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Friday, April 11, 2008

False Teachings in so-called “Christian” Churches

There seems to be an increasing amount of false teachings about Jesus Christ. To be quite honest, it pains me the same way a woman were to watch her loving husband be falsely represented/ depicted in a court room.

Watching and hearing Oprah (Video of Oprah) say there is more then one way into heaven other then Jesus Christ is a giant dangerous problem. It not only ignores that fact,

In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

But questions if the bible is absolute truth. Oprah is not the only one pushing these ideals but so-called “churches of change, progressive or off shoot congregations of different denominations. There are television programs with "so-called experts" and books like "Conversations with God" and "Conversations with God for Teens."

They present crosses on their signs and steeples but deny and question why the cross and/or the saving power in Jesus Christ.

Certain churches within different denominations have made it easy to make this transition simple to these so-called “Christian” churches, by slowly allowing morals and truths to be swept aside. These issues range from allowing homosexuals clergy to lead their congregations, to allowing same sex marriages, to questioning and denying the gifts of the Holy Spirit, to have an emphasis on money and prosperity rather then a heart of giving… to name a few. Some churches are so planned and scheduled down to the minute that they completely alienate God. They have become routine, impersonal, ritual, machines. Clergy, pressured by numbers and figures end up preaching to the wants of people instead of what God wants them to hear. And of course you have the baby boomers children, who were seldom or hardly taken to church, going to these so-called "Christian" churches to seek truth, purpose and encouragement having no idea of the false teachings being taught to them.

Recently I read an article in our community paper about a local church called “The Branches”. They say they are a Presbyterian/Lutheran congregation but the clergy did not sound sold out for Jesus or the bible. When asked how people get into Heaven. They answered, “I’m not sure. I think we begin by how we live on Earth.”

WHAT? JESUS is the only way to eternal life in Heaven.

When asked if the bible represents absolute truth and is without error, they answered with ‘No. I think it is a document produced by people like you and me. They are fallible like you and I. They were inspired, but they were not free of short-comings and it needs to be read as such.” The church is defined as a 'church of change' that is interested in living the genuine questions about life as opposed to handing out the answers.”

WHAT? How can a person live their life if they live by questions and no absolutes? If your thoughts are only based on the standards and ideals down here then you are no different then a person who says they don't believe in God because the people who have made up such false teachings have made up their own false gods who can not save them or empower them to change. The devil has tricked and blinded such people. They think they have tasted enlightenment but in the end they will find out the only god they were serving is Satan himself who wants to take as many of God's chosen creation with him to the eternal pits of hell.

The clergy then quotes a Boston University Professor Harrell Beck that reads, “Asking the questions for which there are no answers is the beginning of wisdom.”

HUH? Questions about how to live life, that do not start in truth, they only lead to "disaster". You must start with Jesus Christ as your foundation to find true wisdom.

The article then sits on a nice large ad that points out that you can pay to take sessions for these, “Living the Questions” classes on Thursday nights from April to June developed by two theology students from Boston University

Note: (Newspaper quotes came from page 9 of "THE ADVISOR!" Issued on (April 9, 2008) written by staff writer Caroline Turney.)

My heart deeply sinks and I want to yell out, “NO!” I want to literally throw up because I worry about those who follow such false teachings. I want tell people going and participating in these death traps, “I know the truth because the TRUTH has set me free. Jesus Christ is not some far away messiah who can’t hear us but He is very near and His Spirit resides in me! There is no other way to Heaven except through Jesus Christ. Through him there is not just eternal life in heaven but a “NEW” lifestyle and outlook on life. THERE is encouragement and hope and absolute truth! There are "absolute" answers to your questions.”

All that being said, I want to conclude with this:

2 Peter 1:12
I plan to keep on reminding you of these things – even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth.
1:13
Yes, I believe I should keep on reminding you of these things as long as I live.
1:14
But the Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that my days here on earth are numbered and I am soon to die.
1:15
So I will work hard to make these things clear to you. I want you to remember them long after I am gone.
1:16
For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and his coming again. We have seen his majestic splendor with our own eyes.
1:17
And he received honor and glory from God the Father when God's glorious, majestic voice called down from heaven, "This is my beloved Son; I am fully pleased with him."
1:18
We ourselves heard the voice when we were there with him on the holy mountain.
1:19
Because of that, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. Pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a light shining in a dark place – until the day Christ appears and his brilliant light shines in your hearts.
1:20
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophets themselves
1:21
or because they wanted to prophesy. It was the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets to speak from God.

2 Peter 2
2:1
But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach their destructive heresies about God and even turn against their Master who bought them. Theirs will be a swift and terrible end.
2:2
Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of them, Christ and his true way will be slandered.
2:3
In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction is on the way.
2:4
For God did not spare even the angels when they sinned; he threw them into hell, in gloomy caves and darkness until the judgment day.
2:5
And God did not spare the ancient world – except for Noah and his family of seven. Noah warned the world of God's righteous judgment. Then God destroyed the whole world of ungodly people with a vast flood.
2:6
Later, he turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into heaps of ashes and swept them off the face of the earth. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.
2:7
But at the same time, God rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a good man who was sick of all the immorality and wickedness around him.
2:8
Yes, he was a righteous man who was distressed by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day.
2:9
So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while punishing the wicked right up until the day of judgment.
2:10
He is especially hard on those who follow their own evil, lustful desires and who despise authority. These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at the glorious ones without so much as trembling.
2:11
But the angels, even though they are far greater in power and strength than these false teachers, never speak out disrespectfully against the glorious ones.
2:12
These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, who are born to be caught and killed. They laugh at the terrifying powers they know so little about, and they will be destroyed along with them.
2:13
Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They revel in deceitfulness while they feast with you.
2:14
They commit adultery with their eyes, and their lust is never satisfied. They make a game of luring unstable people into sin. They train themselves to be greedy; they are doomed and cursed.
2:15
They have wandered off the right road and followed the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong.
2:16
But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice.
2:17
These people are as useless as dried-up springs of water or as clouds blown away by the wind – promising much and delivering nothing. They are doomed to blackest darkness.
2:18
They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With lustful desire as their bait, they lure back into sin those who have just escaped from such wicked living.
2:19
They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves to sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.
2:20
And when people escape from the wicked ways of the world by learning about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up with sin and become its slave again, they are worse off than before.
2:21
It would be better if they had never known the right way to live than to know it and then reject the holy commandments that were given to them.
2:22
They make these proverbs come true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and "A washed pig returns to the mud."

Scriptures came from the New Living Translation (NLT) Bible


All other ways are sinking sand. Jesus Christ and his true way is where we must stand. He is our solid rock.

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