“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Flat out: I firmly believe that. What was ironic-my daughter pointed out-is that I preached on the Creator God and His monstrously creative genius the day before the total Eclipse. Straight up: I did not plan it that way. When I began planning my sermons, the eclipse was the farthest thing from my mind.
But I don’t want to write about the eclipse. Enough has been said already. It was spectacular. I did not watch it…I rode my bike inside. But I had my blinds open and it was creepy to look outside and see it pitch black at 3:00 in the afternoon. {Note: it gives credibility to the 12-3 scenario when Jesus was on the cross and it was dark}. What I want to write about this morning are the hucksters, the doomsayers, the conspiracy theorists, and the like who came out of the woodwork to use this for personal and professional gain. I am particularly piqued at the “religious” hucksters who crawled out of their hole in the wall to promote a false-read that very false- narrative that the eclipse was going to be the end of the world; God’s judgment on America; blah blah blah, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. There were the so-called prophets predicting all kinds of garbage that was going to happen…AND DIDN’T! Label them: F.A.L.S.E. P.R.O.P.H.E.T.S. There are those who predicted it would usher in the Rapture (if you believe in that). It didn’t (either that or I was left behind and if I believed that it would be a real bummer). There were those who predicted the doom of America. It didn’t. (if American is doomed its because of the truth of Proverbs 28:2: When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily. But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability”.
All that to say: whenever someone “prophesies” anything, run as far away from that person or organization as possible. The NAR (New Apostolic Reformation) with people like Bill Johnson and Bethel, Benny Hinn, Hillsong, Kenneth Copeland, and other yahoos, are nothing more than false teachers. R-U-N A-W-A-Y!! as fast and as far as you can.
I’ll stand with Jesus who said not even He knew when He would return, only His Father. That’s solid ground to stand on.
If Jesus refused to testify to the date and time of His return, why would I think I know better? These people are false prophets just as you’ve demonstrated here, Bill. I so appreciate you sharing your wisdom with us.
Blessings!
The arrogance of people simply amazes me Martha. As you said, if Jesus didn’t know why would they think they know better. And thanks for the kind words.
I agree with you Bill. False prophets are everywhere. The Bible warns us, to study God’s word and put on God’s armour daily to protect us. If the Bible does not back up the claims being stated than the claims are wrong. I want to stand with Jesus on His solid ground too,and keep my trust and faith in Jesus only.
The tragedy is that so many do not know or do not want to stand on God’s Word. They would rather listen to fanciful lies or have their ears tickled.