michael's blog

Learning how to hear God's voice - things I am learning only now

I have to say to my shame that there are certain basic things I never much practiced concerning how to hear God's voice personally for myself. I believe the lack of knowledge here has limited the effectiveness of my communication with the Lord until now. Though I've heard God's voice on many things, there are also many things in which I know I have acted presumptuously, and the bad results made me question the wisdom of trying to get specific guidance outside of just reading the Bible.

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How People Become False Prophets

Jesus told us to watch out for false prophets. If they were powerless to deceive born again Christians, I don't think Jesus would have told us to "take heed". In this article, I show how true Christians can become false prophets. The Bible clearly shows that there are men who start off hearing and obeying the LORD God, who end up as soothsayers and destroyers of God's people. The New Testament warns us in 2 Peter 2 and the Book of Jude to watch out for arrogant, money loving preachers. Paul warned us against the times when people would heap up teachers who tell them what their itching ears want to hear. You won't hear too many expositions of these passages on Christian TV today. What a pity, they were never more needed.

Towards a Culture of Discernment in Full-Gospel/Charismatic Churches

I was brought up in a part of the Anglican church where we were encouraged to read and study the Bible for ourselves. We were taught that the beliefs we have concerning theology and the gospel should be based on what the Scriptures say, and not merely on the pronouncements of "God's chosen leaders". Of course no church movement has really been able to follow this principle through fully until now, but it is a noble thing to at least espouse the principle.

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A movement too big to be derailed?

When you read church history, beginning from the time of the apostles and on through the rise of the institutional church, the Dark Ages, the Reformation, the Revival moments and the pentecostal/charismatic movements, it becomes very clear that Satan has always been trying to derail the Church of God.

It is the Church which is the primary object of God's love, and therefore the primary object of Satan's hatred.

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Jesus told us to give to the poor, not to serve Mammon

Dear friends, as I go on in the Christian life, I am coming to appreciate more just how important it is for us to give to the poor. We need to give time, physical resources AND the gospel to the poor. Without giving time, our hearts are not involved. Without giving food and other things, our love is empty talk, and without giving the gospel and God's Word, we neglect the true eternal needs of the very people who are most likely to be responsive to God's call.

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Why I don't trust the Todd Bentley Lakeland phenomenon

Dear friends in Christ,

Even before the Lakeland phenomenon broke out, I heard a report about Todd Bentley's meetings on the Gold Coast that dismayed me somewhat. It had to do with the way he raises money, by telling people that they should "sow" money into his anointing so that they can receive an impartation of it.

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Conservative Anglican bishops boycott compromising Archbishop of Canterbury's conference

I refer to this article which informs us that a signficant number of Anglican bishops are boycotting the Lambeth conference, which is a conference of bishops called by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is traditionally regarded as the leader of the Anglican communion. But that tradition is about to go out the window, at least for those conservative Anglican leaders who take the Bible seriously on the issue of sexual purity.

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The fruit of the Spirit is self control, not being out of control

Here is a video showing some of the bizarre things that can happen when "strange fire" is allowed to predominate in a service.

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Why I Believe we are now in the Final Generation before Christ's Return

I believe Jesus Christ will return some time in the next 30 years at the latest. I DON'T believe this simply because there is a great increase in occultic activity (which there is), or because governments are stripping away the civil liberties of people in the name of fighting terrorism (which they are), or because Satan is trying to unify the nations under one global empire (which he is).

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What protection under islamic law means

Have a read of http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7415290.stm

"The Saudi Labour Ministry has acknowledged some problems, but the government also says foreign workers' rights are protected under Islamic law."

Read the BBC article above to get an idea just what protection under Islamic law can mean in practice when it comes to the test.