasphemous idea is a quickly spreading leaven that is infecting the visible Church at breakneck speed.

See also, Tony Jones: “I Think Your Atonement Might Be Wrong” and Atonement scoffing spreads like rancid yeast.

Phyllis Tickle, who championed a church paradigm shift, is dead

It was lung cancer.  Sadly, the emergent-New Ager clung to her teachings that Christendom must evolve. She frequently appeared with Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt and those of other faiths to ring in a new era in the modern Church.  (See “Emerging Towards Convergence”)

Tickle believed that throughout history, the Christian Church evolves every 500 years or so, and we are ripe for another paradigm shift. She wrote a book, Embracing Emergence Christianity: Phyllis Tickle on the Church’s Next Rummage Sale. Here is the publisher’s description of this latest apostasy:

Phyllis Tickle invites us to join her in examining the changing face of Christianity and culture. Phyllis surveys 2000 years of Western history, identifying the great upheavals that occur in Western culture and Christianity every 500 years. The last was the Great Reformation of the 1500’s; the next is happening now. What are the implications of this Great Emergence, both culturally and spiritually? What are the key questions and issues that need to be addressed? Where might we be headed next? And, perhaps most importantly, where are you, at this moment? Might you be an emergence Christian?

Tickle is the founding editor of the Religion Department of Publishers Weekly, and is frequently quoted by media sources including USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, the New York Times, PBS, NPR, the Hallmark Channel, plus innumerable blogs and websites. In addition to lectures and numerous essays, articles, and interviews, Tickle is the author of over two dozen books in religion and spirituality, most recently The Great Emergence, How Christianity is Changing and Why, and The Words of Jesus, A Gospel of the Sayings of Our Lord.

Today, The Washington Post published this:

C. Peter Wagner: “NAR is not a cult!”

What is the New Apostolic Reformation really all about?  The man credited with being the “father” of the New Apostolic Reformation is surprised at the negative feedback his experience-based movement is getting in the media, especially in the left-wing liberal groups.

But he is perhaps missing the biggest outcry of all is coming from those Christians who adhere to Scriptural truth; who believe that the Bible is sufficient.

That’s why it’s important you read our White Paper on Dominionism (NAR), after hearing Wagner make a compelling case for this unbiblical, dangerous movement.

Wagner has gone on the defensive of this fastest-growing Christian movement in Charisma Magazine today, explaining why dominionism, the office of Apostle And Prophets are fine for today, and why NAR followers think it’s fine to engage in Spiritual warfare with the demonic:

The NAR is definitely not a cult. Those who affiliate with it believe the Apostles’ Creed and all the standard classic statements of Christian doctrine. It will surprise some to know that the NAR embraces the largest non-Catholic segment of world Christianity. It is also the fastest growing segment, the only segment of Christianity currently growing faster than the world population and faster than Islam. Christianity is booming now in the Global South which includes sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and large parts of Asia. Most of the new churches in the Global South, even including many which belong to denominations, would comfortably fit the NAR template.

The NAR represents the most radical change in the way of doing church since the Protestant Reformation. This is not a doctrinal change. We adhere to the major tenets of the Reformation: the authority of Scripture, justification by faith, and the priesthood of all believers. But the quality of church life, the governance of the church, the worship, the theology of prayer, the missional goals, the optimistic vision for the future, and other features, constitute quite a change from traditional Protestantism.

The NAR is not an organization. No one can join or carry a card. It has no leader. I have been called the “founder,” but this is not the case. One reason I might be seen as an “intellectual godfather” is that I might have been the first to observe the movement, give a name to it, and describe its characteristics as I saw them. When this began to come together through my research in 1993, I was professor of Church Growth at Fuller Theological Seminary, where I taught for 30 years.

Read the rest here.