Warning: Some may find the content of this article offensive. Godly discretion and discernment is advised.
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
As we think of our Lord, we typically envision the smiling, loving Savior, the gentle Jesus filled with compassion who healed the blind, lame and infirm. Or maybe the powerful Jesus, who calmed storms with His voice, called religious leaders to accounting for their sins and cast out demons by His authority. We must acknowledge another side of Jesus; that of a holy zeal borne of righteous indignation, manifested into action.
“And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:12-13).
Christians, we can have justified anger, and I do. I’m indignant that churches which are supposed to be of God are more and more the dens of thieves; those who steal money through deceit by using Jesus’ holy name. Yes, those who steal souls by heretical teaching and false doctrines.
“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8-9).
Do you know why some people are leaving churches because churches and entire denominations have left God? Many pastors won’t speak about sin or salvation. They won’t preach about the evils by which we are being overwhelmed, such as the abomination of homosexuality. They won’t address the redemptive power of Jesus’ spilt blood at the cross or the tidal wave of blood sweeping over and defiling our land from the mutilated bodies of aborted babies. We live in the prophesied days in which pastors are obedient to godless government, not God, lovers of money, not Jesus.
“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:14-17).
We live in the last age of the church, the Laodicean Age, a time of lip service Christianity. The verses above accurately describe the overall condition of the Christian church today, especially in the US. What sounds more arrogantly American than the prideful boast, “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing?” No need for God, no need for the blood of Christ to atone for our sins.
Sins? What’s that? “Why, I can’t be taking any stands on what is or isn’t sin” (The world says that’s being judgmental so I can’t offend anyone.) “Didn’t you hear? God wants me to be rich and prosperous.”
Don’t worry about sin. Don’t even mention it. Haven’t you heard? There are many paths to Heaven! This just in: Christians and Muslims worship the same god!
Jesus has an answer for such as these: “Knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”
Apostasy is variously defined as a defection from the faith, an unpardonable act of rebellion against God and His truth, a willful falling away from Christianity and a rejection of Christianity by someone who was formerly a Christian. Then there are those who claim to be Christian, but were never really saved and thus have never been a Christian—yet boldly present false doctrines against biblical truth. Those people being fooled by these types of wolves in sheep’s clothing are a part of today’s widespread apostasy and don’t even realize it.
Ignorance is no excuse. We all have access to a Bible. It’s the responsibility of each one of us to know better, and we would if we approached God’s Word with the same passion as we do with our favorite sports team or television series. Friend, that football game on Sunday isn’t leading you to heaven. But if it serves as a distraction from God, it could well be leading you toward hell. Is that harsh? So be it.
For some, for many, apostasy is simply a case of itching ears:
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
This is that time. Many are these kinds of “teachers” who personally flourish by replacing the truth with pleasant-sounding fables. Shall I name, names? Before I do, I must pose to you a question. Sheep, who is your pastoral shepherd? Not all, apostate church leaders are nationally known figures. In fact, the vast majority, sow their seeds of discord and errant ministry out of the greater spotlight, and in every community. Like an undetected cancer, they work to destroy the body of Christ.
Then there are the cults, which cloak themselves in the mantle of Christianity offering the name of Jesus as bait, but changing and denying who He is. Some, Mormons as an example, have their own “holy” book, which is claimed to be an inspired addition to the Bible but is in fact held superior to it even as it directly contradicts biblical teaching. A word of warning to those who choose to follow Joseph Smith instead of following Jesus:
“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Revelation 22:18-19).
The Mormons I have met are decent, likeable, hard-working people. Even so, they must understand that works won’t get us into heaven. Sadly, somehow earning your way to heaven is a tenet common to cults. It is a false doctrine that renders Jesus’ death on the cross, unnecessary and his resurrection meaningless.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Others cults, like Jehovah’s Witnesses and Catholics have their own special versions of the Bible and are governed by the twisted decrees and secret revelations of man. Wait a second. Did I just label Catholicism as a cult? Indeed I did; the cult of Mary worship. Jesus told us to pray to His Heavenly Father, not his earthly mother. Yet the Pope himself routinely prays to statues of Mary, in direct defiance of the first and second of the Ten Commandments.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Exodus 20:3-4).
Mary isn’t the only deceased human on which the Catholic Church has bestowed divine attributes. There are at least 10,000 saints that have been canonized by the Church of Rome that Catholics can pray to. By the way, Jesus had half-brothers and sisters. After the virgin birth of Jesus, Mary had normal sexual relations with her husband, Joseph. Out of this natural and God-ordained union came these siblings.
There is nothing in the Bible that claims otherwise. But Catholic “tradition” makes the ridiculous claim that Jesus’ brothers and sisters were either his cousins or were the children of Joseph from a previous marriage. Choose either, just don’t choose the truth because the truth makes Mary what she was; a woman highly favored by God (but just a woman). Not a deity to worship.
The pope, the so-called “Holy See” presides over a religious entity that has its members confess their sins to a mere mortal man (a priest), and claims that that man can forgive them of sin. Only God can forgive sins, not Man. It’s utter blasphemy! Yet this devilish mix of idolatry and pagan ritual is commonly referred to as part of the Christian faith. It is not. Are we surprised that an organization that ordains known homosexuals to the priesthood, lost souls all, would then attempt to cover up the epidemic of pedophile attacks within its walls, most of which are homosexual?
Pope Francis recently called the sins of homosexuality and abortion, “small matters.” Sins, especially these abominable sins are not small matters to God. But the Pope knows better. I mean, after all, he’s the Pope. Pope Francis has even stated that atheists can make it to heaven by following their own conscience. Absolute heresy!
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
Keeping with the many paths theme, Pope Francis has reached out to his “Muslim brothers” in a special Ramadan message; Ramadan being a significant holiday month for Muslims. On a personal note, I’ve had Muslim friends and acquaintances, but my brothers and sisters are Christians. There is a profound difference.
The president of the Islamic Affairs Council of Maryland has stated that, Pope Francis, “Resonates with the Muslim world” as he seeks to find common ground with the stated enemy of non-Islamic humanity. Meanwhile Pope Francis has stated that those who practice “ideological Christianity” (you know, those of us who take biblical truth seriously) have an “illness.”
What kind of man attacks Christianity and embraces blasphemous Islam? That’s right, an evil man, one unfit for any type of leadership role, anywhere.
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14)
Is the picture clear enough? Flee this false religion. I realize that I’m advising some people to break with upbringing and years of family tradition, of lives built around a cherished belief system. I assure you that your soul is worth it. Jesus’ disciples had to leave the traditional Jewish faith to follow Him, too.
Look at things for what they are, not how you wish them to be. I’m sorry at the offense some will take but there’s no way to sugarcoat the truth of this matter. I will not water-down what needs to be said to avoid hurt feelings. Better to have hurt feelings than souls lost forever. This is serious. Those of you who’ve been deceived are dying spiritually in apostasy. Your very soul is imperiled. Think of me as you choose but please consider my words.
Even though Islam is completely satanic, I’m not advocating an adversarial approach with individual Muslims who are open to conversation. Many ex-Muslims have bravely converted to Christianity, and in doing so face a penalty of death—known as an honor killing—at the hands of their still Muslim relatives.
Jesus died for all. We must witness to every lost soul about His love, the need for repentance and the good news of salvation. At the same time realize that Islam is unyielding in its dealing with infidels. We are to be converted, through choice or force, subjugated or killed. Never lose track of with whom you’re dealing with and what such a person might be capable of.
The 2 Corinthians 6:14 passage applies equally to mega pastor Rick Warren, author of the Purpose Driven Church and driving force behind the New Age/Secular heresy known as the Seeker Movement. Yes, I know he says encouraging things and imbeds kernels of truth in his messages. It’s sugar to lure the undiscerning in. Evil doesn’t usually announce its intentions with a sneer. It garners better results with a warm smile and sincere words. Speaking of a deceptive smile, and a smarmy one at that… no, I’ll get to Joel Osteen in a minute. First a few more nuggets on the Saddleback Church pastor:
Rick Warren keeps a busy schedule. He has addressed Islamic conferences. He has spoken at the inauguration of the most anti-Christian president in our nation’s history, Barry Soetoro, aka Barack Hussein Obama. He is a leading “Christian” proponent of melding Christianity and Islam into what has become known as Chrislam, and whose spoken word seems to suggest that Christians and Muslims worship the same god. Called to task on these last two points, Rick claims that his prostrating before Muslims has been misunderstood; that the accusations are just not true.
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not” (2 Peter 2:1-3).
Here’s what Pastor Warren said in a speech to Muslims: “We ask forgiveness of the All-Merciful One and of the Muslim community around the world.”
Forgiveness for what: for dying for our faith at the hands of Muslim barbarians? The “All Merciful One” is one of the 99 “Beautiful Names of Allah” and well known to Muslims. Rick Warren needs to fall to his knees and beg forgiveness from God for his blasphemy in beseeching the false god of Islam.
As promised, what would an article on apostasy be without mentioning Oprah’s favorite New Age preacher, Joel Osteen? He who won’t talk about sin in his sermons and even prohibits the word “sin” from being spoken by his staff members. Want to see a grown man instantly become a coward? Ask Joel Osteen about sin on national TV. It would be an understatement to say that Osteen is biblically confused. Here’s a quote from Mr. I’m Okay/You’re Okay: “Faith is all about learning to be happy where you are.” So then, if you’re happy in sin, that’s faith? There is not a shred of truth in this kind of babble.
Osteen represents the latest incarnation of the prosperity gospel hearkening back to the days of Jim Baker and other charlatans that claim you can buy your way into heaven and your own wealth by simply giving (until it hurts) to their ministry. On the receiving end, it’s certainly working for Joel. Most pastors aren’t living in a ten and a half million-dollar mansion like Osteen.
Word of Faith prosperity frauds like Kenneth Copeland, Joyce Meyer and Crefolo Dollar (what an appropriate name) who claim that you can speak your own wealth into existence if only you have faith. (And give generously to them, of course.) Utter: non-biblical nonsense.
Step right up, folks. Right here under the Apostasy Big Top, we have the Benny Hinn circus of the absurd. This remorseless snake oil salesman convinces the sick and dying that he can heal them, giving temporary hope to the desperate long enough to take their money. Of course, there’s no healing, just ridiculous theatrics. Business is good though; Benny has a $36,000,000 jet amongst his many possessions.
Then there’s the “reverends” of racism, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Satan loves a house divided and these two, love the spotlight of doing just that. They’d be out of business if they couldn’t keep manufacturing ethnic crisis where none exists. It goes beyond the color of skin to the color of money. Black versus white equals green to these swindlers.
All of these individuals are cults of personality. Each have found their apostasy vehicle to feel important, assemble their little kingdoms of influence and fleece the biblically, and oftentimes willfully, ignorant of their money. They have gotten rich leading people away from the Bible. Satan would have us chase after money and possessions rather than serve God. These ministers of money say and do the same thing. Where’s the difference? Seeking money for sports cars and thousand dollar suits, Joel Osteen?
“For the love of money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrow” (1 Timothy 6:10).
It’s not having money that’s the problem, it’s the love of money and the self-serving mindset that it fosters. You say God wants us to be rich, Joyce Meyer?
“For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:25).
Being rich isn’t the issue, it’s making wealth your god that’s the sin. Most, not all, wealthy people fall into this snare. How about prosperity preaching, Kenneth Copeland?
“But woe unto you that are rich! For ye have received your consolation.” (Luke 6:24)
Being rich often has the air of pride and arrogance associated with it, which God detests. Is the wealth of demonstrably evil people like pornographer Hugh Hefner, atheist Ted Turner, and atheist/homosexual Bill Maher indicative of God’s blessings?
“Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker” (Proverbs 17:5a).
You may have been born into a church or denomination. That’s circumstance. Where you are now, whom you choose to listen to now, that’s choice. A lost soul in the pulpit cannot lead others to Christ and will not help build and mature your faith or understanding of Scripture. Let’s make a distinction here. Feel-good, self-help isn’t spiritual, it’s worldly. It preys on emotions, with nothing of lasting relevance for your soul; in a short while you’re once again left empty on the inside, needing the next session disguised as a sermon for temporary relief from the spiritual void that only God Himself can fill.
Like a drug addict needing their next fix, the apostasy-pusher has you hooked. Does your pastor talk about the need for repentance before a holy God or do you always leave feeling good about your prosperous future in a wholly wicked world? Are you confronted by Jesus Christ and His expectations, or is it all ignored so as not to offend you, trouble your spirit or, gasp, convict your soul by the truth of God’s Word?
I appreciate the Catholic Church’s, up until now, pro-life stance. That said, this singular instance does not convey blanket legitimacy to otherwise false doctrines.
“And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds)” (2 Peter 2:6-8).
How about you? Is your soul vexed by evil? Do you recognize it in the world, at work, and yes, sometimes even in your own church or the television ministry that you watch? I must tell you, much of the supposed Christian programming available on TV is a disgrace to Christ and an insult to Christians. Be ye not partakers of such.
“For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage” (2 Peter 2:18-19).
I’ve said things that some of you don’t like. Look beyond pride and personal loyalties. Look to Jesus of the Bible, not the made-up, reconfigured Jesus of man. Seek God yourself, and not through intermediaries who are out for their own agendas of wealth and deceit. You and you alone are responsible for your soul’s destiny.
Apostasy has allowed for evil to prosper and the consequences are grave. The judgment that’s coming is not God’s desire—it’s a natural result of Christianity being adulterated to the point of becoming irrelevant in the world. The blame is ours. We’ve allowed it; we’ve accepted it, heresy after heresy. Christians, we’ve righteously judged not, now we’ll be judged.
“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them” (2 Peter 2:20-21).
The apostasy is now and growing.
Patrick