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Post by garrett on Jul 3, 2022 20:35:21 GMT -8
This sort of goes with my "Baptists With Tallitoth" category, but is unique in its own way. I have a friend who is Eastern Orthodox; a very good person and tries to be Godly; and within the constraints of his own faith he is very knowledgable. Therein lies the problem. The EO's tend to be very well versed, and often don't "miss the mark" by much. But whenever I am shooting or when I used to do contact martial arts there is a saying; "A miss is a miss, whether by a foot or a fraction of an inch." To be close but wrong is, well, still wrong. But his priests, and by extension he think they have the true understanding of all scripture. Problem is, they don't. For example I have tried to explain to him several times there were other Sabbaths besides the weekly one: Christmas, easter ... NO_NO_NO ... sorry, that was him. However the shalosh regalim (which was important to our discussion), and even the land got a Shabbat every 7 yrs.
At any rate, because of our talks he has become very interested in MJ. The problem is he is asking his priests after we talk, and takes whatever they say as authoritative! So he started his own sort of blog/forum and is saying it is MJ. But right now he is pushing the idea that First-Fruits is this weekend (4th of Jul: do I need to go into why this is wrong here?). The point is use discernment. Just because they sound knowledgable and say they are MJ do not take them at their word. A lot of crazy out there, and much well meaning but bad doctrine. And a lot of priests, pastors, and others who should stick to their own heresies and leave us to what they think are ours. Yes, the single most common thing I see a lot of (and I mean a lot) is the christian/messianic hybrid approach. Seems to be more pervasive than ever. It's a real casserole where a person keeps one foot in each realm of belief or doctrine. I suppose it's because it's the path of least resistance? The threat of losing one's entire previous "identify" is just too much to bear...I suppose. In the end we get a terrible watering down of both sets of observance and people know even less of what they believe. It seems that way to me.
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Post by alon on Aug 30, 2022 16:31:37 GMT -8
APOSTOLIC REFORMATION
Has infested many churches and denominations, especially Charismatics. But it is ubiquitous, part of a radical movement. They share a core belief that a paradigm shift has occurred when the primary commission of the church changed from saving individual souls to transforming society. Its founder, Dr Wagner states: “We are not talking about something on the fringes, but a dynamic movement at the very heart of Christianity.” They believe there are three formats of God’s Word: 1. the Bible 2. the Zodiac 3. the Egyptian pyramids
Believers can/should become immortal before the return of the Christ, Cain was the son of Eve and the Serpent, and on and on with the crazy. They rely heavily on modern day prophets and believe the important people in the movement have their own ‘angel’ (read demon). Their mantra is experience over doctrine, mysticism, transformation, reformation, new information, new revelation, paradigm shift, new breed, and other New Age sayings. They (the reformers) become ‘little gods.’ They ‘take power over’ regional gods and their apostles ‘rule’ there instead. Eventually they will have dominion over all the earth- and we’ll get their version of the New World Order.”
There is a whole lot more, including adjunct movements which are just as crazy as they are- but suffice to say it gets as fanatical as it does ridiculous; except a lot of people are being drawn into this movement, most probably having no real understanding what they are going in for. And as the above suggests, they are not content to stay within church boundaries. They want it all!. But oddly enough they also want to die gracefully and ethically- this after lives of subversion, lies, and justification of the most egregious sins while setting up their new world order. This one is dangerous, folks. The core group at least (which is substantial) is serious, and they are everywhere.
Addendum: So that we can more easily spot these people or their influence in our assemblies I've looked a bit deeper. Here are more of the main tenets of their movement: - A paradigm shift in our thinking - Transformation of the world - A mystical revolution to usher in a new mystical age - Reform religious assemblies - A new gospel from the founder of the church - Experience over doctrine - We become a new species through meditation and other spiritual disciplines - We are gods like Yeshua - Yeshua is not a vehicle for salvation, but rather a model of perfection - The church now has a mandate from God to --- Take dominion over the earth ---- Establish one unified, global church ----- This church will transform society ----- It will rule over all governments and institutions -- Bring the kingdom of heaven to earth - Extra-biblical revelation/visions/new knowledge
Other False Doctrines: * Kenosis- Yeshua came as a man, accomplished miracles as a man, had to accomplish His own divinity ** So can we * Prosperity Gospel/"Name It and Claim It" ** Law of attraction- positive thoughts attract good things ** Attach the phrase "I decree and declare" to your prayer and God is obligated to give you what you want * We should never be sick because Jesus heals every time ** If you are sick, it's your own fault * Restoration of apostles and prophets by the thousands ** They will rule all governments and institutions ** They hear from God about the affairs of the church, governments, and institutions * Emphasize importance of experiences with angels, demons, vision, gnosis, trances, astral travel, spirit guides, ... and the list goes on ** Schools actually teach this stuff ** During encounters with these other realms or beings they often writhe, jerk, scream or howl, and generally present as one "possessed" *Repenting for sins of past generations * "Worship" designed to visit God in the Third Heaven ** There they receive instruction from God or spirit beings
Those who deny their message are labeled as divisive, not mature enough to understand, or a host of terms so prevalent today to silence disagreement. Often they are shunned or outright disfellowshipped.
You'd think pastors, deacons, and those long in the faith could easily spot these heretics. However their schools also teach them how to be subversive; how to gradually "boil the frog" by starting low and gradually turning up the dogma. Many seasoned Christians and others are convinced what they hear sounds godly, so they never use discernment. Do I need to say "We should!?"
1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
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