The Contender

 On a Tuesday morning in March of 1974, I was sitting by myself in the cafeteria of Central Piedmont Community College smoking and drinking coffee. I was on the GI Bill which paid all of my tuition with some left over for books. I was also playing drums with a local cover band, The Close Connection. We had a great agent who booked us in some great gigs, and I was single. I did all the things young men did back in those days, and being a musician to boot, I was quite popular with the young ladies. But on this particular Tuesday morning my life changed forever.  Two young ladies came to me and asked if they could talk with me, I said yes. It turns out one of them wanted to tell me about Jesus and my desperate need for forgiveness (the other had ulterior motives I found out later). She was very persuasive even when I told her, "maybe later, say, when I'm 30." She said, "So, you're saying you're just not ready?" I said, "Yeah. I'm just not ready.&qu

      Their greed, their love of money and fame, is so obvious to the discerning eye. They are idolaters. Those who are in Christ who have been given the "spirit of discernment" saw immediately who these charlatans were as soon as they arrived on the scene back in the mid '70's. Other disciples of Christ saw the stark contradictions between what these people were spewing and the word of God and avoided them and their kind. We are amazed and astounded at the sheer number of people who have bought what they are selling. It seems that our generation of religious folk desires teachers to scratch their itching ears as Paul warned Timothy would happen (it was more than just a warning, it was a prophecy.)  2 Timothy 4:1-4.     The likes of Oral Roberts and Pat Robertson and Paul Crouch and Jim Bakker with their infamous "Christian" networks poisoned the visible church with there lies and heresies. Little ol' ladies watching their tv's felt compelled to supp

      Jude lays it out simply, "certain people have crept in unnoticed." I call these certain people the "creeps."  3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.  4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.  (Jude 1:3-4 ESV) What a better time to creep in, while the church slept (my words, not Jude's).      This brings to mind the Tet Offensive of '68 when communist forces who had stealthily moved into towns and villages in South Vietnam over a period of months, waited patiently for the signal from Hanoi to begin their attack. And around midnight on February 1, 1968, the signal was given. Just after midnight the attacks began, from the DMZ to

      Someone said, I believe it was Sproul, that the closer we draw to God, the more sinful we see ourselves. It is true. It makes sense, doesn't it? God is holy and perfect, we are not. We are holy and righteous in that we have the imputed righteousness of Christ, i.e., God has written down on our heavenly account, so to speak, that we are right with Him through faith in His Son. Imputed righteousness is as good as literally being righteous in the eyes of our heavenly Father. I'll take it. His righteousness has become our righteousness.     I sin, you sin, all God's children sin. Proverbs 7:20 says, " There is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins." Romans 7:24-8:4 makes it plain that though we continue to sin, the finished work of Christ has made us righteous. We are not under law but under grace. And while in my flesh there dwells nothing good, in my inner man I am alive, born of the Spirit, and that which is born of God cannot sin.   No o

      19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one . ( 1 Jn. 5:19 ESV)      Have you ever wondered how crazy people like Adolf Hitler came to power? How you ever wondered how crazy people like Jim Jones rose to power? Have you ever wondered how egregiously heretical people like Kenneth Copeland and Jesse Duplantis and Jim Bakker and Creflo Dollar and T.D. Jakes and Steven Furtick rose to power? Well, if you have, you are in good company; so have I and a gazillion others. In fact, a thousand books have been written addressing that very question. All one need do is Google the names of these deceivers. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.  4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your ser

      

The NAR's chief spokespersons today are Bill Johnson, Kris Vallotton, co-pastors at Bethel Church, and Che Ahn, pastor of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, Ca. These men claim to hear from God on a daily basis. They will often say things like, "The Lord told me," or, "God told me this morning." They hear from heaven more than the Lord Jesus did.      I would also guess that most of those reading this blog post have never heard of Bethel Church or Bill Johnson or Kris Vallotton.  They are popular in neo-charismatic and Pentecostal circles. Johnson is a storyteller rather than a preacher of God's word. His people like it that way. They fulfill the prophecy the apostle Paul gave to Timothy, 2 Tim. 4:1-4,  2 Timothy 4:1  I 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:  2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience