Prove Me Wrong
It is very frustrating. Knowing something and being very willing to talk, or teach, or tell anyone what you have found, but no one wants to hear.
They would rather listen to someone who is popular and trust people they have never met, who they believe have studied and are in the know. This is lazy...and foolish.
We all know that there are many liars. We also know that in this world, as it currently works, liars and cheats tend to do very well and end up in high places. So the odds of one of these "popular" teachers not being a complete scumbag is very low. Jesus taught this! He warned of false teachers and false prophets. He warned that the majority of people would follow after them! A majority of people following is the only thing that makes one popular. Do you see the problem?
Matthew 7 (NIV)
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
The fruit is how they treat others. If they are rude, arrogant and dishonest, they should be written off as teachers, by everyone. No, it seems that their followers are more than ready to forgive and still believe anything that comes out of their mouths.
I have heard a number of prophetic messages from popular teachers lately. I have yet to hear one message that rings true by the Holy Spirit and scripture. Most of them talk of things all Christians must do or God won't act. This is garbage!
Where in scripture does Jesus teach that if we don't do something God can't respond?
Where in the Old Testament does it say that?
Where in all of scripture does anything God says compare to that?
Please look, for yourself. I will tell you it doesn't, but if you can find where it does, please enlighten me.
None of the men of God in all of scripture where doing some great spiritual battle that God needed them to do or He would fail. No, not even remotely.
Yes there is a spiritual battle, but God is over all things is He not? At any moment He can or could have stopped Satan simply by saying "you no longer exist." He wouldn't need to shout, or say it with great conviction. He would just need to speak it. He is GOD.
The spiritual battle is over our hearts and minds. Satan has power to deceive. He does manage the kingdoms of men...for now. But he only has power enough to twist things so that men will falter in their faith toward God. He can't just kill you. He can't even make you sick without God's approval. What he wants to do is get you to walk away or never trust Jesus Christ at all.
Ah, but Jesus said over and over. His sheep will hear His voice...they will NOT follow another.
Luke 18:8b (NIV)
8 However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Over and over in scripture the main thing that God wants from anyone is Faith. Faith being trust in God. Trust in who He is, what He does, and what He is going to do. Trusting in anything else is a problem.
Jonah 2:8
Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.
Grace comes as a response to faith. Faith is what the God of the universe is looking for. The parable of the sower is planting seeds of faith! The parable of the talents is about faith. Most of what Jesus taught was about faith. Faith being trusting God, not trusting man or self!
You can't trust someone you barely know. In order for our faith to grow, we must get to know God. This means reading the book yourself. Talking to God yourself. Yes, hearing another teach can be good as long as they are pointing you to the source.
If you don't know God's word, you are in an easy place to become deceived!
Think you are fine?
Think you know enough?
1. Lucifer is not the Devil's name. Lucifer is a Latin word meaning "morning star or star of the morning". The passage that the phrase "morning star" came from is in the book of Isaiah, which was originally written in Hebrew. It was translated to Latin (the Latin Vulgate) many years after Christ and this is where the passage using the phrase "morning star" first became lucifer. When the King James translators changed the Latin Vulgate to old English, they left it as a Latin word wrongly believing it to be a proper name. God did not give the devil a Latin name. Especially to a Hebrew People!
2. Angels do not have wings. There is not one scripture stating an angel with wings! Not one!
3. People do not become angels when they die. Nope, no where in the book. It does say we will become "like" the angels in that we will not marry or be given in marriage, but we will not become angels.
4. Dead family members are watching out for us. This is also not biblical at all. Do they see what is going on? There is a bunch of scripture to point to the probability being no. But since it is limited in information, it may be possible. But they definitely cannot change or affect our outcomes other than praying to God themselves. It is more likely that they "sleep" until the end when the first or second resurrections happen.
5. You can still get to heaven if you are good enough. Sorry, but this is so blatantly opposed in scripture it becomes sad. Heaven IS a biblical concept. You cannot take the idea of a biblical heaven and just assume that what ever rules you are comfortable with will gain you entrance! Well, you can, but it is rather foolish. No, the biblical heaven has entry rules clearly laid out and they are very simple. You must believe in Jesus Christ to gain entry. Absolutely nothing else!
6. Jesus said to not call anyone on earth Father. He of course meant this in a religious sense. God is our Father, no one else. Do you call your pastor or priest "father"? Do you realize the word "Pope" means father in Latin?
7. The tribulation period is 7 years. It is not, it is only 3.5 years. Look it up! Prove me wrong! Everywhere it is mentioned the time frame is either 3.5 years, or 42 months or 1260 days. Only once in the book of Daniel is the 7 years put forward and in that passage, the crap doesn't hit the fan until the middle of that time frame...which is 3.5 years.
8. The children may not be appointed to wrath, but they will be appointed for the tribulation. Yes, there is a "taking away" or rapture as it is called, but it will not happen until after the tribulation period. In Revelation 20 verse 5 it clearly states that there will be a resurrection, the FIRST resurrection. The placement of this event is AFTER the battle of Armageddon...AFTER. If this is the FIRST resurrection, there cannot be one before it or it would be listed as the SECOND. God's word is not wrong. So if you are taught otherwise, it is not obvious that the teachers you are trusting in are not worthy of that trust?
Revelation 20:1-6 (NIV)
20 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.
4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They[a] had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) *****This is the first resurrection.**** 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
9. God needs you or He can't do it. This has to be one of the greatest evil lies there is that is taught. God doesn't NEED us for anything. He wants us. He loves us, but He sure as the sun comes up doesn't NEED us to do anything. This is the guy who made the universe in 6 days. He is not surprised by anything. He is not afraid of anything. He is not counting on anything. God is God. He is all powerful, self-sufficient and complete in every sense of the word. If God wants something done, He may give you the opportunity to do it, but if you don't, He sure as hell knew you wouldn't had had someone else already setup to complete the task. HA! If He wanted to could just speak the task into reality...
10. Alcohol is not evil, drunkenness is. The basic description of drunkenness is the same as being an alcoholic. It is not really any different than gluttony, being so out of control with eating that it is killing you. Suicide by any means is frowned upon. It won't keep you from heaven, but it will get you there sooner. It is just not a good idea.
11. Rock music is not evil. Sorry, this is just stupid. The content or words may be, but the drums or the beat are your least concern.
12. Yes, spiritual gifts are real and still exist. You can't take one scripture in 1 Corinthians (13:9-10) in one version, King James, and assume a whole doctrine out of it. It just isn't a good way of doing theology, not at all. Additionally, you are assuming that the phrase "when that which is perfect is come" means the King James Bible...this is really stretching things. So if your only other reason to disbelieve is because you are not experiencing these things, all you need to do is ask God about it. When and if it is time, He will give you a gift. They are His to give and His word says that He gives them out as He wants to.
13. Revival is not dependent upon you. Yes, you can pray... a lot. It does please God, but you are not ever going to manipulate Him. If He wants revival, He will do revival. Faith is the most active thing we can do in order to see God move. If you trust God, since this is what He is looking for, His pleasure in our seeking and trusting WILL get a response.
I could go on and on, but everyone will need to give account of themselves for themselves.
I do my best to teach truth. I do my best to seek truth, that includes the huge possibility that I may be wrong. I find it sad that in this day and age, people are afraid to debate truth because so many are unable to do so without being hateful, rude, harsh or just plain evil.
We need to push through anyway.
God teaches through His word. He also teaches through others. He also teaches through life and circumstances. But these "lessons" will never disagree with what He has written in His word. We must know this book. If we don't we are all the more at risk of going astray.
I teach what I know. Prove me wrong. For if you can, I will learn truth. If you can't, you should learn truth.
If you can't do it without trying to elevate yourself, then, please, don't bother. You will only waste my time and yours.
There are a huge number of lies.
There is always one truth.
Find it and live.