"Want Some False Doctrine in Your Life? Try These Handy Tips!"

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Don't be shy about it, go ahead and admit it: false doctrine is fun and, well it just feels good! Here are some handy tips to keep you fully deceived and incapable of discernment:

1. Always think to yourself: "I know what he meant" when false teachings are taught; don't listen to the actual words themselves. Pretend you are giving someone the "benefit of the doubt" when you're actually permitting bad teaching. Also, bad teaching isn't so bad if the pastor tells an emotional story to drive home the heresy; and he must be telling the truth if he starts to cry, especially at the same point of the story in multiple services!

2. Here's a handy saying: "No church is perfect!" The assumption here is that it's not of any value to carefully examine doctrine because all churches are wrong in one way or another, so just accept anything. If you go to the church because "you feel comfortable there" and the "worship team really rocks" you'll probably never have to think much about doctrine anyway. This can also be modified as: "No pastor is perfect!" False teachers and mediocre pastors really appreciate it when you think this way.

3. Focus on your feelings rather than the clear teachings of Scripture. Because you're a sinner, this will be very easy. For added validation of your false beliefs, convince yourself that God told you to disobey Him and somehow violate His word; but don't use such obvious language. For example, say: I really feel that God spoke to my heart, that's why I believe it's okay to.. (fill in the blank with whatever sin and/or false doctrine you want). A great little catch phrase to instill this principle would be something like this: "Theology will never change a man as much as a direct encounter with God." Of course, if you really had a direct encounter with God you'd probably be dead...

4. Allow false doctrine from a teacher because "he has some good things to say, too..." A handy little phrase to repeat is: "Chew on the meat and spit out the bones." Although this concept isn't Biblical, pretend that it is. It will probably help you to imagine yourself "open-minded" and "non-judgmental" when you repeatedly ignore God's clear instructions to hold fast to correct doctrine.

5. Consider "doctrine" the same thing as "religiosity" or "legalism." If you realize that doctrine is just another word for teaching (and the Bible demands correct teaching) you might decide to become more discerning, and remember, false teachers everywhere are counting on you to stay ignorant and gullible.

6. Promote false teaching "for the sake of the un-churched." You want to have lot's of new people coming to church, don't you? Well, give the public what they want and watch attendance skyrocket! Remember, the unrepentant sinners out there will show up if they are promised something to appease their selfish desires. Better sex? Bigger paychecks? Well-behaved children? God can give your unsaved neighbor all of that-and more! The seeker-friendly pastor already knows this dynamic growth program, and with your blind support (and weekly tithe checks) he will craft emotionally appealing motivational speeches to convert pagans into regular attending members! And let's not forget that these same pastors ("leadership experts") will provide your community with a sense of purpose and identity (and a six-figure salary for themselves), so don't bog them down with Biblical requirements that would stunt the growth of the organization.

7. "Group Think" is a major component of false doctrine, so, "go with the group!" Fortunately for you, there are plenty of groups that are teaching and promoting false doctrine, so just pick the one you're most comfortable with and buy into their twisted version of Christianity. Here are some of your choices:       

     First, there's the "What do we believe this month?" "Emerging", "Post-Modern" church (think: Rob Bell, Brian McClaren, etc.). Millennials love this one; it's hip and it only get's hipper as it dumps Biblical doctrine in favor of pagan mysticism and cultural sensitivity (which is usually just capitulation to the culture). Remember, you're never actually believing false doctrine, you're just "having a conversation!" Wink wink, nudge nudge.

     Second, for the suburban soccer-mom crowd, there's the "seeker-friendly" mega church (think: Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Andy Stanley, etc.). These churches are a mash-up between a cinema-plex, a shopping mall and a Starbucks. Bigger is better, right?! And if you ever (accidentally) start to question whether anything lines up with Scripture, you can just take a look around the vast auditorium: this many people can't be wrong! As long as you think so, you clever little conformist! 

     Thirdly, for the truly adventurous, you can find a vast number of Charismatic churches that aren't even close to orthodox Christianity! (Think: Bill Johnson, Rick Joyner, T.D. Jakes, etc.) What's not to like about a church that believes anyone can come up with new doctrine anytime by hearing directly from God?! Oh sure, they give lip service to the Bible, but with proof-texting they can make the Bible appear to say anything! Does God just want you to be rich, happy and successful? Sure He does! Do we just have to "speak that into existence?" Sure we do! Remember, the Holy Spirit is your personal genie in a bottle, and after you've swayed back and forth with the praise band for an hour or two, you'll actually start to believe that. Key words and phrases: "Woooo!" "Fire!" "More, Lord, more!" "Shabba!" "I feel a releasing of the anointing that is beginning to shift the atmosphere, and the mantle of His Presence is about to come down so that the glory of His anointing can release His manifestation into the manifold destiny of His glory, so that the seven mountain mandate can be established in abundance and victory..." 

 

Here's an important article that will help you be more discerning and a lot less gullible: Defusing Demonic Dirty Bombs.

If you think it's mean and unloving to be critical of false teachers in the church, please consider what the Bible actually says: Shocking Stuff You're Not Supposed to Know

"Charismatic Bullying From the Pulpit"

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 The following is a real devotional email sent by the pastor of a large charismatic church to his congregation. This pastor had recently been confronted by a few of his church members who didn't like his "Signs and Wonders/Rick Joyner/Bill Johnson/IHOP" teachings and asked that he only use the Bible and stop referencing those other teachers and teachings. He was never asked to adopt a cessationist position; just to hold more closely to Scripture alone. Several weeks after he had the meeting with those people, he wrote this devotional message/email and then preached a sermon based on it. I think this is a good example of what happens when a pastor wants to divert attention away from a valid theological discussion and continue teaching his version of "Signs and Wonders" Christianity. His original article is in bold; I will make comments (in parenthesis) throughout the article. This article originally appeared in October of 2014.

 

 

                       A Personal Relationship

          "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life." John 5: 39 
(This verse is the "set-up" for the rest of the article; it's supposed to make Christians who demand adherence to the Bible look like Pharisees, but it's taken completely out of context. These Pharisees were unwilling to recognize that the Messiah had come-it was Jesus! The Scriptures pointed directly to Jesus and they were guilty of not going to Him. Jesus was not saying that you should come to Him instead of the Scriptures, He was saying that they should have found him in the Scriptures.)

       I believe many things about my wife, Jane (not real name). Some are just facts, like her birthday, her place of birth, her parents' names, and her general history which anyone who is interested could easily learn.  Other things require more personal involvement like knowing her character and her heart's desires.  My current beliefs about her are numerous, but my relationship isn't with my beliefs about Jane, it's with her.  She's a person.  Because of this reality, my beliefs are always growing and deepening as we walk together. (This line of thinking utilizes the common method of telling stories instead of teaching from the Bible; this way you can make any point about anything. The implication here seems to be that the Bible is not enough-it's just a bunch of facts and figures about God. We can't really know God through the Bible-we need a "relationship" with Him; which appears to be shorthand for "a subjective experience of God.")

          But what if I no longer lived with my wife?  Wouldn't my belief system become static?  I would still believe things, but they wouldn't deepen or grow because of a lack of present experience with her.  In the text above, Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees because their relationship isn't with God Himself; it's only with their beliefs about Him. (God was rebuking the Pharisees because their relationship was only with their beliefs about God? What the?? No, that's totally wrong!! Their beliefs were just plain wrong-they didn't believe in Jesus! This is not hard to understand. This is a total mishandling God's Word. This is such a gigantic error that I really want to end the critique right here... but let's keep going.)

          There is a great danger in evangelical Christianity today of making our beliefs about God an idol that takes the place of an actual relationship with Christ. (Where do we read about this "belief in God" idol in the Bible?) How can I tell if I'm in danger of this idol? Here are five symptoms:

1.     We become unteachable. We no longer believe what we read in the Bible; we only read what we already believe. (Yes, we should want people to accurately and faithfully understand God's word-not read into it whatever they want, this is very true. But how does this pastor define "unteachable?" He could be referring to anyone that disagrees with him; hmmm...)

2.     We become divisive with Christians that don't believe exactly what we believe about God and Christ.  We're experts and everyone else needs to listen to us to get it right. (This point is very important for what it doesn't say; it fails to mention that some people want a teaching to line up with Scripture. These people aren't commended for being good Bereans, they're condemned for being "experts" who want everyone to listen to them. What if they really just want everyone to listen to the Bible?)

3.    We become suspicious of any fresh moving of the Holy Spirit that doesn't fit into our box of who we think God is and how He should act. (Just as in the previous point, this fails to mention that people might be suspicious of a so-called "fresh move of the Holy Spirit" not because it doesn't "fit into our box," but because it is false and/or doesn't line up with Scripture. This pastor believes that subjective experiences are good and acceptable, but an objective evaluation of an experience compared against Scripture is to be avoided. No wonder so many people leave Charismatic churches confused and hurt.)

4.     We find ourselves bored with worship because our hearts actually love what we believe about God more than we love God Himself. (This point is just too weird to analyse very much. Somehow, this pastor can see into the hearts and minds of people and discover that they love their beliefs so much that they become bored with worship... insert creepy 50's Sci-fi music here.)

5.     We realize we're no longer growing. We're no longer amazed by God or ever surprised by anything He does. We're sure we're doctrinally "right", but if we're dead, we can't be right because Jesus came to give life. (Let me see if I understand this; I need to be surprised or amazed by something God does in the present tense to prove that I'm growing? And if I'm sure I'm doctrinally "right" that proves that I'm dead. I would think that Jesus coming to earth as a virgin-born baby, living an amazing life full of teachings and miracles, giving His life on the cross as a penalty for our sins, rising from the dead on the third day, etc. etc. are all good enough things to embrace, celebrate and remember for all of our days, aren't they? Is it not enough to be surprised and amazed by what He's already done? Do we really need something "new" to validate our faith?  Does "growing" mean that we should adopt new and different beliefs every time the latest "prophet" has a "word for us?" The clear implication here is that just studying God's Word isn't enough to get "God's Word;"  we need extra-biblical revelation through some kind of subjective experience. Is it any wonder that Christians are biblically and theologically ignorant? If you put Post-Modern Subjectivity and Hyper-Charismatic Anti-Theology into a blender this is the kind of nonsense that comes out...)

The Scriptures are not an end in themselves, they direct us into a personal relationship with the God who loves us and died for us.  We all know "in part" and the even the part we think we know is only a seed of all that is true about the transcendent, majestic, unchanging, and uncreated God of the universe.  I think we would all do well to examine our hearts and humble ourselves before Him every day acknowledging that the mystery of who He is in Himself goes far beyond our present beliefs about Him. (But does it go beyond God's Word??)  Getting to know Him is the greatest adventure of our lives and will last for all eternity! 
(After His resurrection, Jesus met two of His followers on the road to Emmaus and didn't reveal himself; He first asked them a series of questions to see what they knew and believed about Himself. When they said that they basically didn't know what was going on even though the empty tomb had been discovered and angels had said He was risen, Jesus said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter His glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself." Luke 24: 25-26.

Why did Jesus do this? Didn't He know that "the Scriptures are not an end in themselves, they direct us into a personal relationship with God..." like this pastor claims? Jesus wasted all that time explaining the Scriptures when He should have been developing His personal relationship with them. They could have, I don't know, exchanged recipes or sung show tunes together-that would have been more personal.) 

     Here's what God's Word says: "Now He said to them, 'These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.' Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them 'Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sin would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." Luke 24:44-48  "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Hebrews 4:12

Btw, here's a follow-up article I wrote about this same pastor. This is not intended to be a personal attack on this particular pastor; I'm using this as an example to explain vital differences in theology, and to explain how bad theology (un-Biblical teachings) can be promoted and protected.

                                                                              -by Steven Kozar

"How to Know (For Sure!) That You Are Part of the Great Falling Away"

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The Great Falling Away is going to be, well... GREAT! 

And lets face it, no one wants to miss out on the Next Big Thing.

 Remember,God wants you to Dream Big! He wants you to Be Great!

 So, of course He wants you to be a big part of The Great Falling Away! Isn't it exciting to think that something incredible is right around the corner-and you get to be a big part of it?! Chances are you're already clueless and headed towards destruction, but just to make sure, follow these simple guidelines:

       First and foremost, skip past the clear teachings of Jesus and the Apostles in the Bible- it's full of warnings to keep you from falling away, so, as much as possible, don't even read it. This won't be a problem for most Christians, since they haven't been reading their Bibles all along. There are lots of options to fill your time while you avoid reading God's Word. For example, you can watch "Christian" television as much as you want, because you'll probably never hear God's Word taught correctly anyway. Or you may want to go to your neighborhood "Christian" bookstore-it's shelves are full of unbiblical books that will keep you in the dark about the apostasy that surrounds you. If you're like most Christians, none of this will be a problem because you've been filling your mind with pagan television, movies, magazines and every other form of mind-numbing entertainment for most of your life already. And don't forget, on Sunday mornings you'll want to stay dumbed-down by overly-emotional, shallow and "seeker-friendly" motivational speeches disguised as sermons; that way you'll be in full conformity to the coming doom.

     On top of that, it really helps if you don't even believe there will be a Great Falling Away, because after all, who wants to focus on all that negative stuff anyway? Be positive! If you start to doubt whether your participation in the end time apostasy is genuine, just look at the overwhelming majority of Christians who also refuse to take their heads out of the evangelical sand. Remember, numbers don't lie! Jesus said, "many will fall away" and "many false prophets will arise and mislead many." Are you a part of the many? Well then, don't worry-you're in the right group!

      Focus on the teachings of men, instead of God's word. Nowadays this is easier than ever! But remember, heretical teachers never come right out and say, "Hey, I just want to let you know I plan on deceiving you this morning..." So in order to know if they're really false, just watch and see how much they talk about themselves and their ideas, as opposed to always pointing to the death and resurrection of Jesus. Pretty soon you'll notice that they spend most of their time telling jokes and stories (about themselves and their "ministry"), culturally relevant anecdotes and references to sports (so that men will show up). Also, it helps if their teachings are somewhat close to Biblical truth, but add or subtract something to "spice it up" a bit. The most effective false teachers claim to hear directly from God Himself-some even claim to visit with Him in heaven where they get their exciting new ideas! You can be sure, these are the kind of teachers that can lead you straight into The Great Falling Away; they're the "New Apostles!" Who wants to listen to a bunch of old, dead apostles, anyway?

      Remember to keep this handy phrase in mind: "Deeds, not creeds." How will this help, you ask? Well, by reciting creeds, you'll be confessing true historic Christian doctrine and that's never good! Plus, that's too religious, ritualistic and old fashioned. Remember, "new" is always better than "old". The Bible is really old, and you already know how dangerous it can be. If, however, you focus on good works you will soon be focused on how good you are-and not on how good Jesus was to die for your sins (He's such an  attention hog anyway!) So pick a really good cause and make that your focus-just make sure sinners aren't repenting and believing in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. Social justice, environmentalism and politics are great choices to distract you, but there are others as well. An emphasis on "signs and wonders" is, perhaps, the best way to get your focus off of Jesus and onto you (and how powerful you are... oops, I mean the "holy spirit" inside you). You may want to consider running around the whole country seeking "an anointing," or a special new "mantle," or "The Presence" (make sure it has the P capitalized, too). If you're really serious about joining The Great Falling Away, you'll seek after those nutty men and women who claim to "prophesy" over you. They're like fortune tellers, but they don't charge a flat fee. Going on that kind of wild goose chase will lead you straight into The Great Falling Away!

     Always try to focus on somehow building God's kingdom on earth, and ignore your eternal salvation-in fact, make your friends feel bad when they express longing for heaven. Tell them they're "so heavenly minded that they're no earthly good." Before you know it, you'll forget all about the Gospel and how Jesus died to save you from the penalty you deserved because of your sins. You'll be proud of all the ways you're "helping Jesus make the world a better place."

     It's at that point where Jesus will say: 

“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.’”
— Matthew 7:22-23
“The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore, God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
— 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my names sake. And then MANY WILL FALL AWAY and betray one another and hate one another. And MANY FALSE PROPHETS will arise and LEAD MANY ASTRAY.”
— Matthew 24:9-11

Seriously, here's an important article that will help you be more discerning and a lot less gullible: Defusing Demonic Dirty Bombs.

"Sola Experiencia" GREAT Two Minute Video by Rosaria Butterfield

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As an amazing (and disturbing) side note, here's an article about this woman's appearance at Wheaton College being protested by students-you won't believe why they protested her:

http://www.dennyburk.com/wheaton-students-protest-rosaria-butterfield/

"Joel Osteen's New Book = New Age Pagan Book"

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Do you see the difference between Joel Osteen's newest book and these other pagan/New Age books?

ME NEITHER!! It's the SAME THING!!!
(These are screen shots from Amazon.com)

              
 






 Joel Osteen could have (at least) copied ideas from Christian books...Take a look at these New Age Books:                                                                            





































Read the description on the back of this book (below)
-it sounds a lot like one of Osteen's "sermons:"











"A Parable About Ignorance in the Church-And Some Solutions" by Steven Kozar

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Imagine that you've never heard a piece of classical music.

                                                                        Ever. 

     You never went to a concert, or even saw one on TV. Now also imagine that you knew absolutely nothing about all the instruments in an orchestra-you couldn't tell a flute from a tuba or a violin from a piano. Also imagine that you know nothing about the history of classical music throughout the centuries or any of the great composers. Maybe you've heard a few of their names, but you have no idea who they were or what they did.

     But now imagine that you and all your friends (who also don't know anything about classical music) were sitting around watching TV one day and you randomly came across a classical performance on PBS for just a few seconds while switching channels; and imagine that you only saw the conductor waving his arms around for those few seconds. That's all you saw. 

     What if someone asked you "how familiar are you with classical music being performed by an orchestra?" and you answered "I know all about it! Me and my friends saw that guy waving his arms around on TV." 

     Would you really know very much about classical music? Of course not. But you insist: "I saw that guy on TV waving his arms around! Don't tell me I don't know about classical music!" And you might add: "and all my friends saw it, too!"

Sorry, but you and all your friends don't really know what you're talking about; and until you get a lot more information, you're going to remain ignorant of classical music being performed by an orchestra. And you'd be missing out on a lot!

 

     This is, very sadly, an illustration of where a lot of Evangelicals stand in regard to Christianity. They're ignorant of their faith's history, its leaders and its key doctrines, and they often believe that any study of theology is inherently bad; which is kinda like saying "I don't care about notes-I only care about music!" or "I don't care about ingredients-I only care about food!"

      Yet they believe they really know about their faith based on a guy (their favorite pastor, evangelist or author maybe) "waving his hands around," so to speak (or maybe waving a Bible around). Worst of all, they don't even know very much about the very Word of God that can teach them. The Holy Spirit should be teaching them through the Word of God, but He's been replaced by a bizarre, mystical "genie in a bottle" who requires rock bands in order to "manifest himself" and who always demands more and more attention. And to make matters worse, these very Christians are gleefully unaware of their own ignorance. They believe their pastor really knows what he's talking about. Why? Because he said so! And all of their (church) friends think so, too!

     I know about this topic, because I was one of these ignorant Evangelicals, and I'm very glad to be leaving their ranks. Not because I want to be smarter-but because I want to know the truth about my faith and my God.

I had an extremely limited understanding of Christianity-and I didn't even know it. I thought I was hearing about solid, Biblical Christianity, but in fact, I was only hearing about the American, Arminian, Revivalist, Semi-Pelagianist tip of the pragmatic Protestant Evangelical iceberg. I thought I was going to a "New Testament" church, but it was actually an outgrowth of a number of movements from only the past 200 years or so-and we were greatly affected by even more recent teachings from just the past few decades. Now if those various Christian movements from the past 200 years had really "improved" or "purified" Christianity (as they claimed), I had no way of really knowing, because I was inside that movement and it was all that I knew. Once I stepped outside of the movement and studied what came before us, I could actually see things more clearly, and I could compare the teachings of a pastor or church against historical, Biblical Christianity. It was like a (very) cold splash of water to my face. Or more like a slap upside the head (that I'm still recovering from). But now that I know all of this, it's okay, and I'm very glad to be where I am.   

     I write about this because I wish nothing more than for all my Christian friends (and everyone else who reads this) to experience something similar in their own lives. I'm so much more at peace and so much more confident in my faith because of what I've learned. As I've learned to see both Law and Gospel in the Bible, I'm not so confused anymore. And I'm excited to learn more everyday-literally!

 The thing that really concerns me, is that a lot of Christians, especially as they grow older, are getting tired of pat answers and shallow catch-phrases from pastors who don't know how to rightly handle God's Word. So they just tune out. They gradually stop attending church and whimper away; but a new crop of younger faces (usually with children in tow) show up to replace them. They'll buy into the shallow catch-phrases and pat answers, but only for a while. And then the cycle begins again. After 10 or 20 years of therapeutic "life-lessons," un-Biblical "success strategies" and unfulfilled "prophetic words" they'll eventually whimper away, too. No amount of cool videos, hip new logos, "relevant" messages or rock bands will fool them anymore... they're done. 

Please, don't let that be you!

If you can relate to this, here are a few ideas that might help you:

First of all, maybe you just need to spend more time reading the Bible. Duh, right? But, seriously, many Christians don't even read God's Word. So just get started. Read entire books, too; don't just skip around to a favorite verse here or there. The New Testament epistles are all pretty short-that might be a great place for you to start if it's been a while. Remember, the real meaning can only be understood properly in context, so reading a whole passage will always help you understand the meaning better. I don't recommend The Message or The Passion Translation (they're not really Bibles-they are paraphrases of the Bible that sometimes sounds pretty neat, but many times are just plain wrong), but I do read the New Living Translation sometimes (which uses very easy, modern language); otherwise I mostly read a more accurate translation like the NASB, ESV, NKJV or the original NIV. For further study, I love The Lutheran Study Bible. Also, the Reformation Study Bible, the ESV Study Bible, and the NIV Study Bible have tons of helpful content (these are just a few of the excellent study Bibles available).

Secondly, here are three great programs (and a couple YouTube channel) that have helped me to leave the foggy land of the Evangelical Industrial Complex (although there are a lot more). All you have to do is listen to them.

Seriously, just start listening ASAP!

Fighting for the Faith

This is from my buddy, Chris Rosebrough. As he says, "don't listen with an open mind, listen with an open Bible!" This show is a little like Mystery Science Theater 3000; he plays sermons by the "Super Pastors" and interrupts/corrects them using correct interpretation (and then rips their bad teaching to shreds). I'm amazed at how much I've learned from this one ministry-I'm sure I've learned more in just 2 or 3 years of listening to this, than in 30 years of sermons. I am not exaggerating. Now that I'm occasionally on the show it's even better. (That was a joke)

 

The White Horse Inn

"Know what you believe, and why you believe it!" This ministry has been slugging away for over 20 years, trying to teach Christians about the Bible, the Reformation, and why we need another one. You can also find a lot of their shows archived on YouTube here. I love this show, and I don't know where I'd be without the things I've learned here! The men on this program also do an excellent of demonstrating what it’s like when people from different denominational traditions talk together respectfully about their differences, and about the Gospel message that draws them together.

 

Critical Issues Commentary

This is a simple radio show that originally featured the excellent teaching of Bob DeWaay (the newer ones have different hosts). Bob has tackled a lot of the topics that most Christian shows wouldn't touch. And he's taught me a lot, in fact, I've listened to many of his half-hour shows over and over again, just so it can all sink in (and correct the confusing stuff I used to believe). He has also published a lot of excellent (and short) articles on the same topics as the radio shows; I often print these off (they're even available in PDF form) and give them to people.

 

Ryan Reeves YouTube Channel

 This is a great collection of videos about the history of the Christian Church and it's theological development; plus they are presented with a pretty neutral viewpoint. Done in a narration/documentary style, most of these are around 30 minutes or so. I've listened to many of these multiple times, because they're so interesting and well done. Reeves is a Professor with a PhD in Historical Theology from Cambridge; basically, he's giving away college lectures for free!

 

Bruce Gore YouTube Channel

This is similar to the Ryan Reeves channel, but these are videos of actual lectures given at Mr. Gore's (very fortunate) Sunday School class. He's a brilliant and engaging teacher, and the lectures have extensive notes and photos to follow along with. This is another amazing free resource!

 

This is just a start, but I hope this helps! (I originally wrote this article before I was a part of Pirate Christian Media, so if you're here just check out the many great programs and blogs to be found on this site)

            -Steven Kozar

"5 Most Cringeworthy Problems With BuzzFeed's Viral 'I'm A Christian, But I'm Not..' Video" by Mollie Hemingway

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Great response to the viral video "I'm a Christian, But I'm Not..." 
5 Most Cringeworthy Problems With BuzzFeed's Viral 'I'm Christian, But I'm Not' Video


 Here's an interview with Molly on "Issues Etc" discussing her article: 
http://issuesetc.org/2015/09/09/5-buzzfeeds-video-im-christian-but-im-not-mollie-ziegler-hemingway-9915/

"How to Prevent Losing Another Generation" by Ken Ham

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Very interesting article with some hard-hitting data on young adults leaving church:
How to Prevent Losing Another Generation | Answers in Genesis

Here's a sobering chart on the decline in beliefs that's taken just 20 years:

"Top 10 Reasons Our Kids Are Leaving Church" by Marc5Solas

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I'm posting this (again) because I think it's one of the very best articles about the Messed Up Church EVER:
http://marc5solas.com/2013/02/08/top-10-reasons-our-kids-leave-church/

"Bible-Believing" Christian??

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If you believe it’s important to follow the Bible, wouldn’t you want to “test all things” by God’s Word? Shouldn't you be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 who kept "examining the scriptures daily to see if these things are so?" Shouldn’t you at least see which ideas have more scriptural support than others? Of course! If we discover that some ideas are NOT Biblical, shouldn't we at least reconsider them? Of course! Below are some questions for you:

In the Bible, which are there more of?

...Bible verses about feeling God's presence (so you can know He's real), or Bible verses about knowing, teaching and following correct doctrine? (This is a trick question; there are no verses about feeling, experiencing or “being intoxicated” by God’s presence. Also, capitalizing the letter “p” in presence comes from the New Age movement.)

...Bible verses that tell us to have a "personal, intimate and emotional encounter with God," or Bible verses that tell us we can know God through His Word and Sacraments? (This is a trick question-there are no verses telling us that we’re supposed to have a personal, intimate and emotional encounter with God.)

...Bible verses about how you need to follow along with the vision of your pastor, or Bible verses about the pastor being a servant and shepherd? (This is a trick question; there are no verses telling you to “follow the vision” of your “vision-casting pastor;” that idea comes from the business world.)

...Bible verses that tell us that "God has planted a dream in your heart so that you can fulfill your destiny?"... never mind, that's so ridiculous that we can go on to the next question (this is a Christian website-not the Disney Channel!)

 

...Bible verses telling the church to conform to the pagan culture (in order to "win over" that culture), or  Bible verses describing the church as separate and distinct from culture? (This is a trick question; there are no verses telling the church to conform to the pagan culture. The word “church” comes from the word “ekklesia” which means “gathering” or “called out ones.”)

...Bible verses that describe the church as a place for entertainment-style "worship" (so that lots of people will enjoy going there), or as a place where the Bible (and sound doctrine about Christ) is proclaimed, confessed and taught? (This is a trick question; there are no verses telling the church to attract non-believers with flashy and/or emotional music, stagecraft, sermons full of entertaining stories/jokes, etc.)

...Bible verses that teach pastors about effective leadership skills that allow them to direct and manage a large staff (and thus make a huge salary), or Bible verses that say no believer should follow worldly philosophies and pastors should not get rich from preaching? (This is a trick question; there are no verses that describe pastors as businessman CEOs that follow leadership practices borrowed from pagans who want to get rich.)

...Bible verses that describe the Holy Spirit as wanting to get more and more attention (because He's been so neglected), or Bible verses that say He is always pointing us to Christ? (This is a trick question; the real Holy Spirit of the Bible is always leading people to repentance and faith in Christ, He never sends people on bizarre wild goose chases.)

...Bible verses where the Holy Spirit wants to make us act drunk and out of control, or Bible verses where the Holy Spirit wants to lead us to repentance and faith in Christ? (This is a trick question; there are no verses saying that the Holy Spirit wants to make us act drunk and out of control.)

...Bible verses that command us to muster up intense fervor to show how serious we are about serving God (so that He will finally give us something more: more power, more miracles, more success, more influence…), or Bible verses that tell us to simply believe in the forgiveness of our sins through Christ? (This is a trick question; there are no verses telling us to muster up intense fervor so we can show God how serious we are. You can relax now!)

...Bible verses about a great end times revival that features new and better Apostles who will do great healings, signs and wonders, or Bible verses that tell us about an end times falling away, full of false teachers doing great healings, signs and wonders in the name of Jesus? (This is a trick question; there are no Bible verses that tell us to expect a great end-times revival that features new and better Apostles.  All of the Bible verses are warning us about a great falling away with false teachers leading many astray by doing miraculous signs and wonders in the name of Jesus.) 

...Bible verses that tell us to go to meetings and conferences in order to "get the anointing,"or Bible verses that tell us we already have all that we need in Christ? (This is a trick question-there are no verses that tell Christians to go somewhere in order to "get the anointing." You can stop throwing away money on travel expenses and conference tickets now!)

...Bible verses that instruct Christians to "speak things into existence?"... never mind, that's so idiotic that we can just go to the next question (this is not an article about witchcraft and sorcery)... 

"We can't speak things into existence??"

"We can't speak things into existence??"

...Bible verses that tell churches to unify regardless of doctrine (so that God can finally "show up"), or Bible verses that tell us to hold fast to correct doctrine? (This is a trick question-there are no Bible verses where God promises to "show up" once we all give up our doctrine and unite for the sake of being unified.)

...Bible verses that tell us it's "all about a relationship, not a religion," or Bible verses that tell us to repent, be baptized and become members of Christ's body-The Church? (This is a trick question-there are no verses that specifically tell us to "have a personal relationship with Jesus," instead, the Bible points to the establishment of the Church and it's specific doctrine. Christianity is, by definition, a religion. You can stop being ashamed of that now. It is the only true religion-and it offers us the only true Good News! And, yes, we can certainly claim to have a relationship with Jesus, but remember, this article is about what the Bible actually says. Perhaps this video will help: Jesus Is My Friend 

 

Here's another article that should help add clarity to this topic:

Frequently Abused and Misused Bible Verses

"Church... Business... What's the Difference?" Confused Willow Creek Leadership Conference

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Quiz question: What do you get when you combine two Mormons, at least one "word of faith" heretic, some non-Christian business people, authors and public speaker/millionaires, along with a few mega-church pastors? 

Answer: The Willow Creek "Global Leadership Summit!"

This is the conference from 2015:

 

I took these screens shots from my iPhone after doing just a little research on the speaker line-up. First, author Jim Collins admits he doesn't know the church world (but he's happy to make a LOT of money off of it):  

Here's a few Mormon sites showing off their best achievers:

Remember when Jesus told us to hire the very best public speakers to build His church? Me neither...