Guarding His Flock Ministries

Vineyardism and the Toronto Blessing.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Galatians 5:22-24, NASB, Emphasis Added

Mother’s Day, 1994. When standing to be recognized in the church gathering, many mothers “fell and remained on the floor for about 20 minutes, laughing.” At a previous January service, the “participants were swept up in a fervor of what they said was the power of the Holy Spirit. They laughed or shook uncontrollably and fell to the floor.” [1]

The pastor of the church tells congregants:

Do we want you to shake and fall down? Are we disappointed when you don’t? Well, a little bit. We want you to focus so much that you are overwhelmed. . . . When the living God overwhelms you, it shows. It’s a big deal. Call it the baptism in the Spirit. Call it being nuked. [2]

About what happened at one Vineyard gathering, a pastor reported of a fellow who, “described [his] . . . experience as equivalent to six months of therapy.” [3]

What am I to believe about these manifestations? Do they come from the Holy Spirit? Or, in failing to appreciate and apply the “Toronto Blessing,” am I missing something that could bless my personal Christian walk and the congregation I pastor?
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A meditation upon Hosea 7:8.

“Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned. Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not. And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.” Hosea 7:8-10, KJV

In a previous generation, a churchman observed of the church’s relationship to the surrounding culture of that era and said: “I looked for the church and found it in the world. I looked for the world and found it in the church.” In the history of American Christianity there perhaps has never been a time when the criticism uttered by that Englishman against the church of his day is not also an apt indictment of Christianity in our culture today.

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Mormonism and the divine-spiritual DNA of human beings.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” John 1:1-3, KJV

The religious group headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, claims to be Christian, but their teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ makes their claim suspect. Mormons, known officially as The Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints, would like for us to view them as within Christendom’s pale, but the fact of the matter is, their professed Christology invalidates any such claim, and here’s why.

A key question differentiating true from false Christian profession is the one Jesus asked the Pharisees who like the Mormons, regulated their religious life according to a formalistic-legalistic system. To them Jesus personally asked this question: “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” (Matthew 22:42; Compare Matthew 16:13 ff.). The New Testament provides one answer to that inquiry, while Mormonism gives an altogether different one. To see the difference, we need to understand the Mormon view of the human soul-spirit, both that of Jesus and the rest of humanity.

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Spiritual Director: A New Gift from an Ancient Tree.

To the church, the victorious and ascended Lord Jesus Christ “gave . . . some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming . . .” Ephesians 4:11-14, NASB

Regardless of what you might think of the operation of spiritual gifts–whether all of them, some of them, or none of them are operative today–we should be aware of the new spiritual gift on the block; the gift of “spiritual director.” As one spiritual director remarks, “I continue to be amazed at the richness of this gift to the church, whether it is experienced individually or in groups.” [1] But just what is this gift?
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Twelve Questions.

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Paul, Galatians 2:16, KJV

In America over the last two centuries, no event has become more associated with the evangelical-fundamentalist movement than the altar call. In evangelistic campaigns, revival crusades, and many church services, the altar call is synonymous with winning souls to Jesus Christ, or calling backslidden believers to repent and return to the Lord.

Typically, at the end of an evangelistic or church service, the invitation is extended for those in the audience to physically rise up out of their seat, step out into the aisle, and walk forward to a “metaphorical altar” located at the front of a church or stadium. As one altar call was stated:

Don’t let distance keep you from Christ. Christ went to the Cross because he loved you. Certainly you can come these few steps. Come right now.[1]

At a metaphorical altar located at the front of the meeting place, people supposedly become saved. Other reasons for extending the altar call include that persons might rededicate their lives to Jesus after having backslidden into sin, seek certain spiritual gifts or blessings, or perhaps, dedicate their lives to vocational Christian ministry. Because of the publicity that altar calls receive via televised evangelistic crusades, and their use in many local churches, no public rite of passage to salvation, or rededication, is viewed as important as the altar call.

But the greater question surrounding this rite of passage is whether, or not, it accords with the nature of faith as the New Testament defines it. We need to examine “the altar call” in light of the Bible’s description of faith, and what it means to be justified by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Does the altar call help someone to get saved? Or possibly, could this rite of Christian passage actually hinder the salvation of many?
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And the “uniformly favorable” words of false prophets.

And Ahab the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. He is Micaiah son of Imlah”. 1 Kings 22:8, NASB
 

In coping with her health issues (she has psoriatic arthritis, an incurable and debilitating disease characterized by fatigue and joint inflammation), my wife has visited several doctors and undergone many tests. In dealing with her physical condition, two doctors in particular have treated her: We’ll call them “Dr. R” and “Dr. P.” On a couple of other occasions, she has met one of her brother’s doctors (he has cancer and is on dialysis), and for reason to be explained later, we’ll call his physician, “Dr. N.”

In spite of some improvement experienced over the last few months, negative symptoms of my wife’s disease have reappeared. Recently, Margie revisited her physicians to understand why her treatments don’t seem to be working at this time. During the course of a conversation between us about the two doctors treating her—“Dr. R” and “Dr. P”—she remarked that she felt “Dr. R” was more realistic in his counsel to her about her disease than “Dr. P,” who tended to be more positive and optimistic. When she told me she felt “Dr. R” (realism) was more straight forward than “Dr. P” (optimism), I said to her: “Stop there Margie and tell me, which doctor’s counsel about your disease do you prefer, would you rather have, “Dr. R’s” or “Dr. P’s”? Because the disease is what it is, she told me she preferred the counsel of “Dr. Realism” to that of “Dr. Positivity.” But then she added, “I prefer both my doctors to my brother’s. ‘Dr. N’ doesn’t tell him anything!”
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Was the appointment of Matthias apostolically errant?

Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained”. Jesus, John 20:21-23, NASB

As liberal and emergent Christians seek out a new paradigm for doing church—in their estimation the old one has miserably failed—they exalt the authority of Jesus on the one hand—that’s good—but diminish the authority of the Apostles on the other—that’s not good. To emergent liberals, the apostles stand as obstructers to the kingdom building that Jesus envisioned and taught about. [1] So in questioning apostolic authority, they assume that, in contrast to Jesus, the apostles were only human and as such, made mistakes in their understanding of the meaning of the kingdom and their governance of the early church; and because they didn’t get it right yesterday, we should not assume that their writings have it right for today. In such a way, modern emergents question apostolic authority.
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The “gods” of Babylon: an old spirituality in this New Age.

“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me . . .” Yahweh, Isaiah 46:9, KJV

One of my seminary professors stated in a theology class, “God created man in His own likeness and image, and man has been returning the compliment ever since.” Again, like one pundit put it, “Man is the ape that wants to be God.” In many ways, shapes, and sizes, the “man-is-God” teaching still comes to us.

Though contemporary Mormons now disavow his statement, Lorenzo Snow (1814-1901), the fifth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, once said, “As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.” Pretending to be within the pale of Christendom, some Word of Faith teachers boldly tell their followers, “You are gods.” [1] Helen Schucman (1909-1981), a New York research psychologist, authored volumes which now comprise A Course in Miracles (ACIM). Over a period of seven years, Schucman claimed to have received the contents of the course by a process of “inner dictation,” the dictator being Jesus, an “ascended master” and spirit guide. Though using Christian terminology, ACIM is founded upon the fundamental premises of Eastern-metaphysical-mystical religion. In one of the course’s lessons, Schucman stated, “The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself.” [2] Among a host of other believers, authors and teachers, Schucman-like spirituality is widely being disseminated into American culture by various New Age gurus like Marianne Williamson and Eckhart Tolle, and their publicist, Oprah Winfrey. But I will, in this article, address this question: Does the Bible teach anywhere that man is not God?
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Investigating the intent of Jesus’ statement, “You are gods.”

“Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?” Jesus, John 10:34, KJV

Mystic, New Age, cultic and Word of Faith spiritualists commonly assume that in the essence of their being they are divine, that either they are or can become gods. [1] By employing The Third Eye for example, mystics attempt to contemplate into the consciousness of their divine nature. One Norwegian website explains:

During deep meditation, the single or spiritual eye becomes visible within the central part of the forehead. This omniscient eye is variously referred to in scriptures as the third eye . . .” [2]

The website asserts that the Lord is in heaven. But where is heaven? How can heaven be found? “Gliding inside oneself in the right way should ‘work wonders’,” the university explains. How can someone “glide within” to discover heaven within where the Lord dwells? By meditating upon the assumption that you are “the image of God inside yourself.” In a spirit of self-hype, members of the Word of Faith movement also claim themselves to be little gods who can self-create what they want out of life. To assert their divinity, both movements employ the statement of Jesus where He asked the Jews, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’?” (John 10:34).

When in John 10:34 He told the Jews “You are gods,” did Jesus mean to say that persons possess an essential divinity awaiting their discovery by taking a meditative journey into “inner space”? To support their claim that man is or can become God, teachers of the “man-is-god” doctrine have seized upon words that Jesus intended only for the Jews, ignored their original intent and arrogantly applied them to their own being. Without conscripting Jesus words to make them conform to any  preconception of what we might want them to say, what did Jesus really mean when He said to the Jews, “You are gods“? [3]
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The contemplative delusion that the kingdom of God is “within.”

“The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” Jesus, Luke 17:20-21, KJV

In common with eastern mysticism and New Age religion, contemplative spiritualists assume that all humanity possesses a divine essence within their souls, an essence waiting to be awakened via contact with God through meditation. Because “God is within and permeates all creation,” one contemplative states, “Every person can awaken to this and experience God directly.” She then adds, “. . . anyone can experience this dynamic presence of God, because God is within everything he creates. . . . So ‘The Kingdom of God is within you’ is hardly a heretical statement.” [1]

Her reference to the “kingdom-of-God-within” derives from Jesus’ statement in the Gospels where responding to the Pharisees’ question about when the kingdom of God would come (Luke 17:20a), Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Emphasis mine, Luke 17:20b-21, KJV). As assumed by contemplative spiritualists, did Jesus mean to infer that all persons possess a “dynamic presence,” a divine kingdom within them?
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