Category — docetism

In Luke 11:34 Jesus said “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness.”

Over and over the proof of his words are manifested by adherents of gay christian theology. At its root is an old heresy which perverts the nature of Christ.

Rev. Jim Mitulski, leader of a gay church in San Francisco says Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem is like a gay pride parade. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

The story begins with Palm Sunday, Jesus’ jaunty entry into Jerusalem, where people placed their cloaks and tree branches on his path to welcome him. For Mitulski, it feels like a gay pride parade – a public and political celebration beyond government control.

Easter “evokes from us the experience of resurrection in our own bodies and in our own spirits,” said Mitulski, the pastor at New Spirit Community Church in Berkeley. “It’s not just a retelling. It’s an embodiment.”

Both religious and secular society have heaped messages upon gays and lesbians that their bodies are sinful or their sexuality a product of mental illness, said Rev. D. Mark Wilson, a pastor at Tapestry Ministries in Berkeley. AIDS is described by some Christians as punishment from God.

But Wilson and others believe the Bible repeatedly decouples the idea that sin is associated with the body or that illness is punishment.

A gay pride parade? In case you’ve never seen one, view a small sample of a gay pride parade here via the SF Chronicle (warning: some images may be offensive).

Bad theology on parade

Gay theology is threaded with heresy in order to make sense to them. In fact, the whole idea of disassociating sin with the body is a fundamental tenet to religious homosexuals. The idea goes like this: If what I do (sex with someone of the same gender) is not associated with sin, then what I do will always be right and good. Thus, any form of sexual activity is not viewed as sinful.  Hopefully, that helps you can understand why homosexuals in religion fight so hard against the word of God which condemns same gender sexual activity.

But the Apostle John clearly refuted that ideology.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:5-8 NIV

John was responding to an old heresy called docetism. Docetism is a heretical teaching with several variations which primarily denies the true nature of Christ.  According to CARM (Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry):

[Docetism] taught that Jesus only appeared to have a body, that he was not really incarnate, (Greek, “dokeo” = “to seem”).  This error developed out of the dualistic philosophy which viewed matter as inherently evil,  that God could not be associated with matter, and that God, being perfect and infinite, could not suffer.  Therefore, God as the word, could not have become flesh per John 1:1,14.

The variation promoted by gay christianity flips the disassociation to the benefit of the individual. Instead of the body (or matter) being evil, it is good.  If the body itself is inherently good, then the body’s action’s are likewise good.

That’s why another gay cleric interviewed in the story could see a bible passage as affirmation, rather than condemnation of his homosexuality.

In Second Corinthians, the apostle Paul says he prayed three times for a thorn to be removed from his flesh. God doesn’t remove “the thorn” but says his grace is sufficient, which some interpret as God telling Paul to accept his body for what it is.

“Being 19, in the closet and doing everything I could to pray away my gayness, that scripture spoke to me,” said Wilson, 49.

The “homosexuality is a thorn in the flesh” theory is one that many think is divine approval, if not justification for their sin. In its broadest general sense a “thorn in the flesh” has come to embody a euphemism which means something you don’t want, but are powerless to get rid of.

But such a contemporary application is not biblical.  Paul called his thorn “a messenger from satan” sent to fight against him. God allowed it but gave Paul grace to continue despite it. Whatever the thorn may be, it cannot be sin such as homosexuality. Paul’s problem wasnt sin, it was external and formidable enough to hinder his work for the kingdom of God. And its clear Paul never accepted his problem, he accepted God’s grace for his problem.

That’s a much different conclusion from Rev. Wilson’s conclusion. He interpreted it to mean God intended for him to be homosexual. He believe he should “accept his body for what it is”. Wilson’s conclusion is not based on the grace of God [read how grace produces holiness, not sin], but his own darkened interpretation that his body is good, therefore it can do nothing sinful.

Does the headline seem exaggerated to you? Well, its not. From Charisma Magazine:

A few weeks ago the Barna Group released a report on the spiritual shift that’s occurred among Hispanic Americans in the last 15 years. This week the focus turned to African-Americans, who remain the most faith-oriented ethnic group in the United States.

In response to nine statements regarding various faith fundamentals, blacks scored the highest among the four predominant groups in all but one—which was also the lone question for which they answered similarly to the national average. A whopping 85 percent—22 percent higher than white respondents—stated that the single most important purpose in life is to “love God with all your heart, mind, strength and soul.”

African-Americans were the leading group to believe in the Bible’s inerrancy, with 66 percent agreeing that it is completely accurate in all its teaching (20 percent higher than whites). Despite this, however, blacks also led the way in claiming that Jesus sinned while on earth (54 percent) and that Satan is merely a symbol of evil (46 percent).

When compared to the three other ethnic groups—whites, Hispanics and Asians—blacks proved to be the most likely to engage in church-related activities during the week, including praying and reading the Bible. And according to the Barna study, they are even more spiritually minded today than they were 15 years ago, with most of the spiritual measures the research group uses having increased significantly.

“While the beliefs and behaviors of America’s white population have changed little since the early 1990s, the new research underscored that the faith of African-Americans is dynamic, generally moving in a direction that is more aligned with conservative biblical teachings,” the report stated.

Serious problems

1. This is a stunning contradiction of positions. First, the report says that AA’s are the leading ethnic group to believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, yet 54% of those believe Jesus sinned on earth and satan is just a “symbol of evil”? How is that reconciled in any biblical manner?  That’s rank confusion but perhaps  explains why the so-called black church is a sinking into a quagmire of sin and ignorance. Both issues are cornerstone fundamentals of our faith.

2. Jesus never sinned. If he had, the totality of our faith is completely bogus. Of course,we know that not to be true based on Mt 27:4 (Judas), Mt 27:19 (Pilate’s wife), Mt 27:54 (theif on the cross), 2 Cor 5:21, 1 John 3:5, Heb 4:15 and in many more places. This reveals a serious deficiency in teaching and training  in doctrine and faith which produces mature disciples. You cant learn that running after prosperity teachings, emergent church mess and gay theology! In fact, we need to go back and re-incorporate catechism training in the church. We’ve mastered all the tongue talking, shouting, dancing and dressing to the nines, but this report exposes a deep ignorance in the black church. And such leads to destruction (Hosea 4:6).

3. Satan is not just a symbol of evil. Actually, this is one of the strategies of satan is to cause people to believe something about himself that is not true. I wont go into here, but we have completely exposed satan by revealing his birth certificate and origins, tactics and judgment. Read here and here.

Its difficult to believe that these people in the Barna survey are true Christians harboring erronerous beliefs like this.  Barna has exposed the real problem and from it stems all others.

Link to the Barna survey.

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind; be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
As obedient children, do not fashion yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as He who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of living, 1 Peter 1:13-15 NKJV

As I have read and seen the incredibly corrupt responses to our aggressive exposure of the public lies and activities of the pimps, wolves and false prophets in the gay christian movement, I realized that there is a monumental struggle throughout the whole of Christendom for control of the church of Jesus Christ. While there is no doubt in my mind that the false prophets will come to no good end, we must be vigilant and sober in dealing with this seemingly perpetual proliferation of falsehood. To that end, I want to share with you two great blog posts which really capture the struggle we are in and the hope that we embrace.

I am declaring them mandatory reading.

The first is from Cry Loud. If I didn’t know better, I’d tell Cry Loud to require everyone to “sow a seed” to get this information. But integrity and a sincere concern for the flock is at the heart of this clear and straightforward instruction. Which, by the way is good for both pastors and pewmen. The post is entitled What happens when wolves are exposed?

Today’s African American church, actually the American church as a whole, has put on blinders. They are in denial that those they admire the most are false teachers and prophets, often referred to as wolves. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing (Mat 7:15) who have infiltrated the Church. As Jude says, they have crept in unawares. The mainline media has facilitated this poison in the church by concentrating on giving exposure to the false and only occasionally giving exposure to the true prophets of God.

Secondly, Seeing God’s Breath (our August Monument Award winner) has penned a powerful post entitled Teaching Falsely or False Teachers?

How is it that thousands of preachers decade after decade disagree with one another with the Bible sitting on their desks? Does anyone read it? Are most indoctrinated? The differing views throughout “Christendom” show evidently that most are not reading and if they are then they are not reading it as the authority for belief and practices. Now, if they are reading the Scriptures as the authority, someone has at least one fallacious assumption attached to their understanding of authority. One thing is apparently true. There are false teachers among the churches,

Please read, take head and be informed. Spread the word and put the false teachers on notice that we intend to fight for the faith once delivered unto the saints.

I was reading on Neil’s 4Simpson’s blog a post entitled The importance of sound doctrine. The post is excellent, if you can understand its importance. If an individual is fed a diet of wrongly divided Word or doctrine, that person will live a life reflective that doctrine. The false prophets and teachers who intentionally feed them such poison, will come to no good end. But in the meantime, we have to guard against, warn and expose such things as the scripture commands and following the example of the Apostles before us. I won’t ask the shallow critics of this blog to read it as I’m sure it would be water off a duck’s back.

However, if you value your salvation, don’t take the teaching of sound doctrine lightly. It literally keeps the church —and you— from sinking into an abyss of perdition.

I also want to include this from Project Probe. A link to it is in the sidebar resources.

Cognisant of the fact that this kind of ministry is by no means a popular one, especially when it involves addressing aberrations and heresies coming from within Church circles, the following points should always be kept in mind:
1. As Christians we are enjoined to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4: 14-15).
2. Endeavouring to speak the truth can make one seem like an enemy (Gal. 4: 16).
3. Divisiveness in the church is not caused by the apologists in the church, as some claim, but rather is caused by those who stray away from sound apostolic/biblical teaching (Rom. 16: 17).
4. While we must all promote unity in the body of Christ, and endeavour to live peaceably with all men (both in and outside the Church) as the apostle Paul encourages us to do in Rom. 12:18, in light of Gal. 4: 16 we must equally be prepared to take a stand for truth even when it means loosing friends and favour.

Like Pulpit-Pimps, we often get accused of “name-calling”. Even our proven assertion that the gay christian movement is led by false prophets was rejected (by a non-Christian source) as just another example of mean spirited name calling.

While we agree that some terms are indeed perjorative and unnecessarily punitive in nature, there can be no denying that the words are used in the Bible to present the most accurate word picture of those engaged in leading others into serial sin are purposeful. The Bible hates the false prophet- false christ-false doctine triumvirate because they all are animated by satan. It is all a part satan’s grand, but delusionary scheme to overthrow the rule of God and then crown himself king of heaven and earth. Read more about satan’s grand scheme and its eventual outcome in Isaiah 14:10-15.

Thankfully, courtesy of Pulpit-Pimps, there is a fairly concise listing of appropriate names in the bible which accurately portray the character and nature of false prophets:

• They are ravenous wolves (Matthew 7:15-16)
• They are practicers of lawlessness (Matthew 7:22-23)
• They are hypocrites ( Matt 15:7-9)
• They are thieves (John 10:1)
• They are slaves of their own appetites (Romans 16:18)
• They are men of flesh (1 Cor 3:1-4)
• They are peddlers of the word of Christ(2 Cor 2:17)
• They are accursed (Galatians 1:6-8)
• They are tricksters and schemers (Ephesians 4:14)
• They are deluders (Ephesians 4:14)
• They are deceivers (Colossians 2:8)
• They are defrauders (Colossians 2:18-19)
• They are teachers of strange doctrine (1 Timothy 1:3)
• They are blasphemers, and have been handed over to Satan (1 Timothy 1:19-20)
• They are teachers of myth (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
• They are paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons (1 Timothy 4:1-3)
• They are liars (1 Timothy 4:1-3)
• They are conceited and understand nothing (1 Timothy 6:3-4)
• They have gone astray (1 Timothy 6:20-21)
• They are evil men, deceiving and being deceived (2 Timothy 3:13)
• They are empty talkers, after sordid gain (Titus 1:10-11)
• They turn away from the truth (Titus 1:13-14)
• They are false prophets, false teachers, greedy exploiters (2 Peter 2:1-4)
• They are stains and blemishes, greedy, loving of wages of unrighteuosness (2 Peter 2:13-15)
• They are slaves of corruption (2 Peter 2:19-20)
• They are ungodly (Jude 4)
• They are rebellious people (Isaiah 30:9)

There may be more. Let us know if some are left off this list.