TBC NewsWatch

WHAT FALSE PROPHETS?

Russian Times Online, 1/28/13, “Brain Stopper No. 3: ‘What False Prophets?’ What do you get when you let a fox guard a hen house?” [Excerpts]: Dead chickens. You may wonder what this old proverb has to do with the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement. Unfortunately—a lot. Let me explain.

In my last post, I pointed out the repeated warnings in the Bible about false prophets. The message is clear: There will be false prophets in the church, and there will be lots of them. So be on guard.

You would think that, given these warnings, Christians would be on high alert for false prophets. Sadly, this is not the case. Even those churches that talk the most about prophets and the gift of prophecy–the Pentecostal and charismatic churches–say very little about the need for discerning false prophets.

And what’s worse: many of the prophets in the NAR movement are actually telling their followers that they don’t need to worry about false prophets. Imagine that!

Why don’t people need to worry about false prophets? Their answer: Because there just aren’t that many false prophets around. The following comment, from influential NAR prophet Bill Hamon, is typical:

“Despite the occasional false prophet we encounter, we should not let the counterfeit keep us from receiving the genuine….The percentage of false prophets is certainly much lower than the devil would have us believe. Out of the 600 pages of personal prophecy I have received over the years, only two were absolutely false, and perhaps were a person’s own opinion rather than God’s word to me. But I am more than willing to put up with the fraction of a percent that are bad in order to receive the overwhelming majority that are God-inspired” (Prophets and Personal Prophecy, 128).

Pay close attention to Hamon’s words. He says false prophets’ appearances in the church are only “occasional,” and that the percentage of false prophecies given is only a “fraction of a percent.”

Wow. There is a marked difference between Hamon’s careless dismissal of the possibility of false prophets in contrast to the sober words of Jesus and the apostles.

Why would any church leader–and especially one who calls himself a prophet–attempt to downplay the threat of false prophets? If Hamon were a true prophet, then he would honor God’s Word–not dishonor it by contradicting its teachings about false prophets.

And a true prophet would show more concern for God’s people by warning them about the serious threat posed by false prophets.

There is no good explanation for why Hamon would encourage his followers to let down their guard.

That is unless this is a case of a fox guarding the hen house.

(http://www.spiritoferror.org/2013/01/brain-stopper-no-3-what-false-prophets/2326)

MAHER GOES FULL-BORE ANTI-SEMITIC

Front Page Mag, 2/19/13, “Bill Maher Goes Full-Bore Anti-Semitic” [Excerpts]: “Based on every statement out of any Republican in the last two years,” Bill Maher said on HBO’s Real Time on Friday night, “the Israelis are controlling our government.” It’s not the first time the formerly-funny-jester-dwarf-turned-partisan-hack has gone off the deep end on Israel. It’s just the most obvious anti-Semitic canard to emerge from his potty-mouth.

Maher was referring, of course, to the political story that has brought all the leftist anti-Semites rushing from the woodwork: the hold-up of Barack Obama’s Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel, he of the “Jewish lobby” hatred and the anti-Israel isolationism. Said Maher: “What is it about him that’s suspicious? He voted for the Iraq war, he voted for the Afghanistan war, he voted for the Patriot Act, he voted for Homeland Security, Star Wars, he’s a right-wing Republican and that’s not good enough?”

Sitting by and watching this ridiculous charade was Vice Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, [Donna Brazile, who] interjected: “Bill, what they’re doing is going after every speech.” When Jamie Weinstein of The Daily Caller explained that one of those speeches may have contained Hagel ripping the State Department as a wing of the Israeli Foreign ministry, Maher dropped the “Israel-controls-our-government” bombshell. Brazile sat there and said nothing. In fact, her next remarks were in defense of Hagel: “They keep changing the goalposts, Bill.”

To oppose certain policies of the State of Israel is not anti-Semitic. Everyone has done it based on the administration in Israel, which changes, as it does in every democracy. But to suggest moral equivalence between the democratic, casualty-minimizing Israelis, and the fascistic, terrorizing Palestinians is anti-Semitic. To suggest that Israel controls American foreign policy is conspiratorial anti-Semitic nonsense.

Because leftism is the true Hollywood religion, the number of self-hating Jews or atheists of Jewish origin here is skyrocketing. Jewishness is now seen as a charming rite of passage or a way to identify as non-white, a moral shield against charges of being part of the dominant demographic strain in America. But Judaism as a coherent religion and philosophy is seen as a mockery, a joke, the basis for intolerance and inhumanity. Which is why, at root, leftism must reject Judaism, and thus the legitimacy of the State of Israel.

(http://frontpagemag.com/2013/ben-shapiro/bill-maher-goes-full-bore-anti-semitic/)

U OF MO TO RECOGNIZE WIGGAN, PAGAN HOLIDAYS

Washington Post, 2/17/13, “University of Missouri to recognize Wiccan, pagan holidays” [Excerpts]: The University of Missouri is making it easy for students to celebrate Wiccan or pagan holidays, as they’ve been included in the university’s Guide to Religions.

There are 42 holidays listed in the university’s calendar, with Jewish holidays counting for eleven, Wiccan and pagan holidays for eight and Christian holidays for seven. The other holidays include Hindu, Muslim, Baha’i, Shinto, Buddhist and Sikh holidays.

“The holidays and accommodations section of this guide is provided to faculty, staff and student leaders as an educational resource for the myriad of religious holy days celebrated at Mizzou,” the guide reads. “Not only does this section offer crucial information about dates and practices, we also hope that the information about recommended academic and food accommodations will be valuable to those planning classroom activities and other academic and co-curricular events.”

Among the holidays listed for Wiccan followers is Beltane, an event in May to celebrate the arrival of summer and wishing for fertility in the coming year.

(http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/17/no-exams-wiccan-pagan-holidays-university-missouri/)