We preach the unadulterated word of God. So the red flag isnt that they dont believe in Gods wrath against sin, but that thousands of people have asked Jesus to save them, and those without a background in Christian-ese likely accepted a false gospel of self-help and positive thinking, which is not a saving gospel at all. Conclusion: Is Life.Church safe for Christians? It occurred to me that I was filling in certain blanks with my own understanding, possibly because a pastor who gives the gospel in every sermon may not fully emphasize something due to innocent oversight on their part. Beneath their doctrinal error, however subtle and deceptive, we will find ethical compromises in tow. 1. One of the phrases on their website is No matter who you are or where youve been, youre welcome here. From what Ive seen, they stick by this. They are divisive 2. It also shows us what the church leaders believe about God and our purpose in life. If you visit their YouTube channel and sort their videos by most popular, their most-watched video is titled Your Porn Battle Plan. The sermon is exactly what youd expect it to be, and its encouraging to see that a church is willing to speak bluntly to a major problem. To be eternally separated from God is hell. He obstructed the civil rights movement and vocally resisted integration efforts, leading his church to ban Black Christians from religious assemblies. Heaven and hell are real places of eternal existence. Posted By Marsha West on September 5, 2016 in Discernment, False Teacher Alert, Women and the Church 13. God often brings good things from bad situations, but the good result doesnt mean the bad situation shouldnt be avoided by others. And if we want to achieve ultimate happiness and success in life, we need to stop sinning and follow Jesus. Sensuality, which typically means sexual sin verse 2: many will follow their sensuality (also verses 10, 1214, and 19). The first reason why elders must rebuke false teachers is because they divide healthy churches. These pastor-teachers confessed Christ with their mouths but denied him with their bodies. Again and again, Peters descriptions relate to greed, sensuality, and pride or money, sex, and power. Portugus,
[emphasis mine]. They are legalistic 4. Below are the 10 examples of false doctrines and false teachings you will find in the church today you need to protect yourself from. The church has blessed me with opportunities to worship, learn, serve and make lifelong friends. If youve never heard of this church, or youre only vaguely aware of it, these are some basics of the church, both things that are important to the church and ways it may deviate from a traditional church. As I researched Life.Church, I was surprised to see solid Christians giving their (sometimes begrudging) support. Psychology is based on the interpretations and understandings of people whose worldview is anti-God. However, theres much more to a church and its leaders than whether people have the capacity to be saved there. The church will refund the money, but they must also admit that God didnt keep His promise of faithfulness. While Life.Church may not have such obviously false beliefs that we can make a blanket statement of No Christian should go there, there are several things worth considering beyond the surface level evaluations we hastily make. Let Gods truth become your battle plan to win the war in your mind! This sounds good until we realize that if God hasnt promised this, they open God up to be a liar (which they acknowledge in their terms). And so they willingly compromise anything, including accuracy and obedience to Gods word, if it means the numbers will reflect well at next weeks meeting. However, the weak emphasis on sin isnt surprising based on everything else discussed. Craig Groeschel - Exposing His False Teachings Craig is the Founder and Lead Pastor of Life.Church with 32 Life.Church campuses, but started his ministry in the United Methodist Church according to Wikipedia. David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Indeed, if the church is going to do the work of discerning true teachers from falseand I think we shouldthen were called to do so in a way faithful to the examples of Christ and his apostles. RICK WARREN, the Pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California: wrote the Lukewarm Watered-Down gospel of the "Purpose Driven Life" Book. Our Lord preached good news that assumed the total integration of belief and action: If you love me, you will keep my commandments (John 14:15, emphasis added to all). With help from the Orthodox editors, I have compiled a list of articles, essays, and In several sermons, I heard Groeschel appeal to peoples need to stop living for themselves and instead be obedient to God and the holy living He calls us to. Discernment primarily comes through knowing God through Jesus Christ. Perhaps it makes sense, then, that Whitefield, Hudgins, and others kept doctrine and practice largely divorced from each other. 28:1920). All of our resources exist to guide you toward everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. Taking Gods name in vain isnt just using it as profanity. This is nothing new to Life.Church. (2 Timothy 2:15), All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. In fact, in nearly every letter, some false teaching or heresy is exposed and dealt with. He also shares ways that God directly spoke to him about these things. Illustration by Mallory Rentsch / Source Images: Sindre Strm / Pexels. Like so many churches across all denominations, Life.Church is guilty of leading so many people to a false sense of salvation. Then I said: Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets say to them, You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place. And the Lord said to me: The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. Within that goal, they recognize that our holy God has likewise called us to holiness. Steven Furtick is the pastor of Elevation Church in North Carolina. Or in their lust, they compromise sexually (whether fornication, adultery, or homosexuality, which 2 Peter 2 suggests). The false prophets claiming God said this! were taking Gods name in vain. What we might find surprising both from Jesus and his apostles is how revealing the everyday lives of false teachers are about their falseness. 9. Theres no doubt that Life.Church makes its content easily accessible for people around the world. The Doctrine Of Annihilation. Life.Church is the largest church in America, according to Wikipedia, and has roughly 100000 attendees and over 35 franchises. When people are told to change out of self-interest, then they believe the Christian life is about self-empowerment and, ultimately, feeding their greed. However, the Bible warns us that false teachers hide in the church like weeds among wheat. I dont know if Groeschel frequently deals with sexual purity issues with his own congregation or if he just speaks to the culture around him, but he frequently calls people to embrace a biblical understanding of sexual purity and marital faithfulness. We love to quote Judes admonition to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints (v. 3, NRSV throughout). On its own, this can come down to preference more than concern. Although a single church doesnt always line up with every part of their denomination, its worth pointing out that ECC takes a clear stance on integrating racial reconciliation into the church (read about ECC and Racial Righteousness). Like I said, its a really strange statement. To that end, anyone who regularly listens to Life.Church and comes away feeling like they heard a deep or challenging message is almost guaranteed to be either spiritually immature or not saved at all. Heres a basic example of how people are told to repent of their sin and trust in Christ for salvation (if the video doesnt automatically begin there, its at the 29:40 mark): The number of hands raised or comments written in the chat give Life.Church a sense that so many new Christians are being redeemed by Christ. Heres the clip (it goes from 9:30-10:10): While the whole rant is odd, I still cant believe this part was said (and celebrated): My church is right. With articles like this, I try to be balanced in my conclusions. Can Bubble Tea Bring Gen Z into the Chinese Church? Yes, the New Testament speaks of false teachers whose doctrine denies core elements of the apostolic gospel. They are worldly. However, in light of everything, its difficult not to question how fit he is to be a spiritually mature pastor, and by extension whether Life.Church is walking in obedience to Christ. And orthodoxy is only meaningful and substantive when it takes on flesh in faithful practice. Life.Church follows the modern trend of making the pastor a gender-neutral role. They were (and are) a different kind of false teacher: heretics of the heart. Otherwise it begins with grabbing a random set of verses and creating a sermon with little regard to the bigger context. Again, Im not talking about a one-time poor explanation or accidental omission. Teaching through experiences, not the Bible. The best way to guard yourself against falsehood and false teachers is to know the truth. In fact, its the one area in the Bible where God tells you to test Him. The church has learned through the ages that to deny the core doctrines of our faith is to deny Christ. Life.Church, likewise, makes promises for God that He hasnt made. Heresies (false teachings that . Other things worth knowing for this discussion include: The goal of this article isnt to pick on a random church, but instead to create a resource for those in my area who are becoming interested in attending Life.Church locally. Beyond money, a lot of motivation for life changes plays to our selfishness. That is, to stay firmly rooted in the passage and draw the lesson from the biblical text itself rather than starting with an opinion and finding whatever verses might support it. Life.Church wants people to be who God has called them to be. Theres a vast difference between being neglectful during one sermon and having a formulaic gospel presentation that purposely ignores the wrath of God against our sin. They were blaspheming the name of God. False Gospel 2: The Gospel of Social Justice. His multi-site church is one of the fastest growing churches in America with over 27,000 attendees. But when we focus on God and the reality of how He views our sin, we understand why He hates it and why we need Christ. 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