WesleyGospel Ministries

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.                                                                                                                –Luke 6:38

John Wesley said:

Into your bosom – Alluding to the mantles the Jews wore, into which a large quantity of corn might be received. With the same measure that ye mete with, it shall be measured to you again – Amazing goodness! So we are permitted even to carve for ourselves! We ourselves are, as it were, to tell God how much mercy he shall show us! And can we be content with less than the very largest measure? Give then to man, what thou designest to receive of God.

Matthew Henry said:

Give, and it shall be given to you. God, in his providence, will recompense it to you; it is lent to him, and he is not unrighteous to forget it (Hebrews 6:10), but he will pay it again. Men shall return it into your bosom; for God often makes use of men as instruments, not only of his avenging, but of his rewarding justice. If we in a right manner give to others when they need, God will incline the hearts of others to give to us when we need, and to give liberally, good measure pressed down and shaken together. They that sow plentifully shall reap plentifully. Whom God recompenses he recompenses abundantly.

Although Christ’s command to give and His promise of return on your investment have been dreadfully distorted and abused by prosperity preachers, it remains true that Luke 6:38 is still the Word of God, as all Scripture is inspired by God (2 Tim. 3:16). All too often we see these flaky Word of Faith Pentecostals preaching that if you give money to their ministry, then God will give you a financial blessing in return, in proportion to the amount you donated to them. We know that these men are wolves in sheep’s clothing, manipulating the Scriptures for their own financial gain (2 Pet. 2:3). I have certain televangelists in mind like Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, and Robert Tilton–men who are materialistic and proud of their wealth. It is sad that the devil has used these men to steal the blessed teaching on financial providence that Jesus gave to us when He spoke the words in Luke 6:38. The promise is quite literal and not symbolic. The teaching is plain: If you give a little bit of money to God’s cause (that is, what you feel to be a truly godly Gospel ministry), then you have a right to trust and pray for God to give you a little bit of a financial blessing, of whatever it is you ask of Him. God’s way is greater and superior than a genie with only three measly wishes: He is infinite in His providence.

God says, “All the animals of the forest are Mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills” (Ps. 50:10). God has more wealth available for us than you can imagine, but if you want Him to help you out financially, then you’re going to have to put your money where your mouth is, and trust Him with some of your money. It’s one thing to say, “Lord, I trust that you will provide for all of my financial needs,” but never give any money to God’s cause. It’s quite another to say, “Lord, I trust that you will provide for all of my financial needs; and much more so as I give to your cause, and wait for your help according to Luke 6:38, where you promised that if I give money to You, then men will give money back to me, and more so, with interest.” God has so fixed His covenant of providence that when men trust in Him and put their money where their mouth is, and they back up their faith with action (James 2:26), and they give to the cause of God–that He will reward their financial trust fund, with a financial blessing in return, according to their faith. Is it unemployment, debt, a car, a college education, medical bills, rent? What is your financial need? Pray your heart out to God; give money as you are able to a true ministry, and ask God to help you financially in whatever area you specify to Him in prayer. God is a good, good Father; and He has provided this as part of the covenant of providence for Christians.

Genesis 1 – This chapter can be summarized by verse 31: “God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” It took six days for God to create the world and everything in it. The creation of mankind was His crowning achievement, having made them in His own image (v. 27). There is not one suggestion in this chapter that God used millions of years nor Darwinistic evolution to create the world.

Genesis 2 – To further counter the idea of Darwinistic evolution, it specifically says how God made Adam and Eve, the first people: 1. Adam was made from the dust of the ground (v. 7). 2. Eve was made from Adam’s rib (v. 22). Darwinism says something totally different: that, over the course of millions of years, smaller animals changed into larger animals, and a certain kind of monkey changed into a Neanderthal (cave man), and then into the first man called Homo sapiens. This idea also contradicts verse 19, which says that God created all animals directly from the ground. There is no evolutionary concept in this chapter of a slow, gradual progression from one kind of animal changing into another, eventually resulting in humans. Such an idea was invented in Charles Darwin’s imagination, and published in On the Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871); it is now the origins myth of all secular school systems today, and embraced as a scientific fact, despite the clear testimony of Scripture. See Jonathan Sarfati’s Refuting Evolution I and II.

Genesis 3 – Here is described the fall of Adam and Eve (or their natures) into sin. Satan, in the form of a demonized lizard, perhaps a dragon, or a small four legged dinosaur (maybe something like a Tanystropheus), speaks to Eve within view of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There has been much speculation about what kind of fruit this was, but suffice it to say, that God had placed a curse of sin and death on it for disobedience. Satan convinced Eve that God was trying to keep her from knowing as much as He did, so she was persuaded to eat it, not only because it looked like it would taste good, but because she thought it might give her more intelligence. Perhaps this fruit had some psychological properties (a drug), because it had a direct effect on her mind, as she immediately realized that she was naked, and was ashamed of it. God punished the demonized lizard by removing its legs and turning it into a snake (the reverse of evolution if anything), thus serving as a symbolic memorial for all time of the wicked vehicle through which mankind fell: even though it is the wisest of all land animals, it would have to be considered the lowest and most humiliated: despised by man, licking the dust of the ground all its days because of what it did. Observe that the snake is often used as a symbol of paganism and witchcraft: as if the devil still intends to use this to symbolize rebellion against God. There was also the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, then guarded by angels with flaming swords, but now swept away by the flood of Noah, the fruit of which imparted immortality; this was previously located in Iraq, most likely where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers converge by the town of Al-Qurnah. Local folklore holds that this is the original site of the Garden of Eden; and they even have a park there for what is called Adam’s Tree, in which they believe it to still contain the six thousand year old tree of knowledge: it is a jujube or date tree. Whether or not this is really that tree is beside the point: what is true is that Moses identified Eden with that place where the Tigris (Hiddekel in KJV) and the Euphrates intersected (2:10-15).

Genesis 4 – Without going into specifics, it is apparent that Abel’s relationship with God was good, but Cain’s was bad (Josephus, Ant. 2.1): hence the reason for God rejecting his sacrifice; and the reason why Cain so quickly burned with jealousy and hatred and murdered Abel even after hearing the voice of God! But the grace of God is shown in this: that although Cain was punished to wander into the land of Nod, and to never see his parents again, he was given a mark so that no man would kill him. Adam and Eve also had daughters (Josephus, Ant. 2.1), and so God provided him with a wife and a son named Enoch, not to be confused with the prophet Enoch who was seven generations removed from Adam, and descended from Seth (5:18-24). It is assumed that the world had been somewhat populated by now, because there were other towns with people in them, so this must have happened about 130 years after the events in Genesis 2 and 3: because Adam had already lived that many years when Eve conceived Seth in the place of Abel (5:3); this was plenty of time for other adults to procreate an adult wife for Cain to marry in Nod, a city that he built, but continued an evil life, being greedy and robbing people; he also built a city called Enoch, named after his eldest (Josephus, Ant. 2.2). Of course, all were “inbreeding” in those days, since everyone came from Adam and Eve, and there were no laws against it. Seth named his son Enos, and it was then that men began to “call upon the name of the Lord” (v. 26), bringing a revival probably through Seth (Josephus, Ant. 2.3), now that he was a grown man, and the eventual ancestor of Enoch and Noah. It seems that this was the first revival in history after the fall of Adam and Eve.

Genesis 5 – It is astonishing that so many men had lived for hundreds of years before dying! Young earth creationists explain this by saying that human bodies were in prime condition in those times, excluding the thousands of years of genetic defects that would eventually crop up in the human race and shorten lives; also, they say, the oxygen level, the ozone layer, and the general atmosphere was much more conducive to life back then than it is today. This is evidenced by giant fossils of plants, insects, animals, and humans believed to have lived in “prehistoric” or “antediluvian” pre-flood times. For an in-depth treatment of the antediluvian world, see Henry Morris’ The Genesis Record.

Genesis 6 – The revival in 4:26 was short lived, as all revivals are; but by that time, the men who followed the Lord were called the “sons of God” just as Christian men are under the Gospel (1 John 3:1), for God becomes the Father of all who live by faith in Him. Some men were gigantic in these times (v. 4), but this is not necessarily because the “sons of God” were fallen angels breeding with women. It could simply be for the same reasons given in chapter 5: things were larger back then and lived longer, because the natural conditions were nearly perfect. However, an alternative view holds that the giants were larger than others because the “sons of God” were fallen angelic beings who impregnated women with giants, see Job 38:7 (see Josephus, Ant. 3.1; this was the main view of the ancient world; and it was believed that Noah disapproved of this interbreeding with demons). In Greek mythology, Zeus supposedly turned into a swan and seduced a woman named Leda into sexual relations. This interpretation finds expression in ch. 6 of The Book of Enoch. Also, it had been a long held belief in the Middle Ages that witches can have sexual relations with demons called incubi: this was so serious a subject that a whole chapter was spent on it in part 1, question 3 of Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger’s Malleus Maleficarum. But if we assume the “sons of God” were godly men, then as in the history of Israel, it was the seductions of pagan women that drew the hearts of these sons of God away from God; and they intermarried with the daughters of Cain, who was a murderer; and apparently his descendants were violent like he was, because the whole earth was filled with violence by the time of Noah, and for this reason, God decided to flood the world and only save Noah’s family in the ark.

I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
–1 Corinthians 9:22–

Like Charles Wesley, who felt the need to reclaim the catchy tavern songs of the day and turn them into Gospel tunes, so also I see the need to reclaim high quality rock music for the Gospel today. The Smashing Pumpkins, for example, were one of my favorite bands when I was a middle schooler. They were one of the foundational bands I listened to that got me into playing guitar. An additional reason was my 5th grade friend Tom was the nephew of their drummer, Jimmy Chamberlain. Yes, its true. Nirvana was another band I listened to and so was Hole. Of course, even a passing glance at the lyrics of these songs will reveal profanity, obscene themes, and gestures, and overall non-Christian thinking. Kurt Cobain, the frontman for Nirvana was even a Satanist (I found this out recently) and committed suicide. There were definitely some pretty negative and dark sides to these bands I was listening to. But that’s not why I liked it; I liked the guitar music. One of the albums that was key to my musical formation was Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins, and to this day I still like their song “Cherub Rock,” so far as the chord progressions go. Soon after moving to Marietta, Georgia a year ago, I learned that there was a recording studio nearby where this 4x Platinum album was recorded. A year after this album was recorded, the band Hole also recorded Live Through This there and Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain (who were married at the time) came here to record it just a year before he killed himself. That is an album I have never personally listened to. Collective Soul also recorded the song “She Said” here. Three high profile alternative rock grunge bands from the 90s. Out of curiosity, I looked into it, and visited it today with my family. It is no longer there, but the building is. It used to be called Triclops Sound Studios, and later Triclops Recording, and was located at 120 Interstate N Parkway E, Suite 164, Atlanta, Georgia. This place is located in a business park and is currently rented by a Muslim congregation called Ismaili Jamatkhana.

I had my picture taken outside the door despite angry glances from a few Muslims in the parking lot walking into the service. One lady said, “Can I help you?” I said, “I’m just taking a picture. Kurt Cobain recorded a CD here over 20 years ago.” She just walked in. With my Bible in hand and my acoustic guitar, I had Rebekah take my picture in front of this place. Maybe I can reclaim some of this music for God’s glory some day and record songs in a studio like this.

Book Idea: Is Christian Rock Okay?

1. John Thompson’s Raised by Wolves (ECW Press) – 4, 15 reviews – historical

2. Steven Felix-Jager’s With God On Our Side (Wipf & Stock) – 5, 2 reviews – pro-rock

3. Jay Howard’s Apostles of Rock (University Press of KY) – 4.5, 2 – 5 views of CCM

4. Shawn Young’s Gray Sabbath (Columbia University Press) – 5, 3 reviews – historical

5. Randall Stephen’s The Devil’s Music (Harvard University Press) – 5, 3 reviews – hist

—

These are the more popular books on the subject, but they lack organization. They are written in a pop format, experiences, etc. They are not very chronological or very topical.

6. Mark Joseph’s Rock Gets Religion (WND Books) – 4, 6 reviews

7. —. Faith, God, and Rock and Roll (Baker) – 4, 5 reviews

8. —. The Rock and Roll Rebellion (Broadman & Holman) – 4, 14 reviews

9. John Blanchard’s Can We Rock the Gospel? (EP Books) – 4, 20 reviews

10. Andrew Beaujon’s Body Piercing Saved My Life (De Capo Press) – 4, 18 reviews

What are the conditions? What are the things that have to be “just right” for God’s presence to manifest and be felt in a church or home where praise and worship is going on? Many charismatics have had those special times where they have been lost in worship: they closed their eyes, raised their arms, and focused on the Lord, and they were baptized in the Spirit, spoke in tongues, and felt His comfort all over them. The conditions were just right: then years followed when they didn’t have the experience: and how frustrated they must be! What if I told you that there are charismatic leaders who have written about this and have provided guidelines for worship leaders to keep the presence of God coming in our lives? What if I told you that you can invite the presence of God into your home and you don’t have rely on shaky relationships at your charismatic church, in order to keep going there, just to feel God’s presence, even if you hate going to that church because of the people? In this article I intend to do just that…

Key Scriptures

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.                                                                      –Ephesians 5:18-20

Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs…Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.
                                                                                                                                      –Psalm 100:2, 4

Thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
                                                                    –Psalm 22:3, KJV

By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually.
                                                                                        –Hebrews 13:15, KJV

Contemporary Christian Rock Worship Teams

“For many, the scene that comes to mind when a charismatic is mentioned is that of an enthusiastic Christian with a transfigured face and lifted hands. Charismatics have given the church Scripture songs and choruses, guitars and drums, clapping and dancing, worship teams and banners, song sheets and overheads, worship seminars and conferences, as well as enthusiastic faith and infectious joy.” – WorshipTraining

“Placing greater value on the physical and emotional dimensions in worship greatly affects the musical style of charismatic worship. Most noticeable is the greater emphasis on rhythm in worship music. More than melody or harmony, rhythm corresponds to the physical side of human personality. A charismatic worship band is generally built around a rhythm section (piano or guitars, bass and drums) rather than around an organ. The organ doesn’t easily accompany hand-clapping praise music.” – WorshipTraining

Led by the Holy Spirit

“First, the intervening presence of the Holy Spirit activates the priestly functions of worshipers. Second, worship involves the whole person’s spirit, soul and body. Third, the act of worship is a progression into the manifest presence of God. Fourth, worship creates an atmosphere where God’s power is revealed. And fifth, worship is more than singing: it is serving.” – WorshipTraining

“So for the charismatic, the Holy Spirit is the activator who takes us out of neutral and prompts the various expressions of worship. Worship, then, can be understood as the grateful sacrifices offered by activated priests discovering their ministry unto God.” – WorshipTraining

Spontaneous Singing of Simple Choruses

“The physical and emotional dimensions of charismatic worship heighten the spiritual dimension of worship. A practice unique to the charismatic movement is singing in the Spirit. Based on 1 Corinthians 14:15, this practice involves singing spontaneous words and melodies around a fixed chord or slowly moving chord progression. Sometimes referred to as free worship or open worship, this song form has affected regular congregational singing among charismatics…This spontaneous quality of worship, along with a renewed desire for personal experience in worship, has created a burgeoning new library of contemporary, testimonial and simple-to-learn choruses.” – WorshipTraining

Physical Expressions

“Charismatic worship is demonstrative. It is something you do. It is not passive. Charismatic worship includes hearty singing, lifting of hands, bowing, clapping, dancing, and shouting [and speaking in tongues].” – WorshipTraining

“Most traditions acknowledge the mental and spiritual aspects of worship. The charismatic makes sure we don’t forget the physical and emotional elements of worship.” – WorshipTraining

Miraculous Faith and Gifts Tend Be Side Effects of Charismatic Worship

“Faith for miracles, healing, and deliverance from evil spirits seems to come more easily following vigorous worship. American evangelist T. L. Osborn regularly played the popular charismatic worship tape “All Hail King Jesus” (Hosanna! Music, 1985) for thirty minutes through loud speakers before his crusades in Africa and testified that miracles happened even before the preaching because of the atmosphere of power the worship music created. Jack Hayford, pastor and songwriter from California, prescribed regular singing to a woman in his church who was unable to have children. Based on Isaiah 54:1, the counsel was put into action and a year later the woman was a mother of a baby girl. Elisha called for a harpist before he prophesied (2 Kings 3:15). King Saul was relieved of the oppression of evil spirits when David played on his harp (1 Sam. 16:23). In the New Testament, Paul and Silas sang and prayed in prison when God answered with an earthquake (Acts 16:25-26).” – WorshipTraining

Observations About Charismatic Worship Based on John Wimber Videos

1. John Wimber’s Teaching on Church Worship. You’re not supposed to “get” anything out of worship: you’re supposed to give praise to God. It’s not about us, it’s about God. James 4:8: “Come near to God and He will come near to you.” Does it please God? is the real question. Praise and worship is preparation for worship in Heaven (as it says in the book of Hebrews). Just like when a cop points a gun at a criminal and says “Put your hands up!” so also does the law of God point at us and command us to put our hands up to God in surrender. 1 Timothy 2:8: “I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.” It is a way of saying, “God, You are holy, I am not: I surrender my self-will and my sinful habits over to Your authority and control.” The worship songs are supposed to be directed TO God and are FOR God. We need to be living a HOLY LIFE in order to experience the full blessing of worship.

2. John Wimber, Pastor of the Vineyard, Singing in the Spirit. Pacing around with closed eyes, focused on God, starts to sing “Spirit of the Living God” by Daniel Iverson. People start raising their hands, and then spontaneously sing in tongues, sort of in a loose, up and down, antiphonal way. Some occasional clapping. In the middle a man and a woman prophesy to the congregation something with an authoritative and exhorting tone. The prophetess starts to cry. People start to cry. Then John goes to the piano and sings “Jesus” by Debby Kerner.

3. Worship. “Who Is Qualified to Worship?” Psalm 24:1-6. Humans are created to worship; and if they don’t worship God, then they will worship something, as it is with evolutionists, who worship nature. While singing the song, “Great Is Your Love,” you see people closing their eyes, and singing from memory, they are focusing on the Lord, with their arms held out in a receiving posture, to receive the presence of God. Instruments used: (1) song leader: acoustic guitar, microphone; (2) backup singer: microphone; (3) pianist: Korg electric keyboard; (4) drum set; (5) bass guitar; (6) electric guitar (as a background instrument).

4. Vineyard Conference Worship. Leader is Eddie Espinoza. Opening with “Hosanna” by Carl Tuttle. Definitely a favorite song. People are clapping and some raising their hands. Later on some people dance back and forth in a sort of side-to-side pace. Hopping up and down – “pogo stick” style I think they called it. Some people would twirl and interlock elbows and swing around again and do that. “Blessed Be The Lord God Almighty” by Kelly Willard. “Shine Jesus Shine” by Graham Kendrick. Lighthearted at times.

Further Reading

Hayford, Jack. Worship His Majesty. Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1987, 2000.

Hosanna! Music. “All Hail King Jesus” – 1985.

Mercy/Vineyard Ministries International. “Worship Songs of the Vineyard: No One But You” – 1989.

Law, Terry. The Power of Praise and Worship. Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 2008. Originally 1985.

Williams, Don. “Charismatic Worship,” Exploring the Worship Spectrum. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004. Vineyard perspective.

Wimber, John. Worship. 5 DVD set. $75. 1989.

WorshipTraining. “A Charismatic Theology of Worship.”

This song is inspired by Jason A’s YouTube video of strange trumpet sounds coming from the sky in Edmonton, Canada on November 26, 2015. The video is called: “Something Big is Happening 2016…Strange Events/’Apocalyptic’ Sounds Being Heard Worldwide!”

Soundbyte

PLAY AT A SLOW, TRUDGING PACE.

Verse 1 (x2)
Em                   Em – O
The angel of judgment
Em                   Em – Fp (power chord)
Blew the trumpet
Em              Em     – O
Alarm the saints of
Em     – O  –        Fp
The coming judgment

Break (x3)
Cp       Cp (power chord)   Em
Wake up!
Em     (Pluck high strings)
Awake!

Verse 2 (x2)
Em              Em – O
A shofar in the
Em – O – Fp
Sky
Em                   Em – O
One third is gonna
Em – O – Fp
Die

Break
Verse (Instrumental)
Soundbyte

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand…Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.                                                               –Joel 2:1, 15

He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.                   –Matt. 24:31

Other than the audio sample from the UK in the above video, this one from November 26, 2015 in Edmonton, Canada (starting at 7:45) is really impressive.

Sounds of the Northern Lights? Nope.

Think again. One skeptical scientist who heard reports of the trumpet sounds said that they are just the sounds of the Aurora Borealis. There’s at least three problems with that explanation. 1. There are many videos featured above where the sounds are occurring and there are no appearance of Northern Lights, no green misty appearance in the sky. 2. The sounds of the Northern Lights can only be heard with a radio receiver pointed at them. 3. The sounds do not sound at all like trumpets or shofars, as in these videos. They sound more like a flock of birds chirping. Here’s some samples: Aurora 1, Aurora 2, Aurora 3.

My Wife’s Vision of a Giant Angel Blowing a Trumpet

In August 2016, my wife had a vision of a giant angel blowing a trumpet outside in the sky; and she said it sounded a lot like in these videos, like a shofar: starting off low and going up into a higher pitch. At first I didn’t believe her, but then I started seeing 666 signs everywhere, out of my control; and now I’m finding that people are hearing shofar sounds coming from the sky in various places all over the world!

My wife says she feels this could be the second trumpet in Revelation 8:1-9:

When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in Heaven for about half an hour. ² And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. ³ Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. ⁴ The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. ⁵ Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. ⁶ Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

⁷ The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

⁸ The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, ⁹ a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

We don’t know the timetable of the end times, but God does give visions, signs, and revelations to charismatic Christians who follow the Lord their hearts. Maybe people are hearing the first and second trumpets all over the world. Perhaps World War III is upon us, perhaps nuclear war will burn a third of our world! Whatever happens, let’s trust Jesus for our salvation; and let God work out the details. If we’re in Revelation 8 already, its not much longer until the Antichrist comes in Revelation 13…in light of the phenomena my wife and others are claiming to experience, these thoughts are unavoidable.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11, NKJV: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

The apostle Paul is so clear here: HOMOSEXUALS WILL NOT GO TO HEAVEN. So yes, ordaining gays and marrying gays should be out of the question for Christians. I disagree with the UMC allowing “gay members” of churches–perhaps this is where the LGBT landslide began. There is no Biblical support for having a gay church member. Gay people attending a church service in hopes of conversion? Yes, but not a gay church member.

The United Methodist Book of Discipline on Homosexuality:

¶ 4. Article IV. Inclusiveness of the Church

The United Methodist Church is a part of the church universal, which is one Body in Christ. The United Methodist Church acknowledges that all persons are of sacred worth. All persons without regard to race, color, national origin, status,⁴ or economic condition, shall be eligible to attend its worship services, participate in its programs, receive the sacraments, upon baptism be admitted as baptized members, and upon taking vows declaring the Christian faith, become professing members in any local church in the connection.⁵ In The United Methodist Church no conference or other organizational unit of the Church shall be structured so as to exclude any member or any constituent body of the Church because of race, color, national origin, status or economic condition.⁶
4. Amended 1992.
5. Amended 2000.
6. See Judicial Council Decisions 242, 246, 340, 351, 362, 377, 398, 594, 601, and Decisions 4 and 5, Interim Judicial Council.

¶ 214. Eligibility

The United Methodist Church is a part of the holy catholic (universal) church, as we confess in the Apostles’ Creed. In the church, Jesus Christ is proclaimed and professed as Lord and Savior. All people may attend its worship services, participate in its programs, receive the sacraments and become members in any local church in the connection (¶ 4). In the case of persons whose disabilities prevent them from reciting the vows, their legal guardian[s], themselves members in full covenant relationship with God and the Church, the community of faith, may recite the appropriate vows on their behalf.

¶ 304.3 Qualifications for Ordination

While persons set apart by the Church for ordained ministry are subject to all the frailties of the human condition and the pressures of society, they are required to maintain the highest standards of holy living in the world. The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore self-avowed practicing homosexuals¹ are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church.²
1. “Self-avowed practicing homosexual” is understood to mean that a person openly acknowledges to a bishop, district superintendent, district committee of ordained ministry, board of ordained ministry, or clergy session that the person is a practicing homosexual. See Judicial Council Decisions 702, 708, 722, 725, 764, 844, 984, 1020
2. See Judicial Council Decisions 984, 985, 1027, 1028

¶ 613 Responsibilities [of the conference council on finance]

The [conference council on finance and administration] shall have authority and responsibility to perform the following functions:
19. To ensure that no annual conference board, agency, committee, commission, or council shall give United Methodist funds to any gay caucus or group, or otherwise use such funds to promote the acceptance of homosexuality or violate the expressed commitment of The UMC “not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay members and friends” (¶ 161F). The council shall have the right to stop such expenditures. This restriction shall not limit the Church’s ministry in response to the HIV epidemic, nor shall it preclude funding for dialogs or educational events where the Church’s official position is fairly and equally represented.

From The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church – 2016. Copyright 2016 by The United Methodist Publishing House. Used by permission.

The following is a list of historically recognized heresies that have happened in Christianity. These are teachings and theologies that have been recognized as false, erroneous, and heretical by the church fathers and respected orthodox leaders of many evangelical Christian denominations. As a Pentecostal believer, I still feel like Assemblies of God is the safest, most orthodox choice. Even though I don’t agree with all of their positions.

1. Arianism – says Jesus was not equal with God but was a lesser created being.

• Modern Groups: Jehovah’s Witnesses, Unitarians

2. Rejecting the Holy Spirit as equal with God.

3. Monophysitism – says Jesus was 50% God and 50% man, not 100% of each.

4. Origenism – says the soul is created before the body; universalism (apokatastasis); pantheism; says that the sun, moon, and stars used to have intelligence and souls (as in pagan astrology); says that humans can become angels or demons in the next life; denies the Trinity; says that Jesus has appeared in many different forms, including as an angel, and other spirits; belief in the Monad (the god of Neoplatonism); the belief that souls are spherical and do not look like human bodies, including the resurrection body of Jesus in Heaven, that he looks like nothing more than a spirit ball; annihilationism (the view that the impenitent will burn up in Hell and turn into ashes, and not exist forever); Monism (the Hindu-Neoplatonic view that all things are united with God’s Spirit, including men, angels, and demons, and that all is one).

• Modern Groups: Many today falsely think of Origen as an orthodox “church father.” This is probably an honest mistake due to Philip Schaff’s inclusion of Origen in Volume IV of his collection called The Ante-Nicene Fathers.

5. Nontrinitarianism – rejection of the Trinity.

• Modern Groups: Jehovah’s Witnesses, United Pentecostal Church (Oneness/modalism), Unitarians, Adventists, Christadelphians, Living Church of God, Mormons, Unity Church, Church of Christ-Scientist (Christian Science), The Way International, The Church of God International, the United Church of God.
  

6. Cathars and Albigenses – said the “god” of the Old Testament was an evil being (Satan, the creator of the world), but the “god” of the New Testament was good (Dualism); souls are angels trapped in evil bodies that will be constantly reincarnated until they undergo a baptismal prayer ritual called the consolamentum; forbade people to marry a second time; they rejected the idea of repentance after your baptism; they rejected the idea of backsliders coming back to God; Arianism; vegetarianism; pacifism; against the death penalty; because they believed heterosexual procreation was evil, they generally resorted to gay sex (LGBT); feminism (women pastors); earth is the only “hell” men will experience; universalism; no resurrection of the body (since it is evil); suicide is okay; marital sex is wrong, concubines are better (or casual sex).

• Modern Groups: Ordo Templi Orientis, Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, Ecclesia Gnostica Mysteriorum, and other Gnostic cults.

7. Deism – says God created the world and then left it by itself; no miracles today.

• Modern Groups: World Union of Deists, Church of Deism

8. Priscillianism – Dualism; celibacy; vegetarianism; Apocrypha seen as scripture.

9. Antinomianism – says grace excuses Christians from obeying the moral laws of God.

• Modern Groups: Grace Evangelical Society, Free Grace Alliance, Bold Grace Ministries, the Plymouth Brethren, the local churches (Watchman Nee and Witness Lee), Dallas Theological Seminary. This is more of a theological movement than an institutionalized denomination: probably only the Plymouth Brethren and Watchman Nee-influenced house churches could be considered as “churches” with antinomian views. But really, antinomianism is like a disease that spreads all throughout the Protestant denominations; and is really only curbed by strong teaching against antinomianism and for lordship salvation (e.g., John MacArthur, The Banner of Truth Trust, J. I. Packer, etc).
  

10. Audianism – a type of Judaizer; have to celebrate Jesus’ death on Jewish Passover.

• Modern Judaizer Groups: Messianic Judaism, Chosen People Ministries, Coalition of Torah Observant Messianic Congregations, HaYesod, International Alliance of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues, The Jerusalem Council, Jews for Jesus, Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, Union of Conservative Messianic Synagogues, Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations, the Sacred Name Movement, the Worldwide Church of God, Seventh-Day Adventists, Hebrew Roots Movement.

11. Ebionites – Judaizers who rejected the deity of Christ; they kept the ceremonial laws.

12. Montanism – prophecy equal to Scripture; apostates can’t be saved; no remarriage.

• Modern Groups: prophecy equal to Scripture in authority (some Quakers, usually liberal: the Religious Society of Friends); backsliding always irrevocable (the Free Will Baptist Church); several denominations forbid divorce and remarriage, even if brought about by adultery, desertion, or abuse: others will allow remarriage only for adultery, but not for desertion and abuse (Church of God, Cleveland, TN).

13. Pelagianism – rejection of original sin; no help of the Holy Spirit is needed to repent.

• Modern Groups: Church of Christ, Mormons, Charles Finney, and some holiness churches.

14. Semipelagianism – man can make the first saving move in cooperating with God.

15. Biblical Criticism and Liberal Theology – rejects Biblical inerrancy and inspiration, the Virgin Birth, the deity of Christ, substitutionary atonement, the resurrection, miracles, the Second Coming, young earth creationism (and instead adopted Darwinian evolution); accepts the supremacy of atheistic/agnostic/deistic/skeptical/rationalistic science over the Bible and supernatural mysticism. These churches also tend to be LGBT friendly.

• Modern Groups: American Baptist Churches USA, Disciples of Christ, Episcopal Church USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Mennonite Church USA, Presbyterian Church in the USA (PCUSA), Religious Society of Friends (liberal Quakers), Reformed Church in America (RCA), the United Church of Christ (UCC), Metropolitan Community Church (100% gay), Unitarian Universalist Association, the United Methodist Church, and Unity Church.
  

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FURTHER READING.

Catholic Encyclopedia – “Albigenses.” (A Southern French Cathar group: could it be that the Camisards of the Cevennes or the French Prophets were descendants of the Albigenses? Just a thought.)

Catholic Encyclopedia – “Cathari.”

Catholic Encyclopedia – “Origen and Origenism.”

Catholic Encyclopedia – “Priscillianism.”

Schaff, Philip. “The Anathemas Against Origen.”

Wikipedia – “Catharism.”

Wikipedia – “Christian Heresy in the Modern Era.”

Wikipedia – “Free Grace Theology.” (modern antinomianism).

Wikipedia – “Fundamentalism.”

Wikipedia – “Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy.”

Wikipedia – “Hebrew Roots.”

Wikipedia – “Heresy in Christianity.”

Wikipedia – “LGBT-Affirming Christian Denominations.”

Wikipedia – “Liberal Christianity.”

Wikipedia – “List of Christian Heresies.” (great article).

Wikipedia – “Messianic Judaism.”

Wikipedia – “Nontrinitarianism.”

Wikipedia – “Origen.”

Wikipedia – “Priscillianism.”

Don’t watch this with kids in the room. I don’t know who made this video or what horror movie its taken from. If I did, I would ask permission for the re-post. But this video put the fear of Hell in me all over again. Next time you feel tempted to sin, or be weak in your faith, then just remind yourself about how awful Hell must be. I believe this is an accurate representation of Hell. For Biblical proofs, see Bill Wiese’s 23 Minutes in Hell and his larger book Hell. If you think that love is God’s only attribute, think again. God sends people to Hell and they are tortured by demons. That’s what the Bible says: “His Lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him” (Matt. 18:34). Jesus called the Pharisees “sons of Hell” (Matt. 23:15).

Hell emerges from a Biblical understanding of God. It reminds us that though God’s love is central in Scripture, it should not be viewed independently of God’s other attributes. His love is in unity with His justice and holiness (Hell Under Fire, p. 239).

Psalm 9:17: “The wicked shall be turned into Hell.”

Psalm 18:5: “The sorrows of Hell compassed me about.”

Psalm 55:15: “Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into Hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.”

Psalm 7:27: “Her house is the way to Hell.” – Referring to prostitutes and adulteresses.

Proverbs 15:24: “The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from Hell beneath.” – Referring to obedience to God’s law or lordship salvation.

Matthew 5:29: “If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into Hell.” – Referring to the danger of pornography and the lust of the eye.

Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell.”

Matthew 23:33: “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of Hell?” – Referring to the danger of meanness, malice, hate, and a murderous spirit.

Luke 16:23: “In Hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments.”