Please leave me a comment if you see any videos missing in any posts, so I may replace them if I can. Thank you!
Showing posts with label False Teachers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label False Teachers. Show all posts

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Leesa Sumner's Trumpet call of God - IS A CULT, A FALSE TEACHER

.
Again, I run into this evil being, attempting to pervert the beliefs of some.  Satan surely never sleeps!


It seems this fool hasn't read the last chapter in the Book of Revelation! There is NOTHING MORE TO BE ADDED to it.

I find it amazing that people will accept any piece of garbage that is deposited on their Facebook page, because being "nice" to another is so much more important than providing a blameless façade, standing on the truth of the word of God!


Trumpeteer Leesa Sumner also on YouTube.

5 Every word of God is pure: 
he is a shield unto them 
that put their trust in him.
Add thou not unto his words, 
lest he reprove thee, 
and thou be found a liar.
Proverbs 30:5-6 (King James Bible)


Like · ·

Like · ·
  • Helga Hickman This Leesa Sumner is part of a cult! SHUN HER!
    trumpetcallofgod IS A CULT, A FALSE TEACHER! SHUN THE LIKES OF THESE!!

    17 Now I beseech you, brethren, MARK THEM which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and AVOID THEM.

    18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
    Romans 16:17-18 (King James Bible)
    .

    Read the LAST chapter in the Book of Revelation: NO MORE TO BE ADDED TO IT!
    YOU ARE ACCURSED FOR DOING SO! Anyone who accepts the likes of these is also accursed! Read what the word of God says.

    16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

    17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

    18 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:

    19 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.

    20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

    21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
    Revelation 22:16-21 (King James Bible)

RELATED POST:

Truth-Despising, Wolf-Protecting, Devil-Defending Agents of Satan by Todd Tomasella



...
...

Monday, March 19, 2012

THAMPI JOSEPH: A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING!!

.
[As per my Facebook page Note.
It is now some two and a half hours since I posted it.]

Well, about a couple of hours ago Mr. Thampi had me blocked.

I don't know if previously he had removed the post I had shared from him, but I find it gone from my page!

Ah! Mr. Thampi, a fool like you would have to wake up mighty early to pull one on me!

Added to this fact, I ABSOLUTELY ABHOR REVISIONIST'S HISTORY!
Nothing irks me more than people who DOCTOR their pages!  I have seen enough of it done in the Roman Catholic Church, and it truly makes me sick!!

Add to all this the fact that God has given me a mighty helping of brains, and that tells anyone that I am never found to be UNprepared!

Therefore, LUCKY YOU,  I had copied the post shared from your wall, and here I paste it, entirely!

Furthermore, you get a BONUS: YOU SHALL BE FEATURED QUITE PROMINENTLY ON MY BLOG! AND IT SHALL BE IN COLOR!!

In case you want to know, my blog gets some 8,800 views per month! [This is a VERY CONSERVATIVE figure. Just yesterday, my blog got 442 views! You shall be famous, Mr. Thampi, ALL OVER THE WORLD!]

LUCKY YOU!!!!!



  1. This is FALSE TEACHING!
    AS FALSE AS IT GETS!

    This the reason one sees so many "prosperity" gospel preachers, because they have PERVERTED the word of God!!

    Here is the TRUE rendering of the verse in question:

    10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

    11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

    12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me,
    and I will hearken unto you.
    Jeremiah 20:10-12 (King James Bible)

    NOWHERE DOES IT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT PROSPERING ANYONE!! THIS IS DISGUSTING! One needs to only read the word of God to KNOW things are not getting better, BUT MUCH WORSE!! APOSTASY IS HERE!

    http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=31812124726

    21 My son, fear thou the LORD and the king:
    and meddle not with them that are given to change:

    22 For their calamity shall rise suddenly;
    and who knoweth the ruin of them both?
    Proverbs 24:21-22 (King James Bible) 


    Original Post by Thampi Joseph:
    We may not have identified or recognized our potential purposes, but we all have them. There are better things ahead, than any we have left behind. The One who created us and re-created (2 Corinthians 5:17) us has certain divine, unique and eternal purposes for each of us, and in them we find meaning and fulfillment. Our relationship with God isn’t based on our obedience, but instead, our obedience is based on our relationship. We obey Him, because we know Him (I John 2:3; 1 John 5:3) and love Him (John 14:15); we love Him, because He first loved us. I John 4:19. We are to fulfill His will and purpose for us in this world. 1 Peter 4:1-2.

    · ·

      • Helga Hickman This is why I utterly DETEST such "pretty" MORONIC posts, because they are NOT promoting the TRUE word of God, but some idiotic platitude designed to fool all!
        I literally want to vomit when I see such!


      • Helga Hickman Listen to this sermon and you will learn, SCRIPTURALLY, just how your life will change in the future, and not swallow a 2-bit fable designed to fool you!

        http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=31812124726


        www.sermonaudio.com
        Bryan Denlinger | Bible Believers Fellowship


      • Thampi Joseph · Friends with Amy Rodrigues and 37 others
        Sis. Helga,
        I do appreciate your criticism about my post! However, I am not on the offensive bout your criticism but I do HAVE to defend myself of my integrity and ministerial experience over 42 years as a Baptist preacher-missionary.
        “This is why I utterly DETEST such "pretty" MORONIC posts, because they are NOT promoting the TRUE word of God, but some idiotic platitude designed to fool all! I literally want to vomit when I see such!”
        This was part of your post in response to my post, which appeared on your wall… Well dear sister, YOU can come any time and see OR gather the information you need about me and my ministry since you are from Goa, India- somehow settled in the US – a greener pasture!
        If you are true believer in Christ, how dare you call a fundamental, KJV Bible Believing, Baptist preacher, an international speaker as a Moron? Do you not have the Biblical virtue, wisdom and attitude to distinguish the “false” from the “true” preachers?
        Okay, how much do you know about me and my ministry?
        Okay, how much pennies did you give ME or toward our ministry?
        Okay, how many souls have you won to the Lord since you got saved?
        Alright, how many persons have you witnessed to since the day you were saved!
        As I carefully went through your page and the wall, I find that you have absolutely NOTHING to say, though you talk a lot!!!
        You promote some, and criticize all the rest! Well, that’s your option and choice!
        Considering all the above mentioned factors, with this kind of an attitude I do not know what you are trying to prove on your page! No wonder you have 184 friends!
        If I my posts were MORONIC to you as you say, and are “some idiotic platitude designed to fool all” well then why you post the gross things on your wall from uTube?
        Let me make one thing clear, dear friend, I am not a MORON, neither am I an IDIOT! If you have such audacity to call any other individual Christian – you are no better than them…
        As a psychologist and certified counselor also, I can assure you, the underlying fact behind this kind attitude of yours can be scripturally explained in THREE verses found in Matthew 7:3-5. I didn’t say it, Jesus did!!!


      • Helga Hickman Well, Mr. Thampi, since it is you want to differentiate between a MORON and an IDIOT, I will gladly confer BOTH titles upon you!

        Addressing the likes of YOU Paul warned us wisely:

        For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly;
        and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
        Romans 16:18

        I would not send a red cent to one such as you!! YOU ARE A HYPOCRITE, who pretends to preach the word of God but TWISTS it just to make fools feel good! I am not one such! I am a Berean who VERIFIES EVERYTHING, and from the little that I have seen, your "ministry" is a sham!

        I am sure you do not know this, but Matthew 7:3-5 applies to brethren, and you are no brother of mine! NO BROTHER IN CHRIST OF MINE WOULD POST THE IDIOTIC POSTS YOU HAVE, WHICH IS ALL YOU HAVE, which as much as show Christ STILL ON THE CROSS!!

        MY CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD!
        HE LIVES!! HE LIVES!!

        You said, and I quote: "But I’d rather share THE “Christ who was crucified”, as the apostle Paul said (1 Corinthians 1:23)."

        HOW TYPICAL OF FALSE TEACHERS SUCH AS YOURSELF TO CUT OFF VERSES, and pick and choose what is CONVENIENT for you, THUS MAKING YOU ALSO A LIAR!! A LIAR, INDEED!!

        Here the correct and complete verse:

        But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 1 Corinthians 1:23

        So it is that when you preach a DEAD CHRIST to the UNBELIEVER, it is no better than preaching Mohammed, UTTER FOOLISHNESS!!
        .

        "If I my posts were MORONIC to you as you say, and are “some idiotic platitude designed to fool all” well then why you post the gross things on your wall from uTube?" - Thampi Joseph

        What a PITY you cannot point to ANY POST of mine and claim it to twist the word of God! AGAIN, YOU LIE!!
        .

        As for friends, MY PAGE IS OPEN TO EVERYONE, EVERYONE, whether they be friends or not! WE ARE CALLED TO BE TRANSPARENT, and that I endeavor to be!! I can count on one hand the invitations I have actually sent out, one of which DID NOT go to you, either, and I can number by the dozens invitations which I will not accept, and have terminated, because they COMPROMISE THE WORD OF GOD!

        This is not a "social" venue for me! I care not to ad, and add, and add, "friends" whom I know not! I don't need it for that purpose! I AM VERY PICKY OF THE COMPANY I KEEP, OR IN WHICH I AM SEEN!

        I have only one goal, and it is to spread the TRUE WORD OF GOD, without sectioning verses nor posting idiotic pictures!
        CHRIST NEVER DREW ANYTHING, NOR DID THE APOSTLES,
        yet these never failed to preach His word! You seem to only be able to post idiotic pictures with verses that need not COMPLY with the King James Bible! A LIAR, YOU ARE!!

        For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of:
        for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me,
        if I preach not the gospel!
        1 Corinthians 9:16

        AND THIS IS NOT YOU!! NEVER YOU!!
        SHAME ON YOU!! SHAME ON YOU!! SHAME ON YOU!!

        YOU ONLY HAVE A LOT OF VERBIAGE TO SPEW, NONE OF WHICH TO CONFORM WITH THE WORD OF GOD!
        A FALSE TEACHER, INDEED!!

        For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men?
        for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
        Galatians 1:10

        And THIS is your only motivation, as you have made it quite clear in the other post and this one, TO GAIN THE ACCEPTANCE OF ALL,
        for the sake of FILTHY LUCRE!!
        .

        "If you are true believer in Christ, how dare you call a fundamental, KJV Bible Believing, Baptist preacher, an international speaker as a Moron? Do you not have the Biblical virtue, wisdom and attitude to distinguish the “false” from the “true” preachers?" - Thampi

        As I have stated, and YOU HAVE PROVEN IT,
        YOU ARE AN IMPOSTOR!! A LIAR! A THIEF, IN EFFECT!
        YOU ARE NO FUNDAMENTAL KJB believer! PERIOD!!

        NO FUNDAMENTAL KING JAMES BIBLE BELIEVER WOULD POST THE ABOVE POST, A CATHOLIC RENDITION OF CHRIST, WHICH IS A LIE, WHICH IS SATANIC, IN EFFECT, TWISTING THE WORD OF GOD, as Satan has done since the beginning of time!

        As you said in the other post, you preach to a diverse people and endeavor to be all things for everyone! By the way, Paul never said such, if that was your inference!

        Thus, it is, I have no doubt, to fornicators. you'd want to show yourself as a fornicator!! You do a good job of it! Got me convinced!

        YEA! HATH GOD SAID, INDEED!!

        And, indeed, PRAISE GOD, He has allowed that I quickly assess LIARS LIKE YOU, for I test the spirits, and yours leave a FILTHY FOUL ODOR OF SULFUR BEHIND!!
        I CAN SMELL THE FOUL ODOR YOU LEAVE BEHIND FROM MILES AND MILES AWAY!


      • Helga Hickman Ha Ha Ha! Interestingly, Thampi Joseph, you LIKE your own comments! PATHETIC!
        Very modest, indeed! Nothing but a praise-seeker!!


.
MORE TO COME!
I HAVE MUCH MORE ON HIM!!

...


...
...

Thursday, January 5, 2012

PHIL STRINGER, of Ravenswood Baptist Church, in Chicago, IL: A MOST FALSE TEACHER!!

.

He "preaches" at Ravenswood Baptist Church, in Chicago, Illinois.

This morning [January 4, 2012] I sent him an innocuous message that has culminated with him UNfriending me! You people, especially those who are part of the congregation where he "preaches," decide on the merits of his action! As for me, I truly want to throw up! Disgusting that such propose to "guide" any when it is they be so very misguided themselves! Here I copy and paste our exchange:

Helga Hickman
3 hours ago
Helga Hickman


Hello, Pastor Phil,


Why does your info page not specify EXACTLY in what it is you believe? I find some members of your congregation a bit conflicted as to Rapture, Dispensations, Grace, etc., who promote heresies on their pages. Looking up your page, I see not where you stand with these, either. Quite disappointing and very unsettling! One would think anyone in your position to make such very clear to any and all!


In Christ,


Helga



Phil Stringer
about an hour ago
Phil Stringer


Our website gives our doctrinal statement. Name one member of our church who is promoting any heresy.




Helga Hickman
about an hour ago
Helga Hickman


Goodness gracious! And your website is????


Why would I name anyone if I don't know that he is simply repeating what he hears from you?




Helga Hickman
about an hour ago
Helga Hickman


I would think that TRANSPARENCY would be in first order.


As you see, not even your website is easily found on your page!




Helga Hickman
10 minutes ago
Helga Hickman

HOW DISGUSTING! Rather than providing the website, you UNfriend me!

How very SCRIPTURAL! Now I see why there be some in your congregation to be very lost!

I shall make this your behavior public in the most productive way!


=========================

Here I googled and found the "website" for Ravenswood.
Anyone see in it a response to any of the questions I asked Phil Stringer, please point them out to me!

www.ravenswoodbaptist.com


The site claims “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord . . . .” (2 Timothy 1:8), but its "shepherd" seems to feel otherwise!

I can see this to be a very weak church! Phil Stringer, obviously, to be very ashamed of what he believes, since he is NOT willing to disclose it in any manner! What a shame!



comment · · · 14 hours ago
 [The following morning, Jan 5, 2012]

    • Helga Hickman How interesting!
      Not a single comment in defense of this deceitful creature!
      Very telling this is!

      29 minutes ago ·

    • Thomas Morris I am confused here is their Articles of Faith http://ravenswoodbaptist.com/about.html

      www.ravenswoodbaptist.com

      The Inner-City Church with the World-Wide Outreach

      22 minutes ago · ·

    • Helga Hickman Yes, and do you see anywhere addressed the questions I posed to him?
      22 minutes ago ·

    • Helga Hickman The "scripture" this church seems to teach is quite "watered down!" Look at what it says of the King James Bible: absolutely no conviction expressed about it!
      20 minutes ago ·

    • Helga Hickman Their Articles of Faith also stress:
      "The ultimate ethical responsibility of each Christian is to live a life characterized by love."

      Where would you find such in scripture? It is one heck of a POLITICALLY CORRECT statement!

      TRUTH is what a Christian's life should be characterized!
      SIMPLE TRUTH as given us in the word of God!

      31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him,
      If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

      32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
      John 8:31-32 (King James Bible)

      Christ himself told us what the "ethical responsibility of each Christian is!" One could quote no better than Jesus' words!

      11 minutes ago ·

    • Helga Hickman By the way, their "Article of Faith" that a Christian's life be "characterized by love" is very much is keeping with Joel Olsteen's preaching!
      7 minutes ago · · 1

about an hour ago · ·
Helga Hickman ‎.
I am now listening to Phil Stringer's sermon: Saved By Grace Or Works
MY COMMENT IS WRITTEN AS I HEAR IT IN REAL TIME, and right from the start, he DOES NOT specify exactly why and when it is that Grace is in effect! He actually doesn't even mention the Price paid at Calvary by Jesus! Doesn't even mention the name of Jesus! My goodness! It makes me cringe! He goes completely off topic!

Finally in the seventh minute he names Jesus and the price paid, YET not specifying when was/is Grace in effect!

Praise God that listening to Pastor Bryan Denlinger I and any have learned and can learn so very much!
100% Scripture is all he teaches and preaches!

Our spiritual life depends on how much we put into it, says he. Well, if one puts garbage in, garbage is all one will get out! GIGO!

And here I surmise this to be another "father and son" business!
Stringer Jr. seems to work there, too!

Goodness gracious! Can he go on blabbing totally OFF TOPIC!
Incredible! But it seems this is ANOTHER 501c3 "government church!"

WOW! Here comes the end of the sermon, and worth nothing it is!
42 minutes out of which one can squeeze no more than a couple to be of any worth, and still not having learned anything!
.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15 (King James Bible)

This is something that Phil Stringer ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT DO!
Perhaps he knows not how to divide the word of God, and therefore cannot teach it! Grace to be an issue about which his congregation has not a clue. Grace the very issue that prompted I contact Phil Stringer, after a discussion with one member here on Facebook.

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermonsspeaker.asp?keyword=bryan+denlinger










=========================================
Here the site as seen today, Jan. 5, 2012.
Who knows, they may "revamp" it!


Articles of Faith


Articles of Faith
(Short Form)

At Ravenswood Baptist Church we believe the historic fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith.
 
We believe in:
  1. The absolute inspiration, authority, infallibility, and inerrancy of the Holy Scriptures.
  2. The Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—three independent persons and yet one person, the one true God.
  3. The incarnation, virgin birth, sinless life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
  4. Salvation by faith, based upon Christ’s atoning work on the cross of Calvary.
  5. The second coming of Jesus Christ. 
At Ravenswood Baptist Church we believe the Bible doctrines normally referred to as the Baptist Distinctives.
  1. The Bible is the sole authority for faith and practice.
  2. Each local congregation should be independent and self governing.
  3. Local church membership should be composed of born-again, baptized believers;  who assemble together for worship, Bible study, fellowship, and to carry out the Great Commission.
  4. Separation of church and state.
  5. There are two ordinances for the local church: baptism by immersion of believers only, and the Lord’s Supper.
  6. Each believer is a priest before the Lord.
  7. Each believer is responsible before the Lord for their own personal understanding of the Scripture and for obedience to the Bible.
The ultimate ethical responsibility of each Christian is to live a life characterized by love.
 
We use only the King James Version of the Bible in our English services and programs.
...


...
...

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Salvation and End-Times Apostasy by David Cloud

Salvation and End-Times Apostasy

August 3, 2011
David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org

SALVATION AND END-TIMES APOSTASY

August 3, 2011 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

A fundamental reason why so many professing Christians are embracing the false god of end-times apostasy (e.g., the non-judgmental, no-obligations god of The Shack) is the absence of biblical salvation.

A genuine experience of salvation is foundational to spiritual protection, because it is impossible to understand the truth properly apart from the new birth.

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Further, those who are not saved are still under the power of the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:1-2). It is only the truly regenerate individual who can claim the precious promise of 1 John 4:4, “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

Yet confusion about salvation is rampant.

I began to understand this many decades ago when I sat in the office of the head of the Bible Society in Calcutta, India, and talked with him about salvation. I told him how I was converted at age 23, and then I asked, “How were you saved?” He sort of chuckled and said, “I’m a third generation Christian.”

According to Scripture, there is no such thing. Jesus said that each individual must be born again. I can’t go to heaven on the coattails of the faith of my parents or grandparents.

On that same trip to India I sat in the office of the head of the theological seminary at Serampore University. When I asked him how a person becomes a Christian he replied: “There are a number of ways. You can be born into a Christian home; you can be baptized; you can be catechized; you can have a conversion experience.”

A few years ago I attended Rick Warren’s church in California and as I was waiting for the service to begin I talked to the man sitting next to me. I asked if he was a member of the church, and he said yes. I then asked when he was born again, and he replied that he had always been a Christian.

Again, that is not possible.

Consider the Charismatic Movement

Consider the charismatic movement with its radical ecumenism. While there are saved people in the movement, there are countless people who are not saved. They have had an emotional mystical experience of some sort; they have prayed a prayer and been “baptized by the Spirit”; they have fallen down, spoken in tongues, danced, been captivated by powerful music. But they haven’t repented of their sin and put their complete trust in the once for all atonement of Jesus Christ. At the massive New Orleans ’87 conference, which had roughly 35,000 attendees, half of the people raised their hands one evening to indicate that they didn’t know for sure if they were saved, and this was after these same people had spent two or three days in enthusiastic charismatic worship.

At a press conference the next day, Dennis Costella of Foundation magazine asked why the conference didn’t address the matter of salvation plainly and publicly in order to clear up the obvious confusion. A Pentecostal leader replied, “We don’t have time for that.” The more honest answer would have been as follows:

“We are a mixed multitude and there is widespread confusion about salvation in our midst. This conference represents 40 different denominations, and we have different ideas about the gospel itself. Our Catholic brethren have one idea and our Lutheran brethren another and there are differences of opinion even among us Pentecostals. In the context of the ecumenical aspect of the charismatic movement, some believe baptism is necessary for salvation; some believe you can’t be saved without tongues; some believe baptism regenerates; some believe cooing infants can be saved; some believe salvation must be nurtured through sacraments; some believe you can lose your salvation; some believe salvation is a mere sinner’s prayer; some believe in ‘Four Spiritual Laws,’ etc. So it is impossible to be doctrinally precise on that or practically any other issue and still keep our unity. As you know, doctrine divides; love unites, and love is what really matters. We can’t judge someone else, you know.”

That is the situation that exists within the broad worldwide charismatic movement.

Consider the Emerging Church

There is the same problem in the emerging church. In my research into the emerging church I have been amazed at the widespread confusion about the issue of salvation itself.

In fact, Brian McLaren, one of the most prominent names in the movement, says:

“I don’t think we’ve got the gospel right yet. What does it mean to be ‘saved’? When I read the Bible, I don’t see it meaning, ‘I’m going to heaven after I die.’ Before modern evangelicalism nobody accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, or walked down an aisle, or said the sinner’s prayer. I don't think the liberals have it right. But I don't think we have it right either. None of us has arrived at orthodoxy” (“The Emergent Mystique,” Christianity Today, Nov. 2004, p. 40).

In fact, it is rare to find a clear biblical testimony of salvation in the writings of emerging church leaders.

Scot McKnight says that “conversion” can be through liturgy (referring to sacraments such as baptism), or through socialization (growing up in a Christian home), or through personal decisional faith in Christ (Turning to Jesus: The Sociology of Conversion in the Gospels).

This statement reflects a deep confusion about salvation.

Robert Webber, who grew up in a Baptist pastor’s home, argued that salvation does not have to be a dramatic conversion experience and admitted that he didn’t have such an experience. He said that repentance “can have a dramatic beginning or can come as a result of a process over time” (The Divine Embrace, p. 149). He saw salvation as a sacramental process that begins at baptism, and this is one reason why he left the Baptists and joined the Episcopalians and was also perfectly comfortable with Roman Catholicism.

Tony Campolo has a similar testimony. In Letters to a Young Evangelical Campolo described his own experience in the following words:

When I was a boy growing up in a lower-middle-class neighborhood in West Philadelphia, MY MOTHER, a convert to Evangelical Christianity from a Catholic Italian immigrant family, HOPED I WOULD HAVE ONE OF THOSE DRAMATIC ‘BORN-AGAIN’ EXPERIENCES. That was the way she had come into a personal relationship with Christ. She took me to hear one evangelist after another, praying that I would go to the altar and come away ‘converted.’ BUT IT NEVER WORKED FOR ME. I would go down the aisle as the people around me sang ‘the invitation hymn,’ but I just didn’t feel as if anything happened to me. For a while I despaired, wondering if I would ever get ‘saved.’ It took me quite some time to realize that entering into a personal relationship with Christ DOES NOT ALWAYS HAPPEN THAT WAY. ...

In my case INTIMACY WITH CHRIST WAS DEVELOPED GRADUALLY OVER THE YEARS, primarily through what Catholic mystics call ‘centering prayer.’ Each morning, as soon as I wake up, I take time--sometimes as much as a half hour--to center myself on Jesus. I say his name over and over again to drive back the 101 things that begin to clutter up my mind the minute I open my eyes. Jesus is my mantra, as some would say. ...

I LEARNED ABOUT THIS WAY OF HAVING A BORN-AGAIN EXPERIENCE FROM READING THE CATHOLIC MYSTICS, especially The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola (Letters to a Young Evangelical, 2006, pp. 25, 26, 30).

This is very frightful testimony. Campolo does not have a biblical testimony of salvation. He plainly admits that he is not “born again” in the way that his mother was, through a biblical-style conversion. Instead, he describes his “intimacy with Christ” as something that has developed gradually through the practice of Catholic mysticism.

For one thing, this is to confuse the issue of salvation with that of spiritual growth. All of the conversions that are recorded in the New Testament are of the instantaneous, dramatic variety. We think of the woman at the well (John 4), Zacchaeus (Luke 19), the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8), Paul (Acts 9), Cornelius (Acts 10), Lydia (Acts 16), and the Philippian jailer (Acts 16), to name a few. The Lord Jesus Christ said that salvation is a birth (John 3:3). That is not a gradual thing that happens throughout one’s life; it is an event!

Further, Catholic mysticism itself is deeply unscriptural. Jesus forbad repetitious prayers (Mat. 6:7). He taught us to pray in a verbal, conscious manner, talking with God as with a Father, addressing God the Father external to us, not searching for a mystical oneness with God in the center of our being through meditation (Mat. 6:9-13). The Catholic mystics did not have a biblical testimony of salvation. They trusted in Christ PLUS baptism and the other Catholic sacraments, which is a false gospel.

Jim Wallis, one of the most influential of emergents, defines “born again” as follows:

“Being born again was not meant to be a private religious experience that is hard to communicate … but rather the prerequisite for joining a new and very public movement – the Jesus and kingdom of God movement” (The Great Awakening, p. 60).

Wallis claims that salvation isn’t a personal religious experience, but that is exactly what it was in the case of the salvations recorded in the New Testament.

The book Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger contains the testimonies of about 50 emerging church leaders in Appendix A, and only a couple of them even come close to a biblical testimony. Some of them don’t mention a personal salvation testimony, merely saying that they grew up in some type of church.

And remember that these are emerging church LEADERS.

Ben Edson of Sanctus1 in Manchester, England, says:

“After a painful breakup with my girlfriend, I gave God another chance. I cried out to God at my point of need, and God met me in a profound and life-changing way” (p. 266).

Is salvation a matter of giving God a chance, of God meeting my needs and having a “profound” experience of some sort? Many people have life-changing experiences through psychology, 12-Step programs, New Age mysticism, and goddess worship.

Kester Brewin of Vaux in London, England, said:

“I can point to a Billy Graham rally in 1984 as a conversion, but that was really more of a moment of STRENGTHENING A FAITH THAT HAD ALWAYS been there” (Emerging Churches, 2005, p. 248).

Ephesians 2:1-2 says there is a time before salvation and a time after salvation. Before salvation we are dead in trespasses and sins and controlled by the devil. After salvation we have new life in Christ and belong to God. It is sometimes the case with a child who grows up in church that he does not remember the exact time that he put his faith in Christ, but true salvation is always a life-changing event and one should never say that he has always had faith.

In the book What Is the Emerging Church? we give many more examples of this.

Consider Christian Rock

From its inception, Christian rock has been promoted as a great tool for evangelism and large numbers of professions of faith have been reported, but there is reason to be very skeptical.

John Blanchard researched 13 mission agencies in Britain to see how many of their candidates were converted at Christian rock concerts. Not one was found. The following reply was typical: “I cannot call to mind anybody who has been converted through this type of youth evangelism and has subsequently gone to missionary service” (Pop Goes the Gospel, pp. 110-112).

When decisions made at Christian rock concerts in Britain were followed up, it was found that very few were genuine. For example, of 200 decisions recorded at one youth meeting, only four attended a follow-up session. Of the 100 students who made “decisions” in a school visited by a CCM performance, only one later showed even “a mild interest” in Christian things (Blanchard, Pop Goes the Gospel, p. 110).

The devil has provided many alternatives to the new birth and there are many sorts of false professions of salvation. Note the Bible’s warnings:

* A person can believe in God and not be saved (James 2:19).
* A person can pray to Jesus and not be saved (Matt. 7:22-23).
* A person can prophesy in Jesus’ name and not be saved (Matt. 7:22-23).
* A person can do wonderful works in Jesus’ name and not be saved (Matt. 7:22-23).
* A person can have a zeal for God and not be saved (Rom. 10:2-3).
* A person can have a zeal to make proselytes for God and not be saved (Matt. 23:15).
* A person can be very interested in Jesus Christ and not be saved (Matt. 19:16-22).
* A person can profess to know God and not be saved (Titus 1:16).
* A person can follow Jesus for a while and not be saved (Jn. 6:66).
* A person can serve Christ as an apostle and not be saved (John 6:70).
* A person can even believe on Jesus’ name and not be saved (John 2:23-24).

The reason the people in John 2:23-25 were not saved is because they did not believe on Jesus as their Lord and Saviour from sin but as their worldly messiah who would feed them and rescue them from their political enemies (Jn. 6:26).

Consider the Southern Baptist Convention

The Southern Baptist Convention has a reputation of being very conservative, yet only about 30 percent of the members of Southern Baptist churches even attend Sunday morning service and only about 10 percent participate in anything beyond that. As Jim Elliff at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary observed, “These figures suggest that nearly 90% of Southern Baptist church members appear to be little different from the ‘cultural Christians’ who populate mainline denominations” (Founder’s Journal, Feb. 7, 1999).

I suggest that this means that the vast majority of Southern Baptists are not born again. Those who joined the first church at Jerusalem demonstrated the reality of their Christianity by “continuing steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42).

I grew up in the Southern Baptist Convention and I know that it was typical to make a profession of faith of some sort when you were a kid and to be baptized even though there was no real indication that you had been born again. And it was commonplace that an individual’s salvation was never questioned thereafter no matter how wicked he lived and no matter how obvious it was that he had never been converted (e.g., Matthew 18:3; John 3:3; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Titus 1:16; 1 John 2:4). It was typical to leave church sometime during adolescence (because you had zero interest in spiritual things), and to go out and “sow your wild oats,” and then to come back to church at some point years later and take up right where you left off without ever having a real life-changing conversion experience. Reformation is not the same as salvation. In this way, churches become filled up with unregenerate members as the generations pass.

Consider Independent Baptists

I am not sure how much better the situation is among Independent Baptists. The practice of Quick Prayerism and the haste to baptize people upon a mere “profession of faith” with no evidence of the new birth has doubtless filled many churches with unregenerate people who are trying to act like Christians without ever having experienced the life-changing miracle of conversion.

An experience that a pastor friend had during a soul-winning visitation is all too typical. A couple of years ago he went door knocking with one of the prominent soul-winners in a large independent Baptist church. This man is a veteran missionary from Japan as well as a teacher of evangelism and missions. A young preacher was also with them who was preparing to start a new church. They knocked on a door and a Roman Catholic man answered. He wasn’t interested enough to invite them in, but the soul-winner quickly presented the “Romans Road,” led him in a sinner’s prayer, and gave him “assurance.” As the soul-winner and the young preacher were busy writing down the man’s address and other details, my pastor friend asked the man if he believed he was a good man and that he would die and go to heaven based on his merits as a good person, and he replied, “Yes, of course!” Which is a proper Catholic answer, of course, but it is not the answer of a truly saved man. My pastor friend said: “Nobody blinked; they kept on writing as if nothing happened. I actually had to pause and look around to see if all this was for real before I realized that this wasn't important from their perspective because he had already prayed a prayer and as long as he can be brought in to attend Sunday School, he can be baptized and trained to act like an IFB church member afterwards.”

Quick Prayerism is a frightful, unscriptural practice that is rampant within Independent Baptist circles. I was taught it in the 1970s as a student at Tennessee Temple, one of the largest Independent Baptist schools. It was promoted by Jack Hyles, one of the most influential Independent Baptist pastors. It has long been promoted by the Sword of the Lord. It is even practiced by many preachers who say they are against it and who claim to believe in “repentance”!

I have dealt with this problem extensively in the book Repentance and Soul Winning.

I would challenge every reader to examine yourself in the light of God’s Word to make sure of your salvation.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

In the book Keeping the Kids we devote a chapter to the importance of a genuine conversion experience.


____________________________

Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Established in 1974, Way of Life Literature is a fundamental Baptist preaching and publishing ministry based in Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. Brother Cloud lives in South Asia where he has been a church planting missionary since 1979. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/wayoflife/subscribe.html .  TO UNSUBSCRIBE OR CHANGE ADDRESSES, go to the very bottom of any email received from us and click "Manage My Subscription." If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 28th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://www.wayoflife.org/publications/index.html. Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but only from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/wayoflife/makeanoffering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org

WAY OF LIFE LITERATURE SHARING POLICY: Much of our material is available for free, such as the hundreds of articles at the Way of Life web site. Other items we sell to help fund our very expensive literature, video, and foreign church planting ministry. Way of Life’s content falls into two categories: sharable and non-sharable. Things that we encourage you to share include the audio sermons, video presentations, O Timothy magazine, and FBIS articles. You are free to make copies of these at your own expense and share them with friends and family. You are also welcome to use excerpts from the articles. All we ask is that you give proper credit. Things we do not want copied and distributed freely are items like the Fundamental Baptist Digital Library, print edition of our books, PDFs of the books, etc. These items have taken years to produce at enormous expense in time and money, and we need the income from the sale of these to help fund the ministry. We trust that your Christian honesty will preserve the integrity of this policy.
...


...
...