Lee: Strange Fire on Defiled Altars
Categories: Spiritually Odd, Dangerous Ideas, Rants and Ravings, Espanol, Ministry Watch, Religion, Culture Watch, Theology.
This article speaks for itself. Just like the Piper video I posted some time ago, this editorial piece by Lee Grady is finally making headway in what has been one of the worst times of spiritual abuse and charlatanry in the church today. Although I do not always agree with Charisma magazine, Lee Gady has done an outstanding job of pointing out these false prophets of our times.
Coming from a hispanic and pentecostal heritage myself, for too long I have endured the theological free loaders that have lived off of innocence of the somewhat doctrinaly anemic brothers and sisters who are taken adavntage of time and time again. I can personlly attest to times when people like Paulino Bernal would preach about the "five desires" where you can literally buy your desires from God. There have been times where I have spoken to pastors across the border where they have literally turned over their personal items and sometimes even deeds to their land in order to get these and many other health and wealth assurances.
I applaud Lee Grady and the many others who boldly point out these people that do more damage than good. The excerpt from his editorial piece is below.
"That’s why I fear for many of the men and women who claim to be God’s mouthpieces today, particularly in the charismatic/Pentecostal movement that I serve.
When I read Leviticus 10, I wonder why the ground has not opened up and swallowed some of the careless spiritual clowns who are masquerading as bishops, apostles and prophets.
A case in point: Bishop Thomas Wesley Weeks III, who is now facing charges of assaulting his wife, recently stood in his pulpit in Atlanta during a marriage conference and proceeded to teach married couples how to use profanity during sex.
Yes, the man who allegedly kicked and punched Juanita Bynum in a hotel parking lot last month told attendees at a “Teach Me How to Love You” event that they should get over their hang-ups about cussing. The bedroom, he said, is the place to get down and dirty.
“Don’t bring your salvation into the bedroom,” he said in a sermon segment that has been posted on YouTube.
“All those special words that you can’t say no more because you’re saved … save that for the bedroom!”
It is bad enough that Weeks told his followers that it’s OK to use filthy language with your wife during lovemaking. It’s worse that he said these things as a minister speaking from a pulpit during a church service. Thankfully he didn’t bring a bed on stage and give a demonstration—but now that he has taken pulpit crudity to a new level, someone else is sure to introduce Pentecostal porn to an audience somewhere.
Weeks’ comments didn’t surprise me. There are so many crazy things happening in pulpits in this country that I’ve become numb to their impact. It seems that in many segments of the church today, false prophets and backslidden preachers can introduce the most bizarre doctrines imaginable and still get shouts from the crowd and plenty of donations in the offering plate.
Meanwhile, a growing number of television preachers are resorting to the most inane tactics to raise money. A popular trend this year is the “Day of Atonement Offering”—in which Old Testament scriptures are strained to the breaking point to make a case for buying special blessings from God. Thanks to this “revelation,” you can click on a Web site icon and give your Day of Atonement Offering to win divine favor. (And of course every dime of that money goes to an evangelist who uses it to purchase houses, cars, plastic surgeries and more airtime so they can spread this nonsense to more naïve people.)
I have no personal vendetta against these spiritual hoodlums, but lately I find myself praying: “Lord, when will You clean up Your church? When will you send Your holy fire into the sanctuary? When will You turn over the tables of the moneychangers and drive the charlatans out of Your house?”
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