Q & A Time
Today, the time usually spent putting up a blog post on Wolf Tracks has been used instead to answer some readers who have brought up some interesting points. You can find these questions and answers here and here. I mention this in hopes that some of you may have additional insights and wisdom on these matters.
Also today, the following articles are being posted to help people like the ones who have asked these questions.
Can You Be Deceived?
Why People Are Duped and How Not to Be
by G. Richard Fisher“‘Will you walk into my parlor?’ said a spider to a fly; ‘Tis the prettiest little parlor that you ever did spy’” (Mary Howitt).
The inspired Apostle Paul warned us: “Let no one deceive you” (2 Thessalonians 2:3). It is apparent that we are vulnerable to deception and we must not forget it. We must be on guard and protect ourselves against it. There is deception everywhere in the religious world. We must be alert.
Deception can only deceive if it looks somewhat like the real thing. Apologist Craig Hawkins explains:
“We must realize that the way to deceive people with counterfeits is to imitate the genuine article as closely as possible. For example, if counterfeiters want to pass off fake one-hundred-dollar bills, they do not print Donald Duck’s picture on purple paper. Instead they attempt to duplicate a true bill. Similarly, despicable persons who try to deceive others attempt to appear genuine and sincere. They do not walk up to you and inform you that they are there to deceive and defraud you. The far more effective method is faking friendship and fidelity.”1
Goethe taught that we are never deceived but that we deceive ourselves. It is true that religious hucksters are believed because people want to believe them. People want the claims to be true…
Read the rest here:
http://www.pfo.org/deceived.htm
Another helpful article is this one:
True Vs. False Visions and How to Tell Them Apart
http://www.ankerberg.org/ankerberg-articles/visions.html
Here is an excerpt from this article:
“Modern examples of false visions include those found in the world of the cults and the occult (e.g., among psychics, astrologers, channelers, etc.) where they are legion and they bear all the fruit of false visions: false doctrines, sin, pride, idolatry, divination and other occult practices, etc. But false or dubious visions may also occur within the church.
If we remember correctly, we recall that Oral Roberts had a dramatic vision of a 60 ft. Jesus who appeared to him and told him that if he didn’t raise the money necessary for his medical hospital, that Jesus would kill him. But this was a false vision. The hospital failed anyway and Roberts wasn’t killed.
In the case of Kenneth Hagin he claims that in 1958 “the Lord Jesus suddenly appeared” before him, with an angel standing three feet behind Him. In I Believe in Visions he reveals, “He [Jesus] said, ‘This is your angel.’ ‘My angel?” I asked. ‘Yes, your angel, and if you will respond to him, he will appear to you as I will at times; and he will give you guidance and direction concerning the things of life…'”3 Those who have read of Kenneth Hagin’s other visions from “Jesus” in his I Believe in Visions will realize these visions could not have come from God because their content was unbiblical e.g., they supported Hagin’s false theology regarding his unbiblical “Faith” teachings. (…)
We do not mention these illustrations to negate whatever good these men may have accomplished for the Lord, only to issue a warning. In Pentecostal, charismatic and other experientially-oriented Christian circles, there appear to be more false than genuine visions.
Because of this, Christians must become more discerning and less accepting of claims surrounding contemporary visions….”
Read the complete article at the above link.
And here is another recommended one:
The True Workings of God and the Counterfeits of Satan
http://kimolsen.wordpress.com/2008/07/06/the-true-workings-of-god-and-the-counterfeits-of-satan/
If someone else has a good article to recommend on how to recognize wolves in sheeps clothing or discern between truth and error, please add it to the comment section below.
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