DAVID CLOUD'S "WAY OF LIFE" RECENT ARTICLES

DAVID CLOUD'S "WAY OF LIFE" 

RECENT ARTICLES

SEE: https://www.wayoflife.org/friday_church_news/21-20.php

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 

purposes:

HILLSONG DEPICTS ONE OF THE THREE WISE MEN 

AS A WOMAN 

(Friday Church News Notes, May 15, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - 

In a Christmas production (probably from 2019), Hillsong Australia depicted one of the wise men as a woman (“Hillsong Depicts,” Reformation Charlotte, May 9, 2020). This feminization of the wise men fits Hillsong’s passion to conform Christ to modern culture in direct disobedience to God’s Word, and Hillsong represents the heart and soul of contemporary worship music. It is a Christianity that is very much at home in this world. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Ro. 12:2). For more about Hillsong, see The Directory of Contemporary Worship Music, available as a free eBook from www.wayoflife.org.


IRVING BERLIN’S GOD BLESS AMERICA 

(Friday Church News Notes, May 15, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - 

The following, which is a shocking reminder of how dramatically America has changed, is adapted from “Irving Berlin and ‘God Bless America!’” by Bill Federer, American Minute: In 1940, Kate Smith sang the patriotic hymn “God Bless America” before Democratic campaign rallies at the request of the Democratic National Committee. The hymn was written by popular song writer Irving Berlin, who was born in Russia in 1888, the son of a Jewish rabbi. The family immigrated to New York in 1902 to escape anti-Jewish persecution, and Irving served in the U.S. Army in World War I as an infantry sergeant. Berlin gave all the royalties of “God Bless America” to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. The original scout oath said, “On my honor I will do my best: To do my duty to God and my country...” Irving was granted the Congressional Gold Medal “in recognition of his services in composing many popular songs, including ‘God Bless America.’” The bill was signed by President Dwight Eisenhower. Upon receiving the medal in February 1955, Berlin told the president, “To me, ‘God Bless America’ was not just a song but an expression of my feeling toward the country to which I owe what I have and what I am.” The lyrics go like this: “While the storm clouds gather far across the sea, let us swear allegiance, to a land that’s free. Let us all be grateful, for a land so fair, as we raise our voices, in a solemn prayer. God Bless America, land that I love, stand beside Her, and guide Her, through the night, with the Light from Above, from the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam, God Bless America, My Home Sweet Home, God Bless America, My Home Sweet Home!”


JIM BAKKER SUED FOR BOGUS CORONAVIRUS CURE 

(Friday Church News Notes, May 15, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - 

Jim Bakker, disgraced former host of The PTL Club, is being sued by the state of Missouri for selling a bogus coronavirus cure called Silver Solution. After spending five years in prison for defrauding his followers out of $158 million to support a lavish and immoral lifestyle (including the famous air-conditioned doghouse), Bakker launched a new career with The Jim Bakker Show. He sells survival food and equipment for preppers who, we suppose, plan to hide from the Antichrist. Bakker also has been selling Silver Solution, though it has conveniently disappeared from his web site. This is one of the many brands of colloidal silver (tiny silver particles suspended in a liquid) that are marketed as a health product. On his Feb. 12 broadcast, Bakker’s guest Sherrill Sellman, a “natural health expert,” said, “[I]t has been tested on other strains of the coronavirus and has been able to eliminate it within 12 hours. Totally eliminate it. Kills it. Deactivates it. [Silver Solution] has been proven by the government that it has the ability to kill every pathogen it has ever been tested on, including SARS and HIV” (“Missouri Sues Televangelist,” NPR.org, Mar. 11, 2020). Four 4-ounce bottles are a mere $80. On its very face, Silver Solution has all the hallmarks of snake oil quackery by claiming to be a cure for just about anything. Not only does it kill bacteria and viruses, it boosts the immune system, and is an effective treatment for cancer, arthritis, diabetes, and other things. Bringing everything back to reality and bursting the Silver Solution bubble, the Mayo Clinic says, “Colloidal silver isn’t considered safe or effective for any of the health claims manufacturers make. Silver has no known purpose in the body. Nor is it an essential mineral, as some sellers of silver products claim. It’s not clear how much colloidal silver may be harmful, but it can build up in your body’s tissues over months or years. Most commonly, this results in argyria (ahr-JIR-e-uh), a blue-gray discoloration of your skin, eyes, internal organs, nails and gums. While argyria doesn’t usually pose a serious health problem, it can be a cosmetic concern because it doesn’t go away when you stop taking silver products. Rarely, excessive doses of colloidal silver can cause possibly irreversible serious health problems, including kidney damage and neurological problems such as seizures. Colloidal silver products may also interact with medications” (mayoclinic.org). So silver won’t cure coronavirus, but it might turn your skin blue if you want to look like a Martian! Since it appears that Bakker no longer sells Silver Solution, you can always get the Keto Hydrolyzed Collagen Powder or the Fermented Green Supremefood made of fermented vegetables and grasses and enzymes. Bakker’s wife and former co-host of the PTL Club, Tammy Faye, divorced Jim while he was in prison and married Roe Messner, an old family friend whose company helped build PTL’s Heritage USA resort complex. She had a second wind evangelistic ministry, too, before she died in 2008.


WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, A MAJOR PROMOTER OF ABORTION AND SEX EDUCATION 

(Friday Church News Notes, May 15, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - 

The following is excerpted from “World Health Organization,” The Stream, Apr. 27, 2020: “The World Health Organization, the ‘watchdog’ of the global health, is a lot more than the world’s disease and infection police. It’s also, as more Americans are starting to learn, one of the biggest promoters of abortion and peddlers of radical sex ed. At this point, it’s undeniable. And it’s been its agenda for many years. If Americans are upset about anything, it shouldn’t be that the president temporarily cut the WHO’s funding. It should be the incredible injustice that’s been done to taxpayers by sending billions of dollars to a group that doesn’t share most people’s values. Sharon Slater of Family Watch International exposes this shameful history in a recent publication on the WHO. According to Family Watch: ‘In 2018, WHO co-published with other UN agencies and the help of International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) the radical International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education. This guide purports to set the sexual health education standards for all of the world’s children. Please note that WHO defines “sexuality” to encompass “sex, gender identities and roles, sexual orientation, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy and reproduction,” and thus, WHO supports such controversial topics being taught to children. If you’re still not convinced, Slater offers additional damning evidence from the WHO-supported learning objectives for children from the International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education that encourage everything from gender and sexual experimentation to abortion, shocking acts of sexual pleasure, and departures from their parents’ more traditional views. Slater also explains that “the WHO’s CSE standards for European children, which are even worse, start by teaching toddlers about [sexual experimentation]. They also refer 9-year-olds to [the International Planned Parenthood Federation] to learn about their “sexual rights,” which is further evidence of WHO’s deep partnership with IPPF.’ ... Slater adds: ‘[WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus] also has worked toward the decriminalization of cross-dressing, same-sex behaviour, sex work and drug use.’ She points to the WHO’s Values and Preferences of Transgender People Study as further evidence, and a ‘WHO fact sheet reveals that the organization has bought into unscientific transgender ideology, stating it is important to recognize identities that do not fit into the binary male or female sex categories.’”

A CRITIQUE OF KENNETH COPELAND'S "SUPERNATURAL HEATWAVE" VIDEO

A CRITIQUE OF KENNETH COPELAND'S "SUPERNATURAL HEATWAVE" VIDEO 

BY MELISSA DOUGHERTY

Come along on a journey with me... a journey through one of Kenneth Copeland's "sermons." I laughed. I cried. I cringed. I jest, but I've been wanting to talk about Kenneth Copeland for a while, and I decided this video was a good starting point to fairly critique his teachings. A lot of people don't actually believe that Kenneth Copeland teaches the things he does. Some think it was something he said once in the 80s that he can't possibly still teach. This is my attempt to give some thoughts on why his teachings are more theatrical than biblical, and why he should be avoided. Let's be sure to pray for him. I purposely didn't edit out a lot of the talk and the long pauses in between his sentences, simply for context and making the point of showing his speaking style. This was my first time doing a sort of screen share video and did have audio issues that hopefully don't come through too much. *Just a disclaimer- remember guys, it's easier to be a bully when it comes to putting someone down. It takes love and dignity to not stoop to such a level when we're disagreeing with someone like Kenneth Copeland... who- let's face it- can be an easy target. Let's display a godly maturity in this area 🙏

WHY THE NAR IS NEW AGE WITH A CHRISTIAN VENEER

WHY THE NAR IS NEW AGE 

WITH A CHRISTIAN VENEER 

THE NEW APOSTOLIC REFORMATION EXPOSED

Why do so many ex-new agers fall into the NAR? Tara Chelioudakis, author of "The Narrow Path," discusses the similarities between the new age and NAR, and how to avoid deception by being grounded in Scripture. Tara's book, "The Narrow Path" is available at: https://amzn.to/2yBEIE6 Tara's website is Narrow-Path.net and her Facebook page is:

Author Tara Chelioudakis.

AFTER CLOSING HEALING ROOMS AMID CORONAVIRUS, BETHEL CHURCH RE-OPENS ONLINE HEALING ROOMS

AFTER CLOSING HEALING ROOMS 

AMID CORONAVIRUS, BETHEL CHURCH RE-OPENS ONLINE HEALING ROOMS

SEE: https://reformationcharlotte.org/2020/04/08/after-closing-healing-rooms-amid-coronavirus-bethel-church-opens-online-healing-rooms/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:

One would think that a church that believes it has the power to supernaturally heal at will any disease or ailment would not close the doors to its “healing rooms” during a health pandemic that is wreaking havoc all over the world. But that’s exactly what Bethel Church in Redding California did.

Bethel Church in Redding, CA is pastored by Bill Johnson who claims to be an Apostle — that is, he claims Apostolic authority just like the twelve men during Christ’s time on Earth. Bethel Redding, like all cults, is filled with aberrant, unbiblical teachings and doctrines of demons, including false manifestations of the Holy Spirit, grave sucking, and the Prosperity Gospel.

The rooms were closed on March 7 according to the church’s website.

But, have no fear, because the healing rooms are back in full operation now — online. According to their website, the healing rooms are where “we pursue the Holy Spirit and His healing power in a special time of ministry,” and it’s “a place we see God bring life, wholeness, and love to those suffering from physical ailments.”

Also, according to their website, they are “joy-filled believers who see God bring complete restoration and healing. We see hundreds of people every week, and it’s incredible.”

Go figure. Seems if they had so much supernatural power, they wouldn’t need to bring this service online. But they don’t.

Whether it be one of their female pastors declaring that the coronavirus has already been defeated over month ago — which obviously didn’t come to pass — or them spending days trying to raise a two-year-old from the dead by practicing witchcraft, one thing is for sure, Bethel Redding is a cult that twists the Scriptures and practices divination that should be avoided at all costs and exposed for what they are.

DAVID CLOUD'S "WAY OF LIFE" LATEST ARTICLES

DAVID CLOUD'S "WAY OF LIFE" 

LATEST ARTICLES

SEE: https://www.wayoflife.org/friday_church_news/21-14.php; 

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 

purposes:

KENNETH COPELAND DECLARES AMERICA HEALED 

(Friday Church News Notes, April 3, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Pentecostal preacher Kenneth Copeland has exercised his prophetic “Word-Faith” powers to take authority over Covid-19 and to declare America healed. He said, “Standing in the Office of the Prophet of God, I execute judgement on you, COVID 19. ... I demand a vaccination to come immediately. I call you done. I call you gone. ... It is finished. It is over. And the United States of America is healed and well again, sayeth the mighty Spirit of peace who is also the Prince of War” (“Judgment Is Executed on Covid-19,” Mar. 30, 2020, YouTube). This deluded man is a reproach to the cause of Jesus Christ and the Word of God. I have seen him command a hurricane to dissolve and a crippled girl to be healed, and after the huffing and puffing and commanding and proclaiming was finished, the hurricane was still a destructive hurricane and the crippled girl was still crippled. It’s on video for all to see, just like this present fiasco. Jesus Christ can command storms and heal every disease, and He gave miracle-working sign gifts to His apostles to prove their apostleship. “Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds” (2 Co. 12:12). But Copeland is not an apostle. He is “deceiving and being deceived” (2 Ti. 3:13), like the other Word-Faith hoaxers. I believe in miracles and have seen a great many miracles over these past 47 years of walking with Christ, and I believe in healing and have seen miraculous healings in answer to prayer, but we can’t demand and command these things. In this present time, we walk by faith, not sight, as we wait for the “manifestation of the sons of God” (Ro. 8:18-25).


PENTECOSTAL PASTOR ARRESTED FOR HAVING SUNDAY SERVICES 

(Friday Church News Notes, April 3, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Pentecostal pastor Rodney Howard-Browne was arrested on Sunday, March 29, by Hillsborough County (Tampa, Florida) deputies for holding services in violation of county orders. He was charged with a misdemeanor for “unlawful assembly and violating quarantine orders during a public health emergency” and released on bail within 40 minutes. Sheriff Chad Chronister said, “Our goal here is not to stop anyone from worshiping, but the safety and well-being of our community must always come first” (Tampa Bay Times, Mar. 30, 2020). Quoting Mark 12:31, Chronister said, “Loving your neighbors is protecting them, not jeopardizing their health by exposing them to this deadly virus.” I’m not a fan of Howard-Browne, to say the least, who is a Word-Faith heretic, practices the near-insanity of Spirit-laughter and Spirit-drunkenness, and is a conspiratorial nut who has allegedly said that the covid-19 pandemic is a “phantom plague” created by the Chinese and planned at a Bill Gates Foundation event (Tampa Bay Times). But even heretics and nuts are guaranteed freedom of speech and freedom of religion and freedom of assembly under the U.S. Constitution. (And the government should not be in the business of deciding who is or isn’t a heretic or a nut.) These are indeed trying times, and it will be interesting to see how this case is decided.


THE ROOT OF AMERICA’S ILLS 

(Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The bottom line is that America needs to repent of her wickedness before God. Radical political action and multi-trillion dollar national debts will not solve America’s ills, because the fundamental issue is her terrible sin against the God that has shown her such light and mercy. And the very root of it all is the apostasy, corruption, compromise, worldliness, and lukewarmness in her churches. And that includes the majority of the most staunchly conservative, evangelical, “fundamentalist,” and even “independent Baptist”! From my perspective, most “Bible-believing” churches in America are lukewarm at best. I believe that the promise of God to Solomon at the dedication of the temple has a proper application to God’s people in America today. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). What happens in God’s house dramatically affects the White House. It’s high time to exchange a frivolous fun and games program, an entertainment program with a thin veneer of religiosity, for a program of serious prayer, serious Bible study, serious Bible preaching with exegetical substance and plain reproof and rebuke, serious holiness, serious separation from the wickedness of this fallen world, serious pilgrim Christianity, serious Christian living in the homes, being serious about the fathers being the heads of the homes and the mothers being the keepers of the home, serious about putting God’s will before economics, serious training of children and discipling of youth, and above all, serious about a regenerate church membership!


ELTON JOHN PREACHING 

“BE WHATEVER YOU WANT TO BE” 

(Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Rocker Elton John, a prominent gay-rights activist, emceed “The iHeart Living Room Concert for America” on Sunday, March 29. Artists included Alicia Keys, the Backstreet Boys, and Mariah Carey, all performing from their homes. At 73, Elton John has this message for youth: “Just be yourself. Don’t let anybody do you down. ... I love being gay. ... If you’re unhappy at home, leave, Don’t let anybody torture you for being gay or for your sexuality. ... Be proud of who you are. There are so many wonderful diverse people in the world--straight people, gay people [and] transgender people. We’re all God’s kids. People who should know better in places of responsibility [and] attack gay people, transgender people … they claim to be close to God, [but] they couldn’t be further away from God if they tried” (“Elton John Has a Message for Struggling LGBTQ Youth,” Variety, July 5, 2019). It appears that Elton now thinks of himself as a prophet of God, since he speaks on God’s behalf. Elton’s message has been the message of the rock & roll pop culture since its inception. In the 1960s, I was captivated when the Rolling Stones sang, “I’m free to do what I want any old time,” and the Animals said amen to that with, “It’s my life and I’ll do what I want; it’s my mind and I’ll think what I want.” That philosophy resonated with me in those days, but the end of living for oneself is death, because man is not his own God. To live as one pleases is rebellion to the true God who gives us life and breath and all things (Acts 17:25). The “be what you please” message is a lot older than the 1960s, in fact. About 6,000 years ago, in a very nice garden, a serpent said, “Ye shall not surely die ... ye shall be as gods” (Ge. 3:5). It was a lie. We didn’t make ourselves and we aren’t gods and we do die.

SOUTHERN BAPTIST ROBERT JEFFRESS HAS SOLD HIS SOUL TO THE DEVIL FOR WORLDLY GAIN~SUPPORTS FALSE PREACHERS PAULA WHITE & JIM BAKKER

But Paula White is Jeffress’ partner in the White House as they serve together on Trump’s 

"spiritual advisory board"!

SOUTHERN BAPTIST ROBERT JEFFRESS 

HAS SOLD HIS SOUL TO THE DEVIL 

FOR WORLDLY GAIN 

SEE: https://reformationcharlotte.org/2020/03/11/robert-jeffress-has-sold-his-soul-to-the-devil-for-worldly-gain/; 

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 

purposes:

Robert Jeffress used to be a respectable man. He used to be a well-known conservative pastor who acted like he believed the gospel and believed in conservative biblical morals and values. It has become increasingly evident that Jeffress has a different motivation as he has sold his soul to the devil for personal, worldly gain over the last few years.



Robert Jeffress is the pastor of Southern Baptist megachurch, First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas and is also a well-known Fox News contributor. Jeffress is an avid Trump supporter — which is fine, but he has done so at the expense of the gospel.

Since Donald Trump became president, Jeffress has made promoting the president, himself, and his own personal work a top priority and has done so by compromising the gospel. Last October, Jeffress, along with several other right-wing religious leaders promoted Paula White’s book stating that his friend “has a wonderful new book releasing tomorrow about God’s power to transform lives.”



For those who don’t know who Paula White is, she is a well-known false teacher, a prosperity gospel pimptress, has promoted pornographic videos, and had an affair with another false teacher, Benny Hinn. But Paula White is Jeffress’ partner in the White House as they serve together on Trump’s spiritual advisory board.

Again, there is nothing wrong with supporting the president, as I do. And there is nothing wrong with conservative values — I support them 100 percent. But Robert Jeffress has replaced the gospel with the desire to promote these things and has given credibility to a false teacher who damns people to Hell with her false gospel. That is evil.

Jeffress regularly brings in political leaders to address his church on Sunday mornings — a time set apart for the study and worship of God. And Jeffress praises the president as though he is a deity from the pulpit — completely out of line.

A few weeks ago, Jeffress joined Jim Bakker for an in-studio book promo.



If anyone is worse than Paula White, it’s Jim Bakker. Jim Bakker is not only a financial fraud but a spiritual fraud who has spent his entire life defrauding people in the name of Christ. Bakker is best known for defrauding donors to his PTL Club‘s fundraising activities between 1984 and 1987. Bakker was found guilty in 1988 on eight counts of mail fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy totaling millions of dollars and 45 years in prison which was eventually repealed and subsequently sentenced to 8 years.

Now, Jim Bakker spends his time on television bilking people for money by selling fraudulent food and medical supplies. Just last week, Bakker was ordered to cease and desist making claims that his “Silver Solution” cures the coronavirus. Decades later, Bakker is still a fraud — and Robert Jeffress uses him to promote himself.









Now, Jeffress will be joining TBN’s Matt and Laurie Crouch to continue to peddle his book, Courageous.

Of all of these spiritual frauds, Matt and Laurie Crouch — the owners of TBN — are arguably the worst of them as they are the enablers of these frauds. Their television network, TBN, has given a loud voice to thousands of spiritual frauds by continuously broadcasting them on public airwaves for the world to see and hear.

Jeffress, instead of warning about these people — people he knows are wolves — he’s feeding his congregation to them. He’s literally cutting up the souls of his own sheep in his own church and feeding them to the wolves all in the name of selling books, promoting himself, and promoting the president.

Robert Jeffress cannot be trusted.

APOSTATE TEXAS "CHURCH" ANNOUNCES HOMOSEXUALS ALLOWED TO LEAD, PASTORS CAN OFFICIATE SAME-SEX CEREMONIES

ANOTHER "CHURCH" BITES THE DUST

WHEN THE "SPIRIT" LEADS, 

IT'S NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT!

PURSUING "UNITY OVER UNIFORMITY"

APOSTATE TEXAS "CHURCH" ANNOUNCES HOMOSEXUALS ALLOWED TO LEAD, PASTORS CAN OFFICIATE SAME-SEX CEREMONIES

BY HEATHER CLARK

SEE: https://christiannews.net/2020/03/04/apostate-texas-church-announces-homosexuals-allowed-to-lead-pastors-can-officiate-same-sex-ceremonies/; 

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 

purposes:

KYLE, Texas — A now former Assemblies of God (AG) “church” in Texas has announced that its elder board has decided to allow practicing homosexuals to serve in all capacities, including as pastors, and that pastors will be permitted to officiate same-sex ceremonies if so desired. The district office of the AG says it “moved swiftly” when it learned of the decision, and that the church is no longer affiliated with the denomination.

Dan Matlock, who leads Eikon Church in Kyle, presented several messages throughout the month of February in a “Clarity” series, where he also explained to the congregation that he himself had come to “a place of full affirmation” of homosexuals in the Church.

“We felt led by the Spirit this direction,” he claimed during his Feb. 6 message, asserting that he saw “bad fruit” coming from “unaffirming theology.”

He outlined that in 2018, two lesbian women who attend Eikon approached him and asked unabashedly if he would officiate their same-sex ceremony.



“I realized that if I were to tell them, ‘No, theologically, I’m bound by my conscience. I can’t do the wedding. I can’t do that,’ they would have been devastated. They would have been blindsided,” he stated. “They would have felt, ‘Wait, you’ll take my attendance, you’ll take my money, you’ll take my service, but you won’t take me in this pivotal moment of [my] life?'”

“That would have been so harmful to them because they didn’t expect that,” Matlock continued. “But I realized that at the same time, had I responded, ‘Sure! Absolutely. I’d love to do your wedding. Where is it?’ and then I were to perform said wedding, and then word would get out about the wedding … it would not have gone well. Right? Let’s be honest. There’d be a lot of people in the church who’d be going, ‘What? Dan did [what]? Excuse me?'”

He said that he realized that Eikon had not been clear on where it stood to those on either side of the issue.

Matlock then told those gathered that there is disagreement among professing Christians about homosexuality, but opined that he finds it “unhealthy” both for Christians who view homosexuality as sinful to be labeled as “haters” and for those who affirm same-sex relationships to be considered apostate. He explained that even leadership has varying views on the matter.

He presented a chart featuring a “spectrum” of beliefs about homosexuality and asked those present to contemplate which category corresponds to them.

Matlock also told those gathered that he believes those who affirm homosexuals have not thrown out the Scriptures, but simply view the text as referencing some other practice, such as temple prostitution or pedophilia, as it does not “clearly” condemn homosexuality.

In further presenting the views of those who are affirming, Matlock said that other issues in the New Testament are viewed by some as only cultural and not for modern times, such as Paul’s words on women in church leadership, or short hair on ladies, or exhortation about slaves obeying their masters. Matlock stated that Jesus said that remarriage following divorce is a sin, and most Christians don’t view remarriage as being tantamount to adultery.

“We have to acknowledge this: It’s not that Christians with a traditional view just don’t love gay people. They came to those beliefs very honestly. And at the same time, people with this more affirming bend, they didn’t come to that place just because they don’t care what the Scriptures say. Many of them came to this place honestly,” he asserted. “And it doesn’t make either one true or not true, but it’s helpful to understand how these people came to the conclusions they did.”

Matlock pointed to Romans 14, noting that Jews and Gentiles in the early Church were locked in various disagreements, that Christians today should “pursue unity over uniformity” in the midst of disagreement about the sinfulness of homosexuality.

“We all think very differently. We don’t believe the same thing about everything. Are you kidding me?” he said. “I’ve talked to people who have problems with how we do communion or when we do communion or how often we do it, about baptism — there’s lots of things that we’re not uniformity over. But in spite of those things, we say we want to have unity.”

He asserted that despite varied beliefs, the church had to reach a conclusion on what would be its “consistent practice,” however. Matlock advised that he went to the elder board last year and said that the church needed to be clear on what its practices will be, which launched nearly a year of discussion as to whether or not Eikon would be “fully inclusive” of homosexuals.

“That means they can serve in any capacity in the church from a greeter in the parking lot to a pastor on staff,” he outlined, adding that the board also contemplated whether leadership should be allowed to officiate same-sex ceremonies, if desired, and whether they could speak about their beliefs on the issue.

“On Sept. 8, 2019, elders of Eikon church decided that yes, Eikon church will be a fully inclusive church for the LGBT community,” Matlock said to some applause.

He then acknowledged that while the decision would please homosexual members and their advocates, it would also disturb other members of the congregation.

“You have to understand that to that community, this is a big deal for them — that they finally have a place where they can really be welcome in every area, not with an asterisk,” he said. “But I also recognize the confusion that you might be feeling, the tension that you might be feeling. That as excited as they are that they got a church, you’re realizing ‘I may have lost my church.'”

“I get it. I understand. And I’m sorry,” Matlock stated.

He then outlined to those gathered that he himself wrestled with the issue of homosexuality in 2015 and 2016, but that he “landed in a place of full affirmation.”

“I do believe that God can and does bless same-sex relationships, that God can and does bless same-sex marriages,” Matlock claimed.

According to the site Juicy Ecumenism, Eikon has now parted ways with the Assemblies of God denomination as a result of its decision.

“Dan Matlock has announced that he and Eikon Church will no longer be affiliated with the Assemblies of God,” Assemblies of God Senior Director of Public Relations and Communications Mark Forrester told the outlet. “The North Texas District moved swiftly and in accordance with processes outlined in the General Council Bylaws when first aware of the departure from the Assemblies of God’s position on marriage, sexual orientation, and gender identity — which is the only permissible stance for Assemblies of God churches and ministers.”

“The North Texas District is committed to helping members of Eikon Church find church families that continue to embrace the biblical views consistent with statement of faith originally embraced by Eikon Church,” he said.

As previously reported, while a common argument among those who struggle with homosexual feelings is that they were “born this way,” the Bible teaches that all are born with the Adamic sin nature, having various inherent feelings and inclinations that are contrary to the law of God, and being utterly incapable of changing by themselves.

“All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way,” Isaiah 53:6 reads, “and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

It is why Jesus came: to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

Scripture outlines that Jesus came to be the propitiation for men’s sins (1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10), a doctrine in Christianity known as substitutionary atonement, and to save men from the wrath of God for their violations against His law (Romans 4:25, Romans 5:9, Romans 5:16), a doctrine known as justification.

The Bible also teaches about regeneration, as in addition to sparing guilty men from eternal punishment, Christ sent his Holy Spirit to make those who would repent and believe the gospel new creatures in the here and now, with new desires and an ability to do what is pleasing in the sight of God by His indwelling and empowerment (Ezekiel 11:19, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Titus 3:5).

Jesus said that men must be born again, and be transformed by the Spirit from being in Adam to being in Christ, or they cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3-8).

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them,” Ezekiel 36:26-27 reads.

In regard to marriage, Jesus also outlined in Mark 10:6-8, “But from the beginning of the Creation, God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh.”

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SEE ALSO: https://www.eikonchurch.com/clarity/

VIDEOS, NUMBER 1 TO 3:

WHY AREN'T "FAITH HEALERS" LIKE FRANCIS CHAN, TODD WHITE & TODD BENTLEY IN CHINA FIGHTING THE CORONAVIRUS?

WHY AREN'T "FAITH HEALERS" LIKE FRANCIS CHAN, TODD WHITE & TODD BENTLEY IN CHINA FIGHTING THE CORONAVIRUS?

SEE: https://reformationcharlotte.org/2020/02/26/why-arent-faith-healers-like-francis-chan-todd-white-and-todd-bentley-in-china-fighting-the-coronavirus/; 

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 

purposes:

Todd White, Todd Bentley, and now, interestingly but unsurprisingly, Francis Chan have told countless stories about how they’ve healed sick people, cured chronic and mortal diseases, and even raised people from the dead. Interestingly, however, there has never once been any unassailable proof of their claims.



Francis Chan — who recently departed the faith to join the faith-healer charismatic cult — recently told a story of how he healed countless people in Myanmar. “Every person I touched was healed. I have never experienced this in 52 years,” he told his audience at Moody Bible Institute. But what he didn’t tell them is that nobody saw it, nobody can attest to it, nobody can vouch for it, and, of course, there was no video or medical documentation of it. That is typical.

But what a better way to prove to the world that you’re not just another charismatic crazy quack with false testimonies of faux-healings than to go to China and start healing people of the worst pandemic of a deadly viral disease the world has seen in this generation? Why are they silent? Why aren’t they there, in China, healing people and ending this outbreak of coronavirus?

When Jesus healed people, the world saw it. The people witnessed it. And the Scriptures attest to it. Jesus didn’t heal people for the simple purpose of just those he healed knowing about it. Jesus healed people to prove to the world who he was. Further, he gave the Apostles and certain others the power to perform miracles not simply for the purpose of lessening suffering in the world but to establish the authority of God’s Word of which they spoke and wrote. These miracles were never performed in obscure places but were done in the presence of the world to witness.

Today, those who claim the power to heal people, cure people of sickness, and even raise people from the dead interestingly only do it places of obscurity without any form of documentation or evidence. This is why it’s prevalent in third-world countries — like Myanmar. Because people like Francis Chan can come back and say “every person I touched was healed” without worrying about tribal people without any form of technology being able to out him.

The reason Chan, White, and Bentley — and anyone else who claims to be able to heal people — won’t go to China to heal people of the COVID-19 coronavirus is simple: they can’t. They have no power to heal people. These men are liars and deceivers. It’s sad that Francis Chan has taken that path, but Francis Chan has now joined the ranks of liars and deceivers around the world. Some of these men may have slightly different motives than others for doing this, but one thing is clear — they do it for to appease their own appetites.


For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
Romans 16:18

Michael Brown, the world’s most renowned apologist for Satan, has relentlessly defended the heresy these people spread like wildfire throughout third-world countries — where apparently phones don’t have working cameras — and makes excuses for their wicked behavior while labeling those who are skeptical as “hyper critics.”