Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. -- Matthew 12:30 (ESV)
I know that abortion is the third rail of the contemporary Christian experience in this country. More to the point the pursuit of the elimination of abortion is the third rail. The cold reality for us today beloved is that this pursuit has become nothing short of idol worship within the church, largely fueled by the influence of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and their heretical seven mountains mandate. Before we get to this difficult topic let us agree I hope on the dangers of the NAR. Its tentacles reach throughout the church, into the body politic and all the way to the highest corridors of carnal political power. It is nothing short of a demonic scheme to get the church focused on this world and this life instead of the Gospel which could save people out from it. NAR adherents and defenders will defend Babylon and seek to revive it because they love living in it. It seems they love the power of the cult of personality pastorships created by the Purpose Driven Church.
That said; one of the central hot points of the NAR is Bethel Church in Redding California. Bethel is a literal cesspool of heresy embracing nearly every popular false teaching today. Dominionism, prosperity, false signs and lying wonders, and word faith are just a sampling of the errors embraced and taught by Bill Johnson and his church. They operate a completely heretical school where they pretend to be able to teach the gifts of the Holy Spirit despite the Word assuring us that only the Spirit gives the gifts as He wills. Because of the "fringy" nature of many of their beliefs the NAR's desire is to go fully mainstream. It appears they desire to be in control of the entire church and have sought alliances with nearly any group to accomplish this. As a growing power within the NAR they are seeking footholds into the seven mountains that will give them the normalized street cred they so desire. The recent movie "Unplanned" has been their greatest foray in this area to date.
Make no mistake about it beloved. The Bethel connection was entirely planned. By leveraging the greatest idol the church has they have been able to get even discerning Christians to compromise what they know is heretical for the chance to advance the political goal of eliminating Roe vs. Wade. Building off of the research of Holly Pivec we see Bethel's involvement in many areas of this film:
* One of the film's co-producers co-founded the Bethel Conservatory of Arts and is the Dean
* This co-producer and a student from Bethel appear in the film
* The soundtrack is heavily peppered with Bethel music
* The real Abby Johnson released a personal movie trailer giving a shout out to Bethel
* The film distributor has formed an alliance with a global network of "apostles"
* This network actively promotes the NAR
* The movie promotes a companion devotional endorsed by various NAR adherents
The number two heretic at Bethel, Kris Vallotton, even has a cameo in the film as a pastor! Bethel was not shy about their involvement beloved because they wanted to draw people from the audience of pro-lifers to their apostate church and hoping this involvement makes them appear more "normal." They want more people think it is mainstream Christianity to see gold dust and gemstones magically appearing in church services or angel feathers and glory clouds appearing from nowhere. They want people to believe they can learn the gifts of the spirit and that everyone can prophesy. The bottom line beloved is Bethel and the NAR presents a false gospel, with a false christ, that can only lead to false conversions. The damage wrought by Bethel is eternal and we ought to keep that in mind when we consider what we are willing to compromise to see progress on the abortion issue.
The problem is that many have considered it and they have exchanged the verity of scripture for the chance that some might be shocked enough by the brutality of Unplanned to switch camps to pro-life. What is the cost however? I read tortured argument after tortured argument about the evil of abortion and the righteous desire to end the scourge, although overturning Roe will certainly not come close to ending it. We have become so conditioned by the NAR influence in the church that it has become an issue not worthy of even evaluating the cost. This is the end result of allowing compromise after compromise, leaven upon leaven. I want you to consider one question beloved:
If the devil offered you overturning Roe in exchange for one eternal soul, what would your answer be?
If your answer was anything except an immediate and resounding "no" then you have some bible reading to get back to. Seriously. Start with the key verse today. There are only two choices beloved. We are either gathering people to Christ or scattering them away. No matter how righteous we think our motivation is we cannot lead people to a false gospel and a false christ.and that is exactly what we are doing by endorsing a film so heavily buttressed by Bethel Church. I understand why so many in the church today are willing to make this deal with the devil. They have been trained and groomed to. They do not value discernment to begin with.
Please, this is not in support of abortion so save your contorted arguments. We do not drop discernment for political expediency and ever lose sight of the eternal goals and responsibilities we have as Christians. Our job is not to protect this life but to point people to the only way to have eternal life. No matter how great the temptation is we must plant ourselves upon the word of God and refuse the invitation to dance with the devil. He always will insist on leading.
Rev. Anthony
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