Posts tagged ‘Apostasy’

We Must Judge Or Risk Being Counted As Guilty With The Offenders

By LaVrai, 21 January, 2010, 4 Comments

I was reading through 1 Corinthians today and came across a startling passage… and it is partly startling because I had just visited some of my bookmarked blogs to see what those professing faith in Christ are up to. One of the last blogs I read shared a letter from a reader who was apparently concerned about the idea of Christians judging other Christians. There is a persistent argument among believers (and non-believers, too) that Christians are not supposed to judge others… because Jesus Christ said something to that affect in Matthew 7 — “Do not judge, lest you be judged by the same standard.” Some people trumpet this verse without putting the entire passage in context and studying what Jesus Christ was trying to teach against — hypocrisy. If you read Romans 2, you will see how Paul expounds upon Jesus’ words even further in warning against hypocrites judging others.

Romans 2:1Romans 2:1
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
2 ¹ Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

WP-Bible plugin Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. 3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?

GOD teaches HIS children through the Holy Scriptures that we must indeed be properly equipped and wise in discernment, another term for judgment. We must be able to judge ourselves rightly (i.e., whether our thoughts, deeds and words line up with the holy standards GOD requires of us) and we must be able to judge whether the thoughts, deeds and words of our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus also line up with GOD’s holy standards. If GOD makes us witness to a brother or sister’s failings, we are required to go to that brother and sister and discuss this error, whether it be against us personally or against GOD (and indeed, sinning against a brother or sister is also an offense to the FATHER).

Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:15Matthew 18:15
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

WP-Bible plugin “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. …”

We are instructed to confront one another peacefully and in love when we are in error, and if the party in error refuses to realize his/her wrong, then others should get involved to lend support to the argument against the party in error. If then, the person in error still refuses to heed sound reason, then the church is called on to get involved… and if the person in error still refuses to repent, then he/she must be put out of the assembly and have no part with the church.

Christ Is Coming Soon, Let’s Get Ourselves Right While There’s Still Time

By LaVrai, 15 January, 2010, No Comment

Folks have probably been saying this since HE ascended back to Heaven to sit at the FATHER’s right hand, but Jesus Christ is coming shortly. I don’t say it lightly, but with fervent urgency. Is HE coming tomorrow? Next week? Next year? According to the Scriptures, no one knows the exact time. But HIS coming is sure and soon, as the signs of the time suggest.

The latest sign — a devastating earthquake in Haiti — serves as an urgent reminder that we all need to take stock of ourselves and where we stand in our relationship with Christ Jesus. It’s been estimated that about 50,000 Haitians have died since the quake struck a few days ago. These people were just going about their normal business — walking home from work; headed to the grocery store; taking a bath; sleeping in bed; playing with their children; sitting in a classroom… some were likely even in church. And what happened in Haiti could easily happen where we are now. Just because a group of scientists have said the danger is elsewhere, doesn’t necessarily make it so. GOD IS SOVEREIGN and HE can easily bring calamity at any time. As the saying goes, tomorrow is not promised… live each day as if it were your last.

Well, I say this to each and every brother and sister in Christ Jesus — get right today, right now! We have no idea when the heavens will break and Christ Jesus will be revealed for every eye to see HIM — even the ones who pierced HIM. Take a look at the letters written to the churches in the Book of Revelation. Yes, they were letters written specifically to local churches at the time, but as any student of the Bible will tell you — what occurred with the Church in its founding days is still occurring today.

Oprah Winfrey To Launch OWN Network, Will Undoubtedly Feature New Age Nonsense

By LaVrai, 6 July, 2009, 1 Comment

oprah Oprah Winfrey is expected to launch her own network in 2010 (source), called appropriately enough the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). If you’ve been paying the slightest attention to Ms. Winfrey over the years, you may be familiar with the type of self-help, spiritual mumbo jumbo pushers she often has on and endorses. According to a NY Times article published earlier this year: With the Oprah Winfrey Network, “I will have editorial control,” she said. “I have a vision for what we want to accomplish with this network.”

If you take a browse on her Web site, you’ll notice prominent placements for new age authors Eckhart Tolle’s (“A New Earth” without Christians) and Marianne Williamson, who says “hogwash” to a question about Jesus being the being the Son of GOD (source). There’s also a “spirituality” feature with “Some of Oprah’s favorite spiritual teachers … shedding some light on the subject of spirituality.” These teachers included The Rev. Ed Bacon, rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, Calif.; Elizabeth Lesser, co-founder of Omega Institute; Michael Bernard Beckwith, founder and spiritual director of Agape International Spiritual Center in Los Angeles — all of whom you can view here explaining to Ms. Winfrey how “being gay is a gift from GOD.”

Ms. Winfrey states on page four of this spirituality feature:

The terms “spirituality” and “religion” are often confused, but all three spiritual teachers say you can be one without being the other. While Oprah calls the source of her spirituality God, others call it “the source” or “universal energy.” “I think God doesn’t get hung up on the titles,” Oprah says. “It’s the people that get hung up on the titles.”

Oprah’s definition of spirituality revolves around the understanding that we are more than what we can physically see. “When you begin to realize that you are more than your body, that your purpose is greater than your profession or your career—that every life, because you were born you have a right to be here and there is a calling on your life—it means you live your life without fear and you know that no matter what happens, no matter what happens, you are going to be all right. You are going to be all right. That’s what spirituality is for me.”

Last I read, Ms. Winfrey was still claiming to be a Christian.

So imagine how much more nonsense and deception will reach how many more people with this new OWN venture. A recent Newsweek article says it all:

Her audience cannot get enough. After more than two decades on the air, the Oprah franchise continues to expand. Forty million people tune in to watch her television show each week. O magazine, which features her picture on every cover, sells more than 2 million copies each month. She has her own satellite radio channel and a very popular Web site. Forbes puts Oprah’s personal fortune at $2.7 billion. Her empire is about to get bigger. Oprah has made a deal to launch her own cable television channel that will reach 70 million homes. It will be called, of course, the Oprah Winfrey Network and will include Oprah-approved programming on health and living well. In announcing the deal, Oprah said, “I will now have the opportunity to do this 24 hours a day on a platform that goes on forever.”

… Her most ardent fans regard her as an oracle. If she mentions the title of a book, it goes to No. 1. If she says she uses a particular wrinkle cream, it sells out. At Oprah’s retail store in Chicago, women can purchase used shoes and outfits that she wore on the show. Her viewers follow her guidance because they like and admire her, sure. But also because they believe that Oprah, with her billions and her Rolodex of experts, doesn’t have to settle for second best. If she says something is good, it must be.

The article goes on to state the obvious that many of her ardent fans seem to miss: … the truth is, some of what Oprah promotes isn’t good, and a lot of the advice her guests dispense on the show is just bad.

This goes for her and her guests teachings on GOD and Jesus the Chrsit — if it’s not found in the Holy Bible, it’s a lie. When Jesus says “I AM the Way, the Truth and the Light. No one comes to the FATHER but by ME” in John 14:6John 14:6
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

WP-Bible plugin, not much interpretation is needed. But Oprah and her spiritual teachers are known for insisting that Jesus in fact can’t possibly be the only way (here and here).

I don’t know what it’s going to take for folks to wise up and realize that if Oprah Winfrey is not a friend of Jesus the Christ, and there are undoubtedly many professed Christians gladly consuming the garbage that comes across her shows and in her magazines. It appears Ms. Winfrey is deceived, as she seems to be searching for some kind of answer… but the TRUTH is hard to take as it requires us to deny things and people that go against the Word of GOD.

Now, with a new network over which she claims she will have full editorial control, the deception will continue to spread.

By the way, the final page of the Newsweek article sums it all up quite nice… where all this searching and various voices have brought Ms. Winfrey thus far…

The $600,000 A Year Pastor Calls It Quits Or A Great Example Why The Interfaith, Feel-Good False Gospel Never Works

By LaVrai, 2 July, 2009, 2 Comments

UPDATE (07/06/2009): PBS Religion & Ethics Weekly conducted two interviews with the Rev. Braxton — before (which is below) and after he called it quits. The extended exit interview doesn’t really clarify his stance on whether he actually believes that Jesus Christ is the only means of Salvation, although that’s what he’s accused of preaching. There’s also a transcript of the video with some interesting comments.

The June 12 Interview (the July 3 video can be found in the Videos section):

“What I believe we are actually trying to do in our best moments is to suggest that if in fact we are going to be who we are — that is, a Christian congregation — we must take seriously Jesus and Scripture. Those are non-negotiables for Christian congregations.” – the Rev. Brad Braxton

ORIGINAL POST –

I don’t know if you are familiar with the Rev. Brad R. Braxton who was brought in earlier in the year to preside as leading pastor of NYC’s Riverside Church. In the beginning, some congregants were resistant because of what they considered the exorbitant pay Braxton was to get, which appears to be $600,000 and not some of the higher, crazier figures I remember seeing.

Anyhoo, Mr. Braxton has called it quits — and it apparently has nothing to do with resistance to his salary anymore. It seems, the Baptist preacher, might not have been aware of exactly who his congregants are:

The disagreements are described differently by each of the many factions at the church, a nondenominational congregation on Riverside Drive in Manhattan that has traditionally embraced a broad-spectrum interfaith style of Christian theology for all comers, whether Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, gay, lesbian, transgender or none of the above.

Notice that “broad-spectrum interfaith style” of philosophy and recall what Christ Jesus says about the broad road and the narrow road.

The Rev. Braxton sent an e-mail to members informing them of their decision, saying: “The consistent discord has made it virtually impossible to establish a fruitful covenant between the congregation and me,” he said. He also added in an interview that he felt his mandate was: “how to bring an interfaith, interracial, progressive religious institution from the 20th century into the 21st century.”

Do you know what the Rev. Braxton’s great transgression in this so-called Christian church (that has no problem letting the world sit and prosper within its walls)?

According to dissidents, Dr. Braxton went about that by bringing elements of evangelical tradition into church services. They said he called on worshipers to come forward and bear witness to their faith, favored the gospel choir over the church’s traditional choir, and preached at times what they considered a Riverside heresy: that Jesus and only Jesus was the way to salvation.

Some members of the congregation may believe that, said Constance Guice-Mills, a member of the church. “But his focus on personal salvation, on the individual, was diametrically opposed to the tradition of Riverside. Here, we believe you achieve salvation by doing social justice. Out in the world. And we have people from all backgrounds. Buddhists.”

Why didn’t the board/trustees just seek out a Buddhist to lead the church if they’re not concerned with personal testimonies are people bearing witness to the sufficiency of Christ’s death and resurrection and ascension to Heaven? Their resistance to Christ and HIM crucified apparently contradicts the mission statement they have posted on their Web site. Or perhaps it is just for show? Words without meaning as this Wikipedia entry seems to show (sidenote here: if demons know and confess Christ Jesus as LORD, shouldn’t human beings be required to go a little further)?

I suppose the Rev. Braxton really had no clue. I surely hope it wasn’t the money or the reputation of the church (the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. made his Vietnam speech there) that compelled him to walk through those doors and ascend the steps of that filthy pulpit.

Riverside congregation is not actually a church, just a type of club where people believe in doing good works come together. This place has nothing to do with Christianity — which is not good works. Christianity is Salvation in Jesus the Christ and HIM crucified. Only one of those will get us into the Kingdom.

Maybe the LORD was trying to reach out to the congregation, but apparently they want none of it… they’re not interested in hearing the TRUTH – Salvation in Christ Jesus and in HIM alone. GOD didn’t send anyone else into this world to save us.

Source: NY Times

I am assigning this to End Times Alert also since this is the current false Gospel that will apparently pervade the whole world.

Another Artist To Unveil Portrait Depicting President Obama In Christ Imagery

By LaVrai, 26 April, 2009, 1 Comment

UPDATE (04/28/09): Apparently this so-called “artist” has caught a clue (click here)

"The Truth" by Michael D'Antuono

This hardly needs any commentary, so I’ll just give you some info from the press release about this “art work” that’s to be installed in New York City’s Union Squared:

The 30″ x 54″ acrylic painting on canvas depicts President Obama appearing much like Jesus Christ on the Cross; atop his head, a crown of thorns. Behind him, the dark veil being lifted (or lowered) on the Presidential Seal. But is he revealing or concealing and is he being crucified or glorified?

D’Antuono insists that this piece is a mirror; reflecting the personal opinions and emotions of the viewer; that “The Truth” like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. D’Antuono expects that individual interpretations will vary as widely as they do in the political arena. The work will be seen by one viewer at a time behind a voting booth-inspired public installation.

[poll id="17"]

The truth? Glorified or crucified? What’s to be interpreted when the image of President Barack Obama is clearly smiling and is in no distress. What a joke. When will the man-worship end? I am convinced this has to be some kind of practice run for the anti-Christ, whom the Holy Bible says the whole world will worship (Revelation 13).