Will You Be Found Faithful?: Chapter Ten

How Is the Church Being Unfaithful Today?

Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8; KJV)

I’ve often wondered what this scripture meant. After all, the church of the twenty-first century is larger than ever. It claims to have hundreds of millions of adherents. Megachurch is a relatively new term referring to churches with thousands of members. Many preachers are able to fill stadiums, yet Jesus asked if he’ll even find any faith on the earth when he comes again. How can this be?

The only explanation I can think of is that there will be a time of apostasy at some point before the coming of Christ. Many believers who think they are pleasing to God will, in fact, be apostates. The scriptures say many will depart from the faith in the latter times.

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. (1 Tim. 4:1, KJV; italics added)

Those who depart from the faith are those who have been seduced away by demonic doctrines and have fallen away, as described in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 (KJV):

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. (italics added)

The term falling away in the Greek concordance (number 646) is apostasia. It means “a falling away, defection, apostasy.” [1] The root word comes from the Greek word (number 647) apostaseon, which means “divorce, repudiation, or bill of divorce.” [2] (Again, the terminology is that of a romantic relationship. It speaks of a division brought about by unfaithfulness to a marriage covenant.)

I believe the falling away, or the departure from the faith in the latter times, is caused by unfaithfulness to God and the gospel of Jesus Christ by those who have been seduced away, but the key to remaining faithful is to love the truth as it’s revealed in the gospel.

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. (2 Thes. 2:10, KJV; italics added).

I’m convinced that those who don’t love the truth of the gospel will perish, even if they carry the name of God. Loving Jesus isn’t enough. We can actually love another Jesus or another gospel more than we love the true Jesus, but God requires us to love the Jesus revealed in the Word, not something we’ve created out of our own mind or heart. Any other Jesus is an idol.

The Gnostics were the false teachers of the early church, and they tried to lead the church to a different Jesus who had come to them in dreams and visions and taught them doctrines contrary to the teachings of the apostles. The Inquisitors were standing on a false gospel based on a blended doctrine of man-made traditions, philosophy and the Bible. The slaveholders and racists believed in a blend of science and Christianity, and the Nazis believed in a blend of science and philosophy alongside the doctrines of the Christian faith. None of these kept the Word pure. They were unfaithful.

After reflecting on what I’ve learned as I’ve studied history, I’ve compiled several concerns that I see in the modern church. My heart is grieved as I wonder what the consequence to society will be as a result of our spiritual adultery. In the past, the church only had to abandon one truth (such as the reference to “one blood” in Acts 17:26), and massive suffering ensued. How great will the suffering of humanity be as the attack on the Word is coming from all directions?

So how is the church being seduced? How are we being unfaithful? According to Paul, it is by allowing our minds to be corrupted from the simplicity in Christ. He goes on to say that this is how the Corinthian church had easily accepted another Jesus and another gospel.

For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. (2 Cor. 11:2-4, KJV; italics added)

The word simplicity in the Greek concordance (number 572) is haplotas. It means “singleness, simplicity, sincerity, mental honesty.” [3] In chemistry, “simple” is defined as: “having or composed of only one thing, element, or part: a simple chemical substance.” [4] In other words, whenever we add something to the gospel, we are no longer keeping it simple. We’re causing it to be made up of two parts.

“Another Jesus” or “another gospel” is a Jesus or gospel that is no longer pure. It’s been corrupted. Clear examples of this would be Mormonism or Islam. Both religions add additional revelations to the “faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 1:3, KJV, italics added) Mormonism adds the revelations of Joseph Smith and Islam adds the revelations of Muhammad.

The word corrupt carries the same idea. One definition is: “to render impure; contaminate; to alter from original or proper form.” [5] Spiritual seduction is an attempt to get us to be unfaithful by adding an outside element into our relationship with God.

Just as the ancient Israealites, Christians can add something to our relationship with God. (Adultery=Addultery.) We may not bow down to Asherah poles, but to God , adding something to the gospel is a form of idolatry/adultery.

One of the reasons why Jesus was upset with the Pharisees was because they had added “human traditions” (Mark 7:6-8, NIV) to the Word, but the gospel must remain whole, simple, and pure. It’s holy. According to Proverbs 30:5-6 (KJV) “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” (italics added)

Some of the last words in the Bible are a warning against adding to (or taking away from) the words of the book:

For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. (Rev. 22:18-19, KJV, italics added)

Jesus prayed in John 17:17 (KJV), “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth; thy word is truth.” When something is added to , it is no longer the truth; it actually becomes a lie!

With these thoughts in mind, I thought I would do an analysis of the modern church. Here are my concerns:

1) It’s spiritual adultery when we accept other ideologies, philosophies, “truths,” or beliefs and add them to the gospel, creating a lukewarm, defiled, unholy blend. Think about the church of the last decades. We’ve blended biblical truth with psychology, science (such as evolution or quantum theory), business principles, mammon (through the prosperity gospel), philosophy, man-made tradition, new revelations, dreams, and visions, fiction (such as The Shack), other religions, environmentalism, political ideologies, Old Testament law, and on and on. This list is not exhaustive. In ages past, the temptation to go astray may have come from one area, but the modern church had had multiple temptations. The sheep are being lured away into many different pathways.

Colossians 2:4 (KJV) says not to let any an “beguile you with enticing words . . . lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” The words used here show how believeers can be lured or seduced into believing (or putting their faith in) competing forms of knowledge that present themselves as the truth.

Paul told us to cast down “imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 10:5, KJV). Instead of obeying this command, just like the church of the past, we embrace anything and everything that seems reasonable to us, thinking that the world will find Christianity more palatable if we show them how accommodating it is to their views. But Paul said these other beliefs were forms of seduction, and if we add them to the gospel, we are adulterers who have polluted the Word of God as much as a woman who has an affair pollutes and defiles her marriage bed.

James warned against the  adulterous temptation to accommodate and befriend the world:

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? (James 4:4-5, KJV)

Maybe after seeing how the church that went astray in history caused so much suffering, we can understand why God is so jealous for us to remain faithful and keep his words pure.

2) It’s spiritual adultery to join with other religions in order to bring about peace, prosperity, and the transformation of society or culture. This was the root of the sin of ancient Israel. They assimilated with the Canaanite tribes and worshiped the fertility god Baal along with Yahweh. Baal promised new life, prosperity, and security to his worshipers, so the Israelites joined in. They never denied Yahweh. They just added Baal.

When the American church is willing to join themselves with false religions in order to bring about peace, prosperity, a restoration of America, or the renewal of the planet, they are adulterers. After all, what is the source of our peace and prosperity? Is it the work of our own hands in unity with others (like the Tower of Babel), or is it God’s provision and blessing?

The prophet Hosea’s wife was a symbol of Israel’s unfaithfulness. God says he watched while Israel chased after Baal (which means “husband” or “Lord” in Hebrew) and gave offerings to him out of the gifts God had provided for her!

For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. (Hosea 2:8, KJV)

This was also the point Ezekiel tried to make in chapter 16 when he pointed out how God had made Israel so beautiful, and she just used her beauty and prosperity to chase after other lovers!

But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and played the harlot because of thy renown, and poured out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. (Ezek. 16:15, KJV)

Our peace and prosperity are a result of our faithfulness to the Lord, not through our human effort in unity with those who reject or corrupt his Word.

Yet Rick Warren says his P.E.A.C.E. Plan can be implemented with any man or woman of peace, even if they are of a different religion, [6] and David Barton is joining with a Mormon, Glenn Beck, to restore America. [7]  James Robison is joining with Jay Richards, [8] a Catholic, and Glenn Beck, [9] in order to transform and restore Americia. But isn’t this kind of yoking precisely what is causing the peace and prosperity of America to be removed?

Mormons add the revelations of Joseph Smith to the gospel. Catholics add tradition and philosophy to the gospel. And yet, for the sake of our own peace, prosperity, and safety, we are willing to compromise and join ourselves to them.

These are unholy alliances. It was for this sin that God became so upset with his people that he gave up on them:

“Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.” (Hosea 4:17, KJV) Perhaps this is why America is in decline. For how many years have we attempted to forge a union between Catholicism and Protestantism in order to develop political strength? “Evangelicals and Catholics Together,” [10] and “The Manhattan Declaration,” [11] are some examples of adulterous unions, but God tells us in Jeremiah 17:5 (KJV), “Thus saith the LORD; ‘Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.'”

Political power is not the source of our prosperity. The only true source is the blessing of the Lord. If the church compromises the Word and forms alliances with those who reject the pure gospel, then we are allowing ourselves to be unequally yoked. Paul was concerned about the possibility of forming unholy unions.

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (2 Cor. 6: 14-16, KJV)

Notice that those who believe are not to have a part with an “infidel.” What is an infidel? The word “infidel” is Latin in origin and it means “unfaithful, treacherous.” [12] Not only are we commanded to not be yoked with unbelievers, we’re commanded to not be joined with those who are unfaithful.

God will not share his glory with another! He won’t share his praise with idols (Isaiah 42:8). Utopian attempts to bring about a restoration of Eden (peace or Shalem [13]) in our own strength through false unity is spiritual adultery!

(3) It’s spiritual adultery when we add mystical experiences to the blood of Christ. How dare we try to enter into God’s presence through Jesus and contemplative prayers, soaking prayers, labyrinths, centering prayers, breath prayers, and other forms of pagan religious practices that have been “Christianized”!

Spiritual formation and spiritual disciplines have led us away from grace, away from rest, and into works. Jesus taught us how to pray, and it was with simple words, not mantras, repetitive phrases (no matter how Christian the words are), or through the silence. There is only one pathway to God, and it is the narrow way called Jesus Christ.

Why would the American church (Tim Keller [14] and Mike Bickle [15] are the latest religious leaders to go along) even consider going the way of Teresa of Avila or the Jesuit priest Ignatius Loyola, when they both opposed the purity and holiness of the gospel? Both of them worked in the Counter-Reformation to oppose the principles of “Christ alone, scripture alone, faith alone, and grace alone.”

These are well-known historical facts, yet the modern American church remains fascinated with Dallas Willard, Henri Nouwen, Richard Foster, Thomas Merton, and Thomas Keating, even though they are all clearly encouraging unbiblical mystical experiences to be added to biblical grace. Hebrews 10:19-22 (KJV) says:

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the House of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (italics added)

The only “consecrated” (defined as “to declare or set apart as sacred”) [16] way to enter into the presence of God is through the blood of Jesus. Regardless of what Gary Thomas (author of Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul’s Path to God) [17] and Rick Warren (who endorses Thomas’s book in his book The Purpose Driven Life [18]) say, no other pathway to God is sacred.

In fact, Jesus warned us against using vain repetitions when we pray, saying we aren’t to pray like the heathen.

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. (Matt. 6:7, KJV)

Mystical, experiential religion, based on the attempt to clear the mind through ascetic efforts is exactly what Jesus was forbidding, and yet the church has gone full steam ahead into disobedience, saying they are pursuing “ancient pathways.” But these ancient pathways aren’t the blood of Jesus; they’re the ascetic efforts of the Catholic mystics and Desert Fathers, whose attempts at divine union didn’t lead them to sound doctrine and truth; they led them to spiritual adultery (the defense of the adulterous Catholic Church).

Furthermore, the attempt to attain divine union (as in the efforts of Ann Voskamp) is even out of order since the marriage supper of the Lamb hasn’t happened yet. Here is how Voskamp describes her relationship with God in her book, One Thousand Gifts: 

Mystical union. This, the highest degree of importance. God as Husband in sacred wedlock, bound together, body and soul, fed by His body, quenched by His blood–this is where eucharisto [emphasis hers] leads . . . God, He has blessed–caressed. I could bless God [emphasis hers]–caress with thanks. It’s our making love. God makes love with grace upon grace, every moment a making of His love for us . . . Then God lays down all of His fullness into all the emptiness. I am in Him. He is in me. I embrace God in the moment. I give Him thanks and I bless God [emphasis hers] and we meet and couldn’t I make love to God, making every moment love for Him? To know him the way Adam knew Eve. Spirit skin to spirit skin . . . The intercourse of soul with God is the very climax of joy . . . To enter into Christ and Christ enter into us–to cohabit. [19]

This all sounds very spiritual–but we are still the bride of Christ! The Bridegroom has yet to come for his bride. The marriage hasn’t happened yet. If we make love to God in the spirit, we are committing spiritual fornication!

For now, we are only joined to the Lord in the sense that Jesus is joined to the Father. Jesus prayed in John 17:23 (KJV): “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” Ann says that she is in God and God is in her, but then asks if she can make love to God in the spirit. Jesus said that he was in us and God was in him, but I don’t think he was referring to a form of spiritual lovemaking.

In 1 John 3:24 (KJV) the terms “in him” and “in us” are actually speaking of faithfulness. “And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”

The words dwelleth and abideth are both the Greek word meno (umber 3306). [20] Strong’s Concordance says this is a term which means “to remain, abide” and in reference to a “state or condition,” it means “to remain as one, not to become another or different.” To remain, or stay, in him means to not leave or depart. The “Spirit which he hath given us” is the Holy Spirit. It’s the spirit of purity and holiness. These scriptures are about remaining faithful to God and not changing the faith.

We don’t please God by having a sensual experience with him. We please God by loving and abiding in the truth of his Word. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15, KJV) Ann Voskamp says she wants to know God as Adam “knew” Eve, “spirit skin to spirit skin,” but if we truly want to “know” God, we must study and adhere faithfully to the truth of his Word.

It’s true that Jesus wants us to be ardent about him. The Song of Solomon is a symbol of Christ and his church, and it describes the passion the two lovers have for one another, but they never consummated their relationship. He comes to her door and then leaves. She runs out into the streets looking for him, but she doesn’t find him. Her desire for him grows, and his desire is for her undefiled beauty (Song of Solomon 5:2, 6:9; KJV), but even though she seeks him in her bed, he isn’t there. In fact, she warns three times:

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. (Song of Sol. 2:7, 3:5, 8:4, KJV; italics added)

To have desire for the Lord and to long for the day you will be with him is one thing, but to initiate intimacy before it’s time is to commit spiritual fornication. We can’t “cohabit” with Christ. According to the Oxford University Press dictionary, cohabit is defined as “to live together and have a sexual relationship without being married.” [21]

Ann Voskamp is appealing to the hearts of women to have an intimate, love relationship with God, but it’s out of order. The church is “espoused” (2 Cor. 11:2) to Christ, but the relationship can’t be consummated yet because the Bridegroom is coming for a chaste, virgin bride. If a Christian woman wants an intimate love relationship with God, love the truth! Love the Word. Love purity and faithfulness. This is the way to show your true love for him. Show the Bridegroom that you will be equally yoked to him in unity, truth, and purpose.

It’s also important to know that just because we’re not married yet, that doesn’t mean we’re allowed to be unfaithful in our relationship with the Lord. Joseph was about to divorce Mary because she was pregnant and he thought she had been unfaithful to him, so he was going to quietly “put her away.” (Matt. 1:19, KJV) Even though they weren’t yet married, the law still provided for divorce when a person who was merely espoused was found to be adulterous.

The same is true for the church. We aren’t married yet, but we can still be found unfaithful and be given a bill of divorcement. Throughout the scriptures, we’re exhorted to remain pure, chaste, and untouched by idolatry.

Even the arch-heretic of the scriptures is a woman named Jezebel whose name means unchaste. [22] What was she doing that was so evil in God’s eyes? The Old Testament Jezebel supported the prophets of Baal. She was an idol worshiper. The New Testament Jezebel was seducing her followers to commit fornication, adultery, and to eat things offered to idols.

Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. (Rev. 2:20-21, KJV)

Paul warned the Corinthian church against the practice of eating things sacrificed to idols:

But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God; and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? (1 Cor. 10:20-22, KJV)

Paul was saying that eating things offered to idols was a form of spiritual adultery that made God jealous because they were actually drinking the cup of the Lord (calling themselves Christians) while drinking the cup of devils!

I believe Jezebel was seducing the church into spiritual fornication of the type promoted by Ann Voskamp, Teresa of Avila, and all the other Catholic, emergent, evangelical mystics who are promoting divine union with God while still espoused and not yet married. It was reported that Teresa of Avila was known to levitate while seeking divine union. Could it be that she was actually partaking of the “cup of devils?”

The church is playing with strange fire. When they add ascetic, mystical acts to the blood of Jesus, they’re adding their own efforts to God’s instructions, just as the sons of Aaron (Nadab and Abihu) did when they added incense to the fire on the blood altar although God hadn’t commanded it. (Leviticus 10).

The Hebrew word (number 348) for strange here in Leviticus 10:1 is zuwr. [23] It means “to turn aside, to be a foreigner, strange, profane, and to commit adultery.” When Nadab and Abihu added incense to the fire, they burned a different kind of fire before the Lord than He had commanded, corrupting the grace offering of blood and making them guilty of spiritual adultery. [24]

(4) It’s spiritual adultery when the church listens to false prophets! There’s a whole slew of “prophets” who have never heard a single word from God! The New Apostolic Reformation is made up of these false religious leaders who promote false dreams and false visions like Rick Joyner’s Final Quest. [25] They promote false revivals (Kansas City, Lakeland, Brownsville, and Toronto) and false miracles such as the split podium promoted by Tommy Tenney. [26]

All these false dreams, visions, and miracles are additions to the settled Word of God. This is why Jesus said, “an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign.” (Matt. 12:39, KJV) The Pharisees (and Herod) claimed they needed a titillating miracle to convince them that Jesus was of God, even though the scriptures spoke of him! The Word of God wasn’t enough. They needed an addition to it. Because of their desire for an extrabiblical sign, Jesus said they were adulterous.

I’ve seen the American church literally run to get into a Tommy Tenney meeting, where they thought might see a miraculous sign, and yet Jesus called this adultery!

The scripture warns us against going “beyond what is written” (1 Cor. 4:6, NIV) because it causes one leader to be puffed up over another, so rather than leading to humility, it leads to spiritual pride. This was the problem with the Gnostics in the early church. They claimed to have secret revelations from Jesus. Just like many in the church today, the Gnostics tried to outdo one another with the content of their dreams and visions.

But these dreamers and visionaries are not faithful to God’s Word. Jude called them “filthy” (Jude 1:8, KJV). Is it any surprise that these leaders (Mike Bickle of the International House of Prayer, for example) [27] are now promoting adulterous mystical experiences in the manner of such people as Teresa of Avila? All the spiritual insight and power of these false prophets has only led them into adulterous methods of relating to God!

New revelations from God are also being used as a justification for accepting the homosexual lifestyle. The United Church of Christ, one of the first Protestant denominations to encourage gay marriage, has “God Is Still Speaking” as its motto. It claims that God is speaking to the church “in community” in the same way God spoke to Peter in the vision of the clean and unclean (Acts 10:10-16), [28] yet there is a tremendous difference.

Peter’s vision was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. The prophets promised that the Lord was going to be a light to the Gentiles. Isaiah 42:1, 42:6, 49:6, 60:3, and Malachi 1:11 are all verses that prophesy a day that the Gentiles would come to God. Here is another example:

And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. (Isa. 11:10, KJV)

Jesus was the “ensign” (banner, sign, or standard) through which the Gentiles would seek and find rest. They were now able to come to God through Jesus. This doesn’t mean they could come to Christ and remain in their paganism. They had to forsake their sin and idolatry and become new creations in Christ. (2 Cor. 5:17)

Where are the Old Testament prophecies that foretell that homosexuals are now “clean” and allowed to remain in their sin? (All of us are born into sin; that’s why we must be born again!)

Jude, the brother of Jesus, said that ungodly men would creep into the church and turn the grace of God into lasciviousness. He also said that “filthy dreamers” would “defile the flesh” (Jude 1:8, KJV) and corrupt themselves.” (Jude 1:10, KJV)

Extrabiblical revelations that change the doctrine of the church, which was given once for all by the apostles, are forms of corruption and defilement. We must have our guard up against people who claim a “divine wind” [29] brought to them to a new doctrine, because the new doctrine that is produced from this wind of the spirit isn’t from the Holy Spirit. Instead, it’s a deception brought to us from someone who has been “tossed to and fro” by “every wind of doctrine.” (Eph. 4:14, KJV)

I believe large portions of the church have been seduced into unfaithfulness toward God. Just like ancient Israel, we’ve departed from the faith. Because of our apostasy, God would rather be in the wilderness at a lodge with some haggard travelers who are faithful to him than to be with his assembled people.

Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD. (Jer. 9:2, KJV)

The Israelites had become an assembly of adulterers and treacherous men. The word “treacherous” means:

1. characterized by faithlessness or readiness to betray trust.
2. deceptive, untrustworthy, or unreliable.
3. unstable or insecure, as footing.
4. dangerous, hazardous. [30]

This is a description of an apostate church! How did they get this way? They weren’t “valiant for the truth.” And because of this they had become evil and they didn’t know God. 

 

 

[1] “Greek Lexicon :: G646 (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible. Accessed 14 Feb, 2015. http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G646&t=KJV

[2] “Greek Lexicon :: G647 (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible. Accessed 14 Feb, 2015. http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G646&t=KJV

[3] “Greek Lexicon :: G572 (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible. Accessed 14 Feb, 2015. http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G572&t=KJV

[4] American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. S.v. “simple.” Retrieved 14 Feb, 2015 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/simple

[5] American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. S.v. “corrupt.” Retrieved 22 Feb, 2015 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/corrupt.

[6] Rick Warren. “Myths of the Modern Mega-Church.” Transcript of interview, May 23, 2005 by Michael Cromartie of the Pew Forum. Accessed 16 Feb, 2015. http://www.pewforum.org/2005/05/23/myths-of-the-modern-megachurch/.

[7] David Barton/Wallbuilders Facebook page, accessed 16 Feb, 2015, http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=150770881618696, “Addressing personal/collective faith (particularly in regards to Glenn Beck), September 2, 2010.

[8] James Robison and Jay Richards, Indivisible: Restoring Faith, Family, and Freedom (New York, NY: Faithworks, 2012).

[9] James Robison, “Spending Time with Glenn Beck.” James Robison: A Weekly Commentary. 25 Feb, 2011. Accessed 16 Feb, 2015. http://www.jamesrobison.net/spending-time-with-glenn-beck/.

[10] Charles Colson, et al. “Evangelicals and Catholics Together.” First Things, May 1, 1994, 15-22.

[11] Robert George, Timothy George, and Chuck Colson. “Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience.” Manhattan Declaration. 20 Nov, 2009. Accessed 16 Feb, 2015. http://www.manhattandeclaration.org/man_dec_resources/Manhattan_Declaration_full_text.pdf.

[12] Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary. S.v. “infidel.” Retrieved 23 Feb, 2015 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/infidel.

[13] “Contemplative Links.” Shalem Institute. Accessed 16 Feb., 2015. http://www.shalem.org/index.php/resources/contemplative-links. This web site is just one example of how Christianity is moving into the belief that peace/shalem can be restored through the three elements of mysticism, false unity, and human effort.

[14] Tim Keller. “Keller Promotes Roman Catholic Meditation.mov.” YouTube. 13 Apr, 2012. Accessed 22 Feb, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFQ2Crgvhxc. Tim Keller is the founding pastor of the influential 4400 member Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and author the the award-winning book on apologetics, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. 

[15] Diana Lesperance. “Mike Bickle of IHOP Criticizes Hyper-Grace Message.” Milwaukee Examiner, 24 Apr, 2013. Accessed 22 Feb., 2015. http://www.examiner.com/article/mike-bickle-of-ihop-criticizes-hyper-grace-message.

[16] American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. S.v. “consecrate.” Retrieved 15 Feb, 2015 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/consecrate.

[17] Gary Thomas, Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul’s Path to God (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996).

[18] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 103.

[19] Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 213, 216-218.

[20] “Greek Lexicon :: G3306 (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible. Accessed 27 Feb, 2015. http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G3306&t=KJV

[21] Oxford University Press. “Cohabit.” Oxford Dictionaries. 1 Jan, 2015. Accessed 22 Feb, 2015. http://www.oxfordictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/cohabit.

[22] “Hebrew Lexicon :: H348 (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible. Accessed 15 Feb, 2015. http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H3306&t=KJV

[23] James Strong. Zuwr, “Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary Accompanying the Exhaustive Concordance.” In The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. (Nashville: Abingdon, 1980), 34.

[24] For more on this subject see my article: Diana Lesperance. “John MacArthur: Strange Fire Is About Grace–Not Gifts.” The Narrow Way: Historical Apologetics to Defend the Faith. 2 Nov, 2013. Accessed 22 Feb, 2015. http://narrowwayapologetics.com/2013/11/02/john-macarthur-stange-fire-is-about-grace-not-gifts/.

[25] Rick Joyner, Final Quest (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 1996).

[26] Tommy Tenney, The God Chasers: My Soul Follows Hard After Thee (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, Inc., 1998).

[27] According to the International House of Prayer web site: “Mike Bickle recommends this book: ‘I want this book to be the manual for IHOPKC.'” The book is: Thomas Dubay, Fire Within: St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and the Gospel, on Prayer (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1989). Accessed 16 Feb, 2015. https://store.ihopkc.org/fire-within.

[28] For an example of this argument see: Rev. Doug Hodges. “O for a World: A Sermon to Welcome and Affirm Gays.” God Is Still Speaking, United Church of Christ Fredericksburg. Accessed 22 Feb. 2015. http://www.fredburgucc.com/qo-for-a-worldq.

[29] Leonardo Blair. “Evangelical Gracepointe Church Comes Out in Support of Gay Marriage; Reactions Are Mixed and Giving Drops.” The Christian Post, 30 Jan, 2015. Accessed 16 Feb, 2015. http://www.christianpost.com/news/evangelical-gracepointe-church-comes-out-in-support-of-gay-marriage-reactions-are-mixed-and-giving-drops-133363/.

[30] Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary. S.v. “treacherous.” Retrieved 23 Feb, 2015 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/treacherous.