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Greetings!
Re: Correction
One of our readers has informed me of a broken link in the newsletter I sent out yesterday (same content as this one you are reading now).
I fixed the broken link as well as the author's name, which I accidentally misattributed, as the article came from the same 2006 newsletter from Discernment Ministries. The corrections can be seen below under the heading, The Necessity of Separation from Heresy by Lynn & Sarah Leslie.
Thank you to our readers for being observant and for kindly letting me know! - Chris |
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The articles below are just a few that have helped us these last few years. I posted these a few years ago and they are still as pertinent as ever.
It is my prayer that these articles will also help other pastors, missionaries, church leaders, husbands and wives, bookstore owners, and of course, the youth that many of us are raising. Also, if you have not seen it yet, you may find my new booklet helpful. Be assured though before you click on this link, it is totally not "politically correct." A Directory of Authors (Three NOT Recommended Lists) Sincerely and because of the Greatest Gift of All - Jesus of Nazareth!
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Taking Care of God's Flock
By Chris Lawson
|  Much of 21st century humanity is surrounded with "Western Technological Advancements." While many of these advancements are being used for good, many are also being used for the advancement of every form of spiritual deceit under the sun. This includes the mass infiltration of aberrant and demonic teachings through the church.
One may ask, "How do we protect ourselves from bad, sinful, evil, and wicked things?" Here is how! We learn the Word of God in a theologically balanced way, we obey it, and then we teach it to others. Simply reading
through the Bible day-after-day, and year-after-year will equip the believer more than most churches ever can.
But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:14)
No man can refute the wisdom and truth which the Bible teaches. Click here to read The Holy Bible: Its All Importance. For true Christians, the Word of God and God Himself are cherished, honored and obeyed daily. Holy living begins and ends with the "fear of the LORD." The beginning of wisdom is the fear [holy reverence] of the LORD, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)
In light of the foregoing truths, each one of us should earnestly consider the following questions: - The day is coming when I will give my own account to the Eternal Living God for this life He gave me...What will I say when in utter and devastating humility I am alone before Him?
- Have I, personally, in my own private life, examined Who the real Jesus Christ of the Bible is?
- Do I know the basic doctrines of my Christian faith?
- Have I exercised my own senses [by reading the Bible] to 'discern between good and evil' (Hebrews 5:13-14)?
- Do I blindly follow what 'Christian leaders' tell me, or do I test all things with the Word of God? (1 Thess. 5:21)
- Is my church teaching sound biblical doctrine [teaching], or do they teach and emphasize the latest fads, crazes, pop-psychology and popular books that undermine biblical truth?
- Do I follow Christian leaders who make excuses when their false teaching, or their allowance of false teaching, is confronted?
- Am I personally strong enough and biblically strong enough to stand up for Jesus Christ and His teachings in the face of apostasy and adversity?
- Am I really "saved" or have I believed a false Gospel?
Do you pass or fail the questions posed above? Have you become dull in your Christianity? Are you maturing in your faith and your personal study of God's Word? Are you compromising by allowing false teaching to go into your heart and mind, unchecked? What are you feeding your children for spiritual food? What is your church feeding you? Can you recognize false teaching when you hear it? Can you properly discern between good and evil?
Contrary to much of what passes today as "spiritual food," the Word of God is always and forever to be our standard for life and godliness. The Bible is not a tag-along text book or a secondary supplement to the latest spiritual fad. God the Holy Spirit influenced Paul the Apostle, who wrote to Timothy (and I believe to all pastors throughout church history):
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
It is only those who make a consistent habit of learning and obeying the Word of God who will truly mature in the Christian faith. Maturity is not about education, personal titles, positions within church leadership, launching a new ministry, or involvement in Christian service. These things are not wrong in and among themselves, in fact they are necessary and useful things. It is when these things replace biblical standards for measuring a Christians maturity that things go awry. If any Christian teaches, promotes, or endorses any false teachings, that Christian is not a mature Christian, but a deceived Christian.
Christian maturity is about obeying our LORD Jesus Christ personally, obeying His message of righteousness on a daily basis, obeying Christ's doctrine, and being willing to defend God's truth regardless of the cost. It is only when Christians are able to discern between good and evil and practically live out a godly Christian life that they will be fully equipped and useful "for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
Our hope and prayer is that the following articles will help you be a more discerning Christian, that you will mature in your faith properly, and that you will be equipped so that you can help instruct others. There is absolutely no reason for biblical compromise and spiritual dullness, even in an age of apostasy and deceit. God has given us His Life, His Son, His Spirit, and His Word - what more do we need?
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By Sandy Simpson
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 At the core of maturity in Christ is the issue of training to be able to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong. But in today's churches this issue has not only been downplayed, but actually swept aside. I run a website and get hundreds of emails every week. Since the website deals with apologetics against false teachers and false prophets, about half the email I receive is blasting me for even bringing up the issue. These emails are from "Christians" who claim I am not "anointed", don't understand the work of the Holy Spirit, etc. I am forced to remind them of Hebrews 5 and Ephesians 4 and the biblical definition of maturity in Christ. Maturity is not defined as following dynamic speakers, running after people who claim the ability to perform signs and wonders, those with wealth, charismatic teachers with large numbers of followers, those with name recognition, and prophets who make wild prophecies. It is defined simply as training ourselves to know the difference between good and evil. Where do Christians get solid food? From voices in their heads, intuition, imaginations, flights of fancy, signs, wonders? No. Solid food is consumed by feeding on the meat of the written Word of God. |
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By Sandy Simpson
|  There was a good reason why the illustration of a shepherd with his sheep was used so often in biblical times ... because it was an illustration people could easily identify with in their cultural context. The illustrations we use are most effective when they are understood easily by the culture to which God has sent us to minister. Middle eastern cultures understood what shepherding was all about. It was about feeding the lambs and the sheep, bringing them to good pasture lands and water, grooming and clipping them, delivering new lambs, leading them and teaching them to stay together, going off after the wandering lost ones, and protecting the sheep in the field and in the fold. We are all under shepherds and Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd. We need to emulate what the Good Shepherd does for the sheep.
John 21:15-17 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep." The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep".
There are many other aspects of this deep passage I could dwell on such as the Lord's use of the word "agape" and Peter's use of the word "phileo", or the paralleling of the three denials with Peter with the three commands of Jesus ... but I want to look at the three statements of Christ and think about the excellent illustration of shepherding by the Shepherd Who is showing us how to be good under shepherds.
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The following link is to a PDF file from Discernment Ministries. Click on the link, and click "Trust" if Adobe asks for permission.
Lynn and Sarah Leslie
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A number of years ago there was a joke circulating that went like this:
Q: How can a man avoid falling hair?
A: Jump out of the way!
This is also a formula for avoiding heresy. One must "jump out of the way" whenever it comes near. The biblical doctrine of separation is founded upon a verse that appears in both the Old and New Testaments: Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord. (2 Cor. 6:14; Is. 52:11)
For the past several hundred years, as the world has become increasingly evil and corrupt, believers from various fundamentalist groups clung to the principles of biblical separation. By the mid-20th century, this focus was sometimes reduced to a list of "don't do's" - forbidden activities that a good Christian shouldn't participate in such as gambling, dancing, drinking, going to movies, etc. An emphasis on separation in terms of external appearance and worldly conduct is a worthy one and biblically solid. But there is much more to biblical separation.
The Bible also warns about separation from IDEAS - the philosophies, beliefs, teachings and writings of worldly or pagan men. Historically, many fundamentalist groups chose to separate from un-Christian ideas by forbidding or discouraging attendance at secular institutions of higher education. This is because universities have traditionally been the arena where the new philosophies entered into a culture. Today's homeschool movement is just one example of separating one's children from a government-sponsored teaching culture that is antithetical to orthodox Christianity.
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By Sandy Simpson
|  Title & Background
Itinerant teachers sent out by John were rejected in one of the churches in the province of Asia by a dictatorial leader, Diotrophes. This man had gone so far as to excommunicate members who showed hospitality to John's messengers.
Author & Date Of Writing
According to the NIV Bible, this letter was probably written about the same time as 1 and 2 John, around A.D. 90. The Biblical Studies Foundation makes a very strong argument that 2 & 3 John were probably written much earlier in about 66-67 A.D., so 2 John, 3 John and Jude could have all been written about the same time. A comparison of 2 and 3 John suggested that the apostles John was the author of both letters. John functioned as an elder in his later years, and he begins both 2 and 3 John with that designation. John uses identical phrases in both books "love in the truth" (2 John 1 and 3 John 1) and "walking in the truth" (2 John 4 and 3 John 4)....
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 The Overseer: A Study of Titus 1:6-11
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There once was a shepherd who loved his flock of sheep. He fed them and watered them. He bathed them and tended to their hurts. The only trouble is he did not build a protected fence around their home. He had a habit of going to sleep at night leaving no one to guard them. They had always been safe in the past, but one night wolves came. In the morning when he woke up many of the sheep were missing or dead. That day he built a fence and made sure there was always someone there to guard the sheep at night.
Titus 1:6-7 An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless- not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.
In Titus 1:6-11 Paul tells Titus to appoint "overseers" in the churches. The word "overseer" is episkopos in Greek and means bishop, curator, superintendent, guardian, watchman. Overseers are to be shepherds to the sheep, watchmen, guardians.
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RECOMMENDED BOOK!
IDOLATRY IN THEIR HEARTS
Startling Evidence of Idolatry and the Worship of False Gods in Every Culture Throughout the History of the World
By Sandy Simpson and Mike Oppenheimer
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 The following is the caption on the back cover of this landmark book:
"Does having eternity in your heart mean that you know God and are His child? Could Gentile cultures understand the Gospel from the stars? Did God create man's cultures? Has God always been in the process of redeeming cultures from the time of Babel by placing in them a true revelation of Himself? Is there the worship of YHWH in all cultures and religions through the names of "supreme beings"? Have all cultures always had a way to make things right between them and God?
These questions and many more are answered in this book that addresses the teachings of the World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People movement."
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HAZARDS OF THE OCCULT
We care about the CHURCH, about FAMILIES, and about INDIVIDUALS. Therefore we research, inform and warn about the dangers of spiritual deception!
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| Featured Book by Sandy Simpson & Mike Oppenheimer |
| IDOLATRY IN THEIR HEARTS |
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What Is Spiritual Formation-
Contemplative Spirituality? |
| Find out here... |
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