Tickle Their Ears and They Will Come…

Part One: Why do you allow yourself to be deceived?

Have you seen the goings on in many of our Christian churches lately?  Are you as concerned about what’s happening to our Christian brothers and sisters as I am?  I had really intended to make my first blog post regarding the Christian church in America today about our First Amendment right to Freedom of Religion.  However, I am convinced that the church is in more danger from within, than it is from non-believers trying to void that right by filing complaints with the local courts and government officials about such things as public Nativity Scenes or public displays of the Ten Commandments.  I’m not even as concerned about those who complain about a child who says a prayer in school as I once was.

Those issues are a danger to our ability to worship freely, and they need to be addressed, but the real danger regarding our religious freedom is within the church itself, and it comes from our own brothers and sisters who are being deceived by the evil one who comes to them as an “angel of light”,  promising a closer relationship with the Holy Spirit, and conning them into participating in chaotic displays of “mystic” celebration.  In this post I’m going to address some of the issues facing the Body of Christ today.  In future posts under this same title, I will elaborate on the topics I’ll introduce in this post, introduce many more falsehoods, and finally, I will try to show you how it’s all tied together.  Since I don’t really have the space here to discuss every detail of every topic, I will try to present the problems and provide you with information about where you can find detailed articles, books and videos that will provide you with all you need to learn how to discern what is good and what is evil in the church today.  Yes, there is much evil in the church today.  In this post, I’m going to speak directly to those who are caught up in this mess.  If you are not taking part in these activities, you should be praised for your maturity and your ability to discern the truth.  If you are involved in any of this, read carefully with an open mind, and you just might see the truth.

Since two of my favorite books in the bible are Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, I’ll start with the topic of mystical forms of worship which are “man centered” and have more to do with the sensate than the spirit.  Sensual worship (not sensual in a sexual sense) and “mystical occurrences” in the church are being touted as a means to “get closer to the Holy Spirit”, but the true intent of the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to draw attention to Jesus, not Himself, and definitely not to us.  See John 15:26.  Most of what I have seen going on in church today is geared toward man, not Jesus.  It is not biblical in its manifestation nor in its mode.  In 1 Corinthians chapter 14, Paul describes what worship is supposed to be about, and what it should look like.  He does not describe people falling to the ground in convulsive fits, shaking uncontrollably, or acting like drunks in the presence of the Holy Spirit.  In fact, Paul tells us in verse 33 that “God is not the author of confusion” and in the final verse in chapter 14 (verse 40) “Let all things be done decently and in order.”  (Emphasis Mine)  Tell me how someone barking like a dog, or mooing like a cow, or a woman falling to the ground with her skirt up around her waist is “decent” or how “drunkenness in church” is “orderly worship”.  There are even documented cases where women are wearing diapers to church because they might defecate while “birthing something in the spirit”.  Does that sound like anything the Holy Spirit would be a part of to you? If it’s not the from “Holy Spirit” then what “spirit” is it from?  Please…don’t point to Acts Chapter 2 for your scriptural basis for “being drunk in the spirit”.  In that same chapter, (verses 14-15) Peter tells us that nobody was “drunk” on anything that day.  Several non-believers were in attendance that day and they mistakenly viewed these people speaking in the languages of the foreigners in attendance as being drunk because they couldn’t understand what was happening.

In fact, that is one of the reasons the church is in so much trouble today.  Most of these “new moves” of God are not based on any Scripture at all.  They are based on some “new revelation” that the teacher claims to have received directly from God in a personal conversation, placing as much and most times more authority on their own “revelation” as they do the bible itself.  What ever happened to sola scriptura, (Scripture alone)?  Sola scriptura means that Scripture is above all “revelation” and personal “feelings” as the authority by which we “test everything”.  When false teachers do try to point to Scripture to prove these things are biblical, they always take the Scripture they want to use as proof, totally out of context, and “twist” it into something it does not say.  Most false teachers place just enough truth into their message to try to legitimize the whole message.  This is why some of you find it so difficult to see the lies they are telling.  You see the small amount of truth, and assume that everything they say is true without testing anything.

My question about all this is why do you need a “sign or wonder” to know that God or the Holy Spirit is still there, or to get excited about Jesus or the Holy Spirit?  Why do you need proof?  Doubters need “proof” not believers.  Believers stand on their faith and in their knowledge of Scripture.  Whatever happened to faith?  Remember faith?  Hebrews Chapter 11 verse 1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  (Emphasis Mine)  Why do you feel the need to invite Him into your presence?  What even makes you think you have the authority?

Over the past few years, I have talked with many people who are into all these “experiences” of the Holy Spirit, and I have found that most of them, even those who have been believers and regular church members for 20 to 30 years or more, and even many pastors, are extremely lacking in their knowledge of the Scriptures.  The few who are somewhat knowledgeable in the scriptures choose to ignore what they don’t like, and twist other verses into something that will support their unholy beliefs.  However, they are all very knowledgeable about all the different “new moves of God” that have come along, including all these “new experiences” that keep them so charged up and so “in touch” with the Holy Spirit.

There is a Heavenly Hierarchy which is the chain of command within the Trinity.  That Hierarchy is God the Father, then Jesus, and then the Holy Spirit.  Notice that man is nowhere in that Hierarchy.  To think that you can “call down” the Holy Spirit, or that He even needs to be “invited” by man, (He is here already) is to place man in that Heavenly Hierarchy.  And what’s worse, you would place man above the Holy Spirit.  That’s like saying the Holy Spirit needs your permission to do what Jesus already said He (the Holy Spirit) could and would do.  Contrary to what these “false teachers” who by the way, always seem to be the ones who bring about these “new moves of God” are spewing out of their lying mouths, you are NOT “little gods”.  Man has NO power or authority over any part of the Trinity of God.  What heresy!  What blasphemy!  What hypocrisy!  Not to mention arrogance!  None of this heresy is anywhere in the bible!  We are told many times in the scriptures “to test everything…including every spirit”.  Why do you allow yourself to be deceived?  The Holy Word of God is all you need to test everything, and the Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus to “help” you do just that.

There are many examples and descriptions of false teachers in the bible. Read the book of Jude. Jude tells us (in verse 4) about “ungodly men who have crept in unnoticed…who turn the grace of God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ”. (Emphasis Mine)  The rest of Jude’s little epistle serves to warn us about the very things I am talking about in this post.  The Apostle Paul also warns us in all 3 of his “Pastoral Letters” 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus, about false teachers in the last days.  Paul makes it clear that these “false teachers” will come as the result of your “itching ears”.  In other words, they will tell you what you want to hear, not what you need to hear.  They will teach a false doctrine, a false Gospel that leads you to a different Jesus than the Jesus of the bible.  Not only is this “idolatry”, but you are gambling with your salvation because the Jesus you follow is not the real Jesus.  Do you want to be responsible for leading other people to a false Savior?

Put away this man made doctrine, this false gospel, and get back into the Word of God.  Learn how to discern the truth.  If you find yourself in a church that is teaching false doctrine and practicing mystical “signs and wonders” don’t allow yourself to be deceived.  Don’t allow your pastor to spread a false gospel in your church.  Go to him, with somebody else in the flock who has also detected the evil being taught, and with the love of Christ Jesus in your hearts, correct him and challenge him to test what is happening among his flock.  If he refuses to turn away or refuses even to listen, get out as fast as you can and search until you find a true bible believing and teaching church.  Take your family there, but remain alert.  More and more churches are falling prey to these heresies everyday.  This may take some time, since most churches in America are being drawn into these ungodly practices at least to some degree, some without even realizing it.  They don’t realize it because they are not rooted in the Scriptures, they are man centered, and the tactics of the evil one are very subtle at first.  Without a firm foundation in the Word of God, it is very easy to fail to spot the heresy in your midst.  Remember, the bible tells us that Satan will come as an “angel of light” for the sole purpose of deceiving you.  It is also easy to find yourself being “blown to and fro by every wind that comes along” (every new move of God).

I’m going to leave this post up for at least a week so there will be time for all who want to reply to what I’ve written here to say their piece, and for me to reply to them.  My next post (Part 2) on this subject under the title “Tickle Their Ears and They Will Come” will be called – “Are Churches Driven by Fads and Christians Driven by Feelings?”  (I got that title from the title of an article on a discernment website.  I wish I could remember where, it was a great article.)  A sample topic of what I’ll be talking about in my next post is about the most dangerous “cult” in America, “The Cult of Compromise”.  That’s all I will say about that subject right now.  In the meantime, after you have read this post and whether you comment or not, don’t just sit there in disagreement, or agreement for that matter.  I have given you links below to a couple of websites that focus on these very issues.  They provide examples and explanations of what is happening in the church today as well as advice on how to learn to be more discerning, and how to “test everything including every spirit”.  Please…Test everything I’ve written here.  If you can prove by the Holy Word of God, that I have spoken falsely, I will be forever grateful to you for showing me the truth.  I will also post a correction on this blog.

http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/ http://www.erwm.com

Both of these websites are full of articles about the many deceptions in the church today.  They are easy to navigate and are indexed very nicely to make it as easy as possible to find the information you are looking for.  There are also many links to other discernment websites.

Rev. Tom Hogle  (gatewaychaplaintom)