as i travel thru ThisPilgrimLand

Pilgrim’s Map of the Day

Here’s a few links that are catching my eye lately.  I hope you will take the time to read them and education yourself or just be entertained.

• Here’s an excellent post from Apprising Ministries that takes a look at how ministers such as gay-affirming Tony Jones, who love to claim that conservative Christians are divisive, are actually the divisive ones themselves.
• It seems that more and more Christians are becoming concerned about the May Day 2010 event to take place in Washington D.C. in the name of Christianity.  However, are things always as they seem?  Christian Research Network writes a good piece briefly explaining the dominion theology that will be propagated on that day.
• From M’Kayla’s Corner comes a short and smart analogy between old school vampire movies and those who today are willing to lay down their all for false teachers (Matt, you should read this brother).

Book Review: “The Latter Rain: book II”

When I finished this read  was left with one question: why does Tate Publishing not have this book listed under the genre of “religious fiction?”  The Latter Rain, book II; Messages of Light Unto a World of Darkness by David Nix is easily one of the most heretical books I have ever read.  When I compare it to The Satanic Bible by Antoine LaVay, I have to say that LaVay’s 1969 publication is far less dangerous to Christians than book II of The Latter Rain.  The reason being that at least The Satanic Bibledoes not attempt to camouflage itself under the guise of Christianity.  Nix’s work claims to be filled with direct messages from God. 

I could write about many reasons that prove that this book is a work of apostasy, but due to the urgency I feel to put this book out of my life, I will focus on just one.  I the third chapter of this read, a chapter entitled ”The Ways of God,” Nix shares with his congregation and the readers of this book a direct revelation from God he received.  In this god’s message, supposedly received on June 01, 2007 and entitled “Ways to Trust and Lose the Barrier of Unbelief,” Nix’s god names himself.  It reads:

“Bow and tremble in the heavenly presence.  I am tender and merciful; but I am the Yakahalahiym, and I will be worshipped by men of clay.”

Nix asks his readers to believe that the Christian God has decided to deliver unto him a name that Christians are to call upon in prayer, despite it not being found in scripture.  Think about the implications of that for just one second…

In Nix’s explanation of his “prophecy” Nix writes the following;

“In point two, the Almighty God refers to himself as the Yakahalahiym.  This is the first time in these messages that he has called himself by his name.  You will see this name used more in future messages.  When this was given, I became very excited, for this is a name given to us by the Almighty that is not found in the Bible but is one that we now use in our prayers.  It is truly an awesome name that is based upon several Hebrew words.  He may have given this as an answer to all who insist we use the name YHWH.  It was given to us when he described himself as being all powerful.  This is how the name breaks down…”

After I read this portion of the book, which is really early on, I had to force myself to turn each page as I was literally afraid of what evil I was exposing myself to.  I will grant that Nix’s explanation of what he decided to name his god is very good and shows good study, however, I believe I will continue to believe in the holy scripture and the words of Paul recorded by Luke in Acts 4:12

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

If the scripture tells us that there is no other name, why would we dare call upon another name in our prayers?  If you follow Nix’s beliefs, you are praying to another god and are guilty of worshipping idols.  Scripture lays things out clearly for today’s Christian: To the patriarchs, God was known as El Shaddair and to the Jews he was known as YHWH (Exodus 6:2-3).  To Christians, His name is Jesus.  Note that YHWH is NEVER found in the N.T. just as Jesus is not found in the O.T.   New Testament Christians praise the name of Jesus Christ, Latter Rain believers worship false gods. 

Notice also that Nix’s god panders to the Jehovah’s Witness community and that this name is given to answer them.  Forget not that the Jehovah’s Witneses have long taught that the Chrisitan Bible is a lie because of disputes over the word YHWH.  In other words, the Bible is not inerrant is what they teach (I wonder why Nix would want Christians to follow that same line of thinking?).  We therefore find that Nix’s god is lending credence to the JW teaching and asking Christians to accept the JW teaching who god is using Nix to deliver a message to.  Something tells me that the Christian God would want man to deliver the message of Christ crucified for their sins to those who mock His Holy word, not change His name to be more pleasing to their teaching.  Nix’s god teaches what sounds like a watered down form of gnosticism to me. 

 In conclusion, I only picked this one area to prove the untruth found in this book.  There is MUCH MUCH more that could be discussed and I may pursue that more later.  Just remember that when you hear people talking about unbiblical spiritual practices such as glory clouds and other ultra’spiritual experieces that are not found in scripture but are practied in some churches today, those are found in this book, in Nix’s teaching.  This book is a danger to a New Testament Christian not strong in the faith and could lead to the spiritual death of a new believer.  As I once heard Dr. Walter Martin say, the most dangerous cults are not the ones that cloak themselves in darkness, but the ones that intermingle Christian teaching and belief with their own wants and desires.  Such a book is this.  Thank God that the umbrella of Christ’s blood can protect and save us from Latter Rain. 

I would not recommend that anyone read this book unless it is for research about apostate teaching.  I am personally writing Tate publishing to ask that they either remove this book or change the genre of it in their listing.  I have prayed for David Nix and his followers and I hope that you will do the same.  Educate yourself about the Latter Rain movement (IT IS HUGE). 

There’s a Rip in Your Sheep’s Clothing

Matt. 7:15  Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

As reported in previous blog posts, the Wilderness Outcry, the idea of self-proclaimed prophet and apostle Dutch Sheets was canceled over this past weekend.  Just as a reminder, others who were to be involved in this event and coordination of such were Karen Wheaton, Lou Engle, Rick Pino, & Damon Thompson.  This event was touted on all their websites and promised to their followers to be the divine want and revelation of God.  As can be seen in the screen capture from the events Facebook Page, the promise is: “God is indeed coming to Poplar Bluff this summer to fulfill Isaiah 44:3-5…”  

Yet Sheets in his letter to his public statement claims that he must have just misunderstood God.  He blows their false claim off as failing to see the fine line between true faith and presumption.  The saddest part is, as some of those who comment on this blog prove, that people continue to put faith, no their very salvation, in this man’s teaching.  I am dumbfounded by this.  Since when does a presumption turn into a statement that says “GOD IS INDEED COMING…”  Tell me if I slipped into another dimension of understanding but does “indeed” not mean “in fact” or “for certain?”  How does that turn into “oops, we were only presuming.”  How can these people not feel the hooks in their mouths?

In another proof of Sheets lying, look at this page from the Wilderness Outcry event (the access to this site is coming and going at this time):  Sheets here says that “…the Holy Spirit has sovereignly orchestrated this gathering with dreams, God-encounters and supernatural events has been amazing.”  Excuse me, but again, in his bowing out of this event, does he not say the exact opposite?  Which is it Dutch?  Perhaps the spirit you are following is not the Holy Spirit and your dreams and supernatural events are, as people have now been saying for years regarding your type, of something dark and evil.

As if you should need more confirmation of the false prophecy of Sheets and his like, the image below is also from the Wilderness Outcry Facebook Page and is Sheet’s telling of the Wilderness Outcry fable story.  In the last sentence, Sheets writes “I assure you this is His idea – and He will come!”  Take note that they have already removed this story from the Wilderness Outcry website and I am sure it won’t be long before this other proof of their lies will be removed.  This is the statement that I have the most problem with.  Sheets has made God to look like a liar.  That is why we true Christians who believe in the inerrant word of God must make clear to the world that these people do not share the same faith that we do.  If you have not yet come to that realization, the time is now.  They believe in a God who makes mistakes, not the God in the Bible.  Why do people continue to cling to these men and women and to you faithful Christians, how long will you continue to allow them to make the Christ you believe in look like a weak and mistake prone human?  Look at the words Sheets uses.  “I ASSURE YOU THIS IS HIS IDEA,” HE WILL COME,” these are definitive statements, not presumptions.  If it was God’s idea, wouldn’t He have fulfilled it?  Sheets and these other false teachers want you to believe that God delivers special messages to them but then they tell you He may be mistaken some times.  You can keep that god.

There is of course some who believe that Sheets’ statement for leaving was not even what he claimed it to be.  He reported that it was a lack of interest, but in an article in the Southeast Missourian, they claim it had some to do with the decision to scale the event back a little.  As many who follow these type of teachers, this is not an uncommon practice – less people = less money, and even though God assures Sheets He would be there (as Sheets told his followers), Sheets decided he had better things to do.  Let me never run from God’s assurances.  The landowner of this place is then left holding the bag after, as it has been reported, he has invested hundred of thousands of dollars preparing his land for this event.  Supposedly he will attempt to hold a much smaller event but just without the help of Sheets now.  I am almost certain (that is an actual presumption) that Engle, Thompson, & Wheaton will also bow out.  You never know though, there is money to be made there and these people never run from that opportunity.

As Christians (or Greys as Lou Engle calls us, research dominion blue and grey to learn what that means), we need to pray for these people and be quick to point them to the cross for repentance.  While to those loyal to the people and their doctrines of demons this post may appear to relish in their failure, that is not the intention behind it at all.  The true intention is to expose not only false teaching to those who follow these people, but to hopefully show the sins to these people themselves.  This kind of apostasy must come to an end before the generation they are targeting comes to a sure and certain destruction.

Just for good measure, we know that the people of the Ramp like to show up on stations such as TBN but then later condemn the teaching of those people to lessen their connection to them.  If Sheets continues going as he is, these same people will probably try to distance themselves from him.  When that happens, refer back to the image below and see Sheets, Engle, Damon Thompson, and Karen Wheaton all pictured together on the Wilderness Outcry property.  Those Sheets was the voice of this group on this venture, they all stood to profit from Sheets’ now proven heretical and false prophecy that God was indeed coming to where they stand in the picture.  Remember 1 Corinthians 5:11

“…our ability to truly discern God’s will can be difficult.”

This quote comes from Dutch Sheets regarding the announcement this weekend that the Wilderness Outcry event has been canceled due to lack of funds.  Here is his statement in full:

Dear Friend of DSM and Wilderness Outcry,

We are very sorry to announce that due to a lack of funds, the large 5-day gathering called Wilderness Outcry will no longer take place this upcoming summer. We believe this vision is of the Lord, and certainly no one can deny the desperate need of our nation for prayer, but the reality is that provision for the high cost of doing an event like this – most of which must be paid in advance – has simply not materialized.

This was never intended to be a money-making event. Without charging a registration fee for attending, we knew our costs would be several hundred thousand dollars. We were confident we could raise this money. We were wrong. The line between true faith and presumption can be very fine sometimes, and our ability to truly discern God’s will can be difficult. Obviously, we fell short in both areas.

We are saddened and grieved with this development and repent for any presumption on our part. We sincerely ask your forgiveness for any inconvenience this has caused you.

For those of you who have registered and paid for a campsite, we will issue you a full refund. For those of you who have donated to Wilderness Outcry, you will be receiving a personal email from my office.

Is he saying that his dreams and the Holy Spirit were wrong.  After all, himself along with Lou Engle and Damon Thompson touted this to be a visionary event that God was calling our nation toward.  They had asked the attendees to bring a rock from their home state as they were to build an altar to sacrifice something (love to know the plans on that).  It could be that just as God rejected Cain’s sacrifice to Him, He is rejecting yours.

To those of you who continue to place your faith in this man and his like, take close notice to the following quote from the statement: “The line between true faith and presumption can be very fine sometimes, and our ability to truly discern God’s will can be difficult.”  I stand and say this quote is an outright lie.  For those of us who view God’s word as inerrant and take seriously Revelations warning to not add to or take away from that word (these men you follow add to consistently and are getting rich off of doing it), the line between faith and presumption is as wide as the east to the west.  This is a man who claims that he saw himself rising on a horse with Christ over the map of America.  If we can’t believe his visions regarding Wilderness Outcry, how can we believe anything else he claims.  God did not set his prophets up to have egg on their face in the Old Testament and all those prophecies were fulfilled.  This seems to be happening to you guys all the time though.  According to you, the Holy Spirit was wrong about the past election.  According to you, the Holy Spirit was wrong about Todd Bentley.

Turn from these men.  They are not of God.  Pray for their repentance and be swift to teach them the true gospel.

Sandra McCracken – Justice

Don’t Mess With Mr. In Between (must hear)

T4G 2010 — Session 2 — R.C. Sproul from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

Listen at the 31:30 -34:00 to see if you hear anything similar to the 2009 Manhattan Declaration.

Book Giveaway: 2 Copies of “Grounded in the Gospel”

It’s funny how God works.  About two months ago, a group of Christians and myself were sitting around discussing the importance of teaching our children the gospel.  Sure, the stories of the O.T. are great and capture the attention of the young kids, but, we wondered, are we not setting our children as well as new believers up to miss the point of Christianity.  In other words, are we neglecting the “Christ” in Christianity?  My wife, a Godly woman who grew up as a Southern Baptist, has often discussed with me the fact that she was given a creed book (for lack of a better phrae) as a child and how this catechesis really never left her. 

Click here to purchase Grounding in the Gospel

As my Church of Christ friends and I discussed this matter,

we realized that we all had something in common:  it really was not until we were older (college age or adulthood) that we fully came to realize the totality and importance of the gospel message of Christ crucified and His atonement.  Sure, as all people who grow up in the Church of Christ, we knew our Bible inside and out, and all of us were beasts in Bible Trivia, but we all agreed that we may have missed something.   As we discussed this issue, many of us having young children, our conversation turned to how we can keep this same phenomenon from happening to our kids and the other children in our church.  We batted around the idea of how to develop a catechism for our kids that we can teach them and help them to fully understand the central ideas of the Christian faith and the total scope of the cross in the life of all men, women, & children. 

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I received correspondence from a member of the Baker Books Publishing Group asking me to review a book for them.  I was sold of course as soon as I read the title Grounded in the Gospel and I quickly agreed to read and review the book.  Written by J.I. Packer & Gary A. Parrett, the book synopsis is as follows:

Historically, the church’s ministry of grounding new believers in the essentials of the faith has been known as catechesis–systematic instruction in faith foundations, including what we believe, how we pray and worship, and how we conduct our lives. For most evangelicals today, however, this very idea is an alien concept. Packer and Parrett, concerned for the state of the church, seek to inspire a much needed evangelical course correction. This new book makes the case for a recovery of significant catechesis as a nonnegotiable practice, urging evangelical churches to undertake this biblical ministry for the sake of their spiritual health and vitality.

I am looking forward to reading this book and finding out if these men, who obviously have some of the same concerns and worries about discipling new believers that my brothers and sisters in Christ are having, can answer Biblically some of the questions we are asking.  I am reserving judgment on just how providential the random request to review this book is. 

For ThisPilgrimLand’s readers, Baker Publishing Group, included 2 extra copies of this book to give to you guys.  If you would like to become eligible to receive a free copy of Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way,  follow these instructions.

1. Leave a comment in this post below
2. In your comment, tell us if you feel you were “catechized” effectively as a new believer, be that as a child or adult
3. Tell why you think this practice would be good for your church, or if your church does practice this, what good it has been for you or new believers.
4. If you are a church leader (or officer), please include how this practice would affect your role in the church.
5. Any additional thoughts or comments will be welcomed.

I will be selecting two winners randomly on May 10, 2010.  That gives you three weeks to enter and to tell your friends to enter.  I think this book is going to be good.