A Hyper-Charismatic Guide to Losing your Mind

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If you want to abandon your Christian faith and become mentally unstable, just follow these simple steps:

  • "It all starts with a Dream! A God-Sized Dream!" To get started, you must believe that God expects you to dream up some outlandish desire in order to accomplish your Destiny. Because if you attempt to "do the impossible," God will miraculously answer your prayers and thus "get all the glory." You must take risks, step out in faith, and do something impossible. You and your dream must become the focus of your faith.

  • You then step out in faith and do something really stupid. (Often, this involves giving money to someone who teaches this stuff.)

  • Next, this ridiculous thing you've attempted doesn't work and you've got big problems. (Wow, what a surprise.)

  • Instead of admitting your big mistake, you will now focus all of your attention on the future and the great things that you'll accomplish after you get your breakthrough (your "Destiny"). Because the finished work of Christ dying on the cross to pay for our sins happened a long time ago, you will forget about it. Christianity gradually becomes a magic wand you keep waving around in order to get God to do stuff, and the "holy spirit" will demand more and more attention as he continually confuses you, embarrasses you and demands that you become more hungry, desperate and broken. He also wants you to be on fire.

  • At this point you'll latch onto all of the sermons about fighting battles, getting a fresh new word from God, and fending off demons, pythons, and sneaky squids. "The devil knows about your Dream/Destiny and he wants to stop you!" You take your last few bucks to buy yet another book/DVD/CD/conference ticket, hoping to learn the "secret" to getting your breakthrough; you know, the breakthrough you wouldn't even need if you hadn't done something stupid...

  

  • Here is where you'll probably find people to "prophetically" declare something over you, in order to give you a "breakthrough." Nothing will really change, but you'll try really hard to pretend otherwise. You might go to see famous "prophets" who claim to be "anointed," because you believe they can help you, but they only help you to lose more money.

  • You have a suspicion in the back of your mind that you've entered a cult-like state of mind, but you don't want to admit it to anyone. There's a part of you that would like to go back to being a "normal" person, but you've been told that thinking that way is a direct attack of the devil.

  • The Bible is no longer the story of God redeeming sinful mankind (The Gospel); it is more like a book of incantations to ward off evil spirits and make your dreams (finally) come true. You've largely forgotten about the simple Gospel message in your attempt to get secret knowledge from God (this is called "Gnosticism," by the way).

  • You're (secretly) willing to skip the whole dream/destiny thing and just have some stability in your life, but the experts you're listening to tell you to "press in to get your miracle!" or something like that, and you still believe them. So, the very people whose bad ideas got you into this mess are the people you continue to listen to. How's that working for you?

  • The one thing you don't want to do is have a "have a religious spirit." This meaningless catch-phrase keeps you locked into all of this chaos and confusion. How's that working for you?

  • There are a number of bad ideas that you've been taught, and they all work together to prevent you from seeing the very obvious fact that you've become delusional. If you don't want to lose your mind, please read this article to see these bad ideas described and refuted: Defusing Demonic Dirty Bombs

  • You refuse to acknowledge that a collection of bad ideas ("doctrine") has replaced the clear teachings of the Bible. In fact, you believe the doctrine that says "doctrine is not important." You like the teachers who teach you that teaching is bad. Here are a whole bunch of Bible verses that you are deliberately ignoring: Shocking Stuff You're Not Supposed to Know!

  • But you stick with those bad ideas because you like them.

  • You continue to listen to false teachers because you like them.

  • You continue attending a church that teaches false doctrine because you like it.

  • Congratulations! You have lost your mind.

For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
— 2 Thessalonians 2: 11-12

Here are a few more articles (with links to more articles) that discuss this difficult issue:

Confirmation Bias: Why You Are Protecting Your False Beliefs

The Hyper-Charismatic House of Cards: Let It Fall and Be Free

Here's a recent episode of Fighting for the Faith where the author of this article (Steve Kozar) talks with Chris Rosebrough and @Aspree about this topic: How Not to Shipwreck Your Faith; here's the YouTube version: How Not to Shipwreck Your Faith

 

Here's a great little video from Chris Rice on this topic:

 

This article by Steven Kozar; check out his new and improved: The Messed Up Church website!

"Getting Wasted with the Holy Spirit" at Bethel Redding

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Here's part three of a series of articles from Holly Pivec about her visit to Bill Johnson's Bethel Church:

"Getting Wasted with the Holy Spirit" at Bethel Redding

There are only three rules in this class. Rule 1: Get drunk. Rule 2: Stay drunk. Rule 3: Get other people drunk.
— Sunday School Teacher at Bethel Redding

 

This kind of teaching is common among New Apostolic Reformation false teachers. Here's Patricia King in a very disturbing video: "In Jesus Name, The Bar is Open!"

Patricia King and Bill Johnson have much in common. Here's a brand new advertisement from Patricia King's XP Media Company that is selling Bill Johnson's useless $59.00 "class:"


For further reading and research on the very dangerous teachings of Bill Johnson:

The Bill Johnson Cornucopia of False Teaching, Bible-Twisting and General Absurdity

The Hyper-Charismatic House of Cards: Let It Fall and Be Free

If you've been a part of a church that adheres to some of the "New Apostolic Reformation/Signs and Wonders" teachings, there's a good chance that you have nagging doubts and concerns that keep popping up from somewhere in the back of your mind.

That's actually good.

For example, you've been told something like this: The Christian who gets baptized in the Holy Spirit, speaks in tongues and then... jumps aboard the hyper-charismatic NAR/Signs & Wonders bandwagon, will get a bunch of things that "regular" Christians don't have. You've gone to a lot of services, conferences & revival meetings so you can get "the anointing," and you've read a lot of "anointed" books and watched a lot of "anointed" TV and video presentations. And now you're supposed to have more. More blessings; more power; more prosperity; more confidence; more effectiveness; more intimacy with God... on top of that you've been taught to keep asking God for more because God is waiting to see how hungry and desperate you are before He does anything more

But admit it, you don't really have more of those things. In fact, you probably have more questions, more confusion, and more doubts.

  • You've heard these teachers prophesy about things that didn't come true at all.
  • You've been promised things that you didn't receive.
  • You've "sowed financial seeds" into ministries with zero results.
  • You've used the "power of your words" to claim things that you never got.
  • You've been given "prophetic words" that were basically just cheap fortune-telling tricks (without the crystal ball). 
  • You've tried to "speak things into existence" with zero success, but you're afraid to say anything because you've been taught that you'd be making things even worse if you speak about it.
  • You've been told that God really really really wants to make all your dreams come true. Really.
  • You were supposed to have something "activated" (faith; understanding; miracles; anointing...) but nothing actually happened. Nagging doubts are all that got "activated."
  • There was supposed to be a "shift in the atmosphere" but you're not even sure what that means.
  • You've been told about the gigantic new "move of the spirit" that's right around the corner... for a decade or two (or three) now.
  • You've been told that being a Christian is all about finding your Destiny So You Can Change The World. How's that working for you? Are you exhausted and disillusioned yet?
  • You've been wondering why the people on stage have all of these amazing stories to tell, but God hasn't done those things in your life. "What's wrong with me?" is a common thought of yours.
  • You've got a stack of books and/or DVDs that claim to give you the magic formula that leads to more. But only the person selling those things got more... of your money. 

On top of these personal difficulties and inconsistencies, you've watched men and women who were supposed to be great spiritual leaders prove themselves to be regular sinners with all of their divorces, financial scandals and confusing teachings that seem to get made up on the spot. These are the people who claim to have great power because they get "built up in the Holy Spirit" by speaking in tongues, and they know the secret key to "resist the devil" and get radical results. Bill Johnson even claims that he can change the atmosphere of a room just by walking in the door. They know exactly how to brag about their amazing walk with God while maintaining a facade of humility.

But lets be honest. These are people just telling stories on a stage; they're really professional speakers. They have little to no proof of all the amazing things they claim to have done. All the miracles happen somewhere else (and nobody takes a video). These people are very good at telling compelling stories. They are very good at sounding humble as they attract and retain more followers for themselves. "Aw shucks, it's all the Lord; but He works through me a lot more than He does through you" is the overall attitude.

  • These kind of false teachers have to keep propping each other up with endorsements and guest speaking invitations for each other.
  • They have to keep talking about the new and better thing (that they just invented), so that you'll continue showing up for the next meeting or conference.
  • They have to use and repeat spiritual sounding catch-phrases, in order to replace the sound teachings of scripture.
  • They have to have yet another "greatest conference ever" (until the next one) so that they can make money by selling more tickets and books.
  • They require an audience full of gullible and emotionally dependent people. "Just Trust Us" is the underlying theme to everything they say and do. 
  • They have to promote all this stuff with very expensive and manipulative video commercials that constantly tug at your heartstrings.
  • The one thing they can't have is this: you realizing that your ears are getting tickled, while your soul is being drained.
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It's a house of cards.

 

You've been tricked. You've been sold a bill of goods. You've been bamboozled.

 

Now it's time to move on and find rest. Rest in the true freedom that comes from the unaltered Gospel: Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins. You've been forgiven of your sins, not because of anything you've done, but because Jesus took your place on the cross. You can stop trying to be more desperate to show God how serious you are (yet again). You can stop trying to be more passionate than you were the last time you mustered up a bunch of passion. You can stop trying so hard to feel something to convince yourself of God's presence. You can stop wondering why you still haven't gotten your "breakthrough." You can stop trying to get a "fresh word from the Lord." You can stop trying to figure out your Destiny so you can Change The World. 

God does not require these things from you, and He never has. You've been ensnared by the teachings of men. 

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So here's the bottom line to this article: If you're confused by all the stuff you've been taught, start reading your Bible again, and stop listening to all the people who've been telling you these things. Just take a little time off and see what happens. Here's a truly radical idea: read entire books of the New Testament all of the way through (most of them are really short). If God's Word is actually God's Word, then He will you use it to speak to you. Stop trying to hear God's voice in your constantly changing imagination; the Word of God is unchanging and it's outside of you, and that's a very good thing. Clear out all the false teachings that have cluttered up your mind and discover the simple Gospel message. 

He's given you His Word, now simply read it and be free!

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
— Ephesians 2: 4-10
But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
— John 15: 26
Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.
— Colossians 2: 18-19
If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.
— 1 Timothy 6: 3-5
And yet some people actually imagine that the revelation in God’s Word is not enough to meet our needs. They think that God from time to time carries on an actual conversation with them, chatting with them, satisfying their doubts, testifying to His love for them, promising them support and blessings. As a result, their emotions soar; they are full of bubbling joy that is mixed with self-confidence and a high opinion of themselves. The foundation for these feelings, however, does not lie within the Bible itself, but instead rests on the sudden creations of their imaginations. These people are clearly deluded. God’s Word is for all of us and each of us; He does not need to give particular messages to particular people.
— Jonathan Edwards

If you found this interesting and thought-provoking, you might also enjoy the following articles:

Assertions and Assumptions are NOT the Foundation of the Church

Cognitive Dissonance and the Silly Putty Jesus

The false teachers who have invaded many of the Pentecostal and charismatic churches do NOT want you to know about The Charismatic Day of Infamy!

 

-This article by Steven Kozar