Tag: discernment

Deceit vs. Counter-Deceit: Alt-Reality and the Collapse of Common Consensus ( By Chris Anderson)

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

(The following is an article written by a dear brother, Chris Anderson. I know Chris and have spent time with him in worship, prayer, and discussion about the things of God. When I received this article via email I was once again amazed at how the Spirit of God speaks through his people and wonderfully reminded of how we are all together one in Christ: diverse members, one Body, joined to one Head through whom we share the heart and mind of the Lord.  I immediately asked him for permission to share it with NLI Ministries readers.)

 

Deceit vs. Counter-Deceit: Alt-Reality and the Collapse of Common Consensus ( By Chris Anderson)

I Jn. 5:20 …So that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true….

Gen. 11: 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth….

Ex. 10: 22 …And there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. 23 They did not see one another….

II Th. 2:11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie…

Is. 8:12 “You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’ In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.”

II Tim. 2:23 But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels.

A phenomenon has begun arising to destroy the world’s core capacity for consensus through communications as chiefly conducted by electronic media. Two articles have already come forth from this ministry in this regard under the caption “Don’t Believe a Word of It.” Yet given the intensity and vastness of what is developing, a third article is required.

In order to deal with this deceitful phenomenon, it is necessary to begin by establishing our reference point for truth. I direct your attention to the five scripture passages that head this article. The first identifies our source of truth. The remaining passages all identify the deceit.

The Truth

So we begin with the truth. The knowledge of all truth is ultimately traced to and anchored in the knowledge of God through Christ through the Spirit, Who Is Truth. We who share together in this ministry are seekers of Truth and truth reconciliation inside of our common knowing of Him Who Is True. We rely on the Spirit of Truth in Jesus Christ for our individual understanding and in turn for our cooperative and collaborative common understanding.

So in moving to discuss what we will discuss here, it is vital that I first reestablish our ultimate common reference point for what Truth is. Truth is not established through the empirical knowledge of our senses, which can deceive us, nor in revelation per se, which can also be deceiving to the false heart. Truth is established in our spiritual knowing of “Him Who Is True.”

Thus the more we know Him through time spent in surrendered waiting and listening in the Lord’s fellowship through His written word, the better we come to know “the truth” about all other “else” pertaining to this life and world.

The Collapse of Common Consensus

The reason this is now more vital than we have ever perceived it to be is because the common bases we have historically accepted for scientifically knowing “the truth” about life in this world are now being destroyed in front of our eyes under a deceitful power of accusatory suspicion, creating mass confusion and conflict throughout world society. This assault is being executed throughout the vast networks of electronic media by which we as a world receive information.

In 2016, we touched on the “fake news” controversy that became and remains the buzzword at the heart of political turmoil particularly in America. Through the ability to manipulate electronic media including photography and video, a capacity has always existed and has been exercised to skew news reporting to create false reports and impressions. It is deceit in the first dimension.

However, in the wake of the exposure of such capacity, a second dimensional counter-deceit in the form of accusatory suspicion has arisen to deny there to be any truth to any reporting of any news. The capacity for any reporting of any kind is assaulted to where any and all news is deemed “fake news.” Thus the capacity for common belief in any factuality is being destroyed, producing culture wide confusion, chaos and mental anarchy. In its place, alternate realities based upon conspiratorial conjecture are being advanced as the true reality, not based on the word of God or of His Spirit.

This scenario is not confined to politics but is reaching out to accuse the fundamentals of empirical scientific belief by which society commonly functions.  The most basic propositions of commonly accepted natural reality are now being assaulted as “false” and “fake,” beginning with the charge that scientific belief in a round earth is a hoax conspiratorially foisted upon mankind. Such proponents are in turn devoted to proving the alt reality of a “flat earth.”

In tandem with this is the charge that everything related to the science of space exploration over the last 60 years has been “faked” (man never went to the moon or even into outer space. It was all filmed in Hollywood.) Again, the result of this is massive debate, confusion, the destruction of the capacity to believe anything to be true and for common societal consensus; and the creation of competing alt-realities (worldviews established merely upon conspiratorial conjectures).

Deceit vs. Counter-Deceit

The difficulty at the heart of these controversies is that one dimension of deceit is being released against another dimension of deceit in order to destroy any reliable common perception of natural reality so as to create mental anarchy across the entire human culture.

Please soak in that last statement:

One dimension of deceit is being released against another dimension of deceit in order to destroy any reliable common perception of natural reality so as to create mental anarchy across the entire human culture.

The reason this must be identified is because the body of Christ is 1) being sucked up into this realm of conspiratorial counter-deceit over the natural realm and 2) is experiencing this conflict within Herself regarding the very things of the Spirit and spiritual truth.

The Lure Without

Let’s take the first point first:

The body of Christ is being sucked up into this realm of conspiratorial counter-deceit over the natural realm.

As Spirit-sensitive believers in Jesus, we inherently know that the world is filled with deception. We know that conspiracies exist on many levels, both political and scientific. The New World Order is such a conspiracy. So is the theory of Evolution. These are fairly well known and identifiable conspiracies based in the readily observable evidence.

What we are not however as savvy to is the counter-deception of “alt-real” philosophy based in a spirit of conspiracy exposure that plays off the first dimension of deceit. Under this spirit, true spiritual discernment corrupts into a counterfeit spirit of suspicion on which believers adopt alt-real worldviews based in the belief that all natural reality is being faked—whether political events, violent tragedies, natural disasters or scientific achievements—and their job is to expose it and convert everyone to their alt beliefs.

The net effect of this is that believers are being lured out of their prayer closets and listening chambers, leaving their first love to become caught up into both sides of the conspiratorial “reality” debates, and so swallowed up in the mass confusion. (That is the satanic objective.)

The Lure Within

Now to the second point:

The body of Christ is experiencing this conflict within Herself regarding the very things of the Spirit and spiritual truth.

This ground is more familiar to us but bears repeating. As prophetic people we understand that satan counterfeits spiritual gifts. We know there are false ministers who possess genuine gifts. Judas was the first in that line. We also know there are false / counterfeit gifts that mimic the gifts of the Spirit. There are false tongues and false healings and false miracles. (Simon the sorcerer had this capacity.)

For all these things we require discernment. However we as a body are equally afflicted by the spirit of counter-deceit. It is the spirit of suspicion masking as the spirit of discernment. This spirit’s job is to cast doubt on every work of the Spirit and His ministers, whether genuine or not, charging every Spirit minister and movement with some kind of hidden complicity in the “anti-christ one world agenda,” all bringing the church to a place of internal disempowered confusion and strife. (We saw this so clearly in the Lakeland affair.) The end is to leave the church within Herself wondering, “How can we ever believe whether anything going on is of the Holy Spirit?”

Passing the Test

So here is what we want to recognize about what is going on.

First, this counter-spirit of deceit answers to the strong delusion God said He would send in the final end times because people refused to love the Truth. Remember, God is always testing our hearts for the state of our love. It is to this end that the tempter has been released to prove our hearts before Him. We saw this in the teaching on Lying Signs and Wonders. So, if we are a people who fail the test by failing to love the truth, we will become subject to the spirit of counter-delusion.

We should first recognize however that this spirit was not originally intended to judge the church (any more than hell was originally meant for man). The spirit of counter-deceit was intended as judgment on the world. And it is judgment on the world. The chaos now being experienced culture-wide over alt-reality based on the spirit of conspiracy exposure is unlike anything we have ever known.

But because the world is in the church, the church has to be sifted, and if we in the church fail of our first love, we will come under the world’s judgment. Our own common reference points of belief with the world over scientific realities are under this assault. And we are seeing this happen as believers—and I mean prophetic believers—are getting caught up into arguing for the “flat earth.”

The spirit of alt-real counter-deceit is the real power behind the confusion that was put upon Babylon and the darkness experienced in the plague of Egypt. It says it was so dark that they “could not see one another.” This speaks to the destruction of the common reference points for natural reality the world shares among its own.

In the same passage about the plague of darkness, it goes on to say though that “all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings.”  This article is meant to be a “sons of Israel” article for God’s people. It is to give light in our dwellings amidst this present darkness. The Lord wants us to remain in His Light as the True One, and not get caught up in the no-win war between deceit and alt-real counter-deceit, where all proponents on all sides lose.

The Pull of Conspiratorial Alt Reality

But in particular, this article is given to keep us from falling into the error of alt-real deception through attacking everything as “fake.” This is where the Lord’s word to Isaiah comes in:

Is. 8:12 “You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’ In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.”

Don’t be feeding on “infowars.com” and all the websites and news outlets dedicated to exposing conspiracies, prophetic and otherwise. They do not have the real truth, even if they may have a part of it. They are still feeding on alt-real counter-deception.

Please notice that all this confusion is coming through the mass airwaves. It is all coming through mass electronic communications with the power to manipulate communications media of every kind, audio and visual. And you know who is the prince of the power of the air. The chaos is not coming through your Bible! It’s not coming through your prayer channel!

Staying in the Truth

So one asks,

“Then how are we to know what to believe about anything we are hearing? Was 9-11 staged or wasn’t it? Was the shooting in Las Vegas staged or wasn’t it? Did people really die, or was it all actors? Did some people die at Sandy Hook and the Boston Marathon, or was it all faked? What did NASA fake and what didn’t it fake about the space program? (Are the Challenger astronauts really still alive?) Are these fires and earthquakes and F5 tornadoes being caused by HAARP or by chemtrails or by God? ”

All I am going to say right now is what I said in the beginning: Stay in your prayer closet, listen for the Spirit, and wait. Don’t come out of there. Don’t venture out into the airwaves.

Remember what Vicki [she and her family are in the midst of the fires raging in California] just said to us about staying hidden in the Lord during the fire. Some things cannot be known until the smoke clears, literally as well as spiritually. (The ones actually in the midst of the fire had no way of knowing what was happening! Their airwaves were cut off.) You just need to abide under the shadow of the military love of the Lord!

In due time, everything will be revealed for what it really was. We don’t have to know what it really was. If something was faked, or part faked, it doesn’t matter. If it was man caused or God caused or both, it doesn’t matter. Determining who did something doesn’t determine whether or not it was God’s judgment. (It doesn’t matter why the Tower of Siloam collapsed. It didn’t change anything for the eighteen who died under it.)

The Lord is on a different playing field with you than that. So don’t venture out to get caught up into the confusion. When you need to know what you need to know, the Spirit will make it clear. He is the Spirit of Truth. But He doesn’t reveal to us all that He knows. He only reveals what we need to know when we need to know it.

As pertains to this ministry, we will only be discussing airwaves issues and any related conspiracy points at the Lord’s convicting of their need to be discussed, and no further. We will offer to this Circle private spirit witness and testimony to whatever is revealed and prompted to be discussed. But we will not be entering into alt-reality discussions and debates over unverifiable conflicting evidences regarding what is said over the public airwaves. This is for your assurance going forward.

&&&&&&&&&&

I have written this to stablish, strengthen and settle hearts, to keep us from counter-delusion posing as “true reality” and from all those things Paul speaks of as “foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels.”

If we can pass this test, we will be well on our way to readiness for the Lord’s voice when He calls our name at the Exodus.

With steadfast love,

Chris Anderson

First Love Ministry

Jesus, Social Media and Me

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

I’m up front with everyone, it’s understood that I use social media to accomplish a specific agenda: sharing Jesus by every available means. But this morning I felt the Spirit calling me out, challenging me as to the authenticity of my claim. Is sharing the love of God really my motivation?

It’s easy to deceive ourselves (at least it is for me) about a great many things. I can convince myself that what I’m doing is for God when the reality is that I’m really trying to fulfill a need for acceptance- receiving an “attaboy” from men instead of God. On Twitter I see the popular, hip preachers who daily provide their followers with cool tweets, and there’s a part of me that wants to be a part of the club. While I can’t pretend to judge the motives of these guys, I most certainly am required to judge my own. And lately, they’ve been mixed at best.

I believe that social media is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, we can potentially touch more people than we would ever physically be able to encounter. But on the other hand, it can feed the narcissistic, megalomaniac tendencies we all have to some degree. We can share  the Gospel with the click of a mouse, but we can also become addicted to “likes,” “retweets,” and “mentions.” Or maybe it’s just me-I know how sick and twisted I can be.

I’ve been thinking of some things the Apostle Paul said to the church in Corinth about “ministers and ministries.”

 Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.  If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

We find ourselves in the day of hash-tag theology and clever quips. Social-media enables us to feed our innate need for validation, and would be prophets and teachers clamor about seeking to impress with fancy talk and highfilutin prose. In times such as these, I find myself falling increasingly more in love with the One who, while being the embodiment of all truth and wisdom, used mustard seeds, nets, lost coins and farmers to explain heaven’s grandest mysteries.Yeah, I’m going to continue to use social media to share Jesus. But I’m also going to pay more heed to Paul’s words, praying that I will be conscious of the REALITY the verses cited above reveal. If I may be so presumptuous as to tell you what I think the bottom line is concerning Jesus and social media, it is this: folks don’t need us to be cool and clever, they need us to speak the truth in love.

 

Fool’s Gold?

Posted on by Kyle Fuller
We here it all the time, from actors, musicians, athletes, politicians and nobodies like me, “I’d like to thank my Savior Jesus Christ for…” Christians will hear a performer, let’s say on a show like “American Idol,” utilize this “mantra” and be overjoyed that the person saying it must be a Christian because after all 1 John 4:2 says, ” By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.” I think perhaps we should dig a little deeper as to what John is saying. Perhaps it’s more than just saying some words, for after all, Matthew recalls: “And, behold, they [demons] cried out, saying, ‘What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?’ “
The book of 1 John flies in the face of a culture that insists we can’t really “know” anything. Great day, over & over John says stuff like, “By this we know….” “I write this so that you may know…” It goes on. Please take the time to prayerfully read 1 John. You don’t have to be a preacher or a Bible scholar to understand it; you have the Holy Spirit! If you do want to dig deeper, there is so much available on line to keep you busy for a long time! You can KNOW!fools gold
I’ll leave you with this: “I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it…the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.”

“The Bible” History Channel Style

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.” John 5:39,40)

Tonight marks the airing of the first episode of the History Channel’s “The Bible,” and it seems as if a lot of folks are awfully excited about it. Me, I don’t know. I’m not in the loop as they say, and while “faith celebrities” like Warren and Osteen were privy to a sneak preview, like you; I’ll have to watch it like normal folks. As I have not seen the series, it would be foolish and presumptuous for me to comment on it; however, I will venture some preliminary thoughts.

I do frequently watch the History Channel, that is, when they actually air something reputed to be of historical relevance and not the so called “reality- TV” they seem to be promoting these days ( by the way, “The Bible” is produced by the reality-TV heavyweight Mark Burnett and his wife, the actress Roma Downey). On a number of occasions, when the History Channel has televised programs which utilize the Bible, I have observed gross mishandling of the scriptural texts. So, I suggest that if you watch this mini-series,  check out your Bible as to accuracy. The problem is, we live in a biblically illiterate culture. Many (even Christians) will accept the History Channel’s version of the Bible as “reality,” without having read the Bible themselves.

Most importantly, when the series moves into the New Testament, be discerning as to the way in which Jesus is portrayed. Watch to see if the History Channel’s Jesus is depicted as God. The Bible says that although Jesus is indeed fully man, he is also God the Son, the logos who is life itself. The Bible teaches that no one can “understand” God, come to him, or have any relationship with him, accept through Jesus. Jesus himself said in the book of John, “All who hear from the Father come to me.” I think the most important thing to watch for in this mini-series will be the way in which Jesus is depicted.

Regardless, of how it turns out, at least the series may prove to be a means by which the believer can enter into conversation with others about the Bible, in particular the Jesus of the Bible. So, if you watch “The Bible,” watch it with your Bible in your lap, be discerning as to how Jesus is portrayed, and be prepared to discuss it with those God brings across your path.

Desire

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

Christian,

After you have confused Christianity with Patriotism  …

After you have forsaken preaching the gospel of Jesus for becoming a minister of the American Dream…

After you have partnered with the world and made unholy alliances which divide you from others in the Body of Christ…

After you have argued, manipulated, and fought to secure your precious rights…

After you have voted…

When it turns out just as you hoped it would and you get everything you want, will you be able to bear it when you see with your eyes what you have truly desired in your heart?

“Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Asleep in Babylon

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

Asleep in Babylon, they dream.  As the words of the Apostles and Prophets come alive around them, they dream on.

They are oblivious to the beginnings of the stirring of the beast, and the cry of, “Come out of her my people, and do not partake of her sins.” is but an echo of His voice meant for some generation long ago.

The days of the Spirit have ceased, and God no longer speaks. All that remains is to sleep, and wait for the gospel to permeate the world. It’s easy to ignore the writing on the wall when you’re convinced you know everything.

“Take the book and open the seals.”

Asleep in Babylon, they dream. Conferences and impartations, trivial pursuit is such a deadly game. They dream on.

Who is gonna reform the Reformers? Tired arguments, stale rhetoric, and doctrinal clichés doom the next generation to invent heresies. They know something is missing, but to admit what It is would blow their theology. Lullabies are plentiful in Babylon.

Institutionalized, mesmerized, idealized- It’s over guys! Yet, it’s business as usual, sleepwalking on the deck of the Titanic. There has to be some way to save all that we have built.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.”

Asleep in Babylon, they dream. If you ignore the riders on their horses maybe they’ll just go away. They dream on.

Wholesale slaughter, a loaf of bread for a days wage, deception, war, and pestilence abound. You better not touch my Chick fil a. The world is on fire. I wonder if they have an app for that.

IPhones, ringtones, a trumpet blast, and we’ll all be gone, ‘cause you know God wouldn’t let his people suffer. Hey, our worship team just got a smoke machine. That’ll go great with the angel feathers and the glory cloud!

“I find your deeds incomplete in the sight of my God.”

Asleep in Babylon, they dream. I heard Jesus came back Saturday night. Never mind that; services start tomorrow at eleven.

“Goo Goo G’ Joob” (part one)

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together

~

Lennon/McCartney

Whereas Christianity portrays God as sovereign creator of all that is, holy and entirely separate from all else; New Age theology is founded upon the idea that each individual as well as all of creation is in fact God. Although various elements of New Age thought has integrated itself into modern ecclesia via Postmodernism, a brief exploration of New Age theology will prove to the astute student of the word that such integration is to be avoided in that New Age theology is not compatible with orthodox Christianity.

Whether from Eastern religions, the occult, the new psychologies, the “frontier” theories of science, New Age politics or New Age versions of Christianity, various ideas with a common theme are converging on our culture, pressing their way to the philosophical and ideological center of society. A new world is in the  offing; a revolution in consciousness beckons. All is one-both good and evil. We  are all god-and our first-graders should no it. The mind controls all- if we only use  it. These are ideas-potent ideas-that have consequences for the whole life. They  are shaping the lives of more and more Westerners.[1]

In the quote cited above, Douglas Groothuis provides a look at the zeit geist in the 21st century as well as a succinct summation of New Age religion and theology. Many adherents of the New Age mindset would argue that they have no substantive theology in that they are not a religious movement per se. However, if one concurs with psychologist Erich Fromm’s definition of religion in which religion is defined as “any group shared system of thought and action that offers the individual a frame of orientation and an object of devotion,”[2] New Ageism clearly possesses all the qualifying characteristics of a religious movement. Indeed, New Ageism is an amalgamation of many sources including: Astrology, Channeling, Hinduism, Buddhism, Zen, Taoism, Theosophy, and Wicca.[3] In light of Fromm’s aforementioned definition of religion, it is clear that acknowledged or not; New Ageism is a religion in which man’s frame of orientation is his own created reality, and his object of devotion is himself as god.  This idea of man as god is perhaps the capstone of New Age Theology.

“According to the New Age, man must transform himself. He does this by changing his consciousness and actualizing his divine nature. In doing so he becomes aware of his inner divinity.”[4] In the early 1960s, at the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, hallucinogenic drugs were utilized to create this altered state of consciousness, but as the New Age gained momentum (largely due to the influx of Eastern religions); mystical experiences and alternative conscious altering techniques began to emerge as the new portal to divine enlightenment. According to New Age theology, “man’s self is an ideal that surrounds any demands of time and the human physical body. Expressed in another way, we are the extraterrestrial emergent[5] God. We can then conclude that our human spirit is an extraterrestrial God residing within our mortal human body, and when we meditate, our mind (intellect) comes in touch with our spirit-self.[6] Such mystical experiences led the New Agers to believe that they are truly one with the universe and a part of God. They began to believe that they had uncovered the divine potential resident in all men.[7] And, it became their goal to help everybody discover this reality.

According to New Agers, humanity can become attuned to all the powers of its godhood by achieving unity of consciousness; only the unity of all can bring the well-being of all. Unified consciousness is the key by which all men can tap into their inner-divinity.  According to New Age theology, only the unity of all can bring the well-being of all. The godlikeness within us all; perfect love, perfect wisdom, perfect understanding, perfect intelligence; can only be achieved through the unity of consciousness.[8] It is this writer’s belief that the push for global unity prevalent in the world today is a product of New age theology, and eschatological in its relevance. “The new consciousness entails a unified worldview-“we are all one- a belief in a higher power, though this being need not be clearly defined. It is about healing-healing the earth, healing the marketplace, healing the individual psychologically and physically (Heelas, 1996, p.81). Within the New age, no one belief system is better than another and all have something to offer.”[9]

To Be Continued…

  1. Donald R. Groothuis, Unmasking the New Age, (Downers Grove, Illinois-InterVarsity Press, 1986), 15.

 2. Ibid., 16.

3. Lloyd E. Sandelands, Man and Nature in God, (New Brunswick, New Jersey-Transaction Publishers, 2005), 90.

4. John Ankerburg and John Weldon, The Facts on the New Age Movement, (Eugene, Oregon- Harvest House Publishers, 1988), 21.

 5. It is ironic to this author that Mr. Mall used the word “emergent.” One is made to think of the “Emergent Church” in which many aspects of New Age theology have been incorporated.

6. Alex Mall, The New Age Chameleon, (U.S.A. – Xlibris Corporation, 2010), 55.

7. Ibid., 7.

8. “New Age Theology,” All About Worldview. http://www.allaboutworldview.org/new-age-theology.htm, (accessed October 21, 2011

9. Mara Einstein, Brands of Faith: Marketing Religion in a Commercial Age, (New York, NY- Routledge, 2008), 198.

 

 

Discernment & Priorities

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

Those who know me know that I believe a Christian is to influence his culture by preaching (preach the gospel, use words when necessary) the gospel. I believe that cultures and nations for that matter are transformed through the establishment of the kingdom of God within the lives of people transformed by Jesus, rather than by so called Christian political activism. However, I must say that through the political process, at least the priorities and lack of discernment of many who name the name of Jesus is being revealed.

Some support a candidate merely because he is of their same ethnic/racial orientation. And sadly, there are some who will oppose a candidate because he is not of their race. They have forgotten or perhaps never learned that “in Christ,” there is no Jew, Greek, nor White, or Black. This choosing of a candidate because “He is one of our people,” or rejecting him because he is not reveals a carnal disposition. Let us repent and seek forgiveness and healing. Christian, we are not called to be “strong, proud white men” or “strong, proud black men”; we are the body of Christ and joined together as one new man in Jesus. Will you not just be a “Jesus man”?

Some Christian political activists assert that President Obama is a closet Muslim or perhaps even the antichrist. They fear that he and the left are doing all they can to destroy Christianity and destroy the United States. Strangely, their solution is to join forces with another candidate whose religious beliefs are cultic in their origin. Christian, how much have you studied Mormonism? What would cause a Christian to reject one candidate on the grounds that he is not Christian and bent on destroying the nation, and then choose another candidate who is not Christian and trust him to save the nation? Could it be lack of discernment and misplaced priorities? I shudder at the thought of even deeper implications.

Brothers and sisters, for you, as Christians; the answer is not to be found in a political party or candidate. Our hope is in the Lord. Let us not be like the ancient children of Israel, who when faced with God’s judgment sought after political alliances with the nations, believing they could save themselves and their nation by the arm of the flesh. Instead, let us repent of our idolatry, of murdering our babies, cheating on our wives, spending hours looking at porn on the internet, getting high, etc…   Let us prayerfully search the scriptures, and cry out to the Lord that he may give us his priorities and true spiritual discernment for this hour. Let us wait before him on our knees until he fills our hearts with prayers birthed by his Spirit. Let us deny ourselves and take up our cross. Let us extend Jesus to a lost and dying world.

“Hey Haters”: Indeed

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

Recently we were saddened as we watched a video in which the name of Jesus was maligned and Eddie Long was “crowned King”. Many (including myself) within the church decried this event, humbly pointing out that this most certainly was not of the Lord. We continue to pray for those who are directly impacted by Long’s “ministry.”

We are commanded in the scriptures to test the spirits, to see whether or not they be of God. (I John 4:1) When you encounter various teachers, when you read books, listen to sermons, read my blog,  etc…, measure it against the Word, and ask the Lord for discernment as to the spirit behind what you are observing. All that glitters is not gold and remember Jesus said just because we prophesy, cast out demons, and perform miracles in his name does not mean we are known by him.

Another video came my way today, and while no king was crowned, I was as saddened by this as I was Long’s pseudo-coronation. As you watch this video, pray for discernment and ask the Lord to speak to your heart. Is this truly the way of the cross ? I share this video (link down below) with you not to tear anyone down, but that we may be among those who “because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:14)

Hey Haters (Steven Furtick)