Berean for Him

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Vain Repetition

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Vain Repetition
© 1997 by Kevin Swanson

Some new worship methods are very similar to the techniques used by hypnotists or eastern mystics

Directly before the news at 7:00 am during my morning commute I tune the radio to a Christian station and listen to one or two contemporary Christian songs. Last week the radio aired a mantra of 4-5 notes which repeated the same words at least ten times in a row. This in itself was not so amazing. I almost had to pull over when the announcer called it his favorite song and stated that his church had used the song in worship time last Sunday, and everybody was just so blessed by it.This called back memories of a documentary I saw once of a crowd engaged in Transcendental Meditation, swaying back and forth, uttering the same phrase over and over again. The protagonists utter a word or short phrase (often Biblical names or phrases such as "Jesus" or "Hallelujah") over and over again in order to initiate a mind-altering trance. The physical, emotional, and mental changes elicited by such manipulations are incredible, similar to the effects of hypnosis.
Some new "worship" methods popularly used in many of our evangelical churches are very similar to the techniques used by hypnotists or eastern mystics. It is the worship of vain repetition, "the vain repetition of the heathen", in Jesus' words.
The number of times something is repeated is important particularly in the context of worship, at least according to Jesus. Hypnosis, generated through repetition of sights or sounds, has no part in true Biblical worship. Hypnosis permits the mind to disengage to some extent. But Biblical worship requires the full engagement of the mind. We are to worship in spirit and TRUTH. Christianity is a religion in which the mind must be fully conscious and fully engaged. We are to love the Lord with "all our mind." We are called to the "renewing of our minds" and to "think soberly." (Romans 12:2, 3).
Our worship and praise must come forth from a lucid mind that is not clouded by hypnosis, unbiblical notions, gibberish that nobody understands, or over-simplified, meaningless, trite, or sentimental phrases. Scripture is dogmatic on this point:

I Cor. 14:15,16. "I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say Amen at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say." (NKJV)

Many modern day choruses are good and profitable. But there are too many that rely on the cheap and illegitimate methods of "vain repetition" to "heighten the worship experience" to the delight of the uninstructed and to the displeasure of a God who does not accept vain repetition in His worship. Some even use bits and pieces of the Psalms in their repetitive compositions.
Biblical examples of repetition are clear. The Psalms use a repeated phrase in the form of a chorus. (Eg. "His mercy endures forever."), but only between verses with varied phrases and thoughts. Sometimes, although rarely, the Scriptures repeat a phrase or a word, but no more than 3 times in a row. (Eg. "Holy, holy, holy.)
May our worship be worship that pleases the God whom we worship rather than worship that titillates the uninstructed and the pleasure-seekers.

Reprinted from Mayflower Chronicles, June 1997

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Bible vs. Heretic

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Wretched: Preaching to Goats.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Saddleback's Daniel Plan guru promotes sorcery -- again

“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.”

“If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.” Leviticus 19:31; 20:6

Most Christians are discerning enough to avoid psychic frauds who use their “powers” to tell the future, magically heal or raise up the dead. But not America’s Pastor. Last year Pastor Rick Warren invited Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Daniel Amen, and Dr. Mark Hyman to craft a 52-week health regime called The Daniel Plan: God’s Prescription for Your Health.

We know that the three who kicked off Saddleback’s Decade of Destiny are advocates and proponents of eastern meditation and worse: This week Dr. Oz dedicated his wildly popular program to a psychic medium who has been connecting with the dead since childhood and has built a career preying on people desperate to have her talk with their deceased loved ones. Here is an excerpt from the program:

Dr Oz May 21 Program: Long Island Housewife Medium

Ever wonder what happens the moment you die? On today’s show, Doctor Oz was joined by TLC’s Long Island Medium, Theresa Caputo. Theresa, the housewife who talks to the dead, says she knows exactly what happens when our loved ones die and today, she revealed the answers to you!

Theresa Caputo is a married mom with 2 children. The last thing she ever thought was that she would be talking to dead people. Since the age of 4, she had been seeing spirits at the foot of her bed. She thought it was normal until she became a teen. This is when she started discussing her visions with people and found that it really wasn’t normal. For many years, Theresa suffered from anxiety until she went to a spiritual healer. This is when she found out she could channel the spirits. Today, her mission was to validate that people’s loved ones are safe after passing. She showed her clients that they can still embrace life without their loved ones.

Doctor Oz was ecstatic to have Theresa Caputo on the show, especially since people had to wait years to spend time with her because she was so popular. Theresa told Dr Oz that never in her wildest dreams did she ever think she’d be doing something like this. She believed that all of us can connect with our loved ones. (Full Story)

There are many instances of Dr. Oz promoting sorcerers and psychics:

(read the rest at the link)

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

A fast-growing movement with disastrous implications - Word Of Faith

To read the entire article click this link: A fast-growing movement with disastrous implications

Highlights from the article:

It is imperative that serious Christians recognize word-faith teaching. Therefore I’m including Beyond Grace’s Word Faith Top Ten which is an abbreviated version of an article Tricia Tillin wrote: Top Ten Reasons for rejecting Word-of-Faith doctrine.

REASON ONE:

It requires ‘revelation knowledge.’

REASON TWO:

It makes the Almighty God and Creator a weak ‘faith-being’ who is at the mercy of His own universal laws.

REASON THREE:

It makes the Divine Son of God into a born-again man who had to die in Hell to pay the price for our treason.

REASON FOUR:

It elevates man to equality with Jesus.

REASON FIVE:

It makes man a god.

REASON SIX:

It makes the redemption into a restoration of dominion for mankind.

REASON SEVEN:

Its goal is the transformation of the earth by spiritual dominion.

REASON EIGHT:

It replaces prayer with confession, and God’s will with the manipulation of ‘forces.’

REASON NINE:

It denies the reality of sin and sickness.

REASON TEN:

It focuses on self and the world instead of God and Heaven. (Tillin’s article expands on these ten points)

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Most mature Christians recognize heresy when it rears its ugly head. But when they speak out against prominent false teachers who are leading the Body of Christ astray, their bamboozled followers invariably play the Matthew 7:1 card:

“Judge not, lest you be judged.”

This is doublespeak for: Shut the heck up!

First of all, discernment demands that we make judgments. As my pastor, Stan Way, said in a recent sermon, faithful Christians live their lives in a new center of gravity — the biblical worldview. Serious Christians must stand up and speak the truth with conviction and courage. We must be willing to lose our life for Christ and the gospel. In other words, for truth! Further, we must be willing to be treated with contempt by the world. Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38).

So — I am going to name names. The list of popular word-faith teachers numbers in the hundreds. Following are the names of a few of these who have risen to a more prominent status:

Kenneth Hagin, E. W. Kenyon, Kenneth Copeland, T.D. Jakes, Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen, Robert Schuller, Paula White, Paul and Jan Crouch, Robert Tilton, Paul Yonggi Cho, Jentezen Franklin, Marilyn Hickey, Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, Fred Price, John Avanzini, Charles Capps, Jerry Savelle, Morris Cerullo, Juanita Bynum, Rod Parsley, Ed Young, Eddie Long, Rodney Howard Brown, Joseph Prince, Kim Clement, Cindy Trimm, and John Hagee.

As I have indicated in this piece there are things going on in the Church that are deeply disturbing. And for this reason it is imperative that Christians have no fear of exposing those who “hack away at the foundations of faith.” We really have no choice, the reason being that the Biblecommands the Body of Christ to “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” (Jude 1:3)