HILLARY WANTS THE POWER TO SHAPE OUR CHILDREN

HILLARY CLINTON: YOUR KIDS BELONG TO THE STATE

It’s the government’s job to raise your children, Clinton implies

SEE: http://www.infowars.com/hillary-clinton-your-kids-belong-to-the-state/

HILLARY WANTS THE POWER TO 

SHAPE OUR CHILDREN
The president has the power to “shape our children,” Hillary Clinton said in a controversial tweet that sparked outrage among parents.

Clinton’s Orwellian notion that the government should take more control from parents to raise the nation’s children has been promoted by the authoritarian left before, perhaps most famously by former MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry in 2013.

“We have to break through our private idea that kids belong to their parents or kids belong to their families,” she said, adding that kids belong “to whole communities” instead.

More recently, Black Lives Matter vowed to destroy the nuclear family and replace it with communitarian-style collective parenting.

“We are committed to disrupting the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and ‘villages’ that collectively care for one another, and especially ‘our’ children to the degree that mothers, parents and children are comfortable,” states BlackLivesMatter.com on its “guiding principles” page.

And the notion that children should worship the president gained momentum during the Obama administration.

For example, school teachers in Las Vegas, Nev., forced students to pledge allegiance to a huge, projected image of the president instead of the U.S. flag.

“Anyone in their right mind will realize that Americans are not supposed to ‘pledge allegiance’ or ‘service’ to a president,” Steve Watson pointed out. “The U.S. Constitution, that piece of paper that Obama clumsily swore to defend and protect, states quite clearly that elected representatives are supposed to act in ‘service’ of the people’s best interests, not the other way around.”

Similarly, when Obama began his presidency, entertainment celebrities pledged their servitude to the president.

“The Presidential Pledge is a platform for people across the nation and throughout the world to make a first person commitment of service to our new President, articulating a specific intent or action to become an agent of positive change,” actor Ashton Kutcher said.
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HILLARY ADVISED TO USE PHRASE: "POWER THROUGH":

Cancer Of Corruption: Hillary's Latest Speech

HILLARY GOES COMMUNIST

Published on Sep 17, 2016

Hillary Clinton gave her first speech yesterday since collapsing on 9/11, where she was echoing talking points about kids and family, and seemed a little nervous to blatantly lie to the America public, something that is standard for her during these speeches. Owen Shroyer responds to some of Hillary's speech.

SHE'LL BRING "EVERYTHING WITHIN REACH" BY REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH

Village Idiot Hillary Wants To Raise Your Child

Published on Sep 16, 2016

Hillary thinks “it takes a village to raise your child” and Michelle Obama says “this election is about who will have the power to shape our children”. Why do conservatives turn their children over to the government to educate, indoctrinate, vaccinate and raise? 

Actress Sam Sorbo on Hillary Clinton's Socialism, 

Communists & Public Education, new movie

DOUG GROOTHUIS'S UNMASKING THE NEW AGE: A REVIEW

DOUG GROOTHUIS'S UNMASKING THE NEW AGE: A REVIEW 

BY SETH DUNN

SEE: http://pulpitandpen.org/2016/09/14/doug-groothuiss-unmasking-the-new-age-a-review/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

Who is Douglas Groothuis?

According to various autobiographical web pages, Doug Groothuis is an “evangelical, protestant, near-Anglican”[1] Christian and a “constructive curmudgeon”[2]  On these informal web pages, Groothuis writes with regularity and at some length, with a fire in his bones[3], about Christianity. He is well-qualified to do so. “Groothuis joined the faculty (of Denver Seminary) in 1993 and is the Professor of Philosophy at that institution. He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, the Evangelical Philosophical Society, and the Society of Christian Philosophers…Groothuis received a Ph.D. and a B.S. from the University of Oregon, and an M.A. in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin–Madison…He has written for scholarly journals such as Religious Studies, Sophia, Research in Philosophy and Technology, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Philosophia Christi, Trinity Journal, and Asbury Theological Journal as well as for numerous popular magazines”[4]  He has written twelve books, of which Unmasking the New Age is the first, having been published in 1986.

 The Book’s Purpose: Explaining an Age to Come

The subtitle of the 1986 book Unmasking the New Age asks the question “Is there a new religious movement trying to transform society?”  Its author attempted to make the case that there was while attempting to prepare readers to identify and respond to its challenges from a Christian perspective.  According to him, “The Western World is faced with a new order, a new world view, a New Age…We are excitedly told that we are more than we imagined and that the world is about to take a leap into the light of expanded consciousness.” (36)  By now, of course, the New Age movement is no longer “new”.  Unmasking the New Age was written long before some of the spiritual practices and ways of thinking examined in the book became as popular as they today are.  For example, Doug Groothuis warned readers to “steer clear of yoga” (68) in the book’s third chapter.  This warning came nearly three decades before yoga became a “$27 billion industry with 20 million practitioners.”[5]  To put the matter bluntly, the New Age has been unmasked for quite some time.  Due to the book’s age, the contemporary reader of Unmasking the New Age must repurpose the work.  It is no longer a prophetic warning given to facilitate a proactive Christian apologetic against an emerging occult movement but rather a sort of exposition and history that helps the Christian reader formulate a reactive apologetic to the remaining influence of the New Age movement that was emerging in Western society during the 1980s.

An Exposition of Eastern Ecumenism

The content of Unmasking the New Age was broken down into eight chapters which progressively addressed the ramifications of the New Age movement.  In the book’s early chapters, Groothuis explained the spiritual beliefs inherent in New Age thought and examined the subcultures from which New Age influences were emerging.  He then explored the effects of New Age ideals upon Western healthcare, psychology, science, politics, and spiritual expression.  In the book’s final chapter, Groothuis contrasted Christian thought against that of the New Age, challenging his readers to meet the New Age movement head on with a Christian witness.  This was no simple task given that New Age thought, which emerged from Eastern spirituality, is hardly monolithic.

Whereas Western spirituality (which arguably includes the geographically Eastern religious systems of Islam and Judaism) tends to feature authoritative scriptures, principles, clerical bodies, confessions, and creeds, Eastern spirituality tends to be less formalized and somewhat decentralized.  Furthermore, the acceptance of contradictory statements as concurrently true is a “much more common and recurrent view in Eastern Philosophy than in the West.”[6]  Thus, it is difficult to pin down single doctrines and authorities within the New Age movement, which was described by one of Groothuis’ academic colleagues as “ecumenical” (9), to analyze and refute.  Nonetheless, this is the very task that Groothuis set out to perform in writing Unmasking the New Age.  To do so, he epitomized New Age thought in a concept that he called “The One for All”.  The essential “doctrines” of the “One for All” are the ideas that “All is One” (18), “All is God” (20), “Humanity is God” (21), and “All Religions are One” (27).  For the New Age thinker, Jesus Christ isn’t any more God than he himself is.  “Jesus of Nazareth…is merely one of many appearances or manifestations of God throughout the millennia.” (28)  The mission of the New Age Jesus was to show his fellow men that they were a part of the universal, pantheistic god-consciousness of which existence is constituted.  This is not the mission of the Jesus of the Bible.  Thus Groothuis argued that New Age spirituality was a rejection of Biblical Christianity.

Additionally, Groothuis argued that the New Age movement was a rejection of an altogether different anti-Christian worldview as well, that of secular humanism.  He saw the New Age movement as having emerged from the 1960s counterculture, evolving along with the thinkers who developed out of that milieu.  They not only rejected Christianity but also the hopeless nihilism of secular thought.  They traded Western Christian and secular humanistic worldviews for an Eastern alternative that opened their minds to different ways of looking at the nature of existence.  Health wasn’t confined to anatomy but was holistically extended to energies and life forces.  Death became, not an end, but “a transition to another state of consciousness or…an illusion” (64).  The influence of New Age thought was apparent to Groothuis in the growing popularity of the physical practices such acupuncture, therapeutic touch, biofeedback, and yoga.  Groothuis also saw that mental practices fell under New Age influence, remarking that the New Age sought “personal transformation…to liberate the human mind, to provide a New Consciousness and psychology” (72) through promises of opening up the mind with practices such as ESP.[7]

The New Age, according to Groothuis, was also seeking to influence political affairs by “spiritualizing the left” (112).  In 1986, Groothuis saw the educational and political scene as primed for a New Age takeover.  In the antepenultimate chapter of Unmasking the New Age, Groothuis wrote that “the growing influence and popularity of pantheism in psychology, science, health care, and religious practices are bound to spill over into the political arena.” (113)  Groothuis foresaw a push from the “One for All” crowd for a “new world order where the nations are united politically and economically” (117).  He also foresaw a push from the “One For All” crowd to seed religious thought with mysticism and moral relativism.  The final chapter of his book straightforwardly addressed the stark differences between the Christian worldview and that of the New Age (and for good measure addressed the difference between those worldviews and secular humanism).  Despite these differences, Groothuis observed that “just as the New Age has infiltrated many disciplines with the attractiveness of its views, it has also seduced some Christians…some have assimilated compromised Christianity by assimilating New Age ideas and practices.” (171)  He expressly warned Christians to be careful with mystical writings and to avoid the practice of positive confession, ending his book with a call for Christian to do their best to stem the tide of the “One for All”.

An Evaluation: Looking Back on the New Age

Nearly thirty years after Unmasking the New Age was published, it’s clear that political machinations of the New Age didn’t quite pan out.  Although the left has obtained significant influence in Western politics over the last decade, it seems more stepped in secular humanism than it does in New Age thought.  For example, the left has exerted tremendous influence over American society and the healthcare system through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly called Obamacare).  However, Obamacare largely regulates the commerce surrounding the practice of traditional western medicine.  In the realm of education, the Common Core initiative of in public schools seems more secular than spiritual.  Despite the de-emphasis of American exceptionalism by the country’s current governing administration, the international scene remains divided, especially by the influence of radical Islam.  Perhaps the failure of the New Age to take hold in society is best illustrated by Groothuis’s most recent publishing in the realm of Christian apologetics, which is far from as focused on combating New Age thought as it once was.[8]  The new world order of the New Age has apparently lost out to the older world order of secular humanism.

Unfortunately, just as Groothuis feared, the New Age has made inroads into religious life, especially that of professing Christians.  Jesus Calling, which contains the mystical writings[9] of Sarah Young, has become a “runaway best-seller”[10] for the Christian-themed publisher Thomas Nelson.  It has even spawned its own “Jesus Calling” franchise of book products.  The mystical practice of contemplative prayer has been endorsed by evangelical ladies’ bible study luminaries Beth Moore[11] and Priscilla Shirer[12].  The immensely popular Bible Miniseries[13] was co-produced by New Age mystic Roma Downey, who holds a Masters degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica.[14]  Joyce Meyer and Joel Osteen are two of the most famous and wealthy “Christian” preachers in the world; both teach a “name it and claim it” message of positive confession.[15]  Popular television personality Oprah Winfrey, who arguably garners a religious level of devotion from many American women, helped make the positive confession self-help book, The Secret, a best-seller.[16]  Clearly, some of Groothuis most disconcerting fears have been realized.

Looking back over the past three decades, one could reasonably conclude that the New Age failed to transform society because it is, plainly, intellectually and scientifically bereft.  Outside of its lingering spiritual influence on undiscerning cultural Christians, it seems to be a fad that has lost its kitsch.  Aging baby boomers seem to have figured out that they want real doctors and sensibly scientific educations for their children.  Even the popular Eastern practice of Yoga appears to have been commercialized far away from its spiritual roots.  However, one could also reasonably conclude that the New Age failed to take stronger root in society because voices such as Doug Groothuis sounded an alarm.  Unmasking the New Age put forth a strong and informative Christian witness against a very unbiblical movement.  Even today, it is a witness that can still be appreciated.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Denver Seminary. Denver Seminary. http://www.denverseminary.edu/about-us/president-faculty-staff-board/faculty/dr-douglas-r-groothuis/ (accessed February 6, 2014).

Facebook. Douglas Groothuis. https://www.facebook.com/DouglasRichardGroothuis/about (accessed February 6, 2014).

Gregorie, Carolyn. How Yoga Became A $27 Billion Industry — And Reinvented American Spirituality.December 16, 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/16/how-the-yoga-industry-los_n_4441767.html (accessed September 6, 2017).

Groothuis, Douglas. Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith. Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, USA, 2011.

—. The Constructive Curmudgeon. http://www.theconstructivecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/ (accessed February 6, 2014).

Hill, Aaron. “Touched By A Cult: The Beliefs of Roma Downey.” A Ransomed Mined. March 30, 2015. http://www.aaronhill.org/touched-by-a-cult-the-beliefs-of-roma-downey/ (accessed September 11, 2016).

Kelley, Keith J. “Publisher anticipates high demand for follow-up to ‘Jesus Calling’.” New York Post.May 12, 2016. http://nypost.com/2016/05/12/publisher-anticipates-high-demand-for-follow-up-to-jesus-calling/ (accessed 11 2016, September).

Martin, Tim. “Joyce Meyer.” The Watchman Fellowship Profile Notebook, December 2012.

Silva, Ken. “Apprising Ministries.” Priscilla Shirer and Contemplative/Centering Prayer. July 26, 2010. http://apprising.org/2010/07/26/priscilla-shirer-and-contemplativecentering-prayer/ (accessed September 11, 2016).

Slick, Matt. “Beth Moore.” Christian Apologetics Research Minsitry. https://carm.org/beth-moore (accessed September 11, 2016).

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. “Dialetheism.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. March 28, 2013. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dialetheism/ (accessed September 10, 2016).

Walker, James. “The Secret.” The Watchman Fellowship Profile Notebook,, March 2013.

[1] Facebook. Douglas Groothuis. https://www.facebook.com/DouglasRichardGroothuis/about

[2] Groothuis, Douglas. The Constructive Curmudgeon.http://www.theconstructivecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/ (accessed February 6, 2014).

[3] Here, I paraphrase a comment he made during a lecture in New Orleans in January 2014.  In this comment, he alluded to Ezekiel 3:14.

[4] Denver Seminary. Denver Seminary. http://www.denverseminary.edu/about-us/president-faculty-staff-board/faculty/dr-douglas-r-groothuis/

[5] Gregorie, Carolyn. How Yoga Became A $27 Billion Industry — And Reinvented American Spirituality. December 16, 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/16/how-the-yoga-industry-los_n_4441767.html (accessed September 6, 2017).

[6] Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. “Dialetheism.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. March 28, 2013. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dialetheism/ (accessed September 10, 2016)

[7] “ESP” is a common acronym for the pseudoscientific concept of Extrasensory Perception.

[8] Groothuis followed up Unmasking the New Age with Confronting the New Age and Revealing the New Age Jesus in 1998 and 1998, respectively. His Magnum opus, Christian Apologetics, published in 2011, is more a more general Christian apologetic and is not specifically focused on the New Age.

[9] Jesus Calling is written in the voice of Jesus Christ and purports to be revelation from him.  Young’s method for writing Jesus Calling has been likened to the occult practice of automatic writing.

[10] Kelley, Keith J. “Publisher anticipates high demand for follow-up to ‘Jesus Calling’.” New York Post. May 12, 2016. http://nypost.com/2016/05/12/publisher-anticipates-high-demand-for-follow-up-to-jesus-calling/ (accessed 11 2016, September).

[11] Slick, Matt. “Beth Moore.” Christian Apologetics Research Minsitry. https://carm.org/beth-moore (accessed September 11, 2016).

[12] Silva, Ken. “Apprising Ministries.” Priscilla Shirer and Contemplative/Centering Prayer. July 26, 2010. http://apprising.org/2010/07/26/priscilla-shirer-and-contemplativecentering-prayer/ (accessed September 11, 2016).

[13] and the related Son of God feature film and AD television series

[14] Hill, Aaron. “Touched By A Cult: The Beliefs of Roma Downey.” A Ransomed Mined. March 30, 2015. http://www.aaronhill.org/touched-by-a-cult-the-beliefs-of-roma-downey/ (accessed September 11, 2016).

[15] Martin, Tim. “Joyce Meyer.” The Watchman Fellowship Profile Notebook, December 2012.

[16] Walker, James. “The Secret.” The Watchman Fellowship Profile Notebook,, March 2013.
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Easternism and New Age (Part 1)

Easternism and New Age (Part 2)

STEVEN FURTICK'S "CODE ORANGE": THE IRONIC PARALLEL MEANING

SEE OUR PREVIOUS POSTS:
http://ratherexposethem.blogspot.com/2016/09/steven-furticks-elevation-church-code.html

http://ratherexposethem.blogspot.com/2014/02/steven-furtick-word-of-faith-visionary.html

AND MANY MORE AT:

http://apprising.org/category/steven-furtick/

STEVEN FURTICK'S "CODE ORANGE": THE IRONIC PARALLEL MEANING

BY RICHARD HAAS

SEE: http://pulpitandpen.org/2016/09/14/code-orange-the-ironic-parallel-meaning/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

The ten-day heresy revival event called the “Code Orange Revival” hosted by Elevation Church, and Pastor Steven Furtick is well under way. This year’s event started on September 9^th and will finish this Sunday the 18^th. As typical Steven Furtick has lined up some of the most talented in Scripture-twisting and the exploitation of God’s Word, these gurus of abstraction include Christine Caine, Louie Giglio, Craig Groeschel, Carl Lentz, Darius Daniels, John Gray, Levi Lusko, and even Joyce Meyer. Each one of these speakers being talented of their own accord in the art of Scriptural perversion.

I have often referred to this event in the past as the “Heresy Olympics” or the “Heresy Games,” and for good reason. I have been covering this particular event since 2012 over at EBC†Ministries and have written several articles detailing the problems with Steven Furtick, Code Orange, and Elevation Church.  More recently, I wrote an article entitled “Release, Receive, Respond, Repeat!”  But No Repent! over at The CrossRoads detailing the problems with this year’s Code Orange Revival.  While I have covered the problems with the opening night ceremony and its message, I started to think about the irony behind the naming of this event and how a name could be no more fitting for such a “revival.”

Before the uprise of the Code Orange Revival events and the rise of Steven Furtick to celebrity pastor status, how many of you have ever heard the such a pairing of words? I mean the pairing of the words “Code Orange.” I never gave much thought to the use of these words in the general sense, or for that matter, their public meaning. It wasn’t until recently that I began to think about the irony in the naming of these “revival” events.  It was pointed out by an astute listener of mine over at my podcast, Cross†Roads Radio, that I should investigate the naming of Steven Furtick’s revival. So that is what I did, and I found it completely ironic the naming of the Code Orange Revival and the definition of what a “code orange” is in public use.

Now let me make this clear, I am not one of those who believes in hidden symbolism or conspiracy theories. I just found this to be too ironic not to write about or mention. If you are in the medical field or work in a hospital, you may be very familiar with what a “code orange” event is. However, if you are like myself and many others in the general public this pairing of words has no significant meaning.  According to an online medical dictionary (which can be found here), the meaning of “Code Orange” has some interesting ramifications.  It can mean several different things from a bomb threat or a radioactive spill to a potentially violent person with mental issues, or even an external disaster with mass casualties. In the general sense, a “code orange” event means disaster–and one of significant proportion.

It is seemingly ironic in the naming of Steven Furtick’s Code Orange Revival events and the real-life definition of a code orange event.  There is a peculiar similarity between the definition of what a code orange event is in real life and what happens at one of Steven Furtick’s Code Orange Revival events.  The commonality starts and ends in one-word — Disaster. Both of these occasions, a real life code orange event, and Furtick’s Code Orange Revival event equals disaster.

While a real life code orange situation may be harmful to the immediate public in a localized area, Steven Furtick’s Code Orange Revival has a much larger reach and dire eternal ramifications.  It is Furtick’s Code Orange Revival that is by far the most disastrous with their twisting of Scripture, blatant eisegesis, the preaching of false gospels, and distinctly shallow evangelicalism. These vain attempts project a version of a mere Christianity that have the most deadly consequences —eternal damnation. When we look at what the Code Orange Revival events teach and promote, the damage done to the body of Christ is evident.  In the aftermath of the disaster called the Code Orange Revival, we can honestly see the sad irony in the naming of this event.
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SEE ALSO:
http://pulpitandpen.org/2016/09/16/code-orange-joyce-meyer-the-sleight-of-hand-of-experientialism/

TONY EVANS (FATHER OF PRISCILLA SHIRER) & SPIRITUAL WARFARE: DEMON BUSTING WITH A LESS THAN SOVEREIGN GOD

Tony Evans & Spiritual Warfare: Demon Busting With A Less Than Sovereign God

BY BUD AHLHEIM

SEE: http://pulpitandpen.org/2016/09/16/tony-evans-spiritual-warfare-demon-busting-with-a-less-than-sovereign-god/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

 on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.”

Matthew 6:9-13

Most are familiar with these words from our Lord in Matthew’s Gospel, often erroneously called the “Lord’s Prayer.”  More correctly called the “disciples’ prayer,” it is a remarkable guideline for formatting our prayers to God in a Jesus-approved manner.  What often goes missed by us when studying this prayer is what it itself is missing.

How many times, for instance, do you count the personal pronoun “I” in Christ’s model prayer? Do you see where our Lord instructs us on how to properly pray so that we may perform such popular, albeit Biblically illicit, procedures in spiritual warfare such as rebuking Satan, binding him or his demons, or praying “hedges of protection” around ourselves or others?

According to Tony Evans’ 2015 book, Prayers For Victory in Spiritual Warfare, success in prayer – particularly when engaged in spiritual warfare – is very much about “I.”  While Christ taught a more corporate, intercessory nature to our prayers, Evans suggests a heavily emphasized first-person approach, as we shall see.

Tony Evans has quite the impressive evangelical industry resume and has garnered a substantial voice within American “Christianity”.  Pastor of the 11,000 member Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, the mega-pastor is also known for “The Alternative” radio show broadcast on over 1,000 stations, and his “Urban Alternative” ministry.  The first African-American doctoral graduate from Dallas Theological Seminary, Evans is a board member of the National Religious Broadcasters, has served as a chaplain to the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys and the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.

Evans is seen moving and shaking with other celebrity Christian “leaders” in popular ecumenical conferences, summits, and unity conclaves.   He’ll be, for instance, joining the likes of Ronnie Floyd, Anne Graham Lotz, Robert Morris, Marcus Lamb, Greg Laurie, and “apostle” Sammy Rodriguez at “The Gathering” in late September 2016, an enclave purposed “to unite the Body of Christ in America – all believers, regardless of race, age, or denomination …”  Driven less by allegiance to the Gospel and sound doctrine, and more by what appears often to be mere self-aggrandizing self-promotion in the name of praying for America, the event will also feature Evans’ daughter, Priscilla Shirer, perhaps the most notable rising star promoting Christian mysticism today.

According to Oak Cliff’s bio on him, Evans has “authored over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies.”  It’s his book, Prayers For Victory in Spiritual Warfare, that is considered here.  The book currently ranks at #1007 in Amazon’s Christian Living category and is noted as a “Best Seller” fromFamilyChristian Bookstores.

In the opening chapter – as in each subsequent chapter – Evans penned 6 prayers, each a paragraph in length, for the believer to repeat in order to achieve success in spiritual warfare.  In just the first six recommended power prayers, “I,” “me,” or “my” is the mentioned focus sixty-six times.  Considering the 180 prayers comprising the book, if chapter one’s self-centered emphasis follows throughout the others at the same average, “I” am the focus nearly 2,000 times.  Obviously, Jesus mustn’t have been aware of the 21st century, narcissistic needs of demon-battling believers.  His model prayer included not a single first-person pronoun.

Evans’ book, opening with an expected glowing endorsement from daughter Priscilla Shirer, is outlined on the basis of Paul’s words regarding the armor of God for the believer found inEphesians 6: 13-18.  For each piece of armor, Evans offers a specific prayer that, when repeated by the reader, will aid in securing victory in the many battles of spiritual warfare the engaged believer will face. One wonders why the apostle Paul himself failed to provide us with such insightful supplication savvy when he penned the inspired Text itself.

“I’m offering some powerful prayers that address some of the major battles we face.  For each of the topics listed, you’ll find prayers based on each piece of armor.”  Tony Evans

The 30 topic-specific chapters of the book each contain 6 such prayers, one each for the “Belt of Truth,” the “Breastplate of Righteousness,” the “Shoes of Peace,” the “Shield of Faith,” the “Helmet of Salvation,” and the “Sword of the Spirit.”

The chapters range from prayers for “Receiving the Power of the Holy Spirit” to “Victory in Marriage,” from “Using My Spiritual Gifts” to “Prayers for Favor.”  There are prayers for “Overcoming Past Failures,” “Prayers for Comfort,” prayers for “Breaking Free From Financial Bondage,” and prayers for “Receiving Healing from Sickness.”  Satan is attacking the believer incessantly in all these, and other, areas of life.  These battles of spiritual warfare are critical, according to Evans, who offers this “God can’t do this without you” encouragement:

“As you pray the prayers on the following pages that are relevant to your needs, my hope is that you’ll develop the fighting spirit that warriors need to win the battle and that you will join the mighty army God is raising up as overcomers.  Your part in carrying out spiritual warfare can change the course of history for you, your family, your church, your community … even your nation.”  Tony Evans

While neither the apostle Paul, nor any other New Testament author, nor our Lord gave any indication that the armor given to the believer should be analogously appropriated and interpreted into circumstance-specific “power” prayers, Evans’ description of them in the book’s introduction yields more about him that just his comfort in taking liberties with Scripture.  He also exposes serious errors with his theology.

In describing the “Helmet of Salvation,” Evans gives us not merely a semi-pelagian view of God and man, but also one that is uncomfortably close to the heresy of open theism.  God is still learning; He is more reactive than sovereign; He is in a mode of response, merely guiding the believer on the basis of His unique heavenly perspective rather than from the sovereign Truth that “His will” most certainly will be done.

“He [God] is above all things – seated in the heavenly places – and views the scene below.  He can see the field of life much better than we ever could.  He can examine the opposition’s strategy much better than we can.  He has studied the game films much longer than we have.  And, because of all this, God has a few secrets He wants us to hear.  They are secrets because often what God has to say to you is meant only for you.”  Tony Evans

Besides God being better positioned to review the enemy’s game plans – not because He’s sovereign but because He’s been doing it longer than we have – God is also, according to Evans, the giver of continuing private revelation because “often what God has to say to you is meant only for you.”

Perhaps it’s no surprise that the heresy of the “insufficiency” of Scripture might infest Evans’ theology.  He earned his Masters of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1976 and his Doctorate in 1982.  In 1976, coincidentally, DTS installed charismatic, John Wimber & Vineyard protégé Jack Deere as an associate professor.  Deere is noteworthy for the following statement.

“The sufficiency of Scripture is a demonic doctrine.  In order to fulfill God’s highest purpose for our lives, we must be able to hear His voice, both in the written word and in the word freshly spoken from heaven.  Satan understands the strategic importance of Christians hearing God’s voice, so he has launched various attacks against us in this area.”  (Source)

While this certainly meshes nicely with the heresy of contemplative prayer promoted by Shirer, also a graduate of DTS, Evans implies a teaching that  is in direct conflict with Scripture and historic Christian orthodoxy.  God’s revelation is in His Word, exclusively.  The only ones to whom it is hidden, or secret, are those who are perishing, per the apostle Paul.  (2 Corinthians 4:3)

While Evans’ view of the sufficiency and authority of Scripture seem suspect, his view of spiritual warfare itself is far from the Bible’s teaching on the matter.  His premise starts with an apparently less-than-fully sovereign God who must look down at the enemy’s goings-on to respond with a game plan that He will then privately tell you about.

“As Jesus demonstrated in the wilderness, using the sword of the Spirit means communicating to the enemy specific Scriptures that relate to your unique situation.”  Tony Evans

Citing Daniel 10:10-15, Evans writes of a more sovereignly-empowered Satan than Scripture actually teaches.  In reading Evans’ text, one gets the impression of an omnipresent devil, capable of taunting, tempting, and attacking every believer everywhere simultaneously.  Satan is seen is the source of all troubles for the believer struggling in the drudgery of day to day life.  The influence of our fallen nature, a la Paul’s “I don’t do what I want to do” struggle in Romans 7 – isn’t cited.  Our carnal nature isn’t the problem; it’s Satan, frequently, it seems, facing us one on one.

While “the devil made me do it” was first used as an excuse in the garden, it’s validity for us is no less inaccurate.  We’re all too eager to shift blame to Satan for temptation-inducing desires that arise purely out of our own fallen nature. While the fall was Satanically-induced, to be sure, temptation and sin don’t require the evil one’s constant, malicious presence before us.  James reminds us of the source of temptation … “ Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” (James 1:14)

As Pastor and author Jim Osman notes in his highly recommended book, Truth or Territory: A Biblical Approach To Spiritual Warfare, the believer’s engagement with Satan is not the primary concern, nor a correct focus ascertained from Scripture.

“The clear teaching of the New Testament is that the flesh, not the devil, is the major and most influential enemy that the Christian faces.  The world is not our most powerful and influential enemy.  The devil is not our most powerful and influential enemy.  The flesh is our most powerful and influential enemy!”  Jim Osman

Evans however promotes, effectively, a spiritualized, mystical form of spiritual warfare, one in which Satan is not merely a powerful force against humans, but also against God.

“Your battle is fought in the spiritual realm.  You must not fail to realize that.  If you do, you will not fight for the win.  As we have seen, when Daniel first offered his prayer, God heard it and responded immediately.  Yet because there is a battle taking place in the invisible, spiritual realm, there was a delay in God’s response reaching its intended destination.  In fact, another angel – Michael – was needed in order to eventually remove the demon from acting as an obstacle for Gabriel.  Ultimately, the prince of Persia was double-teamed so God could deliver His message to Daniel.”  Tony Evans

The notion that God is somehow less than omnipotent and that Satan is precipitously capable of stopping God’s plans may be a prevalent view, but it’s decidedly unbiblical.  Scripture affirms for us that Satan has been defeated.  Remember the cross?  (1 John 3:8, Hebrews 2:14-15, Colossians 1:13,Colossians 2:15, John 12:31, Romans 16:20, Revelation 20:1-3)

When praying to our hallowed God, unlike Jesus’ teaching on how believers ought to pray, Evans cites – by name – and sometimes speaks directly to – by name – Satan himself.  Over 70 times in Evans’ recommended power prayers, Satan is either referenced or spoken to.

“Satan, I am a saved and redeemed person.  I am no longer a citizen in your kingdom.”

“And Satan, in the name of Jesus, I rebuke and bind your attempts to disrupt the peace of God in our home and in our hearts.  I declare our home and our marriage a place of peace, calm, and mutual kindness.”   (You might recall a similar scene from the movie War Room.)

“Satan, you must yield to the shield of faith.  You may no longer instill fear or anxiety in my mind, in Jesus’s name.  I proclaim myself free from your fearsome taunts …”

“Satan, I rebuke your unholy thoughts …”

By comparison, consider John MacArthur’s comments about a similar “pray to Satan” experience he had.

“I remember being at a Pastors’ Conference one time and a prominent wonderful church and the pastor got up to begin the pastor’s conference with several thousand men and he said, “Let’s pray,” and the first words out of his mouth were, “Satan, we bind you.”  And I almost fell over.  What?  “Let us pray,”  and the first word is “Satan” and he’s talking to the devil, telling the devil what he can or cannot do?  Maybe he thinks that spiritual war, and maybe he thinks he has the power to do that.  That’s a delusion.”  John MacArthur  (Source)

Beyond the unthinkable and unbiblical gumption of praying to God while simultaneously speaking to Satan, Evans teaches binding and rebuking as part of his unscriptural understanding of spiritual warfare.  He also instructs readers on praying “hedges of protection” and declaring the removal of curses as well as the imbuing of blessing by our words.  Elsewhere Evans has suggested an eye-brow raising affinity for beliefs drawn directly from Word-Faith, positive confession teachings.

“I ask you to place a hedge of protection around me to ward off Satan’s attempts to get me off course”

“In Christ’s name, I silence the enemy of their future and their hope.  I set a wall of protection around my children – a wall the enemy cannot penetrate.”

“I speak peace into the organs and hormones that my body needs to function well.”

“I remove the curse of this illness and command it to depart in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord.  Satan, you may not have my body or any part of it.  I refuse your symptoms of disease and claim bodily healing for the sake of my Lord and the ministry He’s given me.”

The spiritual warfare endeavor evident from Prayers for Victory in Spiritual Warfare is one in which the believer is engaged in ongoing, mystical combat with Satan and his demons throughout the normal challenges of life, as well as in the regular temptations to sin actually prompted by our fallen flesh.

For Evans, spiritual warfare is a perpetual demon-busting battle that requires the effective use of incantations against the enemy, proper use of power prayers for success, and the employment of spurious methods of ensuring victory based on twisted applications and recitations of Scripture.  As Osman points out, “The approach to spiritual warfare so uncritically embraced by the bulk of modern evangelicalism has more in common with pagan mysticism that anything remotely biblical.”

For a proper understanding of spiritual warfare, the first place in Scripture to go is not the familiar armor of God text from Ephesians.  It’s from Paul’s words to the church in Corinth.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ”  2 Cor. 10:3-5

John MacArthur elaborates:

“What are these fortresses? At the end of verse 4, the “destruction of fortresses,” the beginning of verse 5, “we are destroying speculations,” in the NAS. The fortresses are defined in the next verse, destruction of fortresses, destruction of speculations. The Greek word there is logismos, ideas, ideologies, theories, viewpoints, belief systems, psychologies, philosophies, religions. This is what we’re engaged in in spiritual war. It’s a battle for how people think. It’s a battle for the mind. It’s not about chasing Satan away. It’s not about running off demons. That’s not within the purview of our abilities. Ours is a war for the mind.”  John MacArthur (Source)

Spiritual warfare is about truth.  It is not about illicitly-empowered believers seeing demons behind every bush who get armored up and revved up to go “rebukes” a-blazing to thwart the Devil’s advances.  It isn’t about rebuking him, binding him, or, even, speaking to him.  It’s not about praying hedges of protection or using power prayers or incantations of Scripture, “in Jesus’ name,” to pummel the minions of Lucifer as they make us think bad thoughts, have a bad hair day, or tempt us to behave in ungodly, sinful ways.

“Could Satan be more pleased with the modern fascination of the church?  You can bind Satan all day long.  He doesn’t care, just so long as you do not share the gospel, stand for truth, or assault the errors and lies of his strongholds.  You can rebuke him until you are blue in the face and he will go right along deceiving multitudes.  He doesn’t care, just so long as your love and focus is not the truth, sound doctrine, and preaching the gospel!  Binding Satan and rebuking Satan are completely useless practices that accomplish absolutely nothing.  They are unbiblical practices, manufactured in the minds of men for a church that has abandoned its call to be the ‘pillar and support of the truth.’ (1 Timothy 3:15)”  Jim Osman

The battle for truth in the world, and in the pews, is, indeed, spiritual.  The warfare engaged upon by the enemy of our Lord is vicious, brutal, and eternally jeopardizing.  But, as believers, we know the truth that will “set you free.”  (John 8:32) It’s the Gospel, the “power of God”  (Romans 1:16) that destroys strongholds, arguments, and opinions.  It is the Gospel that He uses to save souls and illuminate darkened minds.  Our task is to wield that truth to a dying world that already “lies in the power of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19)  And what about believers?  Well, we have this certain assurance from our Lord:

“I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”  John 17:14-17

We are kept … from the evil one … and … we are being sanctified in truth.  And that news?  Yeah, it’s better than a rebuke, a binding, or a hedge building faux power prayer any day.

Evans may have penned a bestseller that’s attractive to the Biblically illiterate, but it’s a volume that teaches error, not truth.  This book is one for the “Discard Shelf” … because even the Devil knows the Bible better than this.

(For an excellent resource based on Scripture about spiritual warfare, I heartily recommend the book cited above by Jim Osman.  Truth Or Territory: A Biblical Approach To Spiritual Warfare is available HERE.)

Quotations from Tony Evans come from Prayers For Victory in Spiritual Warfare, published 2015 by Harvest House Publishers, copyright Tony Evans.