Yes, being a heretic makes you a false teacher. Someone whos never heard the Bible before can understand nearly anything being taught during a sermon. We want to do things to be happy, or change because were miserable. Or in their pride, they despise authority (2 Peter 2:10), and the greatest authority, who upholds all authorities, is God himself. (Exodus 20:7). The purifying fire of Gods judgment is for our good. Or, very simply, Follow me (Luke 5:27; John 1:43). Standing guilty before a holy God whose wrath is on us because of our willful law-breaking is immeasurably beyond just messing up.. Basically, the conflict between biblical truth and false teaching is a battle over what "source" (authority) is to be trusted. Were on a mission to change that. Topical preaching is so common throughout modern churches that many people may not realize theres anything else. Although their poor interpretation of Malachi 3:10s relevance is troubling (this command was to the nation of Israel, as was its connected promise), the extreme they take this to is blasphemous. Sermons are complex, intricate, and complicated pieces of art. Craig Groeschel - Exposing His False Teachings Craig is the Founder and Lead Pastor of Life.Church with 32 Life.Church campuses, but started his ministry in the United Methodist Church according to Wikipedia. The quote was taken from a sermon Furtick preached on Sunday (Oct. 24) entitled "Yes You!". At the end of the three-month period, if I am not convinced of Gods faithfulness to bless my life as a result of my obedience to His Word, then I will be entitled to request a refund of the full amount of contributions made during that three-month period. And we must continue to do so, not in a mouthing-the-words way but in a conviction-of-the-heart-and-mind way. This is best done by regularly going through an entire book of the Bible so that the pastor and his congregation can better see and understand the entire context. Craig Groeschels wife, Amy, is even called Pastor Amy on their own website. Groeschels heart is for his people. And so they willingly compromise anything, including accuracy and obedience to Gods word, if it means the numbers will reflect well at next weeks meeting. Jesus described false teachers within the church as "wolves in sheep's clothing" ( Matthew 7:15 ). They were at the starting gate. During the gospel presentation, sin is regularly explained as messing up., Describing sin in this way is like telling someone to be afraid of a spaghetti noodle. Life.Church may not promote this misunderstanding on purpose, but tithing is a major part of their church and it begins with a false foundation. Here is a list of of the more obvious heretics/false teachers to be marked & avoided: (not exhaustive) Angley, Ernest [Word of Faith] Armstrong, Karen [Progressive] Arnott, John [leader Toronto "Blessing", Latter Rain] Bakker, Jamie [Emergent Church] Bakker, Jay [Emergent Church, neo-liberal] Bakker, Jim [Prosperity Theology] Other things worth knowing for this discussion include: The goal of this article isnt to pick on a random church, but instead to create a resource for those in my area who are becoming interested in attending Life.Church locally. As an Anglican priest and theology professor, I have watched these stories emerge with deep sorrow and not a little anger. However, shying away from a stance on Hell for sake of approachability or gaining favor is problematic on its own. Life.Church was listed on Newsmax's "top 50 megachurches of America", with approximately 100,000 people attending weekly. They even did a 3-part FAQ series where Groeschel gave answers to several biblical topics including: And in many of his answers, I found myself in agreement. One of the phrases on their website is No matter who you are or where youve been, youre welcome here. From what Ive seen, they stick by this. Four other congregations with female pastors were also determined to be not in friendly cooperation with the SBC, as well as one removed over its abuse response. RICK WARREN, the Pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California: wrote the Lukewarm Watered-Down gospel of the "Purpose Driven Life" Book. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. A low view of the authority of the Bible means that what it says about the severity of sin doesnt matter if it doesnt fit their model on being approachable, motivational, and uplifting. In brief, a false teacher publicly denies something true about God and Christ and preys on the weak with greed and sensuality (Jude 4; 2 Pet 2:1-3; 2 Tim 3:6; Rom 16:18). Even in the online chat, I saw several instances of new people being welcomed and engaged. To integrate Jesus into this, He must stop being our Savior from sin and instead be our Savior from us not thinking highly enough of ourselves. I would not be who I am today if it wasn't for godly leaders in the church. . But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand. (Mark 13:2223; see also Matthew 24:24). Though the details of the stories vary, all were men who had the right doctrinal content in their books and sermons. Paul's epistles and early church history prove that. Tithing is an Old Testament demand on Israel that isnt in effect today (because we arent Israel). Again and again, Peters descriptions relate to greed, sensuality, and pride or money, sex, and power. Those who take this more compartmentalized approach often assume that right doctrine will inevitably lead to right practice. Social media has taught us that online communities may be active, but theyre often hollow. Notice the quoted text. But today just about every false teacher has a Twitter account. There are several things that will help you spot a false church, so that you will not be deceived. Although I have labelled this as the sabbath day abolished, there are a few differing views and beliefs concerning the sabbath day throughout the mainstream Christian churches. Most false teachers live and die by their stories. The influence of a false teacher's life and teaching will bear bad fruit in his or her converts. Furtick has a Master of Divinity from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and 6.3 million followers on Facebook. Emily Hunter McGowin is an assistant professor of theology at Wheaton College. If youve never heard of this church, or youre only vaguely aware of it, these are some basics of the church, both things that are important to the church and ways it may deviate from a traditional church. They are worldly. Online participants see the concert from multiple camera angles and the event features lighting and other visuals youd expect at a concert meant to entertain, rather than a time of corporate worship. The church has blessed me with opportunities to worship, learn, serve and make lifelong friends. We see this most clearly, perhaps, in the history of racism and American evangelicals. Of course. As someone who wants Gods people to grow in spiritual maturity, I cannot recommend Life.Church under any circumstance. That's what Craig Groeschel experienced and offers his hearers. False teachings today! 9. Ill discuss this more down below, but Groeschel and other pastors have demonstrated that they do understand how to do exegesis. Again, Im not talking about a one-time poor explanation or accidental omission. Having multiple buildings across a state or country gives the image of being more successful, but many compromises are made for the sake of these larger numbers. Can Bubble Tea Bring Gen Z into the Chinese Church? identify and select different instructional resources and methods to meet students' varying needs. Even someone who isnt a Christian can sit under the teachings of Groeschel and his guests for years and walk away feeling motivated and empowered to change their lives. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. Malachi 3:10 NIV. One of the mysteries of the Christian faith can be found in Jesus' warning that the way to life is "narrow" and that "few" would actually find it. Our Lord preached good news that assumed the total integration of belief and action: If you love me, you will keep my commandments (John 14:15, emphasis added to all). This sounds good until we realize that if God hasnt promised this, they open God up to be a liar (which they acknowledge in their terms). They are legalistic 4. Another way to see it is that their falseness comes out in sin against themselves, against others, or against God. Everything we do is focused on how it benefits us. One more reason to avoid Lysa TerKeurst of Elevation Church. Discernment primarily comes through knowing God through Jesus Christ. The themes and emphases repeated week after week tell the congregation what is important in life. Real Christians never miss a church service.". For example, 1 Corinthians deals with teachers who denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Because of their poor exegetical understanding of Malachi 3:10, they are bold enough to promise that God will bless those who give 10% of their income to the church. Poor leaders proclaim Christ in word but deny him with their lives. What may begin as mere whispers in a private room will soon enough be proclaimed from the housetops (Luke 12:3). (Interestingly, theres zero mention of personality, charisma, or speaking ability in any of the Pastoral Epistles.). (Hebrews 10:24-25). A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. His life and ministry make clear that what we teach others includes both whats in our heads and what we do with our bodies. "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." ~Colossians 2:8. assign and grade class work, homework, tests and assignments. The greatest defense against false teaching is a local church community that knows, enjoys, and lives the word of God and holds its leaders accountable. They take Christs call to make disciples as a call to treat the church like a business. However, in every sermon I heard, I dont remember two necessary questions being answered: Why do we need forgiveness of sin, and why did Jesus need to save us sin? Here is a video where Groeschel takes a firmer stance on Hell. They have LifeGroups for people at all stages of life, and the material I found shows that they emphasize growing together in a community of other Christians. The teaching in a false church will, if you believe it, lead you to eternal death. False teaching was as much an issue in the early church as it is today. [emphasis mine]. Its no surprise that Jesus told the apostles before his ascension to make disciples of all nations by baptizing them in the Triune Name and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you (Matt. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. ]. To that end, I think it would be most beneficial to look at a variety of things to help people better evaluate if Life.Church is a safe place for Christians to learn, grow, and trust their spiritual health. Following is a list of the false prophets in the Church today that have been critiqued on this site. I dont mean for the label to sound sarcastic by saying I think. Their website and online chat have numerous ways for people to request prayer. We can have our systems of accountability (and we should), and we can do our best to watch both the lives and the doctrine of our leaders (and we should), but in the end there is no foolproof human system or effort. Maybe its time we start believing him, and act accordingly. Sensuality, which typically means sexual sin verse 2: many will follow their sensuality (also verses 10, 1214, and 19). Speakers will regularly call for the online chat to type things in the comments, whether its something fun or proclaiming their new decision to be a Christian. But, as historian Jemar Tisby said recently, We have to understand that theology is not merely stated but lived., Indeed, relegating Christianity to the realm of doctrinal propositions inevitably leads to, as theologian William Cavanaugh says, limit[ing] the range of Christian faith from the entire body of the believer to the space between the ears.. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Craig Groeschel is a businessman at heart. The reason this is a huge issue right now is that many churches have temporarily begun moving many of their regular "in person" activities to livestream, YouTube, Zoom, Skype, etc., due to COVID restrictions that prevent members from gathering together easily. In particular, 2 Peter 2 is remarkable in how it fleshes out Jesuss warning about the fruit of false teaching. 8, 15). If their goal is to reach certain numbers, or see a certain growth percentage, then they need to not only frequently gauge the success of the gospel by what analytics say, but they must also have the agility to pivot and change tactics when something isnt working. This is weird. The Holy Spirit Is A Force. And theyre so confident that God will keep His promise that they offer a 100% money-back guarantee. The example of Mark Driscollwhose story is now being revisited in depth through The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcastis illustrative of my point. You will recognize them by their fruits. He doesnt need to be mindful of things like the historical context, the original audience, word meanings, or any of that other exegetical, verse-by-verse stuff that helps us understand why things are said. For most of church history, it took extraordinary energy and effort to influence the masses. THEY ARE DIVISIVE. When sermons appeal to peoples emotions, rather than appealing to Gods word, theyre equipped to be led by emotion. So, we should not be caught off guard that false teachers have arisen throughout church history and likely have multiplied in our day. [ This article is also available in Prior to . The Who We Are section of their website gives a good summary. People are empowered to be who God wants them to be. And heres the thing by all measurements, Life.Church is wildly successful. The church will refund the money, but they must also admit that God didnt keep His promise of faithfulness. I dont discount Gods sovereignty in saving His people no matter how bad we may fumble things. Teaching through experiences, not the Bible. In their greed, they fleece the flock for material gain. The early creeds summarize both the gospel and core Christian doctrine. The false teachings of the New Apostolic Reformation, Word of Faith and Prosperity Gospel have contributed to these false assumptions. 3 FALSE TEACHINGS in CHURCHES you should AVOID DLM Christian Lifestyle 760K subscribers Subscribe 54K Share 1.7M views 2 years ago In this video, I warn you against 3 false teachings in. They will continue attending and feeling like they were filled, but only because their spiritual maturity is so weak that they dont know any better. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock (Matt. Shepherds should smell like sheep, because they live and walk among the sheep, and are not sequestered from the flock. The Holy Spirit helps us be the best version of ourselves. The basic reason for change at Life.Church is so that we can be the person God wants us to be. Ill be discussing the various aspects of Life.Church under three broad categories: Green Flags: Those things I believe the church does wellYellow Flags: Things that are problematic, but dont reject sound biblical teaching or compromise the gospelRed Flags: Reasons Christians should avoid or outright reject Life.Church and their teachings. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. (see also Luke 6:4344). use relevant technology to support instruction. Illustration by Mallory Rentsch / Source Images: Sindre Strm / Pexels. The church has learned through the ages that to deny the core doctrines of our faith is to deny Christ. God Isn't A Trinity. Basically, what this teaching promotes is the belief that you simply have to believe and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and you're already saved! Or is what Gods word says of so little importance that it would be removed and much of the pastors sermon would still make sense? Fresh Life Church has a standard faith statement that is biblical and not particularly useful for this assessment. If someone spreads false teachings and does not agree with sound words (that is, those of our Lord Jesus Christ) and with the teaching that accords with godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing, but has an unhealthy interest in controversies and verbal disputes. Here are seven of them you will find carrying out their deceptive, destructive work in the church today. This is the idea that because we're saved, we can do whatever we want and God's okay with it. Bible Verses about False Teachers and Prophets Correct and sound doctrine is crucial to salvation and growth in spiritual maturity. False teachers often distort Scripture to fit their own agenda. Within that goal, they recognize that our holy God has likewise called us to holiness. Many churches, whether innocently or manipulatively, tell people that God demands 10% of their income. Help kids learn the truths (including Bible references) that refute each false message and write them on your list. Perhaps, if pressed, the various speakers would better clarify their statements. The headship of Jesus over His church is a truth that is still being assaulted today. Its using His name in any way that is disrespectful, false, or misleading. That seems harsh, but thats the reality of what Life.Church offers. This is often a tactic used in the Prosperity Gospel. This is often given under the banner of irrational generosity, which is the idea of giving beyond what makes sound financial sense (and is beyond the 10% tithe that God allegedly demands). If someone fails to provide for the needs of his household, he has denied the faith (1 Tim 5:8). Watching a sermon online or chatting on a website may give a sense of community, but not being part of a local body makes the bolded sections of text nearly impossible. Within that goal, they recognize that our holy God has likewise called us to holiness. In a 36 minute sermon, less than five minutes may be spent actually interacting with Gods word or explaining whats being said. However, in light of everything, its difficult not to question how fit he is to be a spiritually mature pastor, and by extension whether Life.Church is walking in obedience to Christ. ( Romans 1:25) For example, most religions have not taught their followers God's name. Heres how Jesus prepares us in Matthew 7:1520: Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheeps clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Romans 12:2 reminds us that we can have our thinking molded by the world or transformed by the power of God. (Romans 6:23), Some may have noticed this in the previous point, but it needs to be directly pointed out. Consider, for example, the Epistle of Jude (and its parallel in 2 Peter 2). Do you long to break free from the spiral of destructive thinking? 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