WesleyGospel Ministries

Whoever hates correction is stupid.
–Proverbs 12:1–

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
–Proverbs 16:18–

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“What Does the Bible Say About Ignoring Negative?” (Open Bible). Even on this website, which is a democratic site where people vote on Bible verses and their relevance to certain topics, you can see how many verses associated with forgiveness are misinterpreted to mean, that you should just simply ignore people who criticize you and say negative things. While I think that is wise policy with some classes of unreasonable and hateful people (Psalm 1:1), I don’t think its wise with all classes: especially ones that appear to be sincere and godly (Proverbs 9:8-9). But forgiving people and ignoring people are not synonymous. This is taking the idea of negative confession and mixing it with the idea of “forgiveness,” but the dishonesty, selfishness, untruthfulness, and unbiblicalness of it should be apparent to any honest reader of the Bible. Especially since pastors are teachers in the body of Christ; and should fear God enough to make sure that they are teaching the Word of God properly. Shutting practically every negative word off is spiritually immature and is no way to clear up your own spiritual blind spots. A certain type of selectivity about critical emails, etc should be any pastor’s policy; but not a teetotal ignoring of all of them.

These signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues…they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well. –Mark 16:17-18

Because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice. –Luke 18:5

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P. C. Nelson, Bible Doctrines, ch. 12: “Divine Healing.”

Oral Roberts, Expect a Miracle: My Life and Ministry.

John Wimber, Power Healing.

Dr. David Lewis, Healing: Fiction, Fantasy, or Fact? (survey of healing service).

Dr. Richard Casdorph, The Miracles. (has medical verification).

Kathryn Kuhlman, I Believe In Miracles. (has medical verification).

—. God Can Do It Again. (has medical verification).

—. Nothing Is Impossible with God. (has medical verification).

Maria Woodworth-Etter, Signs and Wonders.

Ronald Kydd, Healing Through the Centuries.

Craig Keener, Miracles Today.

¹⁴ For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you. ¹⁵ “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, ¹⁶ according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’ ¹⁷ “And the Lord said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. ¹⁹ And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him. ²⁰ But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ ²¹ And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’— ²² when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. –Deuteronomy 18:14-22 (NKJV)

Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.” But it happened that night that the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying…“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name.” –2 Samuel 7:3-4, 12-13 (NKJV)

A voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” –Acts 10:13-15 (NKJV)

When Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. –Galatians 2:11-13 (NKJV)

We know in part and we prophesy in part. –1 Corinthians 13:9 (NKJV)

Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. –1 Corinthians 14:29 (NKJV)

Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. –1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 (NKJV)

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.   –Psalm 19:7 (NKJV)

No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.    –2 Peter 1:20-21 (NKJV)

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Dr. Jack Deere, Why I Am Still Surprised by the Voice of God, “Appendix 3: Deuteronomy 18:14-22.”

Dr. Wayne Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today, chs. 3-4.

Archibald Alexander, The Truth, Inspiration, and Authority of Scripture.

—. Thoughts on Religious Experience (Banner of Truth, 1996).

Adam Clarke, Christian Theology (1835), ch. 1: “The Scriptures.” Wesleyan Methodist, Prima Scriptura.

P. C. Nelson, Bible Doctrines (GPH, 1934), ch. 1: “The Scriptures Inspired.” Assemblies of God, Pentecostal, Prima Scriptura.

Myer Pearlman, Knowing the Doctrines of the Bible (GPH, 1937), ch. 1: “The Scriptures.” Assemblies of God, Pentecostal, Prima Scriptura.

E. S. Williams, Systematic Theology (GPH, 1953), vol. 1, “Bibliology.” Assemblies of God, Pentecostal, Prima Scriptura.

French Arrington, Christian Doctrine (Pathway Press, 1992), vol. 1, chs. 1-5. Church of God, Pentecostal, Prima Scriptura.

N. Clayton Croy, Prima Scriptura: An Introduction to New Testament Interpretation (Baker, 2011).

John R. Rice, Our God-Breathed Book–The Bible (Sword of the Lord, 1969). Independent Fundamental Baptist, cessationist, Sola Scriptura.

David Wilkerson, The Vision and Beyond: Prophecies Fulfilled and Still to Come.

Ira Milligan, Understanding the Dreams You Dream (Biblical dream dictionary).

Adam Thompson and Adrian Beale, The Divinity Code (Biblical dream dictionary).

Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” –Matthew 21:12-13 (ESV)

A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight. –Proverbs 11:1 (ESV)

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William Mathews, Getting On in the World, ch. 13 (Self-Advertising), chs. 14-15 (The Will and the Way). Building wealth by advertising to find customers for your own business; and accumulating amounts of money from customer payments alone. Investments are discouraged as high risk and dangerous. The general mentality of responsible small business owners in Little House on the Prairie times, was to grow rich by aggressively saving business income alone; and avoiding all forms of investing, especially stocks (p. 311). The goal was to accumulate an emergency fund by saving 20% a week; and purchasing a farmhouse in cash (pp. 241, 271).

Richard Steele, The Religious Tradesman, ch. 4 (Of Diligence).

—. A Present for an Apprentice (Against Investing, p. 253).

Assemblies of God Position Paper, “A Biblical Perspective on Gambling.”

Art Katz was the first reputable person to tell Mike Bickle, that he thought Bob Jones was a prophet around 1983, if I’m not mistaken. In a sense, he was the first legitimizer of today’s prophetic movement that had its beginnings at IHOP-KC. Although Don Basham (A Handbook on Tongues, Interpretation, and Prophecy, 1971), Bruce Yocum (Prophecy, 1976), and John Loren Sandford (The Elijah Task, 1977), had taught about prophetic ministry before IHOP-KC, in terms of a long-lasting influence: Katz might be mainly responsible for today’s prophetic movement, because he gave the young Bickle the confidence to pay attention to Bob Jones and take him seriously. And yet, down the road, you can clearly see that in 2004, Katz had some misgivings about the direction that prophetic ministry had taken in the charismatic churches. This message was given right after Paul Cain was exposed for homosexuality and alcoholism. He published a book called The Prophetic Call: True and False Prophets. The main problems he saw with prophetic ministry today, are the following, using Jeremiah 23 as a point of reference:

1. Accepting prideful and honorific titles like Doctor, Prophet, Apostle, and Man of God.

2. Expressing shallow, sentimental, and cheap politically affirming statements about the State of Israel. Little token words that carry no weight, just based on recent political events, and which have no sense of grief and honesty about the state of sin among the people who live there.

3. Speaking happy-go-lucky messages marked by positive confession rather than repenting from PORN.

4. Cheap grace prophets getting the spotlight and lordship salvation prophets being called “false.”

5. Materialistic and affluently dressed prosperity prophets actually being taken seriously.

6. Shallow messages coming from prosperity gospel prophetic ministers: “its a cheapie.”

7. There’s no kabod, no spiritual weight, no holiness about the prophetic words: they’re all hype.

8. Dream-based prophetic utterances are rare: most prophetic words are just random thoughts that some guy made up on the stage.

9. Many charismatic prophets are all too eager to run up to the microphone without a real revelation.

10. Prophets with an all too relaxed attitude using “thus saith the Lord” for false and empty messages.

11. There’s not enough prophets doing contemplative prayer: “be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). But they just go and make up fake prophetic words and say “thus saith the Lord” anyway, falsely, casually, positively, rose-colored, and optimistic, in order to comfort their listeners in an ego-stroking manner, like a bunch of New Age fortune tellers.

12. Little gods heresy, positive confession, and prosperity gospel related prophetic words.

13. Most prophetic ministers are not aware of death, judgment, and Hell (Puritan soteriology).

14. No prophetic ministers with meekness, sacrifice, suffering, humility, spiritual maturity, and experience with God’s presence.

15. Prophetic ministers plagiarizing other preachers instead of getting words direct from the Holy Spirit.

16. Real prophetic words are lacking: words like a hammer, words with fire, words that shake people up.

17. Publishing books of dreams and visions just to make sales and be a charismatic somebody.

18. Informal, cute, shallow, light, sham, fraud, triviality, levity, non-serious attitude while delivering prophetic words–no sense of gravity, no otherworldly seriousness, no sense of God’s majesty and holiness, no spiritual mindedness, no conviction of sin, no fear of God about the prophetic words that are delivered.

19. Prophetic words that lack the awe and fear of God and the contrite quality of the book of Psalms.

20. Charismatic prophets that are prone to play-acting, showmanship, and putting on an uplifting performance.