Pupose-Driven Sensitive Seeker False Teaching

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!Y Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!”
(Isaiah 5:20-21, 23 - KJV)


In 1995, Rick Warren published his first bestseller, The Purpose-Driven Church. In 2002, he released The Purpose Driven Life. Warren’s teachings are based on the principle of being seeker sensitive. The founder of seeker sensitive religion is Robert Schuller, who has had a profound impact on Rick Warren.

Shuller says, “I believe that the responsibility in this Age is to 'positivize' religion. Now this probably doesn't have much bearing to you people, being Unity people, you're positive. But I talk a great deal to groups that are not positive... even to what we would call Fundamentalists who deal constantly with words like sin, salvation, repentance, guilt, that sort of thing.”

This is direct contradiction to what Jesus said in Matthew 9:13; “for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” And in Mark 2:17, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
The focus of the seeker sensitive message is to see an explosion in church growth. But this goes beyond the church as corporations like Coke and Walmart, and sports teams like NASCAR, the Green Bay Packers and the Oakland Raiders use this material to motivate their perspective groups.

The problem is that the seeker sensitive movement points people away from the gospel message Jesus Christ who died to save us from our sins, to a message that makes them comfortable with themselves.

Warren himself said, “You've heard me say many times that the greatest thing you can do with your life is tell somebody about Jesus and invite them to come to know Him ... And I've always said that was the greatest thing you could do with your life. I was wrong. There is one thing you can do greater than share Jesus Christ with somebody, and it is help start a church.”

Like it or not, the true Gospel of Jesus Christ will ALWAYS be offensive. Psalm 118:22 says, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone.” In Luke 20: 17-18, "Jesus looked at them and said, 'Then what do the Scriptures mean? `The stone rejected by the builders has now become the cornerstone.' All who stumble over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.'"

Jesus asserts later that He is the cornerstone of the Temple. Their rejection of Him was irrelevant and it would be to their own downfall in the end.

Furthermore, in Matthew 10:34-39, Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it."

In this day and age when the gospel message is being watered down by those trying to be sensitive to seekers – those who want their ears itched; it is important that we look into what the Word of God says. For His Word is TRUTH. He does not lie. There is no shadow of turning in Him. And His Word is established in Heaven forever. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All men and women NEED a Savior. And the only one able to save us from our SINS is Jesus Christ who shed His PURE, SPOTLESS, UNBLEMISHED BLOOD that we might live!

Brothers and sisters, “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteous¬ness and truth;) proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” (Ephesians 5:6-11 - KJV)

If I Gained The World, But Lost The Savior

If I gained the world, but lost the Savior,
Would my gain be worth the life-long strife?
Are all earthly pleasures worth comparing
For a moment with a Christ-filled life?
O the joy of having all in Jesus!
What a balm the broken heart to heal!
Ne'er a sin so great, but He'll forgive it,
Nor a sorrow that He does not feel!
If I have but Jesus, only Jesus,
Nothing else in all the world beside
O then ev'rything is mine in Jesus;
For my needs and more He will provide.

A hymn by Anna Ölander, 1904

The Feel Good Gospel of Self Esteem and Prosperity

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. (2 Peter 2:1-3 KJV)

Joel Osteen was recently interviewed on 60 Minutes. In the interview, Byron Pitts read the following quote from Osteen’s book, A New You.

“To become a better you, you must be positive toward yourself, develop better relationships, embrace the place where you are . . . “

He continued, “Not one mention of God in that. Not one mention of Jesus Christ in that.”

Joel’s response was, “That’s just my message. There is scripture in there that backs it all up. But I feel like Byron, I’m called to help people – How do we walk out the Christian life? How do we live it? And these are principles that can help you. I mean there’s a lot better people that qualified to say ‘Here’s a book that’s gonna explain the scriptures to ya.’ I don’t think that is my gifting.”

In response to this, I invite you to watch the following video by John Piper.

The Divinity of Man?

It learned recently of a teaching that is spreading through the church today that is pure blasphemy! Actually, it’s not something new. It goes back as early as the Garden of Eden, and its roots go back even further when Satan along with one-third of the angels were cast out of heaven. Let me share it with you.

Because Jesus lives in us, we can speak in the first person and declare “I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life” and “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” We also can speak scripture in the First Person of Christ and declare that people are made clean. Furthermore, when we embrace this Divinity which is really who we are, and are immersed in that love, we will have such power and anointing to take on any task. We will be successful in everything we put our hands to. If we reject this teaching, we will disqualify ourselves from living and experiencing all that God intends for us.

Do you grasp the weight of this false teaching? As a child of God, does your spirit rise up and cry, “Stop! Hold on! Something is wrong here!” God and His word are true and every man is a liar! The Divinity of man is the same lie that was presented to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, you’re your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods . . .” (Gen 3:5) As I said earlier, this is the same blasphemy that Lucifer believed when he sought to usurp the throne of God before he was cast out of heaven with a third of the angels.

False teachers who promote this doctrine are saying that Christ in you makes you Divine and allows you to declare “I am the Way, The Truth, and The Life!” “I am the True Vine.”

This is utter blasphemy! Jesus is “The Way, The Truth, and The Life. In John 15: 5-6, Jesus said “I am the vine and you are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”

Look at the writings of the New Testament. Tell me, where any of the apostles ever proclaimed themselves to be “I AM?”

In Galatians 2:20, Paul declares, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live, but not I, for Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.”

We would probably name Paul as one of the greatest apostles of the New Testament. He carried the Gospel message through the known world of his time, all the way to Rome. Even here in Galatians he recognizes who he is in comparison to Christ Jesus.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, I cannot emphasize enough; Be in relationship with Jesus Christ your Savior. Be washed daily in the waters of His Word. We do not live on bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. As Jesus declared in Matthew 24, before His return, many false prophets would arise and deceive many. Guard your hearts by devouring His Word. When you do; when you walk close in relationship with Jesus; when you are living a life that does not grieve the Holy Spirit, you will discern truth from lies and you will not become meat for the false shepherds.

Discerning False Shepherds

Before we discuss False Shepherds, let’s look at Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:6. "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

There is an offense that is taking place in the body of Christ. Men and women claiming to be anointed, bearing the titles of Reverend, Bishop, Apostle, Prophet . . . are in truth seeking to exalt themselves at the expense of God’s sheep. They pose as God’s messengers, but are in truth ravenous wolves whose false teachings abuse and hurt the innocent. These walking wounded become discouraged and sometimes blame God for their hurt. Some even in deep depression because of the betrayal choose the path of suicide.

Anyone who dares to confront these pretenders are accused of having the “Spirit of Jezebel.” They are threatened that if they don’t stop speaking against God’s anointed, they will incur God’s wrath. They employ such abusive and deceptive tactics, putting on a show of piety, when in fact they have an insatiable appetite to feed their ego and wallets while leaving the flock of God in a state of famine.

God renders his verdict in Ezekiel 34:10 by saying, “I am against the shepherds: and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves anymore; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.”

God has specific names for these false shepherds. Open your Bible and read His description of them. Her refers to them as:

Beasts of the field and forest - Isaiah 56:9-11

Cloud without water - Jude 12

Raging Waves - Jude 13

Trees without Fruit - Jude 12 and Matt 7:17-20

Wolves - Ezek 22:26-28, Zeph 3:1-4, Matt 7:15, Acts 20:29-30

Watchmen that are blind and ignorant - Is. 5:10

Avoid these false shepherds. Cling to Jesus! He is the TRUE SHEPHERD. Get to know Him by getting into His word and learning who He is and who He is not. Don’t just readily swallow every word that comes out of the mouth of one who claims to be speaking on behalf of God.

We are told in God’s word to rightly divide and handle the word of Truth. Jesus said that it is a wicked and foolish generation that always seeks a sign. The sign of a true man or woman of God is that they declare the word of God and every word lines up and does not contradict the Word of God. The WORD of God is the TRUE measuring line that we should align our lives with.

So I challenge you my brothers and sisters in Christ to KNOW THE LORD YOUR GOD. Psalm 119:11 says “Thy Word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against Thee.” Hide His word deep in your heart and when the candy-coated lies of the false shepherds speak, you will be able to discern what is real spiritual food versus what is junk food for the soul.

In Christ’s love,

Jeff :O)

The Days Of Noah

“Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for He guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.” Psalm 97:10 (NIV)

In the days of Noah, the Bible records that men did what was right in their own eyes. Sin was rampant. But one family chose righteousness and served God in the midst of a perverse and wicked generation. God spared that family from His wrath and the destruction that He poured out onto the earth.

Jesus said that in the last days before His return, it would be again like the days of Noah. In a day and age where the Ten Commandments are being taken out of our courtrooms and public buildings, and where teachers can be sued for saying “let’s pray” during a moment of silence; my friend, we are living in those days

We live in a day of political correctness where those who would stand up for righteousness are branded as intolerant. Sin is watered down so that no one is offended, and that which is profane and vile becomes acceptable and tolerated. Meanwhile we witness shipwreck throughout the sea of humanity because sin comes at a price. The spiritual law of God states that the wages of sin is death (and destruction.)

Suicide is on the rise. Drug and alcohol abuse is stealing the innocence of our children. These are just a few of the symptoms of the disease that results from the rejection of God’s word as we rebelliously choose our own path. Isaiah 5:20 says “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.”

The answer is right in front of us. God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours. Romans 12:9 reads “abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.”

With obedience comes blessing. I close with God’s promise to us written in Isaiah 33:15. As you go through this day, meditate on these words. Let them soak into you spirit. As you do, you will find yourself being changed from the inside out. You will also witness the hand of God moving in your life and on your behalf.

"He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
He who despises the gain of oppressions,
Who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes,
Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed,
And shuts his eyes from seeing evil:
He will dwell on high;
His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks...."

Are You Running Away?

“But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” Jonah 1:3 (NKJV)


The Holy Spirit comes to us whispering in our ear. “This way my child; follow me and I will lead you.”

Maybe His voice comes as a warning; “No! Don’t go there! There are pitfalls, follow me, and I will lead you to safety.”

Or have you ever felt His burden placed on your heart? “You need to go and talk to Carl. He is really struggling and I want you to speak My words to him in his hour of need.”

He could have even spoken something like this to you: “You can’t sit back in the shadows on this one Jeff. You need to stand up and be counted. Stand up for My name’s sake lest you be counted as being in agreement. Don’t compromise. Don’t be afraid. I will go with you!”

You get the picture. The fact is that the Spirit of God speaks to us, but we don’t always want to listen. In fact, we often choose to turn the other way and refuse to answer what He has called us to do.

Jonah did this very thing! The sins of Nineveh were so great that God chose to send His prophet to tell the people of the city that judgment and destruction was coming. God is merciful. He was going to have His message delivered giving the people of Nineveh a chance to respond.

But Jonah didn’t want any part of it! The Ninevites were evil. In Jonah’s mind, they deserved God’s wrath. So he bought a ticket on a boat that was going in the opposite direction of where God had called him to go. Not only was it in the opposite direction, according to the Amplified Bible, Tarshish was the most remote of the Phoenician trading places of the time.

His intent was to get as far away from the thing that God had called him to do as he could. But the funny thing is, we can never outrun God. We can never escape His presence. We can never pull one over on Him so that He’s wondering, “Now where could Jeff be? He was here a few minutes ago!”

In Psalm 139:7-8 the writer asks, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there: If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.”

Jonah ran from God, but God pursued Jonah. Three after being thrown into a stormy sea and swallowed by a big fish, he was coughed up out of the belly of the fish onto the shores of Nineveh. He declared the word that God had given him to speak. An amazing thing happened. The people received God’s message, repented from their sins, and clothed themselves in sackcloth and ashes.

Forty days passed and they did not meet with God’s wrath. Rather they were introduced to God’s mercy. You see, scripture says that God is not willing that any man perish. Not everyone will receive His salvation. But as Romans 10 states:

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?”

Are you running from something God has told you to do? Stop! Turn around! Embrace the call of God in your life! Stop running! He knows the plans He has for you, but you must submit under His mighty hand.

Pray the prayer of David in Psalm 51:10-11.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.”

God bless you my brothers and sisters as you choose to surrender your vessels to the living God who loves you with an everlasting love.

Jesus Must Increase - I Must Decrease

Country singer Toby Keith summed up the day and age we are living in his song, “I Wanna Talk About Me.” The chorus lyrics say it all for most people:

“I wanna talk about me, I wanna talk about I
Wanna talk about number 1 oh my, me, my,
What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see.
I like talkin about you, you, you, you usually, but occasionally
I wanna talk about me! (me, me, me,) I wanna talk about me-e-e. (me, me, me)

Now don’t get me wrong. I believe in a healthy self-esteem. For many years I struggled with inferiority until one day, it hit me right between the eyes. I was created in the image of God! Yes, sin had entered the world through the fall of Adam and Eve, but Jesus, the second Adam had redeemed me by His blood sacrifice and had restored my relationship with God. Being in His image with Him living in me – what better self esteem could I have than that?

But we are living in the days of 2 Timothy 3. These are “perilous times” where men love themselves in a conceited way. Take a look at this passage and see the degree of depravity that selfish man falls into as he exalts himself above all that is godly.

John the Baptist knew very well the answer to self absorption. In John chapter 3, a dispute had arisen between his disciples and the Jews regarding purification. Jesus, whom John baptized was now baptizing. People were flocking to Jesus instead of John. He simply told his disciples, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Paul said similarly in Philippians 3:8-9. “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” (KJV)

Examine your heart today. Is your life all about you or are you allowing yourself to diminish so that God’s will takes priority in your life? If we will let self die, then Jesus will be lifted up in our lives, and men will see our good works and glorify God in heaven.

Like Paul in Galatians 2:20, let us declare, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”