The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 6) – Decreeing and Declaring

Over my 20+ years of being a Christian, I have seen many fad and phases that the christian go through. This can range from ’the year of jubilee’ to the ‘prayer of Jabez’. One of the most recent things I have witnessed is how many people are ‘decreeing and declaring’. Even though this post is about decreeing and declaring, you will get two traditions for the price of one in this video. Just watch one example of how being slain in the spirit works and how she she suggests to them what she is going to do. But also listen to the decreeing and declaring.

0:45 Before the congregation gave, the heavens were locked but because they have given, she decrees and declares that they are now open

1:11 Like a Tsunami, she decrees and decalres that God is going to move from her right to the left and from the front to the back

1:19 As she moves across the stage, she decrees that they will be slain in the spirit and will pick up mantles in the realm of the spirit (whatever that means)

1:31 As she moves across the stage, she decrees and declares that economics and finances will be shifted

1:40 She decrees and declares that the wealth of the wicked will be released to the congregation

1:46 She decrees and declares that the winds of the spirit are beginning to blow into homes (whatever that means)

1:52 She decrees and declares that the sons and daughters will be birth into the kingdom by virtue of their praise from prisons and crackhouses

2:10 She decrees and declares (again) that a supernatural anointing will sweep from her right

2:52 She decrees and declares that (I have no idea what she said)

2:58 She decrees and declares a double portion of the Elijah anointing

3:28 She decrees and declares about ?????

3:35 She decrees and declares the spirit of Jabez falls upon the women

3:40 She decrees and declares both to will and to do of his good pleasure and SHE release angels to ministries and to houses (this is totally unscriptural. See my post on commanding angels)

4:01 She decrees and declares every invisible that is buried is now destroyed (que???)

4:07 She decrees and declares that they are now a trailblazer

4:24 She decrees and declares new territories

4:30 She decrees and declares that the kingdom of heaven comes with force and a supernatural anointing

5:32 She decrees and declares channels, doors and gates open

5:46 She decrees and declares a ‘shifting’

Phew!!! That’s a lot of decreeing and declaring. This practice is just another form of the Word of Faith doctrine of positive confession which basically teaches that our words have creative power in them and are a container for our faith. It also sometimes known as name it and claim it where people are name what they want and ‘claim it’.

So I did a bit of research to see where people are getting this from and it seems to spring from the three following scriptures.

1. You will also declare a thing, And it will be established for you;, So light will shine on your ways. (Job 22:28)

This is the primary scripture that is used for decreeing and declaring. If you look at the context, Eliphaz’s ‘friend’ was basically stating that the reason why Job went through his suffering was because of his wickedness. Wayne D Turner correctly points out that:

“Many Christians quote scripture way out of context and think nothing of it. I have often heard people quote Job 22:28 as a promise for Believers…..It’s one of those name-it-and-claim-it verses that goes with the prosperity-giving message that is often taught by preachers and teachers trying to bolster the financial giving of their audience. In fact, this verse does say, in essence, “Declare it, and it will happen just as you claim it.” Here’s the catch to this verse: Eliphaz is the one who said it, and he was wrong about nearly everything; he lacked a knowledge of the nature of God. He and his friends were rebuked by God himself for their bad counsel in Job 42:7-9. (See verse 7 where it says “The Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right). So…when Christians quote scripture out of context as they do this verse, one might very well come away with a very skewed impression of the nature of God.”

2. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, (Proverb 18:21)

This is another proof text that on the surface seems to suggest that we can ‘speak life’ into every situation so that we can create a positive reality. Thats why sometimes when a person confesses that they are sick, the next thing that you may have heard in another believers mouth is ‘Don’t confess that’ or ‘that’s not your portion’ as if to say that by just confessing that you are well makes you well and that you ignore the fact that you may well be sick even with the evidence of vomiting all over the floor. This scripture does NOT mean that our words create reality but that our words can have consequences.

3. As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations” in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did (Roman 4:17)

Again the scripture itself tells you who “gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did”. It is not us. It is God. Yet many people use this scripture to state that we can do the same thing. Our words do not create reality. God’s words do. Don’t believe me? Confess that you are a millionaire and I will bet that none of you will become one just by saying it alone. It has so infiltrated the church on a massive scale even to the point where little children have been taught to do it and ‘decreed and declared’ that we wont be broke a day in their life as can be seen in the video below. My guess is that someone who was in that congregation is broke today

So in summary, there is nowhere in scripture where Jesus’s 12 disciples taught his disciples to go around decreeing and declaring in the fashion that we see today. You dont see them doing it and you dont see Paul or any other follower in the new testament doing it. Just because everyone is doing it doesnt make it biblical.

BUT DONT TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. CHECK OUT THE SCRIPTURES FOR YOURSELF

Related Posts:

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect - Introduction

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 1) : Pleading the blood

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 2) : Tithing

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 3) : Getting a confirmation from God

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 4) : Getting slain in the spirit

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 5) : Armor Bearers

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 5) : Armor Bearers

This is one of those traditions which seems to be predominantly found in the black church. But first thing is first. What is an armor bearer in the bible? As per Got Questions:

In Scripture, an armor-bearer (also spelled armorbearer and armor bearer) was a servant who carried additional weapons for commanders. Abimelech (Judges 9:54), Saul (1 Samuel 16:12), Jonathan (1 Samuel 14:6-17), and Joab (2 Samuel 18:15) had armor-bearers/armorbearers. Armor-bearers were also responsible for killing enemies wounded by their masters. After enemy soldiers were wounded with javelins or arrows, armor-bearers finished the job with clubs or swords. After the time of David, armor-bearers are no longer mentioned, likely due to the fact that commanders began to fight from chariots (1 Kings 12:18;20:33).

Now as those from other churches may not know what an armor bearer is in today’s churches, let me give you a little summary. An armor bearer is basically like a preachers right hand man/woman and serves them basically, like a glorified personal assistant. Some of their duties include (and I am not making this up), carrying the pastors bible and books, getting their water to quench their thirst while they are preaching, wiping the sweat off their head with a towel while they are preaching, bring and preachers bodyguard. Picking up the pastor and driving him to church. You don’t believe me? My friends across the pond at Real Talk Radio made me aware of this armor bearer ‘training’ video

Notice that one of the first thing that he says is that it will be less scriptural (in fact I didn’t hear any in this clip)

According to the video, the armor bearer:

• will watch out for his wife
• will watch out for his kids
• will have closer access than the average church member
• represents the preacher (note…not Christ)
• ‘covers’ the preachers
• ‘softens the blow’ for those who want to have access to the pastor
• should be willing to change their schedule, their lifestyle and their work so that they are available for their Pastor
• should be willing to use up their work vacation days to serve the Pastor

He also stated that that he was there early washing his pastors car and it caused problems in his marriage. If that isn’t a red flag, then I don’t know what is.

In some churches they MUST be a tither and ‘must make the advancement of the leader the important goal’. That alone flies in the face of scripture and borders on idolatory. In John 3:30 John the Baptist stated that he must decrease and Christ must increase but many churches are looking to increase the profile of their pastor.

If this sounds unbiblical and unhealthy to you, that’s because it is. Maybe its just me but it sounds very close to a slave and not a servant. You do not see any disciples in the new testamant who had an armor bearer as it is today. The closest person I can see was Peter in the Garden Of Gethsamene when he drew his sword to protect Jesus and Jesus told him to put it away so there goes that theory

When James and John wanted to be Jesus’s right (and left) hand men in Mark 10:35-45, Jesus told them that ”even the Son of Man came NOT to be served but to serve” but for some reason , they get it twisted and think that they are greater than Jesus and should be served by their armor bearer at every opportunity. This is NOT biblical and is a tradition of man.

So how did we get from the biblical definition of an armor bearer to what we have today? The answer is that they have equated the armor bearer in the old testament carrying the weapon to the armor bearer today carrying the sword (the bible). This is a classic example of eisegesis which is a common practice with many traditions . They have come up with a idea and read it INTO the scriptural text. Instead of using exegesis and getting their doctrine OUT of the text. Let the scripture speak for itself and not what you want it to say.

BUT DONT TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. CHECK OUT THE SCRIPTURES FOR YOURSELF

Related Posts:

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect - Introduction

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 1) : Pleading the blood

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 2) : Tithing

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 3) : Getting a confirmation from God

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 4) : Getting slain in the spirit

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 4) : Getting slain in the spirit

This is one of those traditional practices that you normally see at events such as ‘healing’ crusades and ‘deliverance’ ministries when the preacher lays hands on a person and they ‘fall out’ or as it is commonly known ‘get slain in the spirit’. It has almost become the norm in many churches that a lot of Christians do not even question it’s biblical validity and assume that it is from God.  See the video below as an example.

Question: Why is it that the only place in scripture where people fell backwards due to the power of God was the wicked men who came to arrest Jesus?  Selah

I know that one of the first thing people will say to defend this (or their favorite pastor/bishop/preacher) is ‘I know what I felt when it happened to me’ but we must remember that feelings and emotions are not an indication of truth. Feelings can change and deceive. See my post Emotionalism and Experience versus Sound Doctrine. The bible even states that Satan presents himself as an angel of light and he will perform many lying wonders. So what is the standard that we should follow? It is the scriptures and the scriptures alone. That is the plumbline.

My good friend, Steve Campbell wrote a good article called ‘Slain in the Spirit or just “Slain” stupid’ and I thought I would share it with you below

Just a couple of links to remind us that once again we must use the scriptures as the final authority for our faith and not these so called “fake healers and prophe-liars”…..

I’ve been saying for a while especially when you study and see the comparisons in the New Age Movement, that this whole “slain in the spirit” thing is false and has no place in Christianity…
People in the Charismatic Movement have mis-interpreted the scripture in Acts 2 and especially from verse 11 where scripture shows that some and not all of the many who had gathered accused the disciples of being drunk. This has been interpreted by The Charismatics as meaning that when the Holy Spirit comes upon you he makes you act in a manner that to others seems strange and some have even labeled this behaviour as being “Drunk in the Spirit”… Once again this teaching has no biblical foundation as the purpose of having the Holy Spirit is one of comfort, a guide and teacher…Look at John 14:26…  The Holy Spirit does not make you roll around on the floor like some socially dysfunctional person in order to show that God is working in your life.. Ephesians 5:18 tells us to ” be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”
The only characters that I’ve seen in scripture who were “slain by the spirit” and not “slain in the spirit” were Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5……

Look at what happens from verse 12 in Acts 2, as Peter explains to the crowd the events that were occurring and made reference to the Prophet Joel’s prophecy in Joel 2:28-32.
He clearly states that the disciples were not drunk… A few major things happened on the Day Of Pentecost … The disciples spoke in tongues which were the dialects of approximately 18 different nationalities… They professed the gospel of Jesus Christ.. Peter then preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ with authority and articulacy.
Acts 2:37 shows the hearers of Peter’s sermon were “cut to the heart” ESV.. This meant that were convicted by what Peter had preached.
It then goes on to say that they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, which was the Gospel and they fellowshipped together giving and sharing their possessions to as many who had a need.
So we can see from reading the whole text that the Day of Pentecost was the birth of the Christian Church as we know it, and that the gospel was preached and the lost were saved..
We cannot just simply highlight the gift of receiving The Holy Spirit without actually showing it’s purpose.. Which is to enable us to preach the Gospel in any surroundings, especially a difficult one with clarity and authority….

We do a great disservice to the working of the Holy Spirit when we act in manner that is confusing to the unbeliever and does not audibly proclaim the wonderful works of God, which is the Gift Of Salvation to all of mankind.

So……. Have a look at these two clips and then decide if these acts truly bring people to repentance and convict them of their sin just as Peter’s preaching did on the day of Pentecost???

As Always…

Sola Scriptura..

Steve….

BUT DONT TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT. CHECK OUT THE SCRIPTURES FOR YOURSELF

Related Posts:

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect - Introduction

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 1) : Pleading the blood

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 2) : Tithing

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 3) : Getting a confirmation from God

Shai Linne talks about his song Fal$e Teacher$

On Shai’s most recent album, “Lyrical Theology Part 1: Theology” he has a song devoted to False Teachers. This video gives a little background into why he felt it was important to address such a topic.

Listen to the song below

UPDATE: Paula White Ministries responded to this song which you can view by clicking here and see Shai’s response to their letter by clicking here

Ten of my favorite blog posts on Real Christianity

I cannot believe that I have been blogging for over five years beginning with How Important is Doctrine and as of today, have written 619 posts, this being my 620th. Every now and then, I go back to my old posts and re-read some of them, if not for anything else to re-encourage myself. So out of these 600+posts, below are ten of my favorite posts in no particular order and my reasons why. Just click on the titles to read the posts

1. The Marks of False ‘Christian’ teachers and teaching - OK, I am going to cheat on the first one as it was my first series (11 parts in total) called The Marks of False ‘Christian’ teachers and teaching starting with A Form of godliness. I saw so much foolishness in churches and on Christian TV and I knew that a lot of people were beginning to question a lot of things but were afraid to say anything. I just said what they were thinking. So I wrote the series and gave my reasons for doing it as I know a lot of people would think that I was just a heresy hunter. If you want to read the full series, just follow the links at the bottom of the posts

2. To tithe or not to tithe - Tithing was one of those things that kept me in bondage early on in my days and I know keeps many in bondage today. Many preachers use old testament scriptures like Malachi 3:8-12 to manipulate people into giving money and making them feel that they have robbed God if they don’t give their 10%.  That was until I searched the scriptures for myself only to find that the new testament principle of giving is proportional giving and giving out of what you have and not out of what you don’t have thus getting yourself into debt. It is also about a person giving what THEY purpose in their heart (2 Cor 9:7) . I wrote this to make it plain why Christians are not under any obligation to tithe anymore under the new covenant.

3. How do you know that you are saved (that you are a Christian)? - I really enjoyed writing this blog because it became very apparent to me that many people thought that they were Christians but they were actually self-deceived. This troubled me so I wanted to have some kind of ‘test’ whereby a person could measure up themselves to. Luckily the books of 1 and 2 John has such a test and has been one of my most popular posts that is found when people do searches, which tells me that a lot of people really do want to know if they are a Christian or not.

4. So you think that you’re a Christian. Power testimonies from former false converts - This ties in to number 3. When I heard these testimonies, I knew there were countless amount of people in this situation and I wanted to share it because I wanted others to see if they could see themselves in the mirror and if so, do something about it. The worse deception ever is to think that you are a Christian when, in fact, you are not

5. Spending Quality Time with God - This post always comes to haunt me because I know that this is something that I am constantly guilty of not doing but it is a constant reminder of where our priorities should be  

6. When your children don’t want to follow God – This post was and still is a very personal one to me. It hurts me to know that my children (so far) have decided to not follow Christ. I can only pray that God orchestrates the events in their life to point them to him.

7. Every Man’s Battle - I wrote this because it is a taboo subject amongst Christian men but can be a deadly poison if not dealt with….especially when it comes to the summer.

8. The Money Challenge - If anything, this is a shame on most of us as Christians about what motivates us to share the  gospel with others. I never want to be  Christian that as the gospel group, Commissioned, say in one of their songs that we “tend to find security in our salvation. We should constantly think about the lost”

9. Should we ever question what the man of God says – This post goes hand in hand with the post of Touch not the Lord’s anointed. Say goodbye to the untouchable preachers. The reason why I started this whole blogging stuff is because I questioned everything that I had previously heard and decided to go back to the basics of the gospel. You know, things like the cross, salvation, sin, repentance, faith, discipleship and NOT breakthroughs, blessings and divine favour which seems to be so prevalent in churches these days.

10. Christ is the only way, now you choose - I have posted many videos over the years but I love this video because it puts everything in perspective about what Christ has done and how he has provided a way out for those who have repented and put their trust in him

Blinded by loyalty

As per my About Me section, when I started this blog, the main reason is, if I am honest is that I was fed up of just going with the flow of what had become the norm in a lot of Christendom and wanted to get things off my chest. Most christians that I knew (including me) had swallowed the health and wealth prosperity gospel. Watching some of the preachers on TBN and God TV such as Creflo Dollar and Benny Hinn without REALLY lining up what they said with correct interpretation of scripture. Some of these (and our) pastors were twisting scripture but because it was the norm, we were deceived into thinking that because everyone was saying it and because these were respected leaders, it must be true.

Over the past few years, I have been encouraged to know that many people are beginning to question what they have been fed. However, many think that they are saved but in reality are actually self-deceived because they are blinded by false promises constantly talking about blessings, breakthrough and/or divine favour. A classic example can be seen in the video below

My message to you is this. Examine your motives for staying where you are. Are you TRULY being fed and growing spriritually or are you suffering spritually and just staying because of friends or because of loyalty to your church and/or your pastor even though they may not be preaching the gospel or may not be righly dividing scripture?  I was in that position once when I stayed out of loyalty, not because of a longing for correct use of scripture. I really depended on ‘Christian’ TV for my food. Obviously, each case will be different and it maybe that some pastors are approachable with your concerns and will seriously listen to you. In my own personal experience though, those occasions are rare. Click here and here for reasons why you should or shouldnt leave your church and please get some wise godly counsel but please don’t stay out of loyalty alone

UPDATE: When I started to write this post it was basically about what I have stated above and then I came across a few things this week which made me realise that blind loyalty comes in different forms. First check out the video below of Lexi interviewing Bishop Oliver Clyde Allen and First Gentleman (thats right, not Lady but Gentleman) Rashad. This is an example of what happens when people hold a low view of scripture and hold their opinions higher.

HT: I’m Speaking Truth

The people are all willing to ignore the explicit commands of scripture to justify their sins and you can see how their loyalty to the ‘bishop’ is as a result of this. Now I have no problems with people struggling with their sins, no matter what form it takes, whether it be homosexual sins or hetrosexual sins, but I do have a problem when people try to justify it as if God has given it the green light. NEWSFLASH: It is NOT OK.

²⁴Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

²⁶For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; ²⁷and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. (Romans 1:24-27)

Then today I came across this news story on Sky News

At least six people have dies in Britain after being told they had been healed of HIV and could stop taking their medication, Sky News has discovered

There is evidence evangelical churches in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow are claiming to cure HIV through God.

Sky sent three undercover reporters to the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), which is based in Southwark, south London.

To tell an HIV sufferer that they do not need to take their medication anymore is nothing less than evil and deceptive (see my post Derren Brown: Miracles for Sale). Now this church follows the false teacher T B Joshua and I do not have time to go into this man but you can google his name. Many people follow this man blindly as if he can do no wrong without lining up what he says with scripture

When peoples lives are being wrecked by ministries like this, I will not stay silent and will sound the alarm. Who knows? It may save a life

DONT BE BLINDED BY YOUR LOYALTY

Derren Brown: Miracles For Sale

If you have watched Christian TV for sometime and attended various church healing crusades and meetings, you will know that ‘healings’ such as below have become the norm.

Have you ever been supicious of these practices? Well you should be. This week on TV here in the UK, ‘Derren Brown: Miracles For Sale’ was aired. This was the advertisement for the program.

As per Channel 4, the documentary saw….

…Derren go undercover to investigate the reality behind the faith healing phenomenon, in America, and the belief in faith-inspiring miraculous recoveries.

With the cameras in hot pursuit, Derren undergoes his toughest project yet, going in search of an unsuspecting member of the British public prepared to adopt the guise of a Pastor and miracle worker. His chosen one is then tasked with six months in which to learn the trade and flourish across the pond as a convincing Pastor.

The final phase of the volunteer’s extraordinary challenge will see them attempt to perform faith healing miracles live in Texas – will Derren’s new recruit be accepted as a faith healer or cast away as fake healer? Is the belief in divine intervention really justified or will Derren expose the industry as one giant hoax?

On his first TV pursuit into faith healing, Derren says ‘You are about to see a world where greed and deceit raise their ugly heads, where lives have been needlessly lost and where hope, the most precious gift of all is pedalled at a price’.

An example of a life that has ‘been needlessly lost’ can be seen below

For those of you who are not familiar with Derren Brown, click here for more information. Even though none of this was a surprise to me, the program approached this subject from another angle and to be honest, the world did the job that the church should have done ages ago in speaking out against these charlatans. Derren basically trained a scuba diver to become a fake faith healer called ‘James Collins’ (initials J.C.). He was taught (with some help of others including Christians including those from the Trinity Foundation) all the ‘tricks of the trade’ and even though they used deception to do this project, I for one was glad that this practice was exposed. Not suprisingly, on Facebook and Twitter, people were condemning Derren for being wrong but some of these are the same people who will no doubtedly defend the likes of Benny Hinn and Todd Bentley and wouldnt call them evil. Oh the irony.

To see ’James Collins’ in action using the techniques that he learnt, look at the videos below

As you can see , ‘Pastor James’ was very convincing. In preparation for this exposure, they even set up a fake website called Gifts Of the Spirit Minsitry which you can visit here.

Those who prey on the vulnerable and the desperate are not just wrong, they are down right evil especially when they con people out of their money and encourage some to throw away their medicine with some having fatal consequences. Derren was interviewed about why he made the program which you can read here and I have to say that I agree with his motives.

Even though the videos below are in the How False Prophets Work post, I thought it was worth repeating them here to see how these guys work and manipulate people for their money. There is nothing new under the sun.

Marjoe Gortner, self proclaimed false faith healer

Peter Popoff Exposed

Deception is rampant in churches today but what I have seen lately is that many people are beginning to wise up and wake up to this deception and I thank God for that. However, many are still asleep and it is for those that we must continue to pray as I believe that some will be lulled into hell because they were self-deceived. Many people will also get poorer as a result, many will be blinded by false promises and many will be disillusioned with God because they never got the blessing, breakthrough or divine favour that they were promised.

One post that I definitely will recommend is A Call for Discernment by Justin Peters who addresses this in his videos. Now let me make it clear, I personally believe that God can and does heal people today but he does this in his sovereignty and not how these tricksters do it. Some people get healed but some people never get healed.

So in conclusion, do not just swallow anything that is fed to you on TV or by any preacher (even your favorite ones) but like the Bereans in Acts 17:11, check the scriptures to see if it lines up and if it doesnt, reject it.

For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect–if that were possible. (Matthew 24:24)

A letter for your greedy Pastor/favorite Mini-star

Have you ever been a sucker and put your name on the mailing list of some of these so called preachers who are just after your money after which yo then get diluded with various mail asking for money or maybe your pastor just begs for it every Sunday in the guise of , if you give, you will be blessed. Courtesy of the FBI aka Preacher Bureau of Investigations, I challenge you to send this letter or even better, give it to them direct and see if they practice what they preach. I think I know what the response will be.

Dear Mr. Pastor Dude

Please do not send me another letter requesting that I support your ministries efforts around the world. I am not sure if you are aware of it or not but there exist ministry opportunities right here in (insert your City here) that are being ignored while you fly over us in order to get to (insert the City here).

Since you believe in sowing and reaping so much then why not exercise your supernatural faith by sowing a seed into my light bill or mortgage?  My mortgage is £989, and according to your preaching on sowing, if you pay it then you (Mr. Preacher Dude) can expect a 100 fold blessing from God.

Since you preach giving then I think it will be an awesome display of your faith in what you’re preaching if you take this opportunity and pay my mortgage today! Don’t sit there in fear Mr. Pastor Dude, God is waiting on you to apply your faith with this seed offering as you witness the power of sowing a seed.

And if you sow this seed today into my mortgage I will also add you to my list of preachers who have signed up to be a covenant partner with my Child Support Payments.

Covenant preachers will receive a special message from me each month highlighting how my bills are getting paid because of their faith. So today Mr. Pastor Dude, I am asking you to do your part and make sure the storehouse is full as according to Malachi 3:10 which ask that we bring all of the tithes into the storehouse.

Try God Mr. Pastor and see if he will open up a window and pour you out a blessing because you have sowed your seed in fertile ground, which just happens to be my bills.

Yours Truly

(Your Name)

This ‘pastor’ goes too far

I could not believe it when I saw this video but then again, I could for this is indicative of the state of the church at present. What is even sadder are the sheeple in the congregation who are laughing, praising God and there doesn’t seem to be any disgust with what they have just heard.

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:6)

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. (Ephesians 4:29)

Should Fallen Pastors Be Restored

Back in 2009, it was revealed that the former home secretary here in the UK, Jacqui Smith had claimed expenses for pornographic films that her husband had watched.  As a result Mrs Smith  resigned from her position because of the damage it would have to the Labour Party if she remained in office.

On 20 April 2010, an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, operated by BP. Eleven people were killed in the blast and oil began to leak from the ocean floor at a rate variously estimated to be between 5,000 and 100,000 barrels per day. As a result, chief executive, Tony Hayward eventually resigned from his post as he knew that with all the bad press, it would not be good for him to continue in his role because it would add to the damage of BP’s already bad reputation.

Does that mean that Jacqui Smith they should never ever work for the Labour Party again in any shape or form or that  Tony Haywards should never work in BP again? No it doesn’t mean that at all but it does mean that they should not be in a prominent leadership role because the name of the Labour Party or BP will be at stake.

The world can see the sense in the decision to step down for the greater good of a political party or a company’s name. However, when it comes to christianity and some pastors, the name of Christ is not precious enough for them to take a back seat because they seem to have their own agenda and feel that, for whatever reason, they must come back up to the front and carry on as normal.  So we have examples of the divorces of  Juanita Bynum and Thomas weeks, Paula and Randy White, Benny and Suzanne Hinn, all with no biblical basis and some of those mentioned being divorced twice. Then we have the more serious controversies such as Ted Haggard having a sexual encounter with Mike Jones and receiving drugs from him and Pastor Goodman back in 2004 who “was jailed for three and a half years for sex attacks on a woman worshipper. He was also jailed for perverting the course of justice and an attempted sex assault on a 19-year-old woman. He had been accused of preying on four women at the Victory Christian Centre”. However he is back in the pulpit at the now Victory 2 Victory Christan Church. I hope that Pastor Albert Odulele doesn’t hope to go back into the pulpit in a few years time. John Macarthur says this about the problem:

It has always saddened me over the years as I’ve watched church leaders bring a reproach on the church of Jesus Christ. What’s shocking to me is how frequently Christian leaders sin grossly, then step back into leadership almost as soon as the publicity dies away.

Some time ago I received a CD that disturbed me greatly. It was a recording of the recommissioning service of a pastor who had made national news by confessing to an adulterous affair. After little more than a year of “counseling and rehabilitation,” this man was returning to public ministry with his church’s blessing.

That is happening everywhere. Restoration teams–equipped with manuals to instruct the church on how to reinstate their fallen pastor–wait like tow-truck drivers on the side of the highway, anticipating the next leadership “accident”. Our church has received inquiries wondering if we have written guidelines or a workbook to help restore fallen pastors to leadership. Many no doubt expect that a church the size of ours would have a systematic rehabilitation program for sinning leaders.

Gross sin among Christian leaders is a signal that something is seriously wrong with the church. But an even greater problem is the lowering of standards to accommodate a leader’s sin. That the church is so eager to bring these men back into leadership is a symptom of rottenness at the core.

Some have claimed that a leader’s failure makes him more effective in shepherding fallen people. That is ludicrous. Should we drag the bottom of sin’s cesspool for the most heinous sinners to lead the church? Are they better able to understand the sinner? Certainly not! Our pattern for ministry is the sinless Son of God. The church is to be like Him and her leaders are to be our models of Christlikeness.

We must recognize that leadership in the church cannot be regarded lightly. The foremost requirement of a church leader is that he be above reproach (1 Timothy 3:2, 10; Titus 1:7). That is a difficult prerequisite, and not everyone can meet it.

There are some sins that irreparably shatter a man’s reputation and disqualify him from a ministry of leadership forever. Even Paul, man of God that he was, said he feared such a possibility. In 1 Corinthians 9:27 he says, “I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

When referring to his body, Paul obviously had sexual immorality in view. In 1 Corinthians 6:18 he describes it as a sin against one’s own body–sexual sin is in its own category. Certainly it disqualifies a man from church leadership since he permanently forfeits a blameless reputation as a one-woman man (Proverbs 6:33; 1 Timothy 3:2).

Where did we get the idea that a year’s leave of absence and some counseling can restore integrity to someone who has squandered his reputation and destroyed people’s trust? Certainly not from the Bible. Trust forfeited is not so easily regained. Once purity is sacrificed, the ability to lead by example is lost forever. As my friend Chuck Swindoll once commented when referring to this issue–it takes only one pin to burst a balloon.

What about forgiveness? Shouldn’t we be eager to restore our fallen brethren? To fellowship, yes. But not to leadership. It is not an act of love to return a disqualified man to public ministry; it is an act of disobedience.

By all means we should be forgiving. But we cannot erase the consequences of sin. I am not advocating that we “shoot our wounded.” I’m simply saying that we shouldn’t rush them back to the front lines, and we should not put them in charge of other soldiers. The church should do everything possible to minister to those who have sinned and repented. But that does not include restoring the mantle of leadership to a man who has disqualified himself and forfeited the right to lead. Doing so is unbiblical and lowers the standard God has set.

So why is the contemporary church so eager to be tolerant? I’m certain a major reason is the sin and unbelief that pervade the church. If casual Christians can lower the expectations on their leadership, they will be much more comfortable with their own sin. With lower moral standards, the church becomes more tolerant of sin and less tolerant of holiness. The “sinner-friendly” church is intolerable to God–that is a frightening condition.

Conservative Christians have for most of the previous century focused on the battle for doctrinal purity. And that is good. But we are losing the battle for moral purity. Some of the worst defeats have occurred among our more visible leaders. The church cannot lower the standard to accommodate them. We should hold it higher so we can regain purity. If we lose here, we have utterly failed, no matter how orthodox our confession of faith. We can’t win if we compromise the biblical standard of moral purity.

What should you do in the current crisis? Pray for your church’s leaders. Keep them accountable. Encourage them. Let them know you are following their godly example. Understand that they are not perfect, but continue nonetheless to call them to the highest level of godliness and purity. The church must have leaders who are genuinely above reproach. Anything less is an abomination.