The 7 great lies in the church today
Details 15 Apr 2013
Steve Hill | Charisma News
Charisma Editor's Note: Most readers remember Steve Hill as the fiery evangelist from the Brownsville Revival who has since continued to win countless souls for Jesus around the world. But what many readers don't realize is that Hill only recently came out of a three-year battle with melanoma.
During that time, he received a prophetic vision warning the church of an impending "spiritual avalanche" that could kill millions.
The following article on deception in the church is part of this timely message, now delivered in his latest book, Spiritual Avalanche.
++++++++++++
Years ago my wife, Jeri, and I were driving on the interstate when we were overcome by a white cloud of windblown snow. "I can't see a thing!" I shouted.
We were experiencing a complete whiteout. I lost all sense of direction. I couldn't see the road or other cars. Everything had vanished, replaced by this strange, mystical blizzard of white. The only thing I knew to do was to slow down and pray that I was still on the road.
By the providence of God I came to a stop in the median, where we waited out the storm. When it lifted, I was shocked at what we'd gone through. Miles in front of me and miles behind were wrecks - too many to number.
Massive trucks had slid off the road and turned over. Cars were everywhere. It was purely by the hand of the Lord that we survived.
A whiteout is a weather condition in which visibility is severely reduced by snow. The horizon disappears completely; there are no reference points at all, leaving the individual with a distorted orientation.
This is what's happening today in the church. Many are oblivious to the dangers on the horizon. In this spiritual whiteout, the reference points - the ancient landmarks - have been covered. Erroneous teachings have merged together with truth, causing innocent believers to become disoriented - and blinded.
The Lord recently imparted to me a vision concerning the state of the church and what we must do about it. Those familiar with our ministry know we've never played games and have a deep, reverential fear for the work of God. Given this, I urge you to take heed to the following words.
If you think I'm just letting off some steam, understand that I've just passed through three years of cancer treatments. I had been given only days to live.
And as Leonard Ravenhill often reminded me, we must speak with the unction and urgency of God. We are all nothing more than dying men preaching to dying men.
In the vision I saw the church, depicted as a beautiful ski resort, with an enormous avalanche hovering overhead. The Lord immediately revealed the interpretation. This impending spiritual avalanche carried a threat that could destroy everyone.
I've spent countless hours in the past attempting to rescue those who had fallen prey to false teaching. Now, in this visitation from God, I saw layers upon layers of snow steadily covering the solid, traditional truth of Christ. As with a whiteout, the truth had been lost in the flurry.
No one who loves God willingly preaches deception, yet a spiritual whiteout of unhealthy, unbalanced, and in some cases, unbiblical teaching is blinding the body of Christ in America, and it is quickly spreading around the world.
Unhealthy and destructive teaching can enter the church in various ways. Sometimes a biblical truth is taught to the exclusion of other biblical truths, producing a dangerous imbalance.
At other times a biblical truth is taught in an exaggerated way, often going beyond what Scripture actually says, and in the end this does more harm than good. Many times clear, biblical warnings are ignored or reinterpreted so radically that they lose all impact or effect, leaving people vulnerable and exposed.
Paul warned that the "time will come when [believers] will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables" (2 Tim. 4:3-4).
Today's church in America, as a whole, is dangerously close to turning aside to such fables. Millions have already succumbed to these false teachings.
Before we lose any more souls, it's crucial that we identify what I believe are the seven greatest lies that have infiltrated the church and have led to a whiteout of error.
1) Overemphasis of Prosperity
2) Exaggerated View of Grace
3) Antinomianism
4) Deification of Man
5) Challenging the Authority of the Word
6) Rejecting Hell
7) Universal Reconciliation
SHARE WITH FRIENDS