“RUN FOR YOUR VERY LIVES!!!”
Wildly
Popular Teachers YOU should AVOID like the Plague!
By Pastor Terry L. Reese, Valley GBC of Armagh, PA;
5/17/24
Note: As always, the “hills are alive”—with heretics! And our
people fail to discern. In this survey, I limit myself to what I perceive as
the present needs of the people. The spate of false teachers listed below meet
the following criteria: 1) a presently high level of popularity, and 2)
a certain level of respectability within the evangelical mainstream. In
short, they represent a present and insufficiently apprehended danger that
others may not. For this reason, the “usual suspects” typically dealt with in
studies like this (e.g., Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland) have been set
aside.
John (and Lisa) Bevere: Wildly
popular and outrageously self-aggrandizing author/lecturer (e.g., the “hero” of
all of his colorful personal anecdotes) who is associated or strongly allied
with various Word-Faith/“name-it-and-claim-it” ministries (e.g., Benny
Hinn, Joyce Meyer, Bill Johnson’s Bethel Church). Bevere strongly advocates
minimizing Bible doctrine (“it’s divisive!”) and promotes ecumenicalism.
Unlike most speakers of this genre, Bevere is dangerously smooth & reasonable
in tone—and yet, he is involved in “deliverance ministry” extremes. He claims,
for example, that Satan can, under certain circumstances, have “legal rights”
over genuine, Spirit-indwelt Christians—who can actually become DEMON POSSESSED
(a falsehood). In his teaching, Bevere heavily relies upon extrabiblical
revelations and experiences.
Sarah Young: Originator
of the entire Jesus Calling mega-franchise—which, in turn, was based
upon the channeled New Age “classic” God Calling (a fact that is
downplayed by publisher Thomas Nelson—“a name you can trust!”). In
a meditative state, Young received a series of supposed messages from “Jesus”—which
are in reality a series of extrabiblical quotations from a false Christ (Matt.
24:23-24), or “another Jesus” (2Cor.11:4)—that are were compiled by Young as Jesus
Calling. Despite the claim that these mystical words were infallibly spoken
by the Divine Christ, these “revelations” were altered & edited for
later editions of the book!!! Despite the testimony of 2Tim. 3:16-17, Young
believed (died 2023) that the Bible is no longer sufficient for us, and
that a more personal, direct revelation from God is therefore necessary.
Beth Moore: Best-selling
author, Bible-teacher—and all-around “gal pal” to zillions of Christian ladies
(the central fan base). An outspoken activist for egalitarianism in
ministry (i.e., female pastors), she created a huge ruckus when she noisily
left the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) over the issue and rebranded herself
as an Anglican (despite wide doctrinal differences between the two groups).
Over the past quarter-century, the perky and entertaining Ms. Moore has
succeeded in teaching an entire generation of American women how to mishandle
the Word of God via her insufferably shoddy hermeneutics (i.e.,
methods of Biblical interpretation). Employing medieval Roman Catholic methods
of interpretation (including extreme allegorization and mystical-contemplative
prayer), Moore has offered some highly novel interpretations of the Word of God
over the years—and most seriously, has instructed others to follow in her
example. For example, the story of the Gadarene Demoniac living amongst the
tombs (Mark 5:3) is NOT a spiritual allegory focusing upon our need to bury
our bad memories and move forward! But this is all too representative of
Moore’s cavalier incompetence in handling Scripture. Often, however, she
doesn’t even bother to expound upon a particular text, making her personal
experiences or alleged communications from God the basis of exposition. In
terms of her theological orientation, Moore is the consummate
self-loving sentimental humanist—as seen in the recent vitriolic tirade
that she unleashed on Twitter against the great Puritan revivalist, Jonathan
Edwards (1703-1758), for his godly emphasis upon the magnitude of human
depravity and the holiness of God. In her shallow critique of Edwards’
preaching, Moore insists that Jesus died for us because we’re WORTH IT—thereby
demonstrating her complete inability to grasp the Bible’s basic concept of
GRACE: Grace is God’s UNMERITED favor upon UNWORTHY sinners!
Further, Moore has progressively adopted definite Charismatic tendencies,
with persistent claims that God “talks” to her. Moore has also taken a
decidedly hard-left turn in favor of the WOKISM, as seen in her subtle retreat
from formerly expressed objections to the “gay” lifestyle, and in her
increasing bitter expressions of rage directed towards politically conservative
Christians. A word to our sisters: Beth is not your “bestie”—she’s your theological nightmare!
Rick Warren: As
author of The Purpose Driven Life, Warren is the Apostle of mass
marketing (a.k.a, the Church Growth Movement, or “McChurch,”
which sees God’s Church as a business), as well as the Apostle of
easy-believism (i.e., salvation without discussing sin or repentance),
and is further noted for his inoffensive and vapid “Walmart” style of
preaching. Indeed, people have testified to sitting under Warren for years without
ever once hearing a solid Gospel presentation! Unlike Joel Osteen (with whom he
shares these qualities), Warren has somehow managed to sneak under the radar
and retain an inexplicably high level of respectability amongst conservative
evangelicals. In recent years, Warren has increasingly emphasized lefty “social
justice,” and has a long track-record in embracing ecumenicalism—professing
to be a “huge fan” of Rome’s left-leaning “hippy pope,” Francis. Warren’s
multicampus Saddleback megachurch was rightly thrown out of the Southern
Baptist Convention last year for irregularly ordaining female pastors. Rick
protested this decision on the Convention’s floor, arrogantly trumpeting the
great size of his church and their vast number of baptisms. The SBC was
apparently unimpressed!
The “Heavenly Tourism”
Fad: Heaven is for Real,
90 Minutes in Heaven, etc., ad nauseum. Fortunately, this genre
isn’t as big as it was five years ago—but these books are still out there! ALL
of these “beyond-and-back” books that offer new “revelations” of what Heaven is
“really like” stand in open denial of Heb. 9:27. The great harm: these
books train Christians to look to experiences—rather than the Scriptures—as the final source of truth &
authority.
Joel & Victoria
Osteen: The Osteens
of the gigantic Lakewood megachurch (average weekly attendance: 45,000!!!) are BIG
Business: NY Times best-selling books, their own Sirius Radio Network,
podcasts, television, etc. Joel is soft on gays, soft on Mormonism, soft on
sin, soft on…EVERYTHING. He offers no saving Gospel, consciously refusing
to preach that there is either sin to be repented of, or a Hell to be shunned—thus
promoting easy-believism: Heaven is achieved by mouthing a meaningless
prayer without any substantial content. He does, however, forcefully
advocate the error of positive confession (i.e., “name-it-and-claim-it”
theology: physical healing is supposedly a guaranteed provision of the
Atonement that is ready to be “claimed”). Thus, it’s always your fault if you haven’t “claimed” your
healing & prosperity, and if you aren’t healthy & wealthy like Joel & Victoria! The worldliness of their
message is seen in the sad titles of their miserable earth-bound books: Your
Best Life Now and Love Your Life. Silly, silly me: I thought that
the coming Kingdom of our Lord is our best life, and that Matt.
10:39 & John 12:25 were still operative!
“Bishop” T.D. Jakes: WHEN will the God’s People stop being
conned by slicksters who don’t even adhere to the bare basics of historic
Christian orthodoxy? For the record, “Bishop” Jakes (once hailed by some as
the “new Billy Graham”) is only recognized as a “Bishop” by a Oneness
(i.e., anti-Trinitarian) cult that claims that there is only ONE Person
in the Godhead. To this day, Jakes refuses to cease from referring to the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit as “manifestations” (classic Oneness
terminology)—but cleverly and dishonestly claims (when speaking to naïve,
book-buying evangelicals) that this is simply just a matter of “semantics.”
Tommy Tenney: The popular author of the God
Chasers is yet another Oneness-Doctrine con man! Like T.D. Jakes, Tenney fraudulently
downplays his anti-Trinitarian Oneness background in order to court popularity
(and coax dollars) from naïve, uninformed evangelicals. We give the man credit—he’s
doing a good job of it!
Steven Furtick: Hoodie-garbed, muscle-bound, and
“super-cool,” this zany and wildly entertaining “hipster” is pastor of the
multi-campus Elevation Church (a megachurch noted for its trendy,
contemporary Christian music). Elevation Church, incidentally, recently
withdrew from the SBC in the aftermath of the Rick Warren-controversy over
female pastors (Furtick’s wife serves as his co-pastor). Steven is noted for
his “novel” interpretations of the Bible, in which he sees all manner of “cool
new truths” within the passages that were hidden unto others—“cool new truths”
that simply AREN’T THERE!!! Frankly, being as charitable
as I can, Furtick is one of the most simple-minded, childish, & sophomoric
pulpiteers I have ever had the misfortune to observe in my entire life—and yet,
he has a staggering 3.1 MILLION subscribers on YouTube!!!
Question: “Is evangelicalism doomed, or what?”
Andy Stanley: Heretic son of the late Charles
Stanley who is noted for promoting antinomianism (i.e., the idea that
believers are “unbound” and “unshackled” by the observance of any moral or
legal code). This is witnessed in his obsessive support for the full acceptance
and normalization of the “Gay Christian.”
Frank Viola &
George Barna. These two have written one of the most
absurd and arrogant Christian tomes to appear in YEARS: Pagan Christianity.
Sadly, its thesis has gained traction in some circles. According to
Viola—the self-styled champion of the “new reformation”—any imposition of structure,
order, or innovation with reference to the local church is to be
disdained as a “pagan” intrusion. Church buildings, ordered worship services,
ordained clergy & recognized leadership, formal sermons, choirs, Sunday Schools,
formal pastoral training… all of these are somehow “pagan” and/or
“unbiblical.” Only anarchic, leaderless House Churches that subscribe to
Viola’s brand of “open,” “participatory” ministry meet with approval. The
co-author, Barna, has a sorry record of falling for just about every evangelical
“fad” for decades.
