Alpha and omega 6
Today marks the final post in A Year in the Life—for now. We may return to it later. Which month is Alpha and Omega 6 about? December.
Without further ado.
December 1—the alpha day
Last year, December was Team Month.
Switching teams
On the first day of December, I read Acts 22. Paul told his story. It was wonderful, but the people in power in the Jewish community weren’t having it. They wanted him executed. Can you believe that?
Paul’s new team
I found the backstory in Acts 21. The Jews dragged Paul out of the temple in Jerusalem, seeking to take his life. They were vehemently against Christianity and Paul had basically switched teams—from Team Pharisee to Team Jesus. When the Roman occupiers arrested Paul, they saved him from being killed by his own people. But in a much bigger way, the real saving came from Jesus, who saved Paul from (1) the lies of the Pharisees, (2) the sin of his pride, and (3) eternity in hell.
Our new team
Jesus saved Brandon and me in multiple ways. He saved our souls from hell and he also saved us from our people—the people in the house. He saved us from the sociopaths and narcissists, and then some. He also opened our eyes and saved us from our own blindness. What happened with our families of origin—the people in the house? Pam, The Almighty banished us from her crew; we left The War Zone of the sociopaths and their accomplices; some of them died; and I finally saw my other sibling’s true colors this spring.
I’m reminded of a saying the Holy Spirit gave me eight years ago:
Those who do evil and call it good
are not to be trifled with.
Indeed not.
We switched from Team Abuse to Team Peace.
Walking and resisting
Have you encountered evil? Have you walked away from someone or something? Did you walk away from a person? A group? A place? A town? A church? A job? A career? A decision? A lifestyle? A habit? A sin? A family? The people in the house?
You’re not alone. Resist evil. Be encouraged by 1 Peter 5:6-11 and see the addendum at the end of part 7.
The song and the scripture
Before I read Acts 22 on The Alpha Day of December, God gave me a song. It was a gift. The song and the scripture were tied together.
Friday, December 1
Journal entry
I got up at 4 and wrote more—part 1 of The Post-Turnaround Transformation. It’s going great. God gave me the song “Make Room” by Casting Crowns [to feature at the end of that post]. So lovely. Perfect. I read Acts 22, with Paul sharing his testimony. It reminded me of the song.
Receiving and trading
Why did God give me “Make Room” and Acts 22 on the same day? The song “Make Room” calls us to make room in our hearts so God can write the love story of Jesus there. It also expresses this key truth: Part of making room for God means trading our own dreams for the glory of God. In other words, getting outside my pride, my agenda and my warped version of “truth” to embrace a life sacrificed to God and his purposes.
Brutal and glorious
The story of Paul’s salvation in Acts 22 shows us the power of God, the personal love of God, and the providence of God. He had a plan for Paul’s life—a vital mission for Paul to take the gospel message of Jesus to the Gentiles. Paul’s life got distinctly harder after he was saved. Beatings. Shipwrecks. Imprisonment. People trying to kill him. Salvation isn’t a ticket to convenience, comfort and a carefree life.
God doesn’t save us to make our lives easy.
Paul was led and empowered by the Holy Spirit to say and do things that made a kingdom impact. Things that brought the truth of Jesus to hearts in many countries. Things that built the family of God. Things that changed the world. Paul’s life was brutally hard and gloriously beautiful. What’s one of the many things Paul learned? To be content no matter what. And Paul understood the key: “God, it isn’t about me. It’s all about you.”
Devotion
This quote from French mathematician, Christian, philosopher and writer Blaise Pascal captures that truth.
I ask you neither for health nor for sickness, for life nor for death; but that you may dispose of my health and my sickness, my life and my death, for your glory…. You alone know what is expedient for me; you are the sovereign master, do with me according to your will. Give to me, or take away from me, only conform my will to yours. I know but one thing, Lord, that it is good to follow you, and bad to offend you. Apart from that, I know not what is good or bad in anything. I know not which is most profitable to me, health or sickness, wealth or poverty, nor anything else in the world. That discernment is beyond the power of men or angels, and is hidden among the secrets of your providence, which I adore, but do not seek to fathom.
― Blaise Pascal
Paul and Blaise Pascal followed Jesus. They understood that we’re here to bring God glory. (Read the scriptures at the end of this post.) They were on Team Jesus. Some so-called “Christian” preachers play for Team Deception. They follow the evil one. False prophets preach a false gospel.
Team deception
Let’s review the two bolded, key messages so far. They apply directly to Team Deception. (1) Those who do evil and call it good are not to be trifled with. (2) God doesn’t save us to make our lives easy.
“Prosperity gospel” preachers are liars—wolves in sheep’s clothing. “God wants you to be rich, healthy and happy like me. Give me $1,000.” Their lies and thievery are evil.
Megachurches and the prosperity gospel
The Dark World of Megachurches, an excellent 32-minute video by James Jani, explores the prosperity gospel, the Word of Faith movement, and supposed “faith healers” like Benny Hinn. The filmmaker doesn’t consider these multimillionaire preachers with Gulfstream jets and mansions to be “intentionally malicious,” but does acknowledge their deception and why people need to get away from them.
I assert that deception is innately malicious.
But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron….
1 Timothy 4:1-4, New Heart English Bible
Another gospel
For a deep dive into Word of Faith prosperity preachers and faith healers, I highly recommend the documentary American Gospel: Christ Alone, which features preachers from both teams—Team Truth and Team Deception. Brandon and I watched this documentary on Thursday. It was quite good. You’ll learn the dark reality about Kenneth Copeland, Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, Todd White, Bill Johnson, etc.—and how their teachings contradict the Bible, God’s word.
Two down in Texas
Another lucrative deception scheme—the New Apostolic Reformation or “the NAR”—has also ensnared millions of people worldwide. From part 3:
Their heresy goes like this: “The Bible is nice, but my personal, direct revelations from God are better. Listen to and obey me. What I’m offering you is a new thing from God. The Bible is old. Buy my books in the lobby.”
Two of the big NAR players stepped down from their Texas megachurches this month: Tony Evans of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship and Robert Morris of Gateway Church. Robert Morris described his long-term sexual abuse of a girl as “moral failure.” That is a lie. A filthy, disgusting lie. Beware.
The evil of Robert Morris
Watch this Justin Peters podcast featuring Steve LeBlanc, a former friend and employee of Robert Morris.
Complicit church elders
When the elders at Gateway Church issued their written statement last week about Pastor Robert Morris’s resignation, they included a statement from Morris, their resident pedophile. In that statement, Robert Morris called the 12-year-old girl he molested “a young lady.” Morris was a married 21-year-old with a son when he first molested her on Christmas day. The victim, Cindy, was the daughter of a fellow preacher—a supposed friend. Morris molested Cindy for 4.5 years.
1. Why did the elders not fire Morris, the lying pedophile?
2. Why did the elders knowingly allow Morris to lie in the statement they released to their congregation?
The plot thickens
In the Justin Peters/Steve LeBlanc podcast, you’ll also learn about the extensive, disturbing lies; the non-disclosure agreement; Robert Morris’s fast track from child molester to elder; the master manipulator; *the cover-up; the person Morris’s wife Debbie “forgave;” the heretics who are paraded around at Gateway; the narcissist/sociopath; his hunger for fame; and much more.
*Addendum: Please watch this follow-up podcast in its entirety. One of the facts asserted in the original video was retracted, and the information in the paragraph above was adjusted accordingly.
I especially appreciate Steve LeBlanc’s message to current Gateway Church families—basically, “Get out of there immediately.” He refers to Gateway as “Sodom and Gomorrah” and gives a recommendation on a quality church nearby. Steve also explains what to look for in a godly preacher and church elders.
Peaceful Readers, while the subject matter is dark and disturbing, watching the Justin Peters/Steve LeBlanc podcast will warn and equip you.
More to come
I believe many more of these false prophets—preachers, book peddlers, and “spiritual” experts—will see their own demise. I pray that it comes soon. They are evil—lying about God, manipulating and deceiving people, and taking their money under false pretenses.
For we know him who said, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay.”
Again, “The Lord will judge his people.”
Hebrews 10:30, New Heart English Bible
Is God cleaning house? Yes, he is.
Did he raise up warriors for this hour? Yes, he did.
Team Jesus
American Gospel features Paul Washer, Justin Peters, Costi Hinn, Ray Comfort, Sean DeMars, Michael Horton and many more.
Calling out false prophets—deceitful Word of Faith and NAR preachers—must continue. But it isn’t enough.
The trumpet call of Eric Metaxas and friends
An extremely important podcast with Seth Gruber and Eric Mataxas—“Just Preach the Gospel” Was Hitler’s Favorite Phrase Too—addresses why preachers today must speak out about the evil going on right in front of us (e.g., transgender ideology, personal pronouns, Critical Race Theory, cancel culture, election fraud, BLM, trafficking, abortion, etc.). See part 6 for a list of many of these evils.
Eric Metaxas, author of Bonhoeffer and Letter to the American Church, discusses the silence of German preachers in the 1930s in the face of evil, with catastrophic, horrific results. Learn about the Johnson Amendment, Margaret Sanger’s tie to the KKK, the democratic party’s tie to the KKK, a recent law passed in California, and more.
Continue to see what boldness for Christ looks like in this podcast with Eric Metaxas and Allen Jackson.
The trumpet call of Jesus
Have you wondered if Jesus advocates preachers speaking boldly about evil in the world in which we live? Current events? Politics? First, ask yourself: Did Jesus speak boldly? Did he call out evil? Absolutely. And it was very current. It was very political.
Inside at a dinner party
Consider Luke 11:37 to 12:3. At a dinner party, who did Jesus call out, repeatedly, to their faces? The scribes and Pharisees—the religious leaders in power over the Jewish people. “Woe to you! Woe to you! Woe to you!” It was very current; and it was very political. Then he warned his disciples about them.
Outside with a crowd
In Matthew 23, Jesus warned the people in the crowd about the scribes and Pharisees and called the scribes and Pharisees out to their faces. Did Jesus mince words? Was he “polite”? Did he worry about people’s feelings? No. He spoke hard truths without fear of man. And he spoke those hard truths publicly. He declared the truth with authority. The people needed to be warned about the evil of the Pharisees—the religious rulers. Let me say this again.
The evil was very current; and it was very political.
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you devour the houses of widows, and for show make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you shut up the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much of a son of hell as yourselves.”
Matthew 23:13-15, New Heart English Bible
A preacher who got it right
Did Jesus have anything to say about other preachers of his day?
“Truly I tell you, among those who are born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist….”
Matthew 11:11a, New Heart English Bible
Did John the Baptist call out evil? Indeed, he did. See Mark 6:17-18.
Today’s evil
What about today’s evil? Don’t the people need to be warned by their preachers? Don’t the preachers actually care about their people’s well-being and protection? Don’t the preachers care about the truth? “Pride Month is evil. CRT is evil. Transgender ideology is evil. Trafficking and the border crisis are evil. Abortion is evil. The gender fluidity lie is evil. Election fraud is evil. The Great Reset is evil. The cancel culture is evil. Censorship is evil….”
Preachers, step up and speak up.
Protect and equip your people with the truth.
Personal responsibility
Peaceful Reader, even if your preacher fails to speak boldly about the evils in our day, you must step up and speak up. No excuses. What did Jesus have to say about our personal responsibility for reading and responding to the times—the evils of our day?
[Jesus] said to the crowds also, “When you see a cloud rising from the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it happens. When a south wind blows, you say, ‘There will be a scorching heat,’ and it happens. Hypocrites. You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not know how to interpret this time? Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?”
Luke 12:54-57, New Heart English Bible
Do you need to learn more about what’s going on in our world? Go to Current Events in the index and explore those posts. Also, read Danger Close by Patrick Byrne. It will open your eyes to many aspects of current events that have been hidden.
Choosing rightly
If your preacher fails to speak boldly because he’s afraid of people—enslaved by popularity, numbers, approval—or because he’s a slave to government kick-backs (the 501(c)(3) tax breaks instituted by the Johnson Amendment), will you look for a preacher who emulates the courage, care and concern of Christ? The boldness of Christ? I’m not advocating forsaking in-person worship to watch a bold preacher on television. Ask around. Is there a preacher within an hour of where you live who preaches like Jesus would preach today? Bold. Uncompromising. Unafraid.
Is there a preacher within an hour of your home
who preaches about the evils that are in our faces every day?
Ask and seek.
The trumpet call of Paul
We can learn much from the apostle Paul. He was bold like Jesus. Paul gave repeated warnings about religious deceivers—the Word of Faith and NAR types of their day.
♦ Romans 16:17-19
♦ 1 Timothy 6:3-5
♦ 2 Corinthians 11:12-15
♦ 2 Timothy 3:1-9
♦ Titus 1:10-16
Paul didn’t give “friendly advice” or “tips.” He gave a younger preacher, Timothy, this command:
I command you therefore before God and Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his Kingdom: preach the word; be urgent in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with all patience and teaching. For the time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine, but, having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to myths. But you be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
2 Timothy 4:1-5, New Heart English Bible
The common denominator
Is there a common denominator here? What is the core issue? The common denominator—the core issue—is truth.
We can’t claim to love or care about people and yet willfully withhold the truth from them—particularly truths about evil and danger. How can we not warn them?
Paul’s story in Acts 22 took us on an unexpected, important climb. I hope it strengthened you.
School teams
Let’s get back to December 1 of last year. Logan was accepted into Texas A&M’s master’s program in accounting that day. We were so proud. In January, he attended Boot Camp for his new “team”—250 hard-working students in his master’s group.
On Alpha Day of Team Month, Brandon and I ate dinner at Chili’s to celebrate Logan’s great accomplishment. A family from his private school sat in the booth opposite us. It was good to visit with their daughter, who’d been in school with Logan since pre-K. She was a cheerleader and Logan was the mascot. They cheered for their school’s football team and helped the fans cheer too. Happy memories….
December 31—the omega day
Did the last day of December include teams? It sure did.
Sunday, December 31
Journal entry
I dug through our magazine rack in the dining room and threw out a pile of books, including one by T.D. Jakes, a big player in the satanic/false prophet NAR—the self-proclaimed New Apostolic Reformation. Purging our home of those books felt good.
Brandon and I went to the one worship service today at 10. Most of our life group was there….
We watched the Cowboy game and the Dolphins game. I ate a big bowl of buttered popcorn. Yum.
…Logan went to Sean’s tonight for a New Year’s Eve sleepover [with friends from church]. Brandon and I watched two movies…. We kissed at midnight, heard fireworks and wished each other a Happy New Year!
I smile when I think about the teams we encountered on The Omega Day of the month and the whole year. Victory of Team Jesus over Team Deception as bad books were thrown in the trash. NFL teams—Brandon’s favorite and my favorite.
What about close friends and family? Are we a team? Absolutely. We accomplish things together. We play together. We pray together. And we fight evil together. Go, Team!
Coming next: Well, Peaceful Readers, A Year in the Life has been pretty epic. What’s coming next? I really don’t know. Several possibilities have come to mind. The Holy Spirit will show me which way to go. And he always chooses the right road.
Until next time, thanks for reading and for Choosing Peace.
Truth from The Word: Amos 5:15
Song: “There Is One Gospel” by CityAlight
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