Contending for the Faith

From the cover: “Recent years have seen an explosion of independent ministries claiming apostolic and prophetic offices. These new apostles and prophets are claiming the Church must come under their authority and direction in order to fulfill her end-time purpose. New doctrines and practices are being introduced into the Body at an alarming rate.

This book examines the claims and doctrines of the new apostles and prophets in the light of Biblical revelation and offers a response for the discerning Christian. “ Recommended Reading. One of the best new books on the subject.

 

“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ…These are wandering starts for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.” Jude 3,4,12

This Book can be purchased Here: Amazon.com
 

Keith Gibson has served in Christian ministry for more than 27 years. He is the founding pastor of Word of Life Community Church. He also serves as the Kansas City Director for the Apologetics Resource Center. He and his wife Doreen have been married over 26 years and have five children.

Title: Wandering Stars
Publisher: Solid Ground Christian Books
Publication Date: 2011
ISBN: 978-159925-317-4 

 

See Other Reviews of this Book:

Gary Gilley’s Book Review

MM Outreach Book Review of Wandering Stars - Newsletter order information http://mmoutreachinc.com/nv/nv102ad-inc.html

A helpful Resource on Spiritual Abuse

Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse - Recognizing and Escaping Spiritual Manipulation and False Spiritual Authority Within the Church

Some churches uses their spiritual authority to control and dominate others. This book is a valuable work on the subject. The Authors do a good job at giving the marks of false spiritual leadership and their impact on an individual and/or a congregation. This is a good resource to have.

Spiritual abuse seems to be on the rise and more pervasive these days. Performance-based Christianity and legalism is often replacing the gift of Salvation in Christ and many are not experiencing the grace that is clearly taught in the Bible. Matt 23:13 the author notes that the ones being rejected from “enter in” are not rebellious God-rejecters, but are the ones that are responding to God---and go to church, but when they get there, “they come under a false-basis of authority, heavy weights of legalistic, load-carrying, and external performance,”…they get a form of godliness void of power 2 Tim. 3:5. The author also shows how scriptures on submission are taken out of context and twisted.

No one needs to be in a cult to suffer under spiritual abuse. If you are a new believer or a longtime Christian follower of Christ, remember that God’s Word the bible will encourage you to stand firm in the faith and not be put into bondage - Galatians 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted and to bring peace and rest and hope for our souls in Him.  Recommended Read.

Copyright © 2005
Publisher Bethany House
ISBN: 0764201379

Reading/Review date: September 2010

Exposing Spiritual Abuse

Matthew 23 is a Good Overview

This book was very helpful. It’s unfortunate that more books are not written like this one to help Christians discern error. The writing was biblically balanced.

In an unhealthy church it is considered rebellion when decisions are questioned. Matthew 23 is referred to as giving example of where the Christians loyalty should be-- which is To Christ.

The author gives the traits of abusive leaders and unhealthy churches. He gives a list of 7 warning signs of spiritual abuse in a church:

1) Power Positioning
2) Unquestioned Authority
3) An atmosphere of secrecy
4) Elitist attitude
5) Performance emphasis
6) Fear motivation
7) Painful exit

Mike Fehlauer explains that many Christians have fallen into abusive situations within the church and he answers questions that maybe you’ve been wondering about, such as what is the role of the Pastor, what is a healthy church, when and how should I leave a church, what should I do if I recognize any of these unhealthy symptoms and more. He gives key scriptures and real life situations for why we should reject controlling and manipulative leaders, and also helps the reader by giving a foundation in which to build on to restore broken relationships and build trust.

There are a list of questions for discussion at the end of each chapter. One valuable point in the book is; when leaving a controlling church, it is impossible to leave correctly in the eyes of the abusive pastor. If you are suffering under the control of a manipulating leader, this book will help bring healing and will help you put things into a proper perspective.

Copyright© 2001

Publisher Charisma House

This book can be found at Amazon.com

　

Reading / Review Date: December 2006

The Great Evangelical Disaster

The Last Apologetic
 

Francis Schaeffer’s most classic work is a call to the Evangelical church of it’s need to remain biblical, and is just as important reading for the Christian today as it was when the book was first published in 1984. Schaeffer’s message is that with the Reformation many came to Christ with the absolutes based on biblical form found in the bible, and it became widely known and great freedom came out of that. But in  the early part of the 20^th century - that Freedom became Autonomous, self-directed, and self-governing, and over time biblical form and the Christian consensus lacked constraint.
 

In explaining the moral breakdown of our times, Francis Schaeffer says this; “The titanic freedoms which we once enjoyed have been cut loose from their Christian restraints and are becoming a force of destruction leading to chaos. And when this happens, there really are very few alternatives. All morality becomes relative, law becomes arbitrary, and society moves towards disintegration. In personal and social life, compassion is swallowed up by self-interest…“When the memory of the Christian consensus which gave us freedom within the biblical form is increasingly forgotten, a manipulating authoritarianism will tend to fill the vacuum. At this point the words ‘right’ and ‘left’ will make little difference. They are only two roads to the same end, the results are the same. An elite, authoritarianism as such, will gradually force form on society so that it will not go into chaos-and most people would accept it.” (pg 23)
 

The distinctly Christian position of Knowledge, moral and spiritual truths of God’s word were being compromised in the church, and accommodation to the world’s thinking gave way to the spirit of the age, as liberal theology entered the Church, while notable scholars such as J. Gresham Machen who stood firm in the battle for biblical truth and biblical inerrancy were being silenced and driven out. It comes down to this; are we obeying the scriptures? Because this is the real test of our faith and lives in Christ and rather we believe the bible. This is not just a theological debate, but practical and obedient living.
 

Schaeffer reminds us again that “the whole world is under the control of the evil one” 1 John 5:13), and that Christians seem to have forgotten this, and spend little time considering this in relation to our daily lives in this world and how this relates to the culture’s effect on our church teaching and doctrine and urges the reader to stand firm on God’s Word and not succumb to the temptation of compromise and accommodation of worldly thinking.

Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer is widely recognized as one of the most influential Christian thinkers of our day. He wrote over 23 books which were translated into 25 languages and have sold over 3 million copies. Schaeffer’s most influential books include: A Christian Manifesto, The God Who Is There, Escape from Reason, He Is There and He Is Not Silent, and Whatever happened to the Human Race? Dr. Schaeffer and his wife Edith founded L’Abri Fellowship, an international study center and Christian community with branches in Switzerland, England, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, and the United States. He lectured frequently at leading universities in the U.S. and abroad. His common theme is the uncompromising truth of historic, biblical Christianity and its relevance for all of life.

Copyright © 1984 Francis A. Schaeffer

Publisher: Crossway Books & Bibles
ISBN: 0891073086
ISBN-13: 9780891073086

Reading / Review Date: February 20, 2009


Video:  Francis A. Schaeffer - A Christian Manifesto  

SEE VIDEO - http://youtu.be/6fF90CGcsyM

 

 

Quitting Church

The Author attempts to explain why so many Christians still remain faithful yet dissatisfied and disconnected from the established church. The case histories of those included in the book were insightful, poignant and revealing. Julia Duin explores factors that are causing a shift in why people are leaving churches. The data is impressive. She delves into trends and fads like: house-churches, emergent congregations and postmodernism. This book is not convincing when it presented these options as opposed to traditional churches.

In her statistical data she shows how 78 million protestants don’t go to church, and states in her research that people are simply not being pastured. She writes about her own experience of being churchless and her struggle to find a church from her Charismatic background. Unfortunately she endorses charismatic- extremist teachers from the signs and wonders movement as good models in the book, which we didn’t find helpful.

Her conclusions and remedy for the problems given at the end of the book--she suggests going back to the ’covenant community movement’ like in the 70’s, to which she was a part of. She writes favorably of the house-church movement. This isn’t the best answer for the situation, especially from what has already been well-documented of the past record of the (Shepherding discipleship Movement) blunders and abuses that occurred in the 70‘s and 80‘s, and still would be troublesome today if it’s practices were repeated in today’s church. Two such books that document these movements are ‘Drift into Deception’, and also see the book ‘Damaged Disciples’).

Copyright © 2009
Publisher Baker Books  
ISBN: 0801072271

Reading / Review Date: January 2009

Can a Christian have a demon?

Dilemma Over Demons DVD

This is one of the best dvds exposing the new unbiblical teachings on demonism of christians that has been popularized in the Christian Church today. These teachings regarding spiritual warfare and generational curses are being accepted by undiscerning Christians through ‘deliverance ministries’, and by some Christian counseling. Lorri MacGregor has researched well the biblical issues and errors from those who promote these teachings, and gives biblical answers why the Christian should not be duped into believing these distortions and errors.

The DVD shows how these extreme teachings come through a distinct theology and movements such as Kingdom Now, Dominion theology, Joel’s Army and other similar teachings where a Christian plays a dominant role over demons as well as playing a dominant role over the Christians they minister to. The DVD shows clearly how these error are promoted because of a poor biblical understanding of the verses they use.

Personal responsibility for sin is avoided and blame is put on the person’s past. But, the Bible does not support generational curses for Christians. Religious pride is also a factor with those promoting these unbiblical concepts. The DVD also shows a word study on some of the verses used by those who are involved and promoting these teachings, and will help assist you in your own personal study. The MacGregor’s have been serving the body of Christ since 1979 and have produced several excellent videos/dvd’s. Visit their website for more information. MM Outreach website http://www.mmoutreach.org/

You can purchase this DVD from the product page website and see a short presentation of the DVD here: http://mmoutreach.org/video/dod.htm   

Copyright © 2004

MM Outreach

Keith and Lorri MacGregor

Reviewed: March 2008

The Drift into Deception

Avoiding a Drift into Deception

This is a must read book that warns believers that aberrant teachings can have a cult-like effect on a church and their members. The Author gives details of their personal encounter and heartbreaking experience when their Church drifted into aberrant teachings.

The Authors define an aberrant Christian group: “We may define an aberrant group as one which emerged from orthodox, mainstream Christianity, but differs from it in belief and practices in one or more essential ways. The word aberrant means “straying from the right or normal way; deviating from the usual or natural type.” An aberrant Christian group, then, is neither a cult nor an evangelical organization.” (from pg. 50)

They further go on to show some examples of groups that started out well in traditional evangelical Christianity and then somewhere along the way the leaders drifted into aberrant beliefs, and then progressed into heretical beliefs and practices, as well as the flock that follows them.

There are 2 excellent lists given in the book, one that describes the teachings, and another on the ‘common characteristics’, that gives these 8 warning signs of an aberrant group:

Charisma and pride

Anger and intimidation

Greed and fraud

Immorality

Enslaving authoritarian structure

Exclusivity Demands loyalty and honor

New extra-biblical revelations

There is also a section that shows some may use prophecy as a substitute for sound biblical teachings.

At the end of each chapter are questions for study and discussion of what was covered in the chapters. There are times when a person may need to consider leaving a church, and this book gives examples of that excellently, and gives practical instruction on how to find a good church. Also appreciated was the warnings given on (pg. 173) on finding a church: “Sometimes we don’t see the real fruit of an individual until we’re involved, and that takes time, observation, and evaluation.”

Discernment for every believer is not an option but is a command from Scripture (1 Thess 5:21). It is important to stand firm in our faith and not get discouraged, and to continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:17,18), regardless of the circumstances we may go through. If you should find yourself in this situation, this book is very helpful.

Copyright © 1995

Authors: Agnes C. Lawless and John W. Lawless  

Publisher: Kregel Publications

ISBN-10: 0825431638

Reading / Review Date: May 1997 / Dec. 2007