LEADS TO FALSE TEACHINGS IN OUR
CHRISTIAN ADDICTION RECOVERY PROGRAMS!
ARE YOU LISTENING TO GOD, OR ONE OF
MANY OF THE DEVILS FALSE TEACHERS?
John 8:47
He that is of
God heareth God's
words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
Matthew 11:29,
Take my yoke upon you
and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
The
only way to understand God’s Word and His will for YOUR life, is to read it
for YOURSelf!
Pray and meditate over it daily and ask God for discernment until YOU understand it. Do NOT ask
your neighbor, friend, relative, brother or sister in the pew next to you, not
even your pastor or counselor who usually get paid the big bucks to confuse you
all the way to hell! “IF” YOU’RE concerned about YOUR salvation, YOU need to make sure that it’s GOD that you’re listening
to, and is teaching you, and not someone else who’s been the victim of false
teaching, and living a lie of false doctrine! That’s why we read in Acts 17:11,
“Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for
they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what
Paul said was true.” Just one
of the many things He wants to teach you is patience, and you can rest assured
that no matter how long you live, or how much you read and study His Word, when
He calls you Home, you will not yet have learned it all. But if WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED, you’ve listened
to, and learned it from GOD, not man, while you resided here, you can also rest
assured that Home will be Heaven and you’ll have ETERNITY with Him to sort out the unknown. We are not OF God, or IN
God, or Saved, if we’re not following and obeying God through His Word! The
Word IS God! John 1:1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God.
If
you’re a relatively new Christian and have recently started attending a church,
it is absolutely detrimental that you follow the instructions in Acts 17:11!
The odds of finding false teachers in today’s Churches are greater than any time
in history and the consequences of putting your trust in the words of any mere
man can be deadly! We all want to trust our friends, family, neighbors, and
yes, even our pastors, and while it’s fine to trust others with a weather forecast,
you better think twice about it with your Salvation! We only get one chance.
While that one chance may be spread out over our lifetime, no one knows how
long our lifetime will be.
I
think the biggest failure of mankind and Christianity began centuries ago when
man began following other men instead of God! Even today in our country which
was founded on the precept of “In God we Trust,” we’ve completely abandoned God
beginning with the requests of a handful of the devils personal warriors, the
atheists. And our Churches have let it happen, rather than defend the principal
of “One nation under God,” and “tip over the tables of the atheists,” they
chose to turn our country over to the devil by “love thy neighbor,” or “judge
not,” rather than fight, 2 Corinthians 10:4, The weapons we fight with are not
the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish
strongholds. Consequently, both our
country and our church is now in the hands and control of Satan!
Today,
with modern media now at our fingertips 24 hours a day, we have become far more
vulnerable to the deception of the devil through the false teachings of
thousands of false teachers! Many are in brick and mortar buildings that they
call churches, and many more on the internet. As long as man insists on
listening to, believing, and following the physco-babble of some false
teacher’s rantings spiced with a few mis-quoted scriptures, used out of
context, to clarify or defend his or her false doctrine with words like, “this
is what “I” think Jesus or Paul or Peter meant in verse such and
such,” we will never find the Truth! We don’t need to know what someone else
thinks about God’s Word, we need to KNOW
exactly what GOD wants us to KNOW! And the only way to do that is to
LISTEN to GOD by READING His WORD and PRAYING for discernment. NOT
watching TV, listening to a radio program, following someone on the internet,
or spending one hour a week in a mega-church building made out of glass and
gold, where the only message is give, give, give, work, work, work, me, me, me.
Or many other false doctrines linked with a verse or two of Truth out of
context to make it pleasing to tickle the ear.
The
biggest danger in listening to, and following a man, in our endeavor to
understand God’s Truth, rather than relying on, and listening to God Himself,
is the probability of hearing and believing lies and false doctrines. Most of
these mega-church leaders become false-idols to the church members. There are
so many false teachers teaching false doctrines that have overtaken the Church
today, affecting millions of followers, that the chance of hearing the Truth is
slim. Hence these important words of Jesus in,… Matthew 7:13-14, Enter ye in at the
strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to
destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the
gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that
find it. Which in plain and simple
English vernacular, means that only a few “Christians”
are on the right path to Eternal life in Heaven, and most are on the wide road
to hell! There is a need for more of this “BAD
NEWS,” which in this case is The Truth, to be shared around the world! Millions
have had the “GOOD NEWS” so
distorted by false teachers and doctrines that we live on a planet where our
consciences are seared beyond recognition of good and evil!
As
Christians with addictions, recovery can be next to impossible unless they’re
being taught God’s Truth. False teachings and doctrines will not only keep them
struggling with their addictions, but may very well keep them from Salvation. While
there are many false doctrines throughout the Church, one that does the most
harm to Christians in addiction recovery is the false grace doctrine or
movement.
The false grace movement or doctrine
would have us believe we can be Saved without changing our ways or lifestyles! A.W. Tozer quoted years ago, “A whole new generation of Christians has
come up believing that it is possible to “accept” Christ, without forsaking the
world!” The new age false grace teaching church has the entire homosexual
community convinced that repentance is a thing of the past! And the millions of
“Drunkards” and drug addicts in the church have no reason to believe any
different. Churches using AA type 12-step addiction recovery programs teach
that their sin is an incurable disease and that they are powerless to do
anything about it! Pure heresy in a Church, and when mixed with the false grace
heresy, an alcoholic or addict is very unlikely to find recovery, or Salvation!
They believe they’re Saved but don’t need to repent or obey God’s Word. James 1:21,Therefore,
get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept
the word planted in you, which can save you 1 John 2:15-16, Love not the world, neither the things that
are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
We’re no longer getting solid Biblical Truth in Sunday’s message.
Instead, we’re besieged with “new age, pop culture, feel good” messages that
take precedence over the Truth. “Sin is being tolerated, when repentance is not
being preached.” “Behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness
the people.” (Isaiah 60:2) “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
(Prov. 29:18) There can be no vision in the dark! (Ps. 119:105) In “The Need of
the Hour”, by Oswald J. Smith, he says “This is true today…people on every side
are in almost total darkness, so far as Gods Salvation is concerned. Only here
and there do we find a pulpit where the Gospel is preached, the
new birth emphasized, Salvation made plain, and an invitation given.” I
would add also, that the message of Repentance has been forgotten as well.
Many churches today
teaching the false grace doctrine, suggest that since grace replaced the law
and set us free, we no longer need to be burdened with repentance and the fear
of condemnation. They seem to dismiss the fact that no matter how “born again”
we are, we still reside here on earth with a sinful nature (Romans 7:18),
engaged in spiritual warfare with the devil! (Ephesians 6:12,For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.) The false grace movement teaches that we no longer are responsible for
“cleaning up our act,” and that “God demands nothing from us,” as someone
recently told me. We can live our lives as we always have, and our “old” ways
are perfectly acceptable, is what I was told! “If Christ lives IN us, we can
sit back and wait for HIM to change our behavior.”
The lack of focus
on the word “IF,” is a big problem in our Churches today. False teachers,
pastors who lead many of our “new age mega-churches,” whose sole focus is
filling seats and coffers, refuse to disclose the Truth that there are a number
of “conditions” to our Salvation! The false grace doctrine was birthed on the
lie that there are no conditions, that because of God’s Grace, one can accept
Christ without forsaking their worldly behavior. They will use scripture like, Ephesians 2:8-10, For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by
works, so that no one can boast. They will avoid verse 10, “For we are God’s handiwork,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us
to do,” knowing no one wants to “work”
for their Salvation. False teachers will use John 8:31-32 to tell you that you
can be “set free,” without ever mentioning or pointing out the significance of
the “IF” in that scripture, where Jesus says,
31,"IF” ye continue in my
word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free.” “continue
in my word,” meaning to be obedient, which false teachers know will interfere
with their plans to fill seats. There is almost zero mention of the importance
of “repentance” in the new age mega-church! The new false-grace movement will
have nothing to do with Acts 26:20, “First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and
in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and
turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.” Which in 4 simple words dispel
the entire false grace doctrine, “repent and show it”!
Over the past dozen
years, teaching in various addiction recovery programs, I’ve witnessed hundreds
of professing Christians suggesting that their sinful behavior was excusable
because of two different scriptural contexts. One being Romans 7, leading to
comments like; “If Paul struggled with sin, why shouldn’t I”? The other being,
1 John 1:8-10, leading to this much used excuse, “we’re all sinners, aren’t
we”? I’ve had a number of professing Christian homosexuals defend their
behavior using this scripture as an excuse, and linked to the false grace
doctrine will ad, “God will forgive me.” Yes He will! When you repent and turn
to Him! (Acts 26:20) Then you can be a born again, saved, and “set free”
Christian, saved by Grace and not by works! Romans 11:6, And if by grace, then it cannot be based on
works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace., Ephesians 2:8, For it is by grace you have
been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of
God—
The false grace movement was started in the
60’s and 70’s by pastors who grew up on surfboards, and came out of the 60’s
hippie culture. “Love, peace, freedom”! Add a little scripture, some pot and
LSD and you have an instant “new age” church! False teachers are lead by satan
the master deceiver. As they built their mega churches they realized that their
messages and worship music needed to tickle their members ears if they were to
fill their bank accounts! Hence, the birth of the new age false grace doctrine
designed to convince people that they could “accept Christ” without forsaking
the World! Jude1:3-4 Dear
friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all
share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to
defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. 4
I say this because some
ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live
immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long
ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Today, as a result,
we have millions of mislead, professing Christians who see no reason to turn
from their sin. Millions of mislead, professing Christians struggling with
addictions to drugs and alcohol who can’t find a Church or a pastor or
counselor who can lead them to the Truth, and then on to recovery, because the
only recovery program that they’re familiar with is a secular 12-step program
that teaches pure heresy!
Most of the brokenness we see in the world
today, the millions of broken homes and families, the moral decline of our
entire culture, the drug and alcohol epidemic, and the overall open sinfulness
and evil darkness that’s over taken our society today, can all be attributed to
the devils success in overtaking our Churches through the teachings of false
doctrines! And just like in the addiction recovery programs around the world,
the first obstacle to overcome is denial. For alcoholics and addicts, recovery
can’t begin until denial is accepted and the truth of their condition is acknowledged.
Christians who have been mislead by false teaching face the same dilemma, no
one wants to admit that they've been duped by a pastor that they've come to adore,
maybe even turned into a false idol, which happens all too often. Many will
follow the lies all the way to hell! And no one will ever be able to convince
them that they’re on the wrong road, and all they have to do to see for
themselves is pick up their Bible and read it!
I’m
not sure which is worse, addictions to drugs and alcohol, or to a church that
teaches false doctrine! They will both lead to death without The Saving Grace
and intervention of Jesus Christ to free those in bondage to either one or
both. There can be nothing more devastating than alcoholics and addicts who
have broken free from the bondage of denial, and are seeking recovery in a
Church that’s teaching the false grace doctrine, and at the same time
counseling its wounded members with a secular non-Biblical 12-step program that
can only lead one further from The Truth! James
1:21-22, 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so
prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do
not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James
5:19-20, 19 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth
and someone should bring that person back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a
sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a
multitude of sins.
As hopeless as this
scenario appears to be, there is always Hope. Anyone who reads this and agrees
that it indeed describes the condition of the Church today, and is, or has been
affected by it, Jesus is always waiting with arms wide open to accept any lost
child who will repent and turn back to Him, confess their sins and ask for
forgiveness, promise to be obedient, and have the Faith of a mustard seed, and
confess that Jesus is Lord and Savior! If you do this in sincerity and good
faith, welcome back! Or if this is the first time you’ve surrendered your life
to Christ, welcome aboard. Be prepared for change, because being born again is
all about change and becoming a brand new creature! 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
No matter what your addiction might be, God’s
Word, The Truth, is the only place to find the answers to resolving and
overcoming it. It is your responsibility, if you’ve finally overcome denial and
are ready for recovery, to make sure that you’re on the right road to recovery.
There are many in recovery who are on the wrong road, a road that just keeps
people going in circles of relapse. Christ’s return is near and it is up to us
to be ready. Should He return later today or tomorrow are you ready?
