Deception in the Church

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

We’ve just completed a new book which has been published by Christian Publishing House. The book itself deals with some of the major errors that have been and continue to infiltrate the visible church over the past numbers of decades. These errors have literally shipwrecked people’s faith because of how they end up dragging people away from the true faith. This is a concerted effort by the leaders of these false movements to move people away from the authority and truth of Scripture into the realm of emotional virtue, where truth is determined by how one feels about something.

Deception in the Church – Does It Matter How You Worship? is available through a number of venues. We would encourage readers to check the book out and purchase via Amazon. However, the book is available of course through Christian Publishing House, Barnes & Noble, and other venues as well. It is also available as a downloadable ebook.

The troubling problem with the visible church today is how much error has crept in and continues to creep in. Certainly the apostles knew this would occur, with Paul, Peter and others making a special note of it. We need to remember that these men wrote letters during the first century that became incorporated into today’s Bible. The danger was that clear to them due to the revelation of the Holy Spirit. They understood that during the last days, as the times approached the physical return of Jesus to the earth, times would be tumultuous even within the visible church.

Today, we have factions, sects, and thousands of denominations that provide clear testimony that it is easy to misunderstand the clear teaching of Scripture and go off on a tangent.

In Deception in the Church, the issue of heresy is dealt with from the standpoint of one particular group that began decades ago in America. While it has morphed into various named movements, it has ultimately continued its main purpose. This group has molded thought within many protestant denominations and even within Roman Catholicism. The reality is that – as the book shows – leaders within this movement have done their best, using methods of subterfuge to align themselves with what appears to be doctrinal harmony of Scripture, yet when viewed closely, it becomes abundantly clear that this self-serving group operates more as a cult than a particular denomination.

Within the group, there are those who not only believe there are people alive today who have the same authority and position as the original twelve apostles, but many of them believe they actually are those individuals. We’ve gone over this phenomenon in previous articles written here and it all results in the same problem: if people alive today actually possess the same authority and position of the original twelve apostles, then it is impossible to conclude that the Bible is not continuing to be written today!

This error permeates this movement and why many apologists refer to it as NAR (New Apostolic Reformation), which is the latest version of this age-old sect/movement, though decades ago, it was called something else entirely. What is also clearly shown is the fact that the entire movement began as an offshoot of the Charismatic Movement and even the Pentecostal Church rejected what this group offered as outright heresy! This says a great deal, yet we see this movement continuing to grow even today. Why is that?

The truth, as revealed in Deception in the Church, is that people are far less capable of discerning today because of the dearth of Scriptural knowledge within them. They prefer to chase after signs and wonders because of the immediacy of the “reward” as opposed to the solid growth of learning to abide in Christ through the reading, study, and memorization of His Word. The former is the “quick fix,” while the latter is the long road. Yet, it is the latter that God Himself cites as the way to solid growth in Him.

There are no shortcuts or quick fixes for the Christian, with the exception of receiving salvation by faith alone. That is the only “quick fix” yet while the individual penitent who comes to God through faith-based on the grace and selfless, sinless life of Jesus, it is in truth, only the start of our walk with God. Just like it takes time to physically grow and emotionally mature as a human being, the same applies to people who become Christians through faith in Christ’s finished work on Calvary. We crawl before we walk. We walk before we run. This process allows us to gain strength in our legs to support our full weight.

Too often though, Christians want the short cut to God, as if it exists. They become ripe for the picking by individuals who are self-aggrandizing. They use people to gain followers, to gain influence, and to gain wealth. While some point to Jesus and His miracles as the example that we are supposed to live (they say), in reality, Jesus performed miracles as evidence that He was and remains God the Son, Messiah to Israel and Savior to all Gentiles. This truth and reality is largely squashed by groups like NAR. Whether they are deliberately misleading or are deceived themselves, they end up misleading people away from God into the arena of the ecstatic.

In the book, the trail is traced that shows just how this particular sect/cult came into being and grew into what it is now, having morphed through various states to get here. Our first encounter with this group was during the stage when it was known as the Charismatic Renewal Movement. We spent a number of years within that group and saw it from the inside. It cannot be said – though it is denied – that these people did not add to the Scriptures. The amount of “words of knowledge” given by people during Charismatic meetings gives them away. The fallacy within is that God is always doing something “new” and He wants us to jump on board.

However, in all the things He supposedly has been doing that is new, nothing has ever confirmed permanent change in any portion of society. The book pulls back the curtain on the fact that ultimately, the goal of this one movement with many versions and names, seeks to establish God’s Kingdom on earth. They firmly believe that when Christians work hard and diligently to “take back” parts or all of America and the world, Jesus will then be “able” to return to this world to set up His Kingdom over which He will reign for 1,000 years. The problem with this is that Scripture provides no such explanation that this is how it will happen. In fact, Jesus clearly points out that the time of His return is set by God the Father (Acts 1:7).

Of course, those within NAR would argue that they’re not setting times or seasons either. They are simply working hard to help establish Jesus’ Kingdom. But is that what we are to do? Matthew 28 essentially tells us that it is our job to simply spread the Gospel in what is called the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20). That is our job. It is not to work for the purpose of somehow bringing Jesus back. This whole premise makes it appear that God is powerless to get things done unless He is helped by humanity. That’s brazenly heretical because God does not need us. He invites and allows us to partner with Him, but if we choose not to do so, He will still accomplish His goals.

Jesus implied this the day He rode into Jerusalem in victory. The people were praising God and laying down palm branches. The religious leaders were annoyed and told Jesus He needed to stop the people from exulting over the situation. What did Jesus say to them in response?

“I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (Luke 19:40 ESV)

That tells me something very important. Rocks – inanimate objects that have virtually no life of their own – would be used by God to proclaim praises to Jesus and to God for His purposes and glory. God does not need us. He chooses to use those who will come along side of Him and allow Him to lead. It’s that simple.

There are many heretical movements today. Satan has been exceedingly busy creating them and due to a lack of knowledge where God’s Word is concerned, people are constantly taken in by them. We ourselves were for a number of years until through God’s graciousness, we saw the lie for what it was and left. Don’t be one of those people who are taken in by the bait provided by Satan.

Deception in the Church is a book that many will gain insight from reading. The warning against movements like NAR cannot be shouted loud enough. The dangers to the visible church are everywhere and NAR is simply one among many, though it has been gaining quite a bit of ground since the very early part of the 1900’s. This is testament to the fact of just how hard Satan works and how much leeway God gives Satan to pull the wool over people’s eyes.

The Proverbs are filled with truth regarding the simplest of things to the most difficult. Let me close by sharing just a few of them that apply to this situation.

Leave the presence of a fool,
for there you do not meet words of knowledge. (Proverbs 14:7 ESV)

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. (v. 12)

The eyes of the LORD are in every place,
keeping watch on the evil and the good. (Proverbs 15:3 ESV)

The LORD has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble.
Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD;
be assured, he will not go unpunished. (Proverbs 16:4-5 ESV)

The answers to life’s questions are within God’s Word. Do you read it? Do you study it? Are you dwelling on it and memorizing it? If so, wonderful. Keep going! If not, it is important for you to know that you will become victim of everything that sounds good. Because of that, you will become exactly like this description written by the Apostle Paul:

…so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (Ephesians 4:14 ESV)

Just prior to the above statement, Paul explained that God had provided apostles, prophets, pastors and teachers to help equip God’s people to become mature in the faith. The original twelve apostles are part of the foundation that Jesus Himself placed in creating His Church. Prophets were used as the Bible continued to be written. Once God was finished, the Bible was put together and from that point on, God used pastors and teachers to help Christians understand the truth of His Word.

If we still need apostles and prophets today that can only mean that God never finished His Bible. There is no other way to take that. If that is true (and we do not believe it is), then truth is essentially up for grabs with each person becoming their own highest authority in determining “truth.” God has made it much easier than that if we will but avail ourselves of His Word.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work… (2 Timothy 3:16-17 Berean Study Bible)

God’s written Word provides us what we need to be “complete” and “fully equipped.” NAR and other groups like them want you dependent upon their teaching, not God’s Word. Guard yourself!

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective