Let’s see if we (meaning *I*) can’t keep this under 100 words, shall we? (hah :)
A “false prophet” is ONLY a danger to the one who doesn’t know The Holy Bible for himself.
The false prophet can only “get” you (that is, get their hooks into you) by
- convincing you that their sermon is so complete that you don’t need to read The Word on your own,
- appearing to meet needs that “other churches” or denominations (or family or other relationships) “can’t provide” for you,
- selling you on following THEM instead Of Jesus.
Or, rather, IF THEY GET YOU TO BELIEVE the above.
(aka they can put it into their store, but you’ve gotta buy it (or buy into it) for the deception to be complete.
ANY time a person (who isn’t Jesus) says “if you get close to ME, you get close TO GOD!” then you have a false prophet on your hands.
Whether it’s madness or demonic possession or a financial scam or mere “ignorance,” no human has more “pull” with God--except for God Himself, aka JESUS (Who ROCKS! :)))
THOUGH, it should be noted that someone who HAS given his life To Jesus IS considered “God’s Child” aka son and heir and NOT just His “creation.”
(Though it should ALSO be noted that this offer of salvation and fellowship be open to EVERY human, and not just people who went to church as kids or whatever.)
THIS HERE is a treasure trove about the topic at hand (being His BABY, not the false prophet thing. Heh… Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about that :) tho it DOES seem that I’ve forgotten about that whole Hundred Words thing. Sigh. :””( heh :)
A closing thought about this false prophet not-deep-dive thingamajigie:
Someone or something only needs a single iota of contagion to be tainted. If a church or pastor or even denomination you feel comfortable with or “just plain like” teaches or preaches something that is clearly refuted By The Bible–even just one thing (that you’re aware of)–be cautious about listening to them, or rather, WHEN listening to them. If they are 99 per cent preaching Bible but bring in some weird thing that seems like “UM…??”, just be that much more vigilant in your research about them.
NOTE: I do DEFINITELY believe that new believers should stick with a strict diet of reading PURE BIBLE at first, and listen only to pastors/churches that are 100 per cent Bible (not just in terms of teaching Scripture, but also teaching the practical, every-day applications thereof).
Otherwise, it’s far too easy to believe what the questionable ministry is claiming to be Scriptural, and start swaying in the wind about what their beliefs actually are, and believing that God Promised them all sorts of stuff that He totally never did (which fosters Cosmic Santa Claus/God As my own personal GENIE Syndrome), and that they, the created human, can “get God to Give me this!” (aka “praying and fasting for this dream house and that spouse and these income streams” etc. aka WITCHCRAFT. Just pray THY WILL BE DONE! and HAVE THINE OWN WAY, LORD! in ALL things! He Knows best :))))
Then, once you’ve read The Bible a few times, are familiar with hundreds of Bible verses (aka can finish the verse if you hear it, and know who wrote it or said it), and can answer pastor-level questions yourself, there is no problem in hearing what amounts to a motivational speech (aka it’s not AGAINST Bible, just isn’t really taking us where we need to be as Mature Believers), now you’re a mature believer.
NOW, you can even hear a sermon that has some cockamamie stuff going on in it and know exactly what’s “wrong” with it.
“Um, WHY, tho??”
Simple: Because as a mature believer, you need to be ready–and willing–to step in and explain to a new believer WHY that thing is NOT in line With The Blessed Scripture (aka 66 books Of The Bible).
“But I ain’t no preacher-man, Sally SALL!”
But you are, though :)
<3
METANOiA Means 