The Ignorance of the Educated

Like many other “professionals,” medical “professionals” suffer from a general lack of education because they cannot comprehend any other way of thinking besides what they were taught in medical school. As I always say, any form of education predominantly teaches you how to think and believe the way your professors think and believe; never how to think critically, objectively, logically, rationally, or even for yourself.

"Experts" are not immune from poor judgment and faulty reasoning. People who are academically accomplished are the most susceptible to media brainwashing and propaganda. They believe that academic achievement removes them from susceptibility, but historically the opposite is true. They ignorantly believe that academia can do no wrong. Academia says it, they believe it, that’s all there is to it!

Based on about five dozen quotes I have read, I believe that professor Richard Feynman was a very bright man. Several of his quotes regarding education would likely offend the so-called “educated.” He basically calls the “educated” dangerous, which they are. Here are a few of his quotes (which confirmed my own thoughts and observations):

“Modern education:
Creating people who are smart enough to accurately repeat what they are told and follow the orders.
And dumb enough to think this makes them smarter than everyone else.”

“The real problem with the education system is that it tests memorization skills, not learning or intelligence.
The two major aspects that lack in modern education systems are education and system.”

“The problem is not people being uneducated.
The problem is that people are educated just enough to believe what they have been taught, and not educated enough to question anything from what they have been taught.”

“When your ‘education’ limits your imagination it’s called indoctrination. Those who cannot think for themselves are truly lost.
Education should be a rewarding experience which allows you to think, imagine, question, doubt and solve problems.”

“Education isn’t about the ability to remember and repeat, in which people study to pass exams, and teach others to pass exams, but nobody knows anything.
It is the ability to learn from experience, to think, solve problems, and use our knowledge to adapt to new situations.” 

“You cannot get educated by this self-propagating system in which people study to pass exams, and teach others to pass exams, but nobody knows anything.
You learn something by doing it yourself, by asking questions, by thinking, and by experimenting.”

“The goal of teaching should not be to help the students learn how to memorize and spit out information under academic pressure.
The purpose of teaching is to inspire the desire for learning in them and make them able to think, understand, and question.”

“Never confuse education with intelligence. You can have a Ph.D. and still be an idiot.”

“When you are dead, you don’t know you are dead. It’s pain only for others.
It’s the same thing when you are stupid.”

“Be careful when you follow the masses. Sometimes the M is silent.”

Credentials do not amount to a hill of beans. Anyone with half a brain and a shred of intelligence can retain information and parrot it back on tests and exams in order to get the grades, the GPA, the degrees, and titles. You can have the entire alphabet before and after your name and it literally means nothing; it does not mean you are intelligent in the least, that you understand anything you learned, or that you have a clue what you are talking about. The real test of intelligence is whether you can question any of what you were taught to believe and expose it as either antiquated (old) or false, or if you can create a better way of accomplishing it.

A large portion of things we have been taught are patently false, from Big Bang to Evolution to Pangea to modern church practice to medical/pharmaceutical chicanery. Are you going to remain an ignorant fool who goes along to get along, or are you going to stand up and be a beacon of light exposing the great lies with the truth? “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Will you take the red pill, or the blue pill? “You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”

“Three things cannot be long hidden: The sun, the moon, and the truth.” —Confucius

“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” —Arthur Schopenhauer

“[God’s] truth [is] not to [certain individual’s] taste. We all know how soon a man will contrive, against the strongest evidence, to reason himself out of the belief of what he dislikes.” —Matthew Henry

“We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, but they are still lying.” —Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

“The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie. One word of truth outweighs the [whole] world.” —Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

“One drop of truth can outweigh an ocean of lies.” —Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

“Stand up for [truth] even if you’re standing alone.” ―Suzy Kassem

“Stand up for [truth] regardless of who is committing the [lie].” ―Suzy Kassem

“Always stand up for truth regardless of who steps on it.” ―Suzy Kassem

“The least deviation from truth will be multiplied later.” —Aristotle

“A lie doesn’t become truth, wrong doesn’t become right, and evil doesn’t become good, just because it’s accepted by a majority.” —Booker T. Washington

“Have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?” —Galatians 4:16

“Study . . . rightly dividing the word of truth.” —2 Timothy 2:15

Know the truth. Speak the truth. Stand for the truth.

More on Paul Washer’s Logical Fallacy

“Let’s go back through 2000 years of Christian history. If the men and women who loved and cherished the Scriptures, and had a high view of Scriptures, are all in agreement with regard to a certain doctrine, and they don’t agree with you, then who’s probably wrong?” —Paul Washer

Once again, as godly as Paul Washer may be, and as much as I may respect him, this is a logical fallacy. Especially when you start to exegete the modern church and understand her pagan roots. 500 years ago, the Reformers attempted to recover biblical doctrine (while creating unbiblical doctrines of their own), but they failed to recover the priesthood of all believers and the gathering of the saints as was practiced during the first century.

What you and I experience today (and has been experienced for the past 1700 years) as “church” is what Emperor Constantine introduced to the church. Our “temples,” our “clergy,” our “services,” none of that existed for the first 300 years of the church’s existence. Yet Mr. Washer wants to attempt to argue because some belief or practice was held to for so long that that automatically makes you wrong and them right? Sorry, Mr. Washer, but you could not be more wrong.

Add to that the fact that whenever the early church gathered, they did so around a communal meal. The Lord’s Supper (or Communion) never consisted of a tiny shot glass of wine or grape juice and a wafer, cracker, or crumb of bread. Read 1 Corinthians 11 and you can see the problem with this practice. Moreover, in the early church the only requirement for membership was the indwelling Holy Spirit, and you were baptized immediately upon your profession of Jesus. Today, membership resembles joining country clubs, and they employ lengthy waiting periods before you can be baptized. What was that Mr. Washer was saying about the length of time the church believed or practiced a certain thing?

The modern church, and much of her forced exegesis, including that done by Mr. John MacArthur, could not be more wrong. The modern church has eisegeitically tried to force her practices into the Bible by imposing them on particular texts. However, if you bother to pay close attention to your New Testament when you read it, these errors could not be more plain. The New Testament says nothing in defence of our modern temples, our paid clergy, our “worship” services, or even of “tithing.” The New Testament is opposed to all of these.

When you try to share this with those in unbiblical positions they should not hold, they turn on you rather quickly and attack you with deflection, projection, censorship, smearing, framing, ad hominem, name calling, character assassination, and the use of fallacious arguments that have no basis in reality, because they are afraid of giving up or losing the control they have over the people (or their lazy laidback lifestyle of mooching off and fleecing the saints). This exposes them as hirelings as much as the events of the past two years does, dividing their flocks over the lies of this scamdemic (to say nothing of those hirelings who failed to celebrate the overturning of Roe).

Mr. Washer seriously needs to rethink his words. However, that is likely never to happen (as with 90% of professing Christians) because he has been programmed to believe what he believes and he is too proud and stubborn to “search the Scriptures” and see it any other way. Is this true of you as well, reader, or are you like the Bereans with a heart that desires to know and conform to biblical truth? I pray it is the latter.

“Judeo-Christian”???

I dislike the use of the phrase “Judeo-Christian.”

Why?

First, there is no such thing as a “Judeo-Christian” religion. Even the Jews recognize this. Observe:

“You will notice that a great difference exists between the Jewish and the Christian religions. But these are not all. We Jews consider the two religions so different that one excludes the other...we emphasized that there is no such thing as a Judeo-Christian religion... There is not any similarity between the two concepts...” —Rabbi Maggal, President, quoted in the National Jewish Information Service, August 21, 1961

Jews have abandoned the faith of Abraham in place of the traditions of the scribes and Pharisees. Also, Christianity does not have “Jewish roots.” It has nothing to do with the tribe of Judah nor the religion of Judaism, both of which the term “Jew” accurately reflects.

Second, the purpose of the phrase “Judeo-Christian” is to give credit for the good and wonderful things of Christianity to people whose rejection of Jesus forms the core of their identity.

We must stop lumping in an alien religion that holds its additional holy book (the Talmud) as of equal or greater authority than the Bible, just as Muslims (the Qur’an) and Mormons (the Book of Mormon) do. There is no “Judeo-Christian” morality any more than there is an “Islamo-Christian” or “Mormono-Christian” morality.

If God’s people are going to rebuild Christianity in the same way Christ’s apostles did in the first century, we must be just as exclusively Christian as they were. We have to dispense with the fantasy that a religion that has rejected the true Israel—Christ Jesus—has anything more to do with the Christian faith than Muhammad’s or Joseph Smith’s fantastical fabrications.

“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. ... No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Not through Moses.
Not through Muhammed.
Not through Moroni.

Only Jesus. Only Christian.

Was Your Pastor Silent on Roe?

by Andrew Iske

On Friday, June 24th, an epochal change took place in American history: the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. If you are a churchgoing evangelical Christian who somehow had not heard about that before going to church Sunday, June 26th, a substantial percentage of you would have remained unaware that the most significant political and cultural change in half a century had taken place. Yes, many churches were totally silent about this massive victory won by the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are a number of purported reasons for this. Chief among them is the theological view among evangelical leaders that the church should never speak about anything “political” or sully its “witness” by preaching to the culture. Forget the fact that Jesus Christ is king of heaven and earth, reigning from the right hand of God the Father, and that therefore everything is under His authority—No!—the gospel is only about the individual sinner’s heart, and has nothing to say about how he is to live in the world, much less how he is to do things like vote! Hireling evangelical leaders will also point to “separation of church and state” as though the modern liberal understanding is 1. What the Founding Fathers of the American republic meant by the First Amendment’s establishment clause (they didn’t) 2. God’s Word nowhere requires God’s people or ministers to refrain from speaking about politics and culture anywhere. If Jesus reigns, and if the state is the minister of God, punishing wickedness and rewarding the good, as the Apostle says in Romans 13, then God’s people have something from God’s Word to say about it.

And this is not mere politics, either. This is not an argument over whether the top marginal tax rate should be 36.5% or 37%. This is about whether or not it will remain legal for a woman to have her baby dissected in her womb. This is about whether or not one million+ babies will be legally murdered again for the 49th year in a row. This is not trivial partisan politics, these are questions of public righteousness. These are things that Almighty God will judge entire nations over—and much of the church is terrified to even say one word about it!

And the reason for this, no matter what the theological justifications given are, is that so many of the leaders of the American church are utter cowards and people-pleasers. They fear men and not God. Some church leaders were not totally silent about the overturning of Roe but still they refused to rejoice and praise God for it and instead chided congregants who might celebrate, saying “we need to mourn with those who mourn” and “we need to be very sensitive and compassionate to those who disagree with us” and “focus now on pushing for welfare state initiatives to care for single moms and their babies.” It would almost be better if they had said nothing. Such people act as if the Jesus is Mr. Rogers and not the Jesus shown in the Gospels. That is the Jesus of the Psalms, like Psalm 94.

But these men deceive themselves into thinking their cowardice is Christlikeness. They pretend as if the sin of murdering your child, and severing the most precious and powerful human bond there is between mother and child, is no big deal and God just winks at it. They act as if this is not one of the most monstrous things possible for a person to do, that will rightly doom a person for all eternity if they do not repent of it. But by refusing to preach against the sin of abortion, whether by cowardice or sinful pragmatism, they are actually withholding God’s grace from women who desperately need it. It may not seem like it, but preaching against great evil, that causes great shame and grief by those guilty of it, is actually grace

Preaching against sin produces godly grief and godly grief produces repentance which leads to life. By refusing to preach against abortion, and by refusing to celebrate a great victory over it, evangelical leaders are withholding grace while patting themselves on the back for just how gracious they think they are. They would rather women still be in their sin but feel warm fuzzies about them than confront their sin and point them to the grace of God which is faithful and just to forgive them their sin and cleanse them from all unrighteousness—including the sin of murdering your child.

This reaction (and especially the total non-reaction) of the evangelical church to Roe being overturned is illustrative of the deep problems within evangelicalism today. Evangelicals and their prayers and action are the reason, humanly speaking, that this ruling happened. Yet our leaders are totally duplicitous, at worst, and completely aloof, at best. They desire the accolades of the New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN. They don’t want to be lumped in with low-status evangelicals they regard as "white MAGA trash" who want to ban abortion and are repulsed by sodomy.

They are terrified of offending anyone because they think can simply nice their way into getting people who believe they have a right to murder their child to come to their church. Church growth strategies and marketing schemes dominate everything for these people. But what good is it to have thousands of people in your church if you are leading them slowly to perdition? The Lord will not measure success by how many rear-ends you put in seats, but whether you were faithful to His Word and His command to feed His sheep.

There is simply no other way to put this: the church leaders who have refused to give God glory for this great victory that will save the lives of millions are hirelings, not shepherds. They are men who are mercenaries, in it for a paycheck and will flee while the wolves devour the sheep. We are in a time where God is taking the world and shaking it up. He is revealing things that were once hidden. Men we thought were faithful ministers have turned out to be anything but. They gladly lock down their churches, they sit back idly as the biomedical security state attacks their church’s worship and their congregants’ businesses, and withholds their ability to feed their families without submitting to a dangerous medical experiment.

After experiencing cowardice to that degree for more than two years now, we should not be surprised by their silence on the overturning of Roe. So if you are one of the many faithful Christians rejoicing over the Dobbs decision and your pastor has been silent, you don’t just have the right to find a new church, you have a duty to do so. There are countless faithful churches and pastors who gladly receive likeminded reinforcements and the encouragement to the boldness that you would be. Now is the time to go find them.

"Doctrianity" Versus Christianity

by David Bercot, from Will the Theologians Please Sit Down

Caspar Zacher* trembled in fear as he was lead into the courtroom in chains. He glanced around the room, looking for sympathetic faces, but he saw none. Instead, he spied a number of his enemies—townspeople with whom he had argued. Caspar desperately studied the face of the judge for signs of sympathy, but all he saw was a stern countenance. Caspar was convinced he faced certain death.

The year was 1562. The place was the town of Waiblingen in southwestern Germany. The charge: heresy. The scenario was one that had been witnessed countless times in Europe for a thousand years or more. Most of those heresy trials had been conducted by Roman Catholics authorities. However, the authorities whom Caspar faced were Lutheran. Times had changed, but the nature of Christendom had not.

Caspar could scarcely keep from trembling when his turn came to stand before the judge. The charges were read. He was being accused of heresy—specifically of belonging to a group known as the Anabaptists. When asked to enter his plea, Caspar emphatically denied the claim.

"I'm a good Lutheran," Caspar protested. "I've never had anything to do with those horrid people!"

The state then methodically presented its case against Caspar. One by one, various townspeople took the stand and testified against him. Several people described Caspar as an envious man, always coveting what others had. Nearly every witness testified that Caspar was extremely quarrelsome, frequently getting into arguments and fights with others. They pointed out that they heard him swear and curse in public many times. A few witnesses reported that he nearly always carried a knife or sword with him when he went out of his house. The whole town hated him.

When the witnesses finished testifying, Caspar was certain he would be found guilty. He knew he couldn't deny the truth of what the witnesses had said. Looking Caspar straight in the eyes, the judge cleared his throat and began to speak:

"Having heard all the evidence presented by the state's witnesses, this court finds the defendant, Caspar Zacher . . ."

Caspar swallowed hard, dreading to hear the judge's next word.

". . . innocent."

Caspar could hardly believe his ears.

The judge went on to explain his decision: "The witnesses are uniform in testifying that you are an envious and quarrelsome man. You frequently curse in public, and you go about town carrying weapons. You are a thoroughly disagreeable man, justly hated by your fellow townsmen. But, fortunately, you are obviously not one of those detestable heretics, the Anabaptists. For the life you live is exactly opposite theirs. They would never have you. You are just as you say, an orthodox Christian."

It was a happy day for Caspar Zacher, but a black day for Christianity. A man was acquitted of heresy because he lived an ungodly life!

What had become of the church Christ founded, so that a holy life was associated with heresy and an ungodly live with orthodoxy? Indeed, a lot had happened to Christ's church—at least, as to the visible body of professing Christians. What happened can be summed up in a nutshell: Christianity had become "Doctrianity."

The Transformation of Christianity

When Christianity was young, the focus was on Jesus Christ and His kingdom—not theology. To be sure, there are foundational doctrines that Christians have always considered essential to the faith. But somehow the things considered essential have grown from a few sentences to a long list of theological tenets, many of which were unknown to the early Christians.

In the beginning, Christians understood that the essence of Christianity was an obedient love-faith relationship with Jesus Christ. This was not just any relationship, but a relationship that produced genuine kingdom fruit. Christianity was a religion primarily of the poor and uneducated. There were no seminaries and no theological schools.

But then something happened: Theologians took over the church. Once the theologians took over, the emphasis soon changed from godly fruit to "orthodox" theology. Before long, living a godly life often made people suspect you were a heretic.

Interestingly, the directive that Jesus gave most often to His followers consisted of just two words. But these two words would turn the world upside down: "follow me." Jesus overturned the theological class of His day and announced a kingdom that would be better understood by intellectual babes than by learned academians.

In contrast, when Christian theologians came to power in the fourth century, the focus changed from "follow me" to "study me." Learned theologians claimed to have special insight and understanding of Scripture. The rest of the church were expected to sit back and accept what the theologians told them the Scriptures really meant. Bearing kingdom fruit was no longer the important thing. The essential thing was to subscribe to the "correct" doctrines.

Theologians Versus the Kingdom

It was primarily the religious authorities who opposed the kingdom of God in Jesus' day, and it has been that was every since. When I use the term theologian in this book, I'm referring to the elite class of scholars and their disciples who have set themselves up as the official interpreters of Scripture. I'm in no way criticizing or condemning Christians who desire to learn all that God has revealed to us about Himself, Jesus Christ, mankind, salvation, life after death, and a whole host of other spiritual subjects. Rather, my criticism is aimed at those elitists who claim for themselves the right to interpret Scripture but deny it to others. It also is aimed at the arrogant academics and ecclesiastical authorities who imagine that they understand the New Testament better than the very Christians who lived close to the time of the apostles.

From the time they came into power, such theologians have warred against the true children of the kingdom. For many centuries these theologians warred against them with fire and sword. Now they fight against the children of the kingdom with words.

However, in many ways, the war of words has been more effective than the war of fire and sword. Many kingdom Christians** are intimidated by today's theological bullies. They've completely adopted the theology of their former persecutors. They're afraid to preach or teach Sunday school without consulting the commentaries, theological textbooks, and study Bibles of the theologians—for fear they might say something "wrong."

As a result, the theologians are effectively destroying kingdom Christianity from the inside out. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if today's kingdom Christians will lose most of Jesus' kingdom teachings within a generation or two.

But it doesn't have to be that way. We kingdom Christians can learn to stand up to today's theological bullies. But to be able to do this effectively, we first need to understand what Christianity looked like in the beginning and how theologians got into power. We also need to understand the means theologians use in our day to muffle the kingdom witness of God's Word.

Once we understand these things, it's not hard to unmask most theologians for the spiritual phonies they often are.

*The account of Caspar Zacher's trial was recorded by the bailiff of Waiblingen in an official letter to Duke Christoph, dated July 12, 1562.

**By the phrase, "kingdom Christians," I'm referring to Christians who focus on the lifestyle teachings of Jesus, recognizing that God's kingdom is in no way connected to the kingdoms of this world. Such Christians realize that the kingdom of God is a present reality, and they recognize that the essence of Christianity is an obedient love-faith relationship with Jesus Christ. Although living in this world, kingdom Christians live as citizens of Christ's kingdom.

The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments According to Jews

1. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
2. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
3. You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of Yahweh your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female slave or your cattle or your sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male slave or his female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

The Ten Commandments According to Roman Catholics and Lutherans

1. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
2. You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
3. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of Yahweh your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female slave or your cattle or your sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
4. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
5. You shall not murder.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male slave or his female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

The Ten Commandments According to Greek Orthodox, Protestant Reformers, Baptists, and Other Evangelicals

1. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
3. You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of Yahweh your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female slave or your cattle or your sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male slave or his female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

As you can see, commandments 3 through 10 are the same between the Jews and the Reformers, Baptists, and other Protestants. Where the commandments differ immensely is with the Catholics and Lutherans. Apparently they lack the cognitive capacity to realize that 9 and 10 for them are the exact same commandment—coveting. They did not "remove" a commandment, as certain individuals, like Ray Comfort, tend to accuse them of; it exists in the same manner as for the Jews. What they did do was to deliberately sever a single commandment—coveting—into two, because otherwise they would only have 9. While the order for the Reformers, Baptists, and other Protestants makes the most sense (because, let’s face it, the first commandment for Jews is not really a command), nevertheless we do not seem to know what the actual order is. If there is something in the Hebrew text that lets us know, I look forward to hearing from someone knowledgeable in Hebrew that can enlighten me with it. You can find these commandments in Exodus 20:15 and Deuteronomy 5:11.

Disgraced Hillsong Churches

"For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in bright clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the bright clothes, and say, "You sit here in a good place," and you say to the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool," have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?" James 2:2-4

Hillsong churches (or any other church for that matter) having VIP seats reserved at the front for celebrities is precisely what this verse is dealing with (at the 7:30 mark in the link at the bottom). Selling your merchandise at the back of the church (at the 32:28 mark in the link at the bottom) is precisely why Jesus drove the moneymakers out of the Temple— twice. Clearly these people have never bothered to actually read, let alone pay attention to, their Bibles. They merely gloss over the words, looking for that which they can twist to their advantage and manipulate people with.

Churches having private back stage rooms? Preachers having stylists and wearing expensive brand names? Flying around in private jets and being chauffeured around? Being inaccessible to people? People who work for you not being allowed to look at you or speak to you? Does any of this sound "Christian" in the least?!? If you cannot see a problem with any of this, then you have some serious issues of your own and have been thoroughly brainwashed by false teachings. You clearly know nothing about God, the Bible, or Christianity, and you are in of an encounter, if not a fresh encounter, with the living God. You are quite possibly just another worldling pretending to be, or deceived into thinking, you are an actual Christian.

While I cannot remember where I shared it, I have previously addressed the Hillsong scandal at their women's conference where a dude known as The Naked Cowboy came out on stage and sang, and the supposedly "Christian" women there acted as if they were at a strip joint. More evidence that most these members have no clue what it means to actually be a Christian, a follower of the Lord Jesus. It never even dawned on them that such behaviour was inconsistent with Christianity and claims of faith. If you can joke about or laugh at sin, there is something severely wrong with you. You clearly have not encountered the living God.

99% of all mega churches are sewers led by false teaching rats, filled with false converts who have either been manipulated by their feelings and brainwashed by false teachings or want an easy in without having to actually obey anything that Jesus said. In other words, they want to have their cake and eat it, too. The scandals involving Carl Lentz, Brian Huston, and other Hillsong preachers are not surprising considering they are all greedy rats. Eventually they get exposed. But do the people under them ever learn their lesson? Rarely. They just continue on with the next false teacher feeding them lies. Carl Lentz proved he was not a "Christian" when he would not say that Scientology was bogus nonsense, but instead ignorantly mocked miracles in the Bible that he clearly does not understand. People need to pay close attention to what comes out of these people's mouths.

Read your Bibles, people!!! That way, when the next false teacher eisegetically brandishing the verse about not speaking against God's anointed attempts to tell you that God said he was supposed to have sex with your children from 13 through 18, you can call him out and expose him, and if the other brainwashed cult members see you as an enemy, you can flee that synagogue of Satan. These people get away with so much because the assembly are ignorant. Know your Bible, and be wise, understanding, and discerning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kng12Bc3y4k

The Delusions of Michael Brown

I do not think that Michael Brown is an apostate, but he is a false teacher. Mr. Brown said,

"By God's grace, I did have a significant leadership role in the Pensacola revival, the most glorious, Jesus-exalting, Word-based, move of the Spirit that I have witnessed in almost 45 years in the Lord, a move that literally touched millions around the world, with wonderful fruit that remains to this day."

Michael Brown has no clue what an actual revival is or looks like, let alone what biblical fruit is or looks like. He is also extremely ignorant as to what "Jesus-exalting" and "Word-based" actually mean. He claims that fruit from this so-called "revival" remains to this day. Prove it; let us see it. I have had several dealings with Charismatic churches, and their claims of "wonderful fruit" are always exaggerated or non-existent. What they classify as "fruit," either do not attend a church for very long, or not at all. Someone who goes up to the altar Sunday after Sunday to "give their life to the Lord" has not yet given their life to the Lord. 

Mr. Brown needs a fresh encounter with the living God, as well as a fresh encounter with His Word. The NAR (New Apostolic Reformation) is not a movement of God, nor are they even remotely "Christian." I have addressed the kinds of things seen and done inside the NAR before, which are an explosion of the already unbiblical and damning practices that occur regularly within the Charismatic movement. In fact, if you go over to Michelle Lesley's web site, I believe she has a number of interviews with former NAR members who have since wisened up and left the Satanic cult.

Michael Brown is a severely disillusioned and self-deceived individual. On some topics, he is excellent to read or listen to. But when it comes to understanding holiness and the gifts of the Spirit, and what the movement of the Spirit actually looks like, he is as ignorant as they come. He clearly does not know how the Lord works, let alone how to discern and distinguish between the Lord working and man lying, deceiving, faking, pretending, and manipulating others via cons. But, like all the fraudulent televangelists, I suspect Mr. Brown knows precisely what he is doing.

Sean McDowell's Poor Concept of Christianity

I do not think that Sean McDowell, the son of Josh McDowell, understands Christianity. In an appearance at The King's Academy, he said to the students, "I'm a Christian for one reason and one reason alone. ... I'm a Christian because I actually think it's true. ... If I didn't think it were true, I would give it up. I think you should only be a Christian if you actually think that it's true. That's the best reason to be a Christian."

Sorry, but that is a secondary reason as to why one is a Christian. If that is your primary reason, if that is what you are clinging to, mere intellectual head knowledge, then you are at great risk of apostatizing the faith.

The reason anyone is a Christian is for one reason and one reason alone: Christ Jesus. God the Father gave certain people to Jesus as an inheritance, and Jesus surrendered His life on their behalf, sending the Spirit to regenerate them and make them born again from above while guiding them into all truth. If we are a Christian, it is primarily because of God. Jesus makes it clear in John 6:

"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him" 6:44a

"For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father." 6:65

Sean McDowell gave nonsensical and unbiblical advice to these students. In fact, when asked about Theistic Evolution, he did not even denounce it. God declared that everything should reproduce after its own kind. Feathers and scales have completely different DNA. Birds did not magically turn into lizards over any imagined period of time. The idea that God might use such a nonsensical concept is laughable, but it also does damage to the God of the Bible. Mr. McDowell's answer was unsatisfactory.

Mr. McDowell does not seem to understand what it means to be a Christian. "I think you should only be a Christian if you actually think that it's true. That's the best reason to be a Christian." McDowell makes it sound like a club you can decide to join at your own whim based on good information. Sorry, but that is not how Christianity works. If you merely think it is true, that is because of persuasion. If anything comes along that persuades you otherwise, you will let it go. Why? Because you were never actually a Christian to begin with; you never encountered the living God; you were never saved.

All the evidence that supports Christianity and proves it true is merely a bonus. If that is what your "Christianity" is based, then you are most likely only a religious individual and not an actual Christian. You can have none of the evidence that Christianity is true and still be a Christian, and still believe Christianity is true. It is not a matter of whether you think Christianity is true or not; it is. God does not wait for you to decide whether God exists, the Bible is true, or Christianity is true; He outright declares it to be so. Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant.

The best reason for being a Christian is knowing Jesus, having your sins forgiven, and spending eternity in Heaven. I am thankful for the knowledge I have gained and the evidence God has revealed to me that support Christianity being true, but if I had none of that I would still be a Christian. Why? Because God saved me. Out of all the possibilities He could have chosen, from people who are no doubt 100 times better than I am, God decided to save me. Not for anything I had done, but because He is a good God and He chose to love me. Had it not been for God choosing me and Jesus dying in my place, I would not be a Christian today.

I pray Sean McDowell gets this sorted out in his own life. If he does not have an actual relationship with the Lord, it does not matter how much evidence for Christianity there is, or whether or not he thinks it is true or believes it, he will find himself cast aside on judgment day.

Yes, there is plenty of evidence for the existence of Jesus, His crucifixion, and His resurrection, but that is not enough. There are people who have never seen that evidence, and yet who believe. Thomas wanted to see evidence before he would believe. What did Jesus say to him? "Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe." If you need evidence to believe, your faith is probably extremely shallow, if there at all. Christians believe because they encountered the living God and He changed them. They could not not believe even if they wanted to; they could not just "give it up."

ADDENDUM:
Regarding the question concerning the Shroud of Turin, I do not believe that it is legitimate. Why do I say this? There are constantly things popping up being claimed to be related to the crucifixion of Jesus. What do you honestly think the likelihood of finding the exact nails used in Jesus' wrists and feet? How do we know they were not re-used? Also, do you honestly believe the early Christians so superstitious as to wanting to grab the nails, the crown, Jesus' linen, etc.? I am willing to bet against that. Furthermore, these kinds of items popping up tend to be used as means of manipulating and controlling the people; trying to get people in their doors regardless of salvational status. The early Christians were more concerned with an obedient love-faith relationship with the Lord Jesus (a relationship that produced genuine kingdom fruit) than they were with anything else, let alone trinkets to later be used as religious symbols and superstitious nonsense. "Here's the actual spear that pierced Jesus' side. Ooo... Feel the power emanating from it." Have you seen how these people behave when they think they see the face of Jesus or Mary in a piece of toast?!?!?

Why Do People Get Defensive?

Why do people get defensive when you challenge their beliefs? This applies to Christians, atheists, etc. The reason why people are threatened and get defensive when you challenge their beliefs is because they do not really know what they believe or why they believe it. For many people (maybe even most), they believe what they believe simply because they were told to; this is how they were raised, this is what they were taught. They have never bothered to think about it for themselves and to make it their own. This is imperative with the Christian faith, because God does not have any grandchildren; you cannot ride the coat tails of your parents.

When someone challenges my beliefs, I do not get defensive. In fact, I do not even get offended. If someone cannot have a serious, mature, respectful, intelligent, rational, honest conversation with me, if they want to attempt to resort to mocking my faith (for example), I will meet them exactly where they are at (save for cussing). I will mock them in return, in order to grab their attention and make them listen, show them just how silly their beliefs are by comparison, and then attempt to return us to a civil conversation.

What do those around you think of you or of Christians in general? Do they think Christians are thoughtful, patient, gracious, and love their opponents, despite the disagreement? Or do they think something else? Is it Christ-like for professing Christians to boo non-Christians and to tell them they are going to Hell? This is the behaviour of the immature. How did Jesus treat sinners? Jesus commanded Christians to love their enemies. What does Paul say? He says that if you do not have love, then you are nothing!

Many Christians not only need to learn what they believe and why they believe it, but they also need to learn to argue. Years ago I used to post on a site called ex-Christian.net. Most of the so-called "Christians" on there could not refute the atheists they encountered, and would childishly resort to calling them names and telling them they were going to Hell. I received a personal e-mail from the owner of the site asking me to stop posting because I was such a thorn in the side of these supposed ex-"Christians." I turned the tables on them and they could not answer me. I even wrote a letter to these supposed "Christians" on behalf of the site telling them that if they do not know how to respond, keep their mouth shut, watch those who do, and learn. Had I known better, I would have taken the owner's private e-mail to me and posted it publicly on the site for all to see. Hind sight.

I am not concerned whether they believe what I believe (though I wish they would), nor is it my responsibility to convert them. My responsibility is to speak the truth, to plant and water. God gives the increase. No matter how intelligent I am, how great an orator I may be, how persuasive my arguments may be, or how well I might deliver the truth, I will never be able to convert a single soul. It is God's responsibility to convert people—not mine. Christians need to learn this.

You do not always need to be "nice" and "polite," and Christians should never be acquiescing, but you do need to be compassionate and loving. Be thoughtful, patient, and as gracious as possible. If you pick any moment from Jesus' life, you are witnessing genuine love in all its forms. God is love, and Jesus is God, ergo everything Jesus said and did was enveloped with love. When He spoke with the Pharisees, He told them exactly what they needed to hear. That was loving. He did not sugar coat it. He did not water it down. He did not pander to them. When you do these things, you make Christianity look just as bad as what you see from the folks at Westboro Baptist Church. There is nothing wrong with the use of mocking, sarcasm, satire, wit, or even being a bit abrasive, if it is done with genuine love. If you are doing it just to be an arse, then, yeah, you have a problem.

If you feel threatened by non-Christians (or anyone really) when they challenge you, and you have to resort to childish ad hominem attacks, you should probably pause and reflect on your own character (or lack thereof). I learned long ago when I was young that people's attacks are not really against me, but against the Lord; I am merely the conduit through which they are attempting to direct them. Sadly, there are many people in leadership positions who have this same immaturity when dealing with their opponents. This speaks volumes about their church, because such people should not be in such positions. Learn what you believe, Christian, and why you believe it, and then you will not feel so threatened when others challenge your world view.