A Blog by Steven Kozar
“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
"Hipster Pietistic Christians Having Coffee"
/These are a couple of short videos promoting a Zondervan book called "Jesus, Bread and Chocolate:"
Here's the second video (it's mostly all about coffee):
Some Christians are involved in what coffee experts are calling the Third Wave; which is the trend of much better coffee being produced and sold. Somehow this is supposed to tell us something about our faith, according to the book's author John J. Thompson.
Thompson asks:
"Is it possible, that our culture's re-engagement with hand-crafted local things and experiences might contain the echo of a still small voice calling us home to our truer selves? What might a batch of artisanal chocolate or a fresh-baked loaf of bread or a cup of home-roasted, carefully brewed coffee tell us about ourselves, our nature or our faith?"
Here's the answer to that deep, philosophical question:
We like better tasting ("artisanal") food and beverages because they taste better!
Plus, making stuff ourselves can be a great hobby, too. It might even become a business (my business is making paintings). But if we want to learn "about ourselves, our nature or our faith," we should look to God's Word.
There, now you don't need to buy this book.
Thompson continues:
"The growing underground commitment to alternative values is re-emerging from a centuries old slumber. Things like local communities, sustainability, social justice and artisanal beauty are captivating the hearts and minds of a generation unwilling to settle for literal or spiritual junk food. When I stop and listen, smell and taste, I'm reminded that there's more here than meets the eye. Maybe we can regain a taste for the good, the true and the beautiful, in ways that energize us on our journey, and encourage others to come along."
There is so much theologically weird about that whole paragraph, I'm not sure where to start...
What is this "growing commitment to alternative values?" What does that actually even mean? Do we Christians really need to learn about alternative values from whoever these people are? Who is this generation that is "unwilling to settle for literal or spiritual junk food?" Exactly what is "spiritual junk food?" Maybe this book makes some valid critiques of the seeker-friendly mega-churches; I'm not sure. But, I wonder, is "this generation" a reference to the millennium generation that is abandoning the Church, the Bible and Christianity faster than you can carefully make a pour-over carafe of coffee? Do we really want to learn about our faith from the trends associated with this generation? I would argue that "spiritual junk food" is exactly what hipsters (and most other people) are feeding on-it's anything other than God's Word. Instead of pandering to hipsters, we should simply and lovingly point them to the Gospel.
If we want to "regain a taste for the good, the true and the beautiful" why don't we just look to Christ and His Word? Is that not hipster enough?
Is Jesus dying on the cross to forgive us of our sins not "good, true and beautiful" enough?
Honestly, here's what we see about this (and every other) generation:
"None is righteous, no not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God."
-Romans 3:10-11
The Bible tells us (in Jude 4) to:
"contend for the faith that was once handed down to the saints,"
but this book talks about "crafting a hand-made faith." Now, I haven't read this book, (although I did find a YouTube video of the author talking about his book, and I listened to the first chapter online, too, which is an amazing story of John's childhood and conversion) but I'm pretty sure that God doesn't want us to "craft" our faith "by hand"- whatever that's supposed to mean. It's not like all the Christians around the world have been somehow getting their faith off of an assembly line in a factory. In my own life, I was very tired of pastors who who were "hand-crafting" their beliefs by subjective means. I'm only interested in faith based on God's Word.
Faith comes from hearing the Word of God. Period. We don't craft it; not even by hand.
Photo By Jazmin Quaynor
This is, perhaps, the most bizarre form of Pietism to come along in a long time. Apparently, real Christians will obsess over carefully crafted coffee (or bread, or chocolate) to make the world a better place and, once and for all, validate the Christian faith by their keen ability to mimic the hipster trends of East Nashville. (By the way, my daughter used to live there and she worked at one of most famous hipster coffee places... let's just say it's not a model of "our truer selves.")
In all of this, we hear no mention of our sin and our need for a Savior. Those things are probably mentioned somewhere in this book (I hope), but overall, this all sounds like another version of "Do More, Try Harder, Christianity" but with a hipster twist. Hipster Pietism doesn't say: "you should stop smoking and drinking, and start wearing a suit and tie if you're gonna be a real Christian! You should go to both Sunday services and Wednesday nights if you're gonna be a real Christian!" Now it's more like: "you should live more communally, locally and intentionally... And you should only eat and drink certain hand-made things that prove your sincerity and awareness... And you should only be certain of your own uncertainty... And you should somehow align your faith with cultural trends established and reinforced by non-conformists who all dress alike if you're gonna be a real Christian!"
It's very hard to figure out the actual Christian teaching that this video/book is promoting. The most ridiculous and ironic part of the (first) video? The actress writing in her notebook:
"Why I don't go to church. Spiritual but not religious..."
Seriously? Somebody thought that was a good idea for this video? "Yeah, those churches are too fake. Unlike this this totally fake scene that I'm acting in... pretending to write a tired old cliche in a notebook... to help sell books."
The layers of hypocrisy are really thick... like the crust on a carefully-baked loaf of artisanal bread.
Photo by Drew Coffman
Closing thoughts: I actually know this author (just a little bit; he wrote a nice article about me years ago, and I used to visit his record store and see him at concerts in the Chicago area) so I was unsure about posting this; I have nothing personal against him at all. But, I really wanted to address the underlying issues here-not attack the actual author (even though I kinda did). Sorry John, if you ever read this.
I would have probably read and enjoyed this book myself five years ago. But more recently I've become free from having to follow the latest trends to "validate Christianity" and "change the world" and now I want to shake people up to return to the timeless, pure Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I found that pure Gospel not in a hip coffee shop, but in His Word and in the CHURCH.
I'm afraid too many of us Christians are off on tangents that distract us from the core of our faith. We don't need to try and hear the still small voice of "artisanal beauty" (or whatever the new trend is) to know who God is, or who we are. We can hear directly from God in His Word. Praise God for that, too, because this world is too confusing to try and learn from cultural trends and the latest "experts."
To be fair, I'm the one who is using the term "hipster" here; the author, John J. Thompson is not. I could be over-emphasizing the hipster thing, here, I admit. It just seems like the obvious target audience and subject matter based on these videos.
Finally, I love good, hand-crafted coffee, bread and chocolate, just to be clear.
-Steven Kozar
For more clarity on the issue of Pietism:
Here is an excellent article by Bob DeWaay called:
How Pietism Deceives Christians
Here is an excellent history video by Ryan Reeves about
Here is an excellent lecture by Rod Rosenbladt against
"Bill Johnson-False Teacher Misusing Words" by CrossWise
/This is a very thorough and scholarly article about Bill Johnson and his very deceptive misuse of words. I would have simply called it "Bill Johnson is a Complete Fraud" but that's just me...
Learning Etymology with Bill Johnson: A New Age ‘Repentance’? | CrossWise
Kozar's Korner
/Hi, I'm Steven Kozar, the guy behind this blog...
My hope, with this blog, is to be the "pied piper" who says to the confused, hurting and/or frustrated people in the church: It's okay to question the things you're hearing from the "Evangelical Industrial Complex." I hope I can help you to filter through all the shallow and confusing things you've been told, and to help you come to a deeper understanding of what it means to be a Christian. Yes, we are ALL messed up sinners, but the church is supposed to be the one place where we hear the truth-God's Word-and are set free by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I've been a professional artist for the past 30 years. Here's a video about me and my art. Here's an example of one of my watercolor paintings:
This is a detail photo of that painting with a penny on top, to show the amount of detail in my paintings:
As you can see, I like
Details, Clarity, and Accuracy.
I'm not a professional writer or blogger, but I'm just as passionate about God and the study of God ("theology") as I am about my art. I've put my (borderline) OCD to work over the past decade trying to figure out what's going on in the church today. And I'm shocked and disgusted by the sorry state of Christianity in America: megachurches being run by megalomaniacs; heretical teachings being passed off as just "another way of looking at it;" sorcery, divination and demonic activity being called "holy spirit"... the list of examples could go on and on. Btw, when I say "Evangelical Industrial Complex" I'm not referring to actual orthodox Evangelical beliefs, I'm referring to the super pastors and celebrity authors (and the giant "Christian" publishing and television business) that have rejected Biblical beliefs and have added man-made teachings.
This blog was, first of all, a place where I could share some of the helpful websites, articles, and videos I'd discovered, and easily share them with others. This will continue to be something I do here.
Secondly, I wanted an outlet to share the ideas that I had been writing, and I will be posting my own articles here on a fairly regular basis.
This whole journey started when I started reading along in my Bible while the sermon was being preached at church. I've been a musician in various "praise bands" for many years, so I've been to a million services-and listened to a million sermons.
This is a photo from a church website where I used to go about seven years ago...That's me playing electric guitar on the right side of this photo (you can't really see my guitar).
When I decided to critically examine everything I was hearing at church and then compare it to the Bible, my whole world changed. I discovered that what the pastor said and what the Bible said were sometimes two different things. The Bible truly is God's Word, but it must be correctly interpreted and taught-period. Whenever I discovered that it was being taught incorrectly I left that church-period. I'm not ashamed to say I went through a period of "church-hopping" because I was seeking a church that emphasized God's Word above the teachings of man. I don't play in a praise band anymore, by the way; I'm very happy to sing hymns accompanied by a big beautiful organ.
Here's me with one of my "online mentors" Chris Rosebrough (This is when we first met in person, and I had just given him a print of my watercolor):
Here's me and my pastor, Joshua Janke, from Risen Savior Lutheran Church; although he's much younger than me, he's the most knowledgeable, trained and qualified pastor I've ever had! (Plus, we joke around a lot):
Here's me with Michael Horton (I studied under him at the International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism and Human Rights). He hosts the terrific show: The White Horse Inn; please listen to this show (it's on the daily Pirate Christian Radio schedule, too):
Here's me with Craig Parton, from Issues, Etc. and The International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism and Human Rights, where I studied in July of 2016:
I love being a Confessional Lutheran! Here's me taking a selfie with the President of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, Mark Schroeder:
Here's me with Pastor Jeremy Rhode at Chris Rosebrough's house the night before we had the 2016 Pirate Christian Radio Conference:
Starting in 2016, Chris Rosebrough, @Aspree and I have been collaborating on some of the Fighting for the Faith episodes. We call these "Pirate Gang Conversations." Here's a photo of Amy and me:
Lastly, here's my best friend and wife of over 30 years, Paulette:
This blog was originally just a little outlet for me to say something (to a very tiny audience), but now it has gotten tens of thousands of views after Chris Rosebrough invited me to be part of Pirate Christian Media. In early 2019, I turned The Messed Up Church into its own website because the blog format here was too limiting for all of the content I had compiled, plus there are new things I want to do on my own website. My all-new website is a more complete version of what I started here at Pirate Christian Media, but I will continue to do stuff here with Chris Rosebrough.
Here's the program of Fighting for the Faith from December of 2015 where Chris did a full interview with me.
The way I see it, the church is not suffering for a lack of information-it's suffering because very few Christians are even looking at the information that's available. All it takes is the correct starting point to discover the error in today's teachings.
If your starting point is here: "my pastor is really nice (or smart, or tells good stories, or whatever) so I will just trust what he says" then all the information on earth is useless. But if you start here: "I'm going to find out for myself if this is true; I'm going to study God's Word for myself and I'm going to find the very best teachers" then a whole new world quickly emerges (and it's kinda scary at first). When I discovered all the other believers who were reaching similar conclusions as me (or who were, at least, asking the same questions as me), it gave me hope and encouragement. I hope that, ultimately, that will be the result of everyone visiting this site.
Please turn off the TV, turn on your brain and start reading the Bible for yourself! Do your own research and ignore what "the group" is saying. Being a follower of Jesus is truly anti-establishment; and the "American Evangelical Industrial Complex" is not the true church (it's The Messed Up Church).
May God bless you as you seek to know Him!
-Steven Kozar
By the way, the (sometimes) snarky sarcasm is my way of grabbing people's attention and getting them to think. Sorry if it offends you-I'm actually a pretty nice guy (most of the time).
Also, I am not writing for theologians (I'm not qualified for that)-I'm mostly trying to write articles that will challenge people's assumptions and cause them to want to learn more; please check out the many highly-qualified pastors on piratechristian.com for more extensive learning.
Check out the new and improved: The Messed Up Church website!
"Inside Hillsong" by A Current Affair (Australian TV)
/This is an amazing 12 minutes of investigative journalism.
"This is not a church, this is an entertainment corporation and the product is God..."
Brian Houston is a slimy false teacher in every regard; yet he is as rich and famous as any "Evangelical" celebrity Super Pastor you can name.
“But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of a brother if he is guilty of of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler-not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those on the outside. Remove the evil person from among you.”
Please watch and share this:
This is one of Brian Houston's early books (before he became more subtle):
"SBC Leader Ronnie Floyd, Joining With IHOP Cult" by Jeff Maples
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Pulpit and Pen, once again holding the Southern Baptist Convention accountable:
SBC Prez, Ronnie Floyd, Joining With IHOP Cult To Promote Charismania | Pulpit & Pen
SBC Prez, Ronnie Floyd, Joining With IHOP Cult To Promote Charismania | Pulpit & Pen
"Steven Furtick Has Faith in Doubt” by Jeff Maples
/This is just painfully stupid...
Steven Furtick Has Faith in “Doubt” | Pulpit & Pen
It's okay to admit we sometimes have doubts, in the process of holding to our faith, of course. But our doubts are
not
good, in and of themselves!
"Congratulations! You've Abandoned Christianity in One Sentence!" by Steven Kozar
/
This was posted on Facebook by someone who, as far as I know, used to profess (or still does) to being a Christian:
This one sentence has it all: blasphemy, the elevation of personal choice over the sovereignty of God, the complete rejection of our need for salvation... it's quite stunning.
First of all, there is the "issue of God" phrase; isn't this is an arrogant and blasphemous thing to say? Who can reduce the Creator of the Universe down to an "issue?" It's like saying:
"Listen everyone, I know that billions of people have written, speculated and philosophized about God for all of human history, and I know that God has revealed Himself in His Holy Word, but we can just skip all of that: I'm gonna summarize God for you now, since my knowledge is above all people throughout history and even above God Himself..."
It's not just blasphemy, it's also a strangely casual kind of blasphemy; like God isn't even real anyway, so "what's the big deal?"
Now about this phrase "what could happen if we die," First off, the words "could" and "if" really need to be replaced by the words "will" and "when." Or wait, maybe this person has the ability to live forever; come to think of it, they did have the "issue of God" all figured out...
I'm guessing that because this person thinks the idea of God punishing us sinful humans is extremely unpopular and old-fashioned, it can be disregarded like a bad sitcom from the 90's. Here's the clever logic involved: "We (the modern and smart people) don't like God's punishment, (His wrath, His judgement, hell, etc.) therefore, it doesn't exist."
See how clever it is?
Let's try using this clever idea in a different form: "I don't like having to pay Federal Income Tax, therefore, it doesn't exist." (Please consult your personal tax consultant before attempting this yourself).
Lastly, since these new, smarter people don't have to worry about dying and they've eliminated any resulting eternal consequences of sin using their sheer mind-power, they are free to move on to the really important matter: "what could happen if we actually choose to live." Wow! I didn't even know we could choose to live; last time I checked we had to be born from our parents. These people really are smarter and better!!
Seriously, after completely rejecting the God who has revealed Himself in Holy Scripture, this is all they've got?? This is, at best, the title of an out-of-print self-help book. This isn't a brilliant new philosophy of life that answers all the questions plaguing mankind; this is more like re-hashed and vapid liberal Protestantism from the 1920's.
But much, much worse, this way of thinking says to Jesus Christ, the Son of God who took upon Himself the sins of the world: "No thank you; your death was in vain. We don't need forgiveness or salvation; we're just going to choose to actually live."
This is nothing less than a complete rejection of the shocking and unfathomable free gift of salvation bought on the cross.
Please, if you think your good choices are what life is all about, I urge you to start reading the Bible again, and come out of the demonic fog that surrounds you and repent, before it's too late.
““Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.””
"When Did the Church Turn Into Amway?"
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Photo by Jazmin Quaynor
True Story
In the 1990's my wife and I had three young children and we were in financial trouble; my income as an artist was very inconsistent. We were invited to become Amway distributors by a family member who knew we were the kind of "go-getters" who could really "make things happen."
I was very skeptical at first, but I eventually gave in to the promise of "multiple streams of residual income." In the late 1990's we heard (and fell for) "The Dream Destiny Thingy." This is years before it crept into (and devoured) much of the church. It's a bunch of assumptions that go something like this:
"God brought you here today for a reason; it's not an accident that you're in this meeting today. The reason you're struggling financially is because you don't have a dream-it's not because you don't have money! Once you have a big enough dream, the money will follow. Amway is just the business vehicle; this is really about changing people's lives by getting them to pursue their dreams."
They would pray in the meetings like this:
"Thank you God that you've given each of us the ability to dream. Help us to chase our dreams, discover our destiny and make a real difference in people's lives. In Jesus name, Amen."
We were taught about the power of using the right words to speak things into existence. We had to be positive-all the time-because being negative would attract negative results.
Large Amway conventions are the ultimate gig for motivational speakers and other performers, and most of the really big guns were there, helping to prop up the illusion that Amway was a great opportunity for anyone willing to work hard and stick to it. Zig Ziglar, Robert Kiyosaki, John Maxwell and other big name speakers have all done the Amway gig; people would even write books praising the Amway opportunity because they knew thousands of distributors would buy them; it was a built-in audience of niche consumers. I tried not to notice how none of these people making money by praising Amway actually joined up and became Amway distributors themselves.
But the best speakers in the Amway business weren't the "professional" speakers, they were the "regular folks" who worked hard and had made it to the level of Diamond (or higher). These "regular folks" would convince the socks off of anyone that you could make it happen! "You just need to really buy into the system and do everything your leaders tell you to do-your success is guaranteed!" "If your dream is big enough, the facts don't count!" The most convincing Diamond speakers would come from another organization and speak at your meeting to help you grow your business. "Wow, these people are so nice and giving of their time" you would think. Plus, they would always start by praising your leaders and telling you how lucky you were to have the leadership that you had in your own organization.
Eventually, I learned that all of these diamond (and above) speakers were getting giant speaking fees. They weren't giving their time, they were selling their time. If you were getting $10,000 for an hour and a half speech, do you think you could praise whoever was writing your check? On top of the very convincing speakers, they had amazing videos with powerful music and emotionally charged stories to tear at your heartstrings. The use of multimedia was incredibly effective-especially in a stadium full of like-minded people who all believed.
We were even told that if you went to the next big meeting it "would really build up your belief." A more honest way of saying it would be "if you go to this big meeting you'll be convinced to stick around long enough for us to make money off of you for a little while longer, because you'll be emotionally convinced that this business is great!"
This Isn't a Dream, It's a Nightmare!
In short, we spent 4 years trying to build an Amway business and lost about $40,000 in the process. We did everything we were supposed to do-everything!
I know all about mind control techniques because I experienced them first hand. I know what it's like to be emotionally manipulated because I experienced it first hand. I know about turning the Christian faith into a vehicle that promises to make your dreams come true because I experienced it first hand. On top of all that, we started going to a large "positive confession" charismatic church as a result of this new outlook on our faith. We prayed and prayed and prayed... and prayed: "God please help us build this great business so we can be financially free and help others..."
But God didn't answer. We had to figure out the hard way that we were being scammed.
You see, in most Amway businesses, all of the emphasis is on "the system," which had 3 components (called "tools"): Books, CDs and Functions. We would buy and read the positive self-help type books (a new one every month); we would buy and listen to a motivational CD every week (or more if you were really committed like us), and we would buy a ticket to a different function every single month.
No matter what.
This is how they could build such large and compliant organizations. This is simply a type of thought-control. Some of the teaching was actually decent business/success type material, but overall, the system kept people in the business and in the dark. Sure there were always people quitting, but there were always new people to replace the quitters. And there was tremendous profit to be made on each and every book, CD and ticket; that's where the upline distributors were making most of their money. It was all in secret and a lot of it was cash under the table, so these hucksters weren't even paying tax on all their income. After the internet became popular, Amway's seedy underbelly couldn't hide so easily, and it has never gotten back to its original multi-billion dollar American heyday (much of Amway's growth has been in foreign countries in the past 15 years).
The Evangelical Industrial Complex has copied many of the very things that have "worked" so well in Amway:
Tell people that Christianity is all about getting your Dreams and realizing your Destiny. Check.
Tell people that having lots of money is a good thing that God wants for you (so you can help others, of course). Check.
Tell people to only listen to positive messages about success and prosperity. Check.
Tell people that they can speak things into existence because words have power. Check.
People continually quitting and leaving, but they get replaced by new and different people just as fast. Check.
Get people to "experience life change" by learning self-help and relationship-building techniques. Check.
The guy on the stage is making money off the people in the seats. Check.
The guy on the stage is promising you things you'll never actually get (in the name of God). Check.
After you don't get what you were promised you're told to have more faith and try harder (and buy the latest book). Check.
The visiting speaker (pastor) praises the local leader (pastor) and gets a fat speaking fee (plus sells his books in the lobby). Check. (handy tip: It's not a speaker fee if it comes from a "free-will offering")
Use music, lights and multimedia/video to emotionally manipulate like-minded people who desperately want to believe. Check.
Wait a minute, is this Amway or a Mega-Church we're talking about??
It's the SAME DAMNED (literally) THING!
FYI, Here is an excellent website with details about the Amway tool scam:
Stop The Amway Tool Scam
Also, just to be clear, I have no ill feelings towards those in my upline who were taken in by this "business" -and who probably lost more money than I did. God help us all. -Steven Kozar
Check out the new and improved: The Messed Up Church website!
Shocking Stuff You're Not Supposed to Know!
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"Hey?! My Pastor never showed me these Bible verses!!"
GO AHEAD-READ THIS ENTIRE PAGE! These are some of the many Bible passages that are being strangely ignored by the Apostate (Messed Up) Church:
Mathew 12:38-41 "Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here."
Matthew 7:15-23 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 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 24:3-14; 24-25 “As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Vs. 24): For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. (25) Behold, I have told you in advance.”
2 Peter 2:1-3 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
Romans 16:18 “For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.”
2 Corinthians 2:17 “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.”
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.”
1 Thessalonians 2:5 “You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed--God is our witness.”
Acts 20:28-31 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.”
1 Timothy 6:5 “...and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.”
Luke 16:13-14 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things, and they were scoffing at Him”
Titus 1:7-11 “For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”
James 3:1 "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness."
Titus 2:1 “But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine.”
Galatians 1:6-9 “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”
1 Corinthians 5:11-13 "But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of a brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler-not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those on the outside. Remove the evil person from among you."
Galatians 1:10 “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
Titus 2:7-8 “...in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.”
1 Thessalonians 5:21 “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good...”
1 John 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
2 Timothy 1:13-14 “Hold fast (retain) the pattern of sound words (doctrine) which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.”
2 Timothy 3:12-17 “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 4:1-4 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
2 Timothy 4:16 "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 “Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 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 2:15 "So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter."
1 Corinthians 16:13 "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong."
2 John 1:7-11 “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. 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.”
Jude 3 “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.”
This article by Steven Kozar; check out his new and improved: The Messed Up Church website!
"The Concordance Cam: Leadership in the Bible" Video by Steven Kozar
/Absolutely NO EXPENSE was spared in producing this brand new video!! Watch for more exciting "Concordance Cam" videos in the future!
"Eliminating Cognitive Dissonance and the Silly Putty Jesus"
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Jesus Christ (the actual God/Man of the Bible) is not a mythical being that we've created; He is the second person of the Holy Trinity-the Godhead. However, the Jesus of Pop American Evangelicalism is too often an ambiguous and subjective creation that adapts and adjusts to us, in order to meet our felt needs. He's like Silly Putty. We can bend him into any shape we want-we can even even press him against any image and he'll take on that image like a cheap copier. He's very accommodating of our every whim and fantasy. There's only one small problem: he isn't real. At all.
Pop American Evangelicalism should be busy eliminating the Silly Putty Jesus; after all, aren't Evangelicals supposed to be the ones following the Bible very closely? Or is that just something that's assumed, without much evidence? Does Jesus really exist to "make our dreams come true?" Did Jesus die on the cross to "give us a sense of purpose and community" or to help us promote "leadership principles?" Did the Sovereign Maker of the Universe come and take on flesh and die on the cross so that we could become:
"Empowered Dreamers of Destiny?" or
"Prophets of Global Awakening?" or
"Radical Worshipers of the Heavenly Realm?" or,
just insert whatever non-Biblical (yet spiritual sounding) phrase pops into your head...
No, Jesus came to rescue us from sin and death.
In psychology, "cognitive dissonance" is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values. Dr. Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance (which was developed in the late 1950's) focuses on how humans strive for internal consistency. When inconsistency (dissonance) is experienced, individuals tend to become psychologically uncomfortable and they are motivated to reduce this dissonance, in any number of ways. It's painful to hold two opposing beliefs at the same time. One can either change one's beliefs in order to make them consistent or one can make some other superficial adjustment.
When confronted with the Silly Putty Jesus, Evangelical Christians tend to react in two different ways: they either recommit to their false beliefs with increased fervor (often by invalidating the messenger who delivers the uncomfortable truth; i.e. "that blogger is just a mean jerk!!"), or they give up on Christianity altogether (which they've mistakenly believed was owned and operated by the Silly Putty Jesus, and thus, all their dreams have not come true).
It's very interesting to note that Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance was formulated during research for the 1956 book "When Prophets Fail." Festinger and his collaborators, Henry Riecken and Stanley Schachter, examined conditions under which disconfirmation of beliefs leads to increased conviction in such beliefs. The group studied a small apocalyptic cult led by Dorothy Martin (under the pseudonym Marion Keech in the book), a suburban housewife. Martin claimed to have received messages from "the Guardians," a group of superior beings from another planet. The messages purportedly said that a flood would destroy the world on December 21st.
As a side note, Dorothy Martin received her messages by utilizing an "automatic writing" (demonic) technique just like Sarah Young, who wrote the "Jesus Calling" book that Evangelicals have made a runaway best-seller.
Anyway, the three psychologists and several other assistants infiltrated Dorothy Martin's group incognito, where they observed the group firsthand for months before and after the predicted apocalypse. Many of the group members quit their jobs and sold their possessions in preparation for the predicted "End of the World." When the prophesied doomsday came and went, Martin claimed that the world was spared because of the "force of good and light" that the group members had spread throughout the world. Rather than abandoning their discredited beliefs, group members adhered to them even more strongly and began proselytizing with fervor.
So, these people had experienced tremendous cognitive dissonance when their leader was proven utterly wrong; so they increased activity and fervor in order to compensate for their internal discomfort. Hmmm....
Doesn't this sound like a lot of church services where the goal is to prop-up shallow beliefs and bad theology with emotionalism and cheer-leading? And in the charismatic American Evangelical church, there have been so many false prophets saying so many false things that it's impossible to even keep track of it all. How many of the "New Apostles" have said false things that don't line up with scripture? All of them have. How many of the "New Apostles" have made false prophecies that haven't come true? All of them have. Yet they keep "preaching" and getting richer. Sound Biblical teaching has been replaced with: "Speaking my dream into existence" and "declaring and decreeing my destiny" and "My time of special anointing is about to be birthed..." These ideas came from the world of sorcery and "Mind Science," but they've been accommodated by charismatic churches for decades and now many Evangelical churches (that were previously non-charismatic) have accepted and adopted these charismatic practices and beliefs without pause. Why? Because it's "what people want" and it "brings in the numbers."
More recently, another psychological study found that playing pleasant music (Mozart, in the study) can decrease cognitive dissonance. In other words, if one is holding two or more conflicting beliefs simultaneously, the resulting tension can be decreased by listening to soft music. Of course, the best thing to do would be to eliminate whatever false belief is causing all the trouble! And yet, this helps explain why a soft rock "praise band" is a vital part of any Evangelical service nowadays. While the parishioner sits and listens to a sermon that conflicts with Biblical Christianity (usually in a subtle, sneaky way), he is eventually lulled into compliance by an emotional chord progression played repeatedly in the background.
As an accomplished musician I know about this from playing for many years on the "worship team." We musicians would often be out in the lobby talking and eating donuts during the sermon, but we had to watch for the pastor's signal to come up and play while he delivered his emotional ending plea. Charismatic churches compound this charade by calling any emotional response "The Holy Spirit," or by saying "you could really feel the Holy Spirit fall down during the service this morning!" Do we really believe the Holy Spirit was somewhere (up in the rafters maybe?) and by playing a certain type of music that we can "call Him down" as if we had some kind of mystical God whistle? In truth, emotional music is, well, emotional. That's why can you feel very similar feelings at any concert when certain similar music is being played. In the church, this is plain old emotional manipulation, and it's been a hallmark of American Evangelicalism ever since the days of Charles Finney.
Here are some thoughts on how to fend off cognitive dissonance for good:
1. Diligently eliminate all false teachings from you life.
This is what God's Word tells us to do. Check out all these Bible verses. This will probably take some time and effort-do it anyway. This will also probably make you unpopular with some people-do it anyway. Even though Jesus and the Apostles tell us repeatedly to "watch out for wolves in sheep's clothing" we've been told by Evangelical "experts" to do the opposite; we've been told to just be accepting, non-judgmental and positive. As for me, I've been more at peace than ever before by ignoring all the "experts." If Jesus is the head of the church, shouldn't Jesus be the head of the church? Why are we allowing "vision-casting" pastors to promote the Silly Putty Jesus? Probably because he tells us whatever we want to hear. But it's all deception, and true freedom comes from the true Gospel.
2. Question everything.
Seriously. Question your own presumptions before you even start asking questions. For example: instead of saying, "I want to go to a church where the pastor can really keep my attention with exciting and humorous sermons" or "I want to go to a church that I'm comfortable with" or "I want to go to a church that's relevant to my needs" you should be saying "I want to go to a church that carefully follows God's Word-no matter what!" The pastor who keeps your attention with his exciting and humorous sermons is quite possibly preventing you from hearing about Christ and Him crucified for your sins. Is hearing a little pep talk about improving your "life skills" a good enough reason to attend church? Do you really expect so little from the God of the Universe? Question everything, but make the Bible your final authority. Which leads to the last point...
3. Stop following the teachings of men.
Do you want to follow Jesus Christ, the Risen Savior? Great! That means taking up your cross and denying yourself, it doesn't mean "having your best life now." Evangelicals believe that the Bible is God's Word, yet they read it very infrequently, and then they often misunderstand it when they do. It's not a "manual for life" or a set of instructions for "achieving you dreams." It is God revealing Himself through the redeeming Savior, Jesus Christ. He came to earth by taking on human flesh through a virgin birth; He lived an amazing life full of astounding miracles; He had authority and wisdom far beyond any human; He died on the cross where He took our sins upon Himself, and then He was raised from the dead. And then He gave us His Word-His unchanging and objective Word. We need not doubt anymore.
That's enough.
Actually, that's much, much more than enough!
Why would we add anything to this? What pathetic "new" teaching of man could possibly be better than the true Gospel? When we focus on the shocking, stunning and truly wonderful miracle of Christ's atoning sacrifice for our sins and the complete, final and unconditional forgiveness we've been granted, we won't have any need for the shallow teachings of man to tickle our ears.
Leave the Silly Putty Jesus behind, and find true freedom, forgiveness and hope in the real Jesus!
Also, here's an article about cognitive dissonance that you might find helpful:
"Why You Shouldn’t Use Liturgy in Your Worship" by Page Brooks
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This is a great little tongue-in-cheek article:
Why You Shouldn’t Use Liturgy in Your Worship | Engage the Times
(As a former member of a worship band in a large charismatic church, I now love liturgical worship and I have no desire to "go contemporary" ever again. -S.K.)
Why You Shouldn’t Use Liturgy in Your Worship | Engage the Times
(As a former member of a worship band in a large charismatic church, I now love liturgical worship and I have no desire to "go contemporary" ever again. -S.K.)
"The Charismatic Delusion and Discernment Dilemma" by J. D. Hall
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Yikes, this is a very strong indictment; I kinda wish I could disagree, just to be nice...
The Charismatic Delusion and Discernment Dilemma | Pulpit & Pen
The Charismatic Delusion and Discernment Dilemma | Pulpit & Pen
"Christian Books Gone Bad: End Times Profiteering" Video by Steven Kozar
/Here's another slide show of book covers I put on YouTube...
"Frequently Abused Verses: The Biggest Prosperity Proof-Text"
/Great little article about 3 John verse 2 and how Oral Roberts really messed it up...
Frequently Abused Verses: Is God's Primary Concern My Physical Blessing?
"Not Feeling It"-The Gospel for Everyone Else
/I know you’re out there. In fact, I know there are untold millions of you out there.
You’ve heard about the need for “intimacy with God” and “having a personal relationship with God” and how “it’s not about religion, it’s about a relationship,” and you're just not feeling it. You’ve maybe even mustered up the courage to admit to a close friend or pastor that you’re not getting the feelings that everyone else is getting. Maybe you’ve been reassured that “feelings come and go but God’s love never changes!” But the unspoken answer underneath that pat-answer is this: “keep trying and maybe someday you’ll be intimate with God like the rest of us.”
Which is a profoundly sad thought. It’s like God has His omnipotent hands tied; “He’s trying to be intimate with you, but you need to do your part…”
And God’s Word says none of these things. You’ve been taught a pack of lies. Seriously.
You’ve been taught the latest version of Gnosticism or Mysticism or Pietism or Semi-Pelagianism or some other “ism” that’s been circulating since the very start of the Christian Church; but it’s been firmly declared as un-biblical heresy in the first few centuries of church history. But since the modern Evangelical church usually ignores theology, church history and often even the Bible itself, it’s no wonder that bad ideas that can be easily refuted are not. Instead, these bad ideas flourish and grow under the profitable nurturing of false teachers disguised as pastors (often with good intentions).
If you’ve been hurt, confused or frustrated by your lack of emotional experiences with God, this little article is for you. You're the person out in the lobby getting some coffee while the "worship service" keeps going and going... and going. I've been out there with you.
You are not the problem.
The Pharisees were rebuked by Jesus for keeping people under a burden-a heavy load-that they would not move.
Today, the latest version of a Pharisee is always telling you that you need something more-something bigger and better.
Something Super Spiritual. Something Really Deep. The Next Level. A New Secret to really getting close to God...
So here’s the real Good News:
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, 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 coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one can boast.”
True Christianity is God coming and rescuing us from sin and death. It’s God doing 100% and us doing 0%.
Just believe-and be free!
(This article is written for Christians, so I'm simplifying a bit; technically I should be mentioning repentance and baptism, but hopefully you get the point)
Just believe. That isn’t just enough-it’s much, much more than enough!
In fact, it seems just too good to be true...
So, in our tiny human brains we feel compelled to “do our part” and show God we “really mean business!” We actually like it when pastors put us back under the Law so that we can show how serious we are about serving God. We actually like it when the pastor gets all worked up and “really preaches it” about our need to “do more for God.” And our refusal to accept the total and complete gift of salvation rears its ugly head when we think we can get even closer to God by our subjective and ambiguous mystical experiences. And, to make matters worse, we sometimes look down on our fellow believer who actually admits that they don’t “feel” intimate with God.
Jesus never said: “Someday I’m going to require my followers to muster up a great deal of emotional fervor so that my love can really be felt.”
Jesus never said: “If you really love me and want to be close to me you will have an intimate encounter with me during an extended quiet time (or worship service, or special Intimacy Conference...).”
Jesus never said: “It’s not enough to just read my Word; you need to go beyond my Word and experience me in a personal way.”
Jesus did say: “Take and eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.”
That’s intimacy with God; instituted by God; described in God’s Word. Your intense and dramatic feelings: Optional.
You can stop following the teachings of men and be truly free.
It is finished, indeed!
Also, here's a great episode of The White Horse Inn on this topic:
"Is It Apostasy... or Just Coincidence?"
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There aren't many Christians who believe that apostasy is upon us; they are just going to church and following the agenda that's been prearranged for them. And if you mention the fact that true doctrine-the true Biblical Gospel-isn't being taught in the overwhelming majority of churches, most Christians will deny it. "Where's the evidence?!" will be the reply; or perhaps "My pastor would have told me about it already!" Once you supply the evidence (and it's overwhelming) they will refuse to accept it.
But the very definition of the apostate church demands that this be the case. In other words, in order for the church to be in a state of apostasy it would mean that most Christians would refuse to believe that they were in a state of apostasy.
Hmmm...
So, what most Christians prefer to believe in is a ridiculously large number of "irrelevant" facts, figures and statistics-and they believe that the Bible has nothing to say on the topic. Again, the problem is not that convincing evidence doesn't exist, it's that convincing evidence surrounds each and every Christian (at least in the American/Western church) but they refuse to look at it; or they look at it and pretend it's something else-just a coincidence, perhaps.
Christians seem to think that deception will announce itself. "We shouldn't worry about being deceived-someone will make an announcement for us if we need it" they seem to say. It's as if we all have a Christian weather radio that sends an apostasy alert, and some guy in some office somewhere is watching out for us: "they'll let us know if a tornado of false belief is heading our way. Don't worry about it-we can keep enjoying ourselves!.."
A foundation has been laid that precludes the possibility that an end times deception/state of apostasy could be taking place. The very idea is ridiculed as primitive, narrow-minded and irrelevant. If you bring up all the scripture verses that warn us you get called a Pharisee or "too legalistic."
Even though Jesus and the Apostles warn their followers not to be deceived, those "followers" now believe the exact opposite.
Imagine the absurdity of claiming to follow someone while doing the opposite of what they say. I believe the primary thing that prevents Christians from seeing the apostasy all around them is this simple little thought:
"But somebody would have said something if that were true!"
But Somebody did say something-and He could not have been more clear:
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
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: 15-23)
Matthew 24: 3-14; 24-25 “As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" And Jesus answered and said to them, "
See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.
Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Vs. 24):
For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. (25) Behold, I have told you in advance.”
He has said something. Now is the time to listen to Him and reject the teachings of men.
-Steven Kozar
"Christian Books Gone Bad: The Dream/Destiny Obsession" video by Steven Kozar
/Here's a little slide show I made of Christian books that promise to help you achieve your "Dream Destiny Thingy." (It's "all about Jesus??" I don't think so)...