For Anyone Who Thinks Bethel Church Is Biblical

I haven't written anything about Bethel Church for this blog even though I know quite a few people who champion what they've been doing all these years.

Perhaps it's time I started too though, because so are SO MANY EXAMPLES of false teaching that it's absolutely mind-boggling to me how any Christian who says they care about the truth can excuse those examples of doctrinal error as being "no big deal" or attempt to explain them away since me and others who have a problem with them are "just misinterpreting things" they say.

Case in point, here's a video clip that I saw shared on Facebook today...

 

VIDEO: Bethel Church - An Unexpected Route To Joy

Are you kidding me!?!

Pure B-L-A-S-P-H-E-M-Y!!!

I'll let Paula Coyle's comment serve as my own.

Bill Johnson's church... Bethel church, Jesus comes to this guy and asks HIM for forgiveness. And that is OK? Why was he not run out on a rail? Oh, because Bethel Church doesn't care about truth.

Thankfully, others chimed in as well with their own thoughts that echoed my own.

Zach Lesher: You can't be serious! Blasphemy! How dare he. This saddens me to the core

Linda Finch: Unbelievable. Absolute blasphemy.

Pete Homes: We should forgive Jesus? Where's THAT in the Bible?

F. Steve Malloy: Shared......Just stunning.

Caroline Mueller: Remember that passage in the Bible where Jesus asks US for forgiveness? Yeah, me neither. Run as fast as you can from this "church"! ‪#‎FalseTeacher‬ ‪#‎WolfInSheepsClothing‬

Precisely, my dear friends.

Jesus did not come into this world to suffer and die on the cross in your rightful place so that He could one day get you to forgive Him for what He has done FOR YOU. That's absolutely ridiculous!

Christ came to atone for your sins, pay the penalty of death which you rightly deserve for those sins, but then He overcame death through His resurrection and won victory of the devil and sin so that you might have eternal life with Him, you who come to Him in repentance and faith seeking forgiveness from Him.

See how that works? See how the order is reversed by Bethel? How dare they!?! Quite, quite sad indeed and my heart breaks at the thought of millions who fall for this kind of spiritual poison.

As Martin Luther once said...

The kingdom of Christ is not one of condemnation. I am not here to condemn you, but to remit the sins of those who, like you, are where death, the devil, evil consciences, accusers, and judges have come to plague them. The slogan in My kingdom is: I forgive you your sin; for in My kingdom no one is without forgiveness of sins. Therefore you, too, must have forgiveness. My kingdom must not be in disorder. All who enter it and dwell in it must be sinners. But as sinners they cannot live without the forgiveness of sins. If I am a sinner, the matter is not ended there; the sins must be forgiven. Thus none but sinners come into this kingdom. But do not let this prompt you to say: 'Well, we will remain in sin.' No, you must learn to feel and recognize your sin. 

Thus only those sinners belong in the kingdom of Christ who recognize their sin, feel it, and then catch hold of the Word of Christ spoken here: 'I do not condemn you.' These people constitute the membership of Christ’s kingdom. He admits no saint; He blows them all away; He expels from the church all who lay claim to holiness. If sinners enter, they do not remain sinners. He spreads His cloak over their sins and says: 'If you have sinned, I remit your sins and cover them.' To be sure, sin is there. But the Lord in this kingdom closes His eyes to it, covers it, forgives it, and does not impute it to the sinner. So a living saint and member of Christ stands here, made out of an adulteress who had been infested with sin but whose sin is now forgiven and covered. Even if sinners are knaves and criminals, their sins will be forgiven, as long as they feel them, repent of them, and ask God for forgiveness. If you have tasted the Law and sin, and if you know the ache of sin, then look here, and see how sweet, in comparison, the grace of God is, the grace which is offered to us in the Gospel. This is the absolution which the adulteress receives here from the Lord Christ. 

[SOURCE: Go And Sin No More? Taking A Closer Look At John 8:11]

You and me are sinners in need of God's mercy and salvation.

You and me are the ones who need forgiveness from Him.

Jesus Christ does not need any of us to forgive Him! How dare any so-called "Christian Pastor" even suggest that even after everything that our Lord and Savior has done and continues to do for us?

In a Lutheran layman's terms, beware of the blasphemous Bethel Church!



NOTE: Please understand that I'm not a called and ordained minister of God's Word and Sacraments. I'm a layman or just a regular Christian, Candy-Making, Husband, Father, Friend who lives in the "City of Good Neighbors" here on the East Coast. To be more specific, and relevant to the point I want to make with this disclaimer/note, please understand that I'm also a newly converted Confessional Lutheran who recently escaped American Evangelicalism almost 2 years ago now. That being said, please contact me ASAP if you believe that any of my "old beliefs" seem to have crept their way into any of the material you see published here, and especially if any of the content is inconsistent with our Confessions and Lutheran doctrine (in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word, which our Confessions merely summarize and repeatedly point us back to over and over again) so that I can correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray (James 3:1). Also, please be aware that you might also discover that some of the earlier pieces I wrote for this blog back in 2013 definitely fall into that "Old Evangelical Adam" category since I was a "Lutheran-In-Name-Only" at the time and was completely oblivious to the fact that a Christian "Book of Concord" even existed (Small/Large Catechism? What's that!?!). This knowledge of the Lutheran basics was completely foreign to me even though I was baptized, confirmed, and married in an LCMS church! So, there are some entries that are a little "out there" so-to-speak since the subject matter was also heavy influenced by those old beliefs of mine. I know that now and I'm still learning. Anyway, I decided to leave those published posts up on this website and in cyberspace only because they are not blasphemous/heretical, because we now have this disclaimer, and only to demonstrate the continuing work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 1:6). Most importantly, please know that any time I engage in commenting on and/or interpreting a specific portion of the holy Scriptures, it will always closely follow the verse-by-verse notes from my Lutheran Study Bible and/or include references to the Book of Concord unless otherwise noted. Typically, I defer to what other Lutheran Pastors both past and present have already preached and taught about such passages since they are the called and ordained shepherds of our souls here on earth. Finally, I'm going to apologize ahead of time for the length of most entries (this disclaimer/note is a perfect example of what I mean! haha!). I'm well aware that blogs should be short, sweet, and to the point, but I've never been one to follow the rules when it comes to writing. Besides, this website is more like a "Christian Dude's Diary" in the sense that everything I write about and share publicly isn't always what's "popular" or "#trending" at the time, but is instead all the things that I'm experiencing and/or studying myself at the moment. For better or for worse, these posts tend to be much longer than most blog entries you'll find elsewhere only because I try to pack as much info as possible into a single piece so that I can refer to it again and again over time if I need to (and so that it can be a valuable resource for others -- if possible, a "One-Stop-Shop" of sorts). Thank you for stopping by and thank you in advance for your time, help, and understanding. Feel free to comment/email me at any time. Grace and peace to you and yours!

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