A New and Improved Gospel? The Downfall of Hillsong

So I wrote this post a few years back and had it saved as a draft. Why I never posted it, I don't know--I have several blog posts that are in draft form. I have not posted any new blog posts in a few years. So, today I'm just going to publish this, well, because. How telling it is!! As most everyone knows, Carl Lentz was found to be a philanderer and abusive to people on his staff. And Brian Houston is a cad and so much more has been revealed about Hillsong in general that there's now no doubt their fruit is rotten--but we knew that.

One may ask, how can the Gospel of Jesus Christ be improved upon? The answer: it can't! The Bible is perfect, it is the inspired Word of God written for mankind to show that the only way to God is through Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God.

I am just an old fashioned gal; more precisely, I am a traditional, orthodox Christian who still believes that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is just as powerful to save as it ever was without adding any new and relevant interpretations. No tweeks or paraphrased versions of the "Gospel" are needed. The true Gospel is impervious to the age that we now live in and remains unchanged because there is nothing new under the sun. People are still born sinners the last I checked. We still try to get our own way and will justify it. By golly, we will not bat an eyelash at the opportunity to pervert and change the Gospel to fit our current day lives.

One example that comes to mind is the mega-church, Hillsong, in Australia and the one also in America in New York. Regarding a new film coming out about their church, a worship leader of the band says, "My hope is that the film gives people a "new perspective" of what it actually looks like to believe in who Jesus is, and what it means to live a life that reflects His acceptance and love." What exactly is this new perspective? It is none other than the watered down message of so many churches now-a-days. These seeker-friendly churches emphasize the love of Jesus without any qualifications on how the love of Jesus is shown and appropriated. Theirs is a gospel devoid of power and conviction. Did Jesus come JUST to show love? Didn't He also come to show us who we are...a people lost and driven from the love of Jesus? And then how does the love of Jesus transform us? Does the love of Jesus convict us of our sin and drive us to our knees? Of course it does, but this message is no longer relevant.  In addition to Hillsong's "new perspective", it was recently noted that Pastor Brian Houston removed from their college student handbook the word "homosexuality" as being one of those sinful practices to abstain from. They are now realizing that everyone is on a "journey" and that conversation is a must regarding this topic. Oh, the rubbish! It's their way of saying homosexuality is now on the list of acceptable behaviors for a regenerated Christian! Gay Christian. That is an oxymoron. And for the record, any church that has the name, Journey, well...stay away from it! Just my thought.

And just an FYI - any church that preaches a distorted gospel, e.g., one that eliminates the truth about sin, justification and holiness, it can be said that without a doubt, underneath the seductive layer of feel-good or legalistic teaching lurks the unmistakable reality of sexual sin in one form or another being practiced by both the leaders/pastors and/or their congregations -- freely and without rebuke.

Now, I am not saying that sexual sin, or ANY sin, for that matter, is not being committed in any normal, healthy church, however, it should not be condoned, rather it should be shown for what it is and the members of these churches must know that sin leads to death and that it must be dealt with. A healthy church will reveal it's members to be on the road to sanctification, moving away from sin, not toward it.

We are living in fantastic times. Fantastic in that what we see taking place in this day and age as far as Christianity goes is nothing short of truth-twisting! Did we ever think that sexual sin would be acceptable in our churches? Did we ever think that it would be acceptable to coddle the sinner in our churches? I sure didn't think it would happen in my lifetime. But it is here and it is gaining momentum. We as the true church of Jesus Christ must stand firm in our convictions that are rooted in biblical orthodoxy. We are living in the end times, people. It is a fact. We must especially be on guard, for our enemy goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Devour means to consume recklessly, wantonly or destructively; to engulf or swallow up, etc.

Here is what makes Christianity so beautiful -- Jesus never, ever condoned sin; as we know, He told those to whom He ministered to go and sin no more. His message of love can be summed up this way...1) We are sinners on a direct route to hell. 2) He came to give His life as a ransom for our sin. 3) We accept His unfathomable gift of forgiveness and repent of our sin and place our trust in Christ as Savior. 4) Indescribably, He credits us with His righteousness. Simply put, He gives us His righteousness as a robe to cover our unrighteousness. It doesn't just cover, it takes it away completely! I do not recommend RC Sproul, but he worded this truthfully, "we are just (righteous) without being just (righteous)." At the moment we receive Christ, at the moment of conversion, we are wrapped in the love of God, wrapped in robes of righteousness, cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. In His sight we are now holy and just, and then begins the process of sanctification. The price was paid in full by the death and sacrifice of the spotless Son of God. This is reason to rejoice!!

In the words of Matthew Henry, "Grace despised is grace forfeited." And, "Those that persist in sin make war against God." Which side are you on? Are you on the side of the obstinate or the side of the humbled?

Today is the day of salvation. Today Jesus is saying to you, "Go and sin no more".

The Shack - False Jesus Misleading Many

DANGER!

With The Shack in theaters it will be no surprise if it's a highly popular movie due to the major hit of the book of the same name which was written by William P Young. God has provided the way to life, but you won't find the way by watching the movie or reading the book. With this information I find it impossible to remain silent in light of it's many problems and direct contradiction to Scripture.

People must be made aware of it's subversive nature; namely it's false gospel message. In no way does it represent the God of the Bible, but rather a universal god with no power to save or send to hell. This impotent god makes everything all right just by being "loving". In that sense is that all God is...... is loving? Does not love also encompass judgment and wrath? You cannot love a thing without hating it's opposite. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 6:24, "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." God loved the world enough to send His Son to die, but He also hates sin. And sin is serious enough that it sends people who sin to hell.

God loved His Son and gave Him to be the propitiation for our sins. Because He laid the sin of the whole world upon Him and poured out His wrath in an incredible display of holy retribution and turned His back on His only Son, if only but for a moment, is why it is so important to understand what exactly His death on the cross represents. 1 John 2:2, "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." Isaiah 53:5, "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed." Because of the preciousness of this sacrifice it is short-sighted to believe that minimizing the cross somehow makes His love just as meaningful. To say that God doesn't punish sin because sin is it's own punishment (what the movie/book says) is as if to say Jesus Himself did not die on the cross and suffer the accompanying agony. But, in fact He agonized, He was punished for our sin, He was separated from His Father, He who knew no sin died in our place. But no matter because everyone, whether they repent and believe or not will be in heaven according to the message that this movie sends. That is flat-out Universalism. The Shack states that, "In Jesus, I have forgiven all humans for their sins against me, but only some choose relationship.” A large, black woman whose name is Papa is supposed to be God the Father. Why would a book portray God as woman? I know, God is supposedly trying to make Himself appear more approachable because the subject character can't take God as a man, apparently. God does not change to suit us humans, sorry. And going to a place where you portray God in human form is just plain wrong. In the words of theologian Bruce Waltke, "It is inexcusable hubris and idolatry on the part of mortals to change the images by which the eternal God chooses to represent Himself." (Old Testament Theology 244). This so-called Papa says at one point, "Honey, I've never placed an expectation on you or anyone else.  The idea behind expectations requires that someone does not know the future or outcome and is trying to control behavior to get the desired result." He can't be serious!? God doesn't put expectations on us? Let's look at a few scriptures to disprove this...1 Peter 1:16, "Because it is written, be ye holy; for I am holy." Luke 13:5, "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

To call this a Christian movie is blasphemy. It takes Christ off the cross and puts man on his own supposed cross of suffering in this world as his own payment for sin. Cross be gone. Christ be gone.

So take my advice and don't waste your money on this deceptive and beguiling movie that paints Jesus in the wrong light; a light which is darkness. Luke 11:35, "Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness."

See also: https://ilikemycoffeeblack.com/2017/02/24/the-shack-is-messed-up/

Prayer

Orthodox Prayer

O Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in
peace.
Help me in all things to rely upon Your Holy
will.
In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me.
Bless my dealings with all who surround me.
Teach me to treat all that come to me with
peace of soul and with firm conviction that
Your will governs all.
Grant me strength in unforeseen events. Let me
not forget that all are sent by You.
Teach me to act lovingly, firmly, and wisely,
without embittering or embarrassing others.
Grant me strength to bear the fatigues of the
coming day with all that it shall bring.
Direct my will. Teach me to pray. Pray You
Yourself in me.
Amen.

Tips on Assessing Worship Music

                                Criteria for Discerning the Usefulness of Praise Songs

Very excellent guidelines (not complicated!) for determining whether praise/worship songs are valid and Biblically based.

From: Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller

Determining the truth of what someone is saying is impossible if the person isn't actually saying anything. This is the great difficulty of assessing praise songs commonly used in the church. The nature of modern praise songs makes them difficult to make useful judgments regarding their fitness for use in the church's worship. Often the songs are written in sentence fragments, thought and phrases rather than a regular sentence with a subject, verb and object. Simple questions are often unanswerable: “Who is this talking about?” “What does this mean?” “What is the relationship between one phrase and another?”

When I was a child we would play a game on the 4th of July. Some smarty would take a tub of Vaseline and slather up a watermelon and toss it into the swimming pool. Dozens of kids would try to get it out of the water. Anytime you thought you had a hold of the melon it would squirt out of your arms. This is something of the difficulty in making a clear judgment about such ambiguous lyrics. (Of course this ambiguity is a big part of the problem.)

What is needed, then, is an objective method of judging the usefulness of a praise song for edifying the Lord's church and bringing the comfort of the forgiveness of sins.

The following criteria are offered for use in considering the usefulness of praise songs.

1. Jesus

“Is Jesus mentioned?”

          Yes             No              If yes, is it in name or concept?

2. Clarity

Is the song clear? Does it use sentences (with subject, verb, object) or sentence fragments?

                    10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

           Very clear                       Obscure

3. Mysticism (Subjectivity vs Objectivity)

Is the song about the things that God has done (objective), or about my own emotions and experiences (subjective)? Does the song repeat the same phrases over and over in an hypnotic mantra?

                  10  9  8   7 6   5 4  3  2  1

             Objective                      Subjective

4. Law and Gospel 

Does the song proclaim the law in its sternness and the Gospel in its sweetness (the Gospel is the promise of the forgiveness of all sins won for us through Jesus' death on the cross)? Are law and Gospel rightly divided (and not mixed up)? Is the law presented as something that we can do, or does it show us our sins? Is the Gospel conditional (based on my actions, decisions, acceptance)?

              Yes             No           I can't tell

5. Is there any explicit false teaching?

               Yes            No

From: http://www.hope-aurora.org/docs/praisesongcruncher.pdf

Excellent Discussion on Works vs. Grace For Salvation

A great commentary -- the question always remains: do we do the good deed to "prove" that we are saved? No, we are saved and thus, good deeds follow. From www.waytogod.org:  Go Here

The Unrepenting Repenter By: Jim Elliff

The Unrepenting Repenter

The following is a very good article about true repentance. There is much confusion over what it is to turn to the Lord and receive Him as your Lord and Savior. Some of our modern churches do not preach the whole gospel, much to their harm. It is imperative that people know what repentance is...is it just saying you're sorry? or just saying you believe in God and His son, Jesus Christ? or is it more than that? I believe it is more..it is a turning to God and acknowledging that you are a sinner in need, in dire need of forgiveness and cleansing. 

I also believe it can be a progressive knowing, this knowing how sinful sin is. I came to the Lord as a child and I knew, in part, that I was a sinner, but it wasn't until much later that I realized how holy God is and how unholy and undeserving I am. To recognize this is to recognize the import of His sacrifice; how utterly holy and pure He is and how utterly lost and wretched I am. The more I know of His holiness the more my sinfulness stands out in stark contrast. It is a paradox of sorts. But as Paul said, in Romans 7:24-25, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

By Jim Elliff @ www.ccwtoday.org

The believer in Christ is a lifelong repenter.  He begins with repentance and continues in repentance. (Rom. 8:12-13) David sinned giant sins but fell without a stone at the mere finger of the prophet because he was a repenter at heart (2 Sam. 12:7-13). Peter denied Christ three times but suffered three times the remorse until he repented with bitter tears (Mt. 26:75). Every Christian is called a repenter, but he must be a repenting repenter. The Bible assumes the repentant nature of all true believers in its instruction on church discipline. A man unwilling to repent at the loving rebuke of the church can be considered nothing more than "a heathen and a tax collector." (Mt. 18:15-17)

What is repentance?

Repentance is a change of mind regarding sin and God, an inward turning from sin to God, which is known by its fruit—obedience. (Mt. 3:8; Acts 26:20; Lk. 13:5-9) It is hating what you once loved and loving what you once hated, exchanging irresistible sin for an irresistible Christ. The true repenter is cast on God. Faith is his only option. When he fully knows that sin utterly fails him, God takes him up. (Mt. 9:13b) He will have faith or he will have despair; conviction will either deliver him or devour him.
The religious man often deceives himself in his repentance. The believer may sin the worst of sins, it is true; but to remain in the love of sin, or to be comfortable in the atmosphere of sin, is a deadly sign, for only repenters inhabit heaven. The deceived repenter would be a worse sinner if he could, but society holds him back. He can tolerate and even enjoy other worldly professing Christians and pastors well enough, but does not desire holy fellowship or the fervent warmth of holy worship. If he is intolerant of a worship service fifteen minutes "too long," how will he feel after fifteen million years into the eternal worship service of heaven? He aspires to a heaven of lighthearted ease and recreation—an extended vacation; but a heaven of holiness would be hell to such a man. Yet God is holy, and God is in heaven. He cannot be blamed for sending the unholy man to hell despite his most articulate profession (Heb. 12:14).

What are the Substitutes for true Repentance?

1. You may reform in the actions without repenting in the heart. (Ps. 5 1: 16-17; Joel 2:13) This is a great deception, for the love of sin remains. (I Jn. 2:15-17; Acts 8:9-24) At this the Pharisees were experts. (Mk. 7:1-23) The heart of a man is his problem. A man may appear perfect in his actions but be damned for his heart. His actions are at best self-serving and hypocritical. What comes from a bad heart is never good. "Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh." (Jas. 3:11-12)
2. You may experience the emotion of repentance without the effect of it. Here is a kind of amnesia. You see the awful specter of sin in the mirror and flinch out of horror yet immediately forget what kind of person you saw (Jas. 1:23-24). It is true, repentance includes sincere emotion, an affection for God and a disaffection for sin. Torrents of sorrow may flood the repenter’s heart, and properly so (Jas. 4:8-10). But there is such a thing as a temporary emotion in the mere semblance of repentance; this emotion has very weak legs and cannot carry the behavior in the long walk of obedience. Your sorrow may even be prolonged. Yet if it does not arrive at repentance, it is of the world and is a living death—and maybe more (2 Cor. 7: 10). It is an old deceiver. Judas had such remorse but "went and hanged himself." (Mt. 27:3-5)
3. You may confess the words of a true repenter and never repent. (Mt. 21:28-32; 1 Jn. 2:4, 4:20) Confession by itself is not repentance. Confession moves the lips; repentance moves the heart. Naming an act as evil before God is not the same as leaving it. Though your confession may be honest and emotional, it is not enough unless it expresses a true change of heart. There are those who confess only for the show of it, whose so-called repentance may be theatrical but not actual. If you express repentance to appear successful, you will not be successful at repenting. You will speak humbly but sin arrogantly. Saul gave the model confession (I Sam. 15:24-26) and later went to hell. Repentance "from the teeth out" is no repentance.
4. You may repent for the fear of reprisal alone and not for the hatred of sin. Any man will stop sinning when caught or relatively sure he will be, unless there is insufficient punishment or shame attached (I Tim. 1:8-11). When there are losses great enough to get his attention, he will reform. If this is the entire motive of his repentance, he has not repented at all. It is the work of law, but not grace. Men can be controlled by fear, but what is required is a change of heart. Achan admitted his sin after being caught but would not have otherwise. Find his bones in the valley of Achor; his soul, most likely, in hell. (Josh. 7:16-26)
5. You may talk against sin in public like a true repenter but never repent in private. (Mt. 23:1-3) The exercise of the mouth cannot change the heart. Your sin is like a prostitute. You are speaking against your lover in public but embracing her in the bedroom. She is not particular about being run down in public if she can have your full attention in private. "Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?" (Jas. 4:4)
6. You may repent primarily for temporal gains rather than the glory of God. There are gains for the repenter, but the final motivation for repenting cannot be selfish. Self is a dead, stinking carcass to be discarded. We are to repent because God is worthy and is our respected authority, even if we gain nothing. Indeed, our repenting may appear to lose us more than our sin had gained. (Mt. 16:24-26; Phil. 3:7-8) And this is a test of true repentance.
7. You may repent of lesser sins for the purpose of avoiding the greater sins. (Lk. 11:42) We try to salve our nagging conscience by some minor exercise of repentance, which is really no repentance at all. The whole heart is changed in the believer. The half repenter is a divided man: part against sin and part for it; part against Christ, part for Him. But one or the other must win out, for man cannot serve God and mammon (or any other idol); he must love the one and hate the other. (Mt. 6:24)
8. You may repent so generally that you never repent of any specific sin at all. The man who repents in too great a generality is likely covering his sins. (Prov. 28:13) If there are no particular changes, there is no repenting. Sin has many heads, like the mythological Hydra. It cannot be dealt with in general, but its heads must be cut off one by one.
9. You may repent for the love of friends and religious leaders and not repent for the love of God. (Isa. 1: 10-17) A man talked into repentance may reform for the love of friends or the respect of the spiritually minded, yet do nothing substantial. If a man turns from sin without turning to God, he will find his sin has only changed its name and is hidden behind his pride. Now it will be harder to rout for its subterfuge. You have loved others but not God. And you have loved yourself most of all. Lot’s wife left the city of sin at the insistence of an angel and for the love of her family, but turned back. She had left her heart. "Remember Lot’s wife." (Gen. 19:12-26; Lk. 17:32)
10. ‘You may confess the finished action of sin and not repent from the continuing habit of sin. If a man is honest, he is a good man in human terms; but he is not a repenting man until the sin is stabbed to death. He must be a murderer if he would be God’s: "For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." (Rom. 8: 13) God knows what you have done; what He wants is obedience. (Lk. 6:46)
11. You may attempt repentance of your sin while consciously leaving open the door of its opportunity. A man who says " I repent" but will not leave the source or environment of that sin is suspect. Though some situations which invite temptation cannot be changed, most can. A man who will not flee the setting of his temptation when he is able still loves his sin. A mouse is foolish to build his nest under the cat’s bed. "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." (Rom. 13:14)
12. You may make an effort to repent of some sins without repenting of all the sin you know. The businessman learns to show concern for the needs of his clients, yet he batters his wife through neglect. Another gives his money in the offering plate weekly but steals time from his employer daily. Every man boasts of some sins conquered, but true repentance is a repulsion of sin as a whole. The repenter hates all sin, though he fails more readily in some than in others. He may not know all his sins, but what he knows he spurns. Repentance is universal in the believer; the spirit is willing even when the flesh is weak (Mt. 26:41).
Repentance and faith are bound together. A repenting man has no hope for obedience without faith in the source of all holiness, God Himself. In repenting of sins, he loses his self-sufficiency. God is his sanctifier. (Jude 24-25; 1 Thess. 5:23-24; 1 Pet. 1:5)
Repentance is a gift of God (Acts 11:19; 2 Tim. 2:25) and a duty of man (Acts 17:30; Lk. 13:3). You will know if it has been granted by the exercise of it. (Phil. 2:12-13) Do not wait for it; run toward it. "Be zealous and repent." (Rev. 3:19) Pursue it and you will find it; forget it and perish.

Reprinted in entirety with permission. Copyright © 2013  Jim Elliff

See more at: http://www.ccwtoday.org/article/the-unrepenting-repenter

Defeating Discouragement and Doubt

How often it is that worldly concerns for us believers seem to overtake and consume us! I must confess I have struggled with this throughout my life. I am growing, however, in this area and find that it is grievous to God if I don't trust Him and His ability to provide for me; God desires that we trust/believe and not doubt, for it discredits His promises to us. He delights in our belief and trust! He would rather our thoughts be concerned with doing His will and reaching the lost. How much precious time we waste in our cares of this current life which lasts only as long as a flower -- here today, gone tomorrow. In light of eternity this helps put it in focus.

In Matt 16:6, Jesus said unto them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." The disciples were perplexed and thought Jesus was rebuking them for not bringing bread with them for the journey. But Jesus meant something entirely different - He rebuked them for not remembering that He had performed the miracles of the bread and fish for the multitudes that He had mercy on, thus reminding them that if He can feed thousands with only a few fish and loaves, how much more can he take care of them? Jesus was warning them of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. It had nothing to do with having no bread!

For further insight we find an excellent commentary on trusting the Lord in Matthew Henry's clear terms:

"O ye of little faith, why are ye disquieted for want of bread?’’ Note, To distrust Christ, and to disturb ourselves when we are in straits and difficulties, is an evidence of the weakness of our faith, which, if it were in exercise as it should be, would ease us of the burden of care, by casting it on the Lord, who careth for us."

"The aggravation of their distrust was the experience they had so lately had of the power and goodness of Christ in providing for them, v. 9, 10. Though they had no bread with them, they had him with them who could provide bread for them. If they had not the cistern, they had the Fountain. Do ye not yet understand, neither remember? Note, Christ’s disciples are often to be blamed for the shallowness of their understandings, and the slipperiness of their memories. "Have ye forgot those repeated instances of merciful and miraculous supplies; five thousand fed with five loaves, and four thousand with seven loaves, and yet they had enough and to spare? Remember how many baskets ye took up.’’

For more encouragement in trusting God for all of life, below is a wonderful message from none other than Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher from the 17th century:

"Only be thou strong and very courageous." — Joshua 1:7. Our God's tender love for His servants makes Him concerned for the state of their inward feelings. He desires them to be of good courage. Some esteem it a small thing for a believer to be vexed with doubts and fears, but God thinks not so. From this text it is plain that our Master would not have us entangled with fears. He would have us without carefulness, without doubt, without cowardice. Our Master does not think so lightly of our unbelief as we do. When we are desponding we are subject to a grievous malady, not to be trifled with, but to be carried at once to the beloved Physician. Our Lord loveth not to see our countenance sad. It was a law of Ahasuerus that no one should come into the king's court dressed in mourning: this is not the law of the King of kings, for we may come mourning as we are; but still He would have us put off the spirit of heaviness, and put on the garment of praise, for there is much reason to rejoice. The Christian man ought to be of a courageous spirit, in order that he may glorify the Lord by enduring trials in an heroic manner. If he be fearful and fainthearted, it will dishonor his God. Besides, what a bad example it is. This disease of doubtfulness and discouragement is an epidemic which soon spreads amongst the Lord's flock. One downcast believer makes twenty souls sad. Moreover, unless your courage is kept up Satan will be too much for you. Let your spirit be joyful in God your Savior, the joy of the Lord shall be your strength, and no fiend of hell shall make headway against you: but cowardice throws down the banner. Moreover, labor is light to a man of cheerful spirit; and success waits upon cheerfulness. The man who toils, rejoicing in his God, believing with all his heart, has success guaranteed. He who sows in hope shall reap in joy; therefore, dear reader, "be thou strong, and very courageous."

In closing may I mention a verse out of John 16:33 "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

Keep trusting our Lord! He loves you with an everlasting love!

Growing in Him,

Mountain Girl