Good evening Jo.
Good morning everyone else.
It’s cold and rainy in Greensboro.
Elvera asked, “What are we going to do today?” Answer: “nothing”. I have nothing on the schedule for today.
Morning! Yet another sweet photo of one of our Lord’s beautiful feathered creations! What kind is it? He just looks so fluffy and freckled 😊
Chas when Paul and I would be visiting his folks, Paul would take out his Dad’s Bible and read to him his favorite passages. It will be forever imprinted in my heart and mind the look upon my dear FIL’s face as he listened to the Word being spoken. He could no longer communicate with us and he seemed to be in a world of his own as Alzheimer’s progressed, but I am convinced our Lord continued to speak to him. Does TSWITW like to be read to? Or even for you to sing a favorite hymn or two to her? Yours is the sweetest love story I know….we continue to lift you before Him, trusting He will see you through… 💕
The bird up at the top is a Carolina wren. He is a male (I know because he was singing). And he has no tail. I tried to get a shot that showed he was tailless and in which he was singing, but he turned his face away to sing and I couldn’t get to the side of him without spooking him. But this one shows how pretty and cute he is, and if you look closely you can see “oh yeah, he doesn’t have a tail, does he?”
I assume he had a close call with a cat or some other predator, and I’m glad he survived to sing, and hopefully to impress a female and claim a mate. We had a tailless chickadee up north, and he regrew his tail the same season–but it came in all white, so it was still obvious which one he was for the next few months.
We had a bird we called Tailless for a while. A song sparrow. Used to sit up in the top of the apple tree in the front yard, and sing and sing, everyday. I enjoyed him. He used to eat the cat food out of the bowl. And then, one day, he was no more.
Chas, if you have a hymn book going through that and singing daily could be good for you both. A former pastor told us thT his mother’s me.ory was all gone except for the hymns she knew. Elvera may know you as the nice man who sings with her. Since heaven is place of song, it could become a treasured memory of heaven on earth.
Also, if you went to a plant nursery and bought some seed packs and soil, you could plant seeds in containers to start indoors and move out as the weather warms. When my son was in Scouts, the area they met in was serendipitously named Wesley Haven (it was in a Methodist church) and they shared space with the adult day care for those with memory loss. The other young man who did his Eagle Scout project the same time that our son did his, made a nice area of raised flower beds for the adult day care group to use. I thought it was a beautiful project.
My husband’s group played music for an assistant living place yesterday and will do so again today in another facility. I would like to go to a high school musical that some young people in church are in, but don’t know if we will make it today.
Yesterday, a resident acquaintance of ours was in the audience when the group played music. This was a pleasant surprise because someone had told me she had passed away! I had tried to find an obit and decided that rumor couldn’t be true. I knew that for sure yesterday when I had a conversation with the lady in question and her sister. One of the men in the group sings a song called, “I Woke Up Still Not Dead Again Today.” He does not sing that one at the homes, but it sure would have been appropriate.
My church has a group of older people who take the church bus on Mondays to go sing at nursing homes. Everyone has a wonderful time. I have never been with them although I have been invited.
We used to take our children with homeschool groups to nursing homes for weekly visits. Sometimes we sang with the residents, sometimes played games. Always, we visited. A good time.
Puzzles, plantings, reading and singing — sounds like a nice choice of potential indoor activities.
I have a port hearing to cover this morning but have decided to do it via the live stream feature. I’m out of energy to deal with the parking and the crowds and the folding chair setup they’re using for this meeting. It’s an early (8 a.m.) meeting and is being set up inside the cruise terminal’s dome-like baggage structure in the parking lot near the Iowa. I’ll miss some of the color of the gathering but will get better notes being able to follow along with a computer instead of juggling notepads and pens and agendas amid what will be maybe a few hundred people jockeying for seats.
This week has been stressful and I’m feeling almost out of steam right now. It would be nice if it were Friday. But it’s not.
Chas asked recently why Fridays came around so fast. They don’t in my world. Monday’s come fast. 🙂
It’s gray out here today with a chance of light rain. Yesterday we had thunder storms and even a little hail storm that left yards looking quite white for a little while. But I was stuck in the windowless high rise cubby all day so only saw the photos later.
Well, you can imagine that during tax season that the hours fly by. And of course there are never enough hours. Unless you are waiting all week for someone to carry you to the grocery store.
DJ. back in the ’80s, I had a contract assignment with Maryland National Bank. They put me and my coworker (and friend), Mike, in a windowless converted closet that had barely enough room for our two desks. And just in case that wasn’t bad enough, Mike was a smoker and it was when people still smoked at their desks.
A friend from our old church would tell about what was going on with her father, who had advanced Alzheimer’s Disease. Her father, a Pentecostal, had been a missionary (along with his wife) in India and Bangladesh for many years.
He was at the point where he didn’t remember his family, but when they prayed, he would still speak in tongues. My friend felt that this showed that although his mind was impaired, his spirit was still well and “intact,” so to speak.
One time, towards the end, he had a brief moment of clarity where he looked at his wife, whom he had not been remembering, and told her that she had been a good wife to him. And then the moment was gone. But what a blessing for his wife to hold on to.
I haven’t read this yet, but there was a discussion on here not long ago about Francis Chan appearing with Benny Hinn, so I thought I would share it for those interested. . .
Francis Chan Explains Why He’ll Share a Stage With Benny Hinn
“There are millions who will never hear strong biblical teaching unless teachers are willing to go.”
I’m working from home — port hearing went on for 4 hours — and at least can enjoy a glance out the window into the backyard to watch it rain or to see that the sun has come out.
I took a break after typing for 4 hours through the livestream meeting to pick up dog poop in the backyard. I know, I’m livin the life.
Now I need to finish writing this story, I wound up with 14 pages of typed notes …
The youth group I attended as a teen always went to a nursing home the third Friday of every month to sing and chat with the residents. I’m thankful that our youth workers helped us to carry that out each month.
Karen, 3:43, I don’t think the apostle Paul would have hung out with wolves for such a reason–you can’t help but give them some of your own credibility–although I do know some evangelists see it as a valid technique, and God can use it if He chooses.
I know little about Chan and don’t know how sound he is theologically. But he was on video encouraging people to attend that event . . . so his newly stated motive is not totally credible. I would encourage continued caution where he is concerned.
Kizzie thanks for sharing the article. I am wary of Chan’s explanation. The article states “As a result of the recent pushback, he said he would consider adding a research team and working with elders to prevent confusion over his future appearances”. That causes me to question his reasoning as if he is trying to justify his actions. I am not his judge but I find his alliance with these “evangelists “ problematic. If our pastor started hanging out with Benny Hinn…well he would no longer be our pastor….
Matthew 9: 10-13 Jesus eating with the tax collectors and sinners called out by the Pharisees.
Acts 9: 10- 17 Ananias meeting with Saul, the one doing much harm to the saints
Acts 13: 6- 12 Paul meets with the false prophet and the pro consul, Elymas tried to misguide the proconsul but Paul stayed in the fight and the man came to faith.
Mumsee, I don’t think any of those are “precendent,” except possibly the third (I don’t remember enough of that story to address it, and I’m too tired to research it).
The tax collectors and sinners were not believers, and didn’t claim to be. In that instance, Jesus took the side of the “sinners” and NOT the religious folks who were actually wolves. He called them all sorts of names, actually–whited sepulchres for one lovely example. To make it a parallel, He wasn’t preaching alongside Benny Hinn, but insulting him.
Ananias met with Paul, a brand-new believer, and discipled him (he did not teach alongside him, at least not initially)–after God specifically told him to do so.
Witnessing to the false prophet behind the scenes (which is, I think, what your third example shows) is much, much different from publicly teaching alongside him and promoting his “ministry.”
The false prophet, magician, was playing tug of war with the proconsul. A wolf of sorts.
I just can’t imagine we should just cede territory to false teachers. “Oh, you were here first, I don’t want to mess with your success, I will leave. So sorry” does not sound like the correct response. Kind of why so many Christian teachers continue in public school. It is not as if the false teachers are teaching Truth and he is stepping on toes. Why should he only go preach where good solid teachers are already working? That does not make any sense, though we see it a lot.
The tax collectors and sinners were not wolves in sheep’s clothing, they were open sinners. As I said before, the open unbeliever is far less dangerous to the Church than the person pretending to be a believer (I Corinthians 5:9-11). Again, Saul had been an open enemy of the Church, not a false teacher pretending to be part of the Church; and in any case, Ananias went to Saul privately only after being instructed to by the Holy Spirit. Finally, Paul did not share a platform with the false prophet Elymas; on the contrary, he stopped Elymas’ false teaching by cursing him in the Holy Spirit, causing Elymas to go blind (Acts 13:8-11).
So we should concede the ground and let it go to false teachers?
Those were examples of believers stepping up when the church told them they should not and of Paul going into a situation where lies abounded, to bring out a brother to be.
Do you believe people teaching a false gospel are our fellow believers?
Mumsee, if not attending an event where false teachers are speaking is conceding ground, then we should be attempting to attend every meeting of the Mormons, JWs, etc. But we do not participate in such meetings of cults, any more than the Apostles and early Church attended meetings of the Roman era cults of Isis or Mithras. In fact, Paul warned the early Church against attending such cult meetings: “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesian 5:22). Paul was not attending any kind of rite or gathering presided over by Elymas the sorcerer. Paul was invited by Sergius Paulus to share the gospel, and Elymas, wanting no doubt to maintain influence with the deputy, was present at their meeting. When Elymas tried to share his viewpoint, Paul shut him down, following his own command to the Ephesians.
Benny Hinn is essentially a modern day sorcerer, claiming to have personal power to perform signs and wonders as Elymas and Simon the Magician did before him. Hinn actually claims to do what Simon the Magician wanted to do – he claims to perform wonders by the Holy Spirit, wonders that he profits financially from. That is, as Peter warned Simon in the strongest of language, a very evil thing to do (Acts 8:18-23). If Chan were really following Paul’s example, he would both publicly rebuke Hinn and refuse to let Hinn speak. For all that Chan has such scathing things to say about the Church herself, he is treating one of the worst wolves in her midst very leniently.
As far as I know, these are not regular meetings like the Mormons, etc, but one time events where lots of believers and unbelievers show up.
Have either of you ever listened to Hinn speak? I have. that is where I got my impression of him. Have you ever heard Chan speak? I have, that is where I got my impression of him. I did not accept other people’s opinions of him until I had heard him speak because I know people have their biases. Being told Hinn is a charlatan by somebody who heard somebody else say he was who got it from somebody else, does not confirm in my mind that he is. Only that somebody thought he was. So I watched him a couple of times on tv years and years ago and came to my own conclusion.
I keep hearing that Chan is saying these awful things about the church, yet I have listened to a number of his sermons and Bible studies and have yet to hear it. It only took me once to see through Hinn, and a second time to confirm that I was not being led by other folks opinions. My thought is that Chan is a very good Bible teacher and is living out what he is learning and encouraging others to dig in and find out what the Word says, but he is not going to fit with everybody’s current emphasis in Bible learning. We should all end up in the same place, at the feet of the Great I Am.
Isn’t a false teacher anybody who is not teaching the Way is Jesus Christ? Just reading about Paul and Barnabas in Acts 14, going into the synagogue, where teachers were not teaching Jesus as the Way. Paul and Barnabas did and many came to Him.
Mumsee, I have read Chan’s own words numerous times, and it is that which convinces me he is unstable. To claim he was called by the Spirit (I have read his own words) to speak at a conference where Hinn was not the only charlatan, as the list of other names at the conference include other preposterous prosperity preachers and faith healers, shows that Chan himself is willing to carelessly claim the power of the Spirit to justify his questionable actions and try to silence his critics, something that Hinn and the others do all the time. For all that Chan scolds the Church for not telling sinners they are going to hell (I have read his own words), he is not telling those of Hinn’s ilk what Peter and Paul did not scruple to tell Simon and Elymas, that they are headed to judgement and perdition for their greed and false teaching. For all that Chan laments that the Church is focused on accumulating material wealth (I have read his own words), he is willing to be paid to speak at a conference run by charlatans who prey on the weak for profit. Words are not the only way to discern if someone is telling the truth, as Jesus himself warned in the Sermon on the Mount and Peter, James, and Jude later emphasized in their epistles; actions do speak louder than words. Finally, Paul made his judgments on the Corinthian church without being present and based them on verbal reports – in his day, one could not watch YouTube videos or read the book.
Right, and I am looking at lifestyles as well. I don’t live in San Francisco and have not visited his home, but it appears he is living a very modest life, with the proceeds he takes in going to feed the poor, visiting the prisoners, and getting people freed from sex trafficking. He puts a lt of his time into preaching the Word and showing people the value of reading and doing.
The other preachers you mention tend to live rather gaudy lives accumulating lots of money and stuff.
To me, that is more an indicator of the heart.
Chan seems to be called to bring the Truth to places other people have chosen not to go. I will continue to pray that he hold tight to the Truth and not be taken down as so many are by Sodom and Gommorah.
Roscuro, do you not believe you were called here, called to Africa, and called to northern Canada? I only have your word for it but I fully believe it.
I believe I was called to adopt these children. No verification through anybody else, just what I believe. I don’t believe most people are called to the same.
Mumsee, my calling was confirmed by my sending church, who commissioned me, and by the provision of God by opening and closing doors of opportunities. Paul did not simply declare himself the apostle of the Gentiles, the appointment was confirmed by both the church at Antioch and the elders at Jerusalem (Acts 13:1-4, 15:2, 22-32, Galatians 2:9). Please stop trying to use what I have shared about myself to attack my position on topics. I do not come here to promote myself or to gain followers or to raise funds, I am coming to visit and discuss things with friends. Chan is a public figure who claims leadership in the church, and the precedent of the New Testament is that such people are fair game for discussion, as Paul even publicly rebuked Peter and then wrote about it afterward in Galatians 2:11-14. I am a private individual, with no kind of leadership position in the Church, as a woman and impoverished. Trying to use my life against me in a debate about a topic seems like exploiting a friend in order to win an argument. I do not do that to you.
Wandering Views 
Good evening Jo.
Good morning everyone else.
It’s cold and rainy in Greensboro.
Elvera asked, “What are we going to do today?” Answer: “nothing”. I have nothing on the schedule for today.
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morning, Chas. Perhaps you could do a puzzle?
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Me either, Chas. But I do have a puzzle in front of me.
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Morning! Yet another sweet photo of one of our Lord’s beautiful feathered creations! What kind is it? He just looks so fluffy and freckled 😊
Chas when Paul and I would be visiting his folks, Paul would take out his Dad’s Bible and read to him his favorite passages. It will be forever imprinted in my heart and mind the look upon my dear FIL’s face as he listened to the Word being spoken. He could no longer communicate with us and he seemed to be in a world of his own as Alzheimer’s progressed, but I am convinced our Lord continued to speak to him. Does TSWITW like to be read to? Or even for you to sing a favorite hymn or two to her? Yours is the sweetest love story I know….we continue to lift you before Him, trusting He will see you through… 💕
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The bird up at the top is a Carolina wren. He is a male (I know because he was singing). And he has no tail. I tried to get a shot that showed he was tailless and in which he was singing, but he turned his face away to sing and I couldn’t get to the side of him without spooking him. But this one shows how pretty and cute he is, and if you look closely you can see “oh yeah, he doesn’t have a tail, does he?”
I assume he had a close call with a cat or some other predator, and I’m glad he survived to sing, and hopefully to impress a female and claim a mate. We had a tailless chickadee up north, and he regrew his tail the same season–but it came in all white, so it was still obvious which one he was for the next few months.
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We had a bird we called Tailless for a while. A song sparrow. Used to sit up in the top of the apple tree in the front yard, and sing and sing, everyday. I enjoyed him. He used to eat the cat food out of the bowl. And then, one day, he was no more.
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Chas, if you have a hymn book going through that and singing daily could be good for you both. A former pastor told us thT his mother’s me.ory was all gone except for the hymns she knew. Elvera may know you as the nice man who sings with her. Since heaven is place of song, it could become a treasured memory of heaven on earth.
Also, if you went to a plant nursery and bought some seed packs and soil, you could plant seeds in containers to start indoors and move out as the weather warms. When my son was in Scouts, the area they met in was serendipitously named Wesley Haven (it was in a Methodist church) and they shared space with the adult day care for those with memory loss. The other young man who did his Eagle Scout project the same time that our son did his, made a nice area of raised flower beds for the adult day care group to use. I thought it was a beautiful project.
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My husband’s group played music for an assistant living place yesterday and will do so again today in another facility. I would like to go to a high school musical that some young people in church are in, but don’t know if we will make it today.
Yesterday, a resident acquaintance of ours was in the audience when the group played music. This was a pleasant surprise because someone had told me she had passed away! I had tried to find an obit and decided that rumor couldn’t be true. I knew that for sure yesterday when I had a conversation with the lady in question and her sister. One of the men in the group sings a song called, “I Woke Up Still Not Dead Again Today.” He does not sing that one at the homes, but it sure would have been appropriate.
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It is a beautiful thing to see many of these folks singing along with the group on some of their songs.
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My church has a group of older people who take the church bus on Mondays to go sing at nursing homes. Everyone has a wonderful time. I have never been with them although I have been invited.
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We used to take our children with homeschool groups to nursing homes for weekly visits. Sometimes we sang with the residents, sometimes played games. Always, we visited. A good time.
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Puzzles, plantings, reading and singing — sounds like a nice choice of potential indoor activities.
I have a port hearing to cover this morning but have decided to do it via the live stream feature. I’m out of energy to deal with the parking and the crowds and the folding chair setup they’re using for this meeting. It’s an early (8 a.m.) meeting and is being set up inside the cruise terminal’s dome-like baggage structure in the parking lot near the Iowa. I’ll miss some of the color of the gathering but will get better notes being able to follow along with a computer instead of juggling notepads and pens and agendas amid what will be maybe a few hundred people jockeying for seats.
This week has been stressful and I’m feeling almost out of steam right now. It would be nice if it were Friday. But it’s not.
Chas asked recently why Fridays came around so fast. They don’t in my world. Monday’s come fast. 🙂
It’s gray out here today with a chance of light rain. Yesterday we had thunder storms and even a little hail storm that left yards looking quite white for a little while. But I was stuck in the windowless high rise cubby all day so only saw the photos later.
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Every day comes fast in my world. Time is no longer slipping by, it is flying.
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Time does start to go faster, I agree.
Christmas is right around the corner.
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Well, you can imagine that during tax season that the hours fly by. And of course there are never enough hours. Unless you are waiting all week for someone to carry you to the grocery store.
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DJ. back in the ’80s, I had a contract assignment with Maryland National Bank. They put me and my coworker (and friend), Mike, in a windowless converted closet that had barely enough room for our two desks. And just in case that wasn’t bad enough, Mike was a smoker and it was when people still smoked at their desks.
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Linda, that was really, really bad!
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A friend from our old church would tell about what was going on with her father, who had advanced Alzheimer’s Disease. Her father, a Pentecostal, had been a missionary (along with his wife) in India and Bangladesh for many years.
He was at the point where he didn’t remember his family, but when they prayed, he would still speak in tongues. My friend felt that this showed that although his mind was impaired, his spirit was still well and “intact,” so to speak.
One time, towards the end, he had a brief moment of clarity where he looked at his wife, whom he had not been remembering, and told her that she had been a good wife to him. And then the moment was gone. But what a blessing for his wife to hold on to.
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Karen, I had almost a similar experience with a brother-in-law.
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DJ, if you’re going to bring up Christmas then I must point out that the next presidential election is right after that.
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I haven’t read this yet, but there was a discussion on here not long ago about Francis Chan appearing with Benny Hinn, so I thought I would share it for those interested. . .
Francis Chan Explains Why He’ll Share a Stage With Benny Hinn
“There are millions who will never hear strong biblical teaching unless teachers are willing to go.”
https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/march/francis-chan-send-conference-benny-hinn-prosperity-gospel.html?utm_source=ctdirect-html&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=9474712&utm_content=641377325&utm_campaign=email
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exactly
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Here is a brief video, from a news report, on a company here in Stafford, American Woolen Company. There are a couple shots of downtown Stafford. . .
https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/on-air/as-seen-on/A-Look-Inside-the-American-Woolen-Company-Mill_Hartford-507389832.html?fbclid=IwAR0mvWXxY4WStKeiwx6ZivJQcMSWtzprf_F74g0XrRNk-Of4qtlVVD0LYoE
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Linda, I can’t even imagine …
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I’m working from home — port hearing went on for 4 hours — and at least can enjoy a glance out the window into the backyard to watch it rain or to see that the sun has come out.
I took a break after typing for 4 hours through the livestream meeting to pick up dog poop in the backyard. I know, I’m livin the life.
Now I need to finish writing this story, I wound up with 14 pages of typed notes …
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The youth group I attended as a teen always went to a nursing home the third Friday of every month to sing and chat with the residents. I’m thankful that our youth workers helped us to carry that out each month.
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I have been listening to seventeen year old for the past eight hours. Only four to go until her bedtime. And she has meds for that.
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Seventeen year old, longshoremen, politicians — lots of nonstop talking going on today, apparently. 🙂
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My story was about as long as that 4-hour hearing. Really long. Editor may be able to cut it some.
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She is done. Like a switch was flipped. Now she is exhausted.
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Is there a switch for politicians?
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I am exhausted also.
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And I am exhausted.
I would say elections but that does not seem to always work.
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Karen, 3:43, I don’t think the apostle Paul would have hung out with wolves for such a reason–you can’t help but give them some of your own credibility–although I do know some evangelists see it as a valid technique, and God can use it if He chooses.
I know little about Chan and don’t know how sound he is theologically. But he was on video encouraging people to attend that event . . . so his newly stated motive is not totally credible. I would encourage continued caution where he is concerned.
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Kizzie thanks for sharing the article. I am wary of Chan’s explanation. The article states “As a result of the recent pushback, he said he would consider adding a research team and working with elders to prevent confusion over his future appearances”. That causes me to question his reasoning as if he is trying to justify his actions. I am not his judge but I find his alliance with these “evangelists “ problematic. If our pastor started hanging out with Benny Hinn…well he would no longer be our pastor….
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Matthew 9: 10-13 Jesus eating with the tax collectors and sinners called out by the Pharisees.
Acts 9: 10- 17 Ananias meeting with Saul, the one doing much harm to the saints
Acts 13: 6- 12 Paul meets with the false prophet and the pro consul, Elymas tried to misguide the proconsul but Paul stayed in the fight and the man came to faith.
There is precedent
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Mumsee, I don’t think any of those are “precendent,” except possibly the third (I don’t remember enough of that story to address it, and I’m too tired to research it).
The tax collectors and sinners were not believers, and didn’t claim to be. In that instance, Jesus took the side of the “sinners” and NOT the religious folks who were actually wolves. He called them all sorts of names, actually–whited sepulchres for one lovely example. To make it a parallel, He wasn’t preaching alongside Benny Hinn, but insulting him.
Ananias met with Paul, a brand-new believer, and discipled him (he did not teach alongside him, at least not initially)–after God specifically told him to do so.
Witnessing to the false prophet behind the scenes (which is, I think, what your third example shows) is much, much different from publicly teaching alongside him and promoting his “ministry.”
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The false prophet, magician, was playing tug of war with the proconsul. A wolf of sorts.
I just can’t imagine we should just cede territory to false teachers. “Oh, you were here first, I don’t want to mess with your success, I will leave. So sorry” does not sound like the correct response. Kind of why so many Christian teachers continue in public school. It is not as if the false teachers are teaching Truth and he is stepping on toes. Why should he only go preach where good solid teachers are already working? That does not make any sense, though we see it a lot.
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The tax collectors and sinners were not wolves in sheep’s clothing, they were open sinners. As I said before, the open unbeliever is far less dangerous to the Church than the person pretending to be a believer (I Corinthians 5:9-11). Again, Saul had been an open enemy of the Church, not a false teacher pretending to be part of the Church; and in any case, Ananias went to Saul privately only after being instructed to by the Holy Spirit. Finally, Paul did not share a platform with the false prophet Elymas; on the contrary, he stopped Elymas’ false teaching by cursing him in the Holy Spirit, causing Elymas to go blind (Acts 13:8-11).
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So we should concede the ground and let it go to false teachers?
Those were examples of believers stepping up when the church told them they should not and of Paul going into a situation where lies abounded, to bring out a brother to be.
Do you believe people teaching a false gospel are our fellow believers?
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Mumsee, if not attending an event where false teachers are speaking is conceding ground, then we should be attempting to attend every meeting of the Mormons, JWs, etc. But we do not participate in such meetings of cults, any more than the Apostles and early Church attended meetings of the Roman era cults of Isis or Mithras. In fact, Paul warned the early Church against attending such cult meetings: “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesian 5:22). Paul was not attending any kind of rite or gathering presided over by Elymas the sorcerer. Paul was invited by Sergius Paulus to share the gospel, and Elymas, wanting no doubt to maintain influence with the deputy, was present at their meeting. When Elymas tried to share his viewpoint, Paul shut him down, following his own command to the Ephesians.
Benny Hinn is essentially a modern day sorcerer, claiming to have personal power to perform signs and wonders as Elymas and Simon the Magician did before him. Hinn actually claims to do what Simon the Magician wanted to do – he claims to perform wonders by the Holy Spirit, wonders that he profits financially from. That is, as Peter warned Simon in the strongest of language, a very evil thing to do (Acts 8:18-23). If Chan were really following Paul’s example, he would both publicly rebuke Hinn and refuse to let Hinn speak. For all that Chan has such scathing things to say about the Church herself, he is treating one of the worst wolves in her midst very leniently.
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As far as I know, these are not regular meetings like the Mormons, etc, but one time events where lots of believers and unbelievers show up.
Have either of you ever listened to Hinn speak? I have. that is where I got my impression of him. Have you ever heard Chan speak? I have, that is where I got my impression of him. I did not accept other people’s opinions of him until I had heard him speak because I know people have their biases. Being told Hinn is a charlatan by somebody who heard somebody else say he was who got it from somebody else, does not confirm in my mind that he is. Only that somebody thought he was. So I watched him a couple of times on tv years and years ago and came to my own conclusion.
I keep hearing that Chan is saying these awful things about the church, yet I have listened to a number of his sermons and Bible studies and have yet to hear it. It only took me once to see through Hinn, and a second time to confirm that I was not being led by other folks opinions. My thought is that Chan is a very good Bible teacher and is living out what he is learning and encouraging others to dig in and find out what the Word says, but he is not going to fit with everybody’s current emphasis in Bible learning. We should all end up in the same place, at the feet of the Great I Am.
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Isn’t a false teacher anybody who is not teaching the Way is Jesus Christ? Just reading about Paul and Barnabas in Acts 14, going into the synagogue, where teachers were not teaching Jesus as the Way. Paul and Barnabas did and many came to Him.
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Mumsee, I have read Chan’s own words numerous times, and it is that which convinces me he is unstable. To claim he was called by the Spirit (I have read his own words) to speak at a conference where Hinn was not the only charlatan, as the list of other names at the conference include other preposterous prosperity preachers and faith healers, shows that Chan himself is willing to carelessly claim the power of the Spirit to justify his questionable actions and try to silence his critics, something that Hinn and the others do all the time. For all that Chan scolds the Church for not telling sinners they are going to hell (I have read his own words), he is not telling those of Hinn’s ilk what Peter and Paul did not scruple to tell Simon and Elymas, that they are headed to judgement and perdition for their greed and false teaching. For all that Chan laments that the Church is focused on accumulating material wealth (I have read his own words), he is willing to be paid to speak at a conference run by charlatans who prey on the weak for profit. Words are not the only way to discern if someone is telling the truth, as Jesus himself warned in the Sermon on the Mount and Peter, James, and Jude later emphasized in their epistles; actions do speak louder than words. Finally, Paul made his judgments on the Corinthian church without being present and based them on verbal reports – in his day, one could not watch YouTube videos or read the book.
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Right, and I am looking at lifestyles as well. I don’t live in San Francisco and have not visited his home, but it appears he is living a very modest life, with the proceeds he takes in going to feed the poor, visiting the prisoners, and getting people freed from sex trafficking. He puts a lt of his time into preaching the Word and showing people the value of reading and doing.
The other preachers you mention tend to live rather gaudy lives accumulating lots of money and stuff.
To me, that is more an indicator of the heart.
Chan seems to be called to bring the Truth to places other people have chosen not to go. I will continue to pray that he hold tight to the Truth and not be taken down as so many are by Sodom and Gommorah.
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You have only his word for it that he is called.
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Roscuro, do you not believe you were called here, called to Africa, and called to northern Canada? I only have your word for it but I fully believe it.
I believe I was called to adopt these children. No verification through anybody else, just what I believe. I don’t believe most people are called to the same.
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Mumsee, my calling was confirmed by my sending church, who commissioned me, and by the provision of God by opening and closing doors of opportunities. Paul did not simply declare himself the apostle of the Gentiles, the appointment was confirmed by both the church at Antioch and the elders at Jerusalem (Acts 13:1-4, 15:2, 22-32, Galatians 2:9). Please stop trying to use what I have shared about myself to attack my position on topics. I do not come here to promote myself or to gain followers or to raise funds, I am coming to visit and discuss things with friends. Chan is a public figure who claims leadership in the church, and the precedent of the New Testament is that such people are fair game for discussion, as Paul even publicly rebuked Peter and then wrote about it afterward in Galatians 2:11-14. I am a private individual, with no kind of leadership position in the Church, as a woman and impoverished. Trying to use my life against me in a debate about a topic seems like exploiting a friend in order to win an argument. I do not do that to you.
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Roscuro, I am sorry, I did not think of my words in that light.
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You are forgiven, Mumsee.
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