For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm! Psalm 47:7 Music is a powerful thing. Many of us can recall songs from our childhood, and the words once filed deep within our minds emerge easily from our lips. Many of us have put things to music when studying for exams and trying to memorize various facts because it makes learning easier and retainable. Music is an important part of our praise and worship unto…
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 1 Timothy 3:1-3 It was a subject and belief I avoided tackling. After all, I had been permitted to minister and to preach on a handful of occasions to a…
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.” Joel 2:28 As I recently prepared for a podcast Q&A, I had a friend and sister in Christ pose this question of personal interest. Perhaps you have had the same question. “Why are so many visions accepted in New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) churches…
This week, I recorded an episode answering listener’s questions concerning some beliefs of the New Apostolic Reformation. Some of these questions also included personal elements of how to navigate coming out of this movement and unlearning much of the teaching while also dealing with loved ones and family members still entrenched in it. Here was one of the questions from this week’s episode. “My husband and I were in an NAR based church for 12 years. As you can imagine,…
A self -professing apostle stands on a platform in various gatherings while children are brought before her. The parents are bringing their children forward in order to seek out deliverance from indwelling demons. Some of the children writhe on the floor and scream. Some children react passively to the countdown to three for the demons to leave. The minister tells the people that children can have indwelling demons as well, and they need deliverance from inhabiting demons. There is even…
Have you ever looked back on something you said or did and thanked the Lord for correcting you in your sin and error, when you rightfully deserved judgment? We all have moments, even on a daily basis, where we thank God for His grace and mercy toward us, and many of us could say that such sin and error are not available for public scrutiny. Over the past several years, one of the things that became painfully clear personally was…
The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:14,15 The deliverance movement seems to never run out of…
Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, freely submitting to, and taking delight in God’s wise, and fatherly disposal in every condition. Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment If you had asked me several years ago how to find contentment in God, I would likely have said that it is only found in God and in the abundant life He promises in His Word. That answer sounds a bit convoluted, doesn’t it? To some…
And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’—when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. Deuteronomy 18:21-22 A New Year is upon us, and with that comes an array of prophecies from various…
Spiritual abuse, false teaching, and doctrinal error are not exclusive to a specific movement or religious belief system. Having said that, when coming out of what is termed the New Apostolic Reformation movement, finding a Biblically sound church can be daunting and intimidating. There are some people who are reluctant to attend a local church again because of previous personal experiences with church leadership. Spiritual abuse and emotional manipulation can take a toll on the ability to trust another pastor…