And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell -- Matthew 10:28 (ESV)
As I have written before, Dr. Michael Brown has simply lost all credibility over who he chooses to endorse. He is a premier gatekeeper for the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), which he pretends he has never heard of. He has written an excellent dissection of the hyper grace false doctrine but calls Joseph Prince a good brother in the Lord. He excused Jennifer Leclaire's absurd sneaky squid spirit. He defends Bill Johnson ferociously and has taught at his heretical school of the supernatural. He was a speaker at and continues to defend the Brownsville Revival. When he is called on these things his primary defense is in "knowing" the false teacher personally. Bill Johnson just loves Jesus. Joseph Prince? Dr. Brown met with him personally and was assured he was a Jesus loving Christian. Benny Hinn, who he also calls a brother, well you just don't know his heart. This is important because it is also the primary defense everyone makes when defending wolves. Francis Chan gushed that he loved Mike Bickle because Bickle says he loves Jesus. Now we all know from a discernment standpoint this is no defense at all. Wolves don't run around admitting they are wolves. Many in fact are deceived themselves. I say all of this because the recent synagogue shooting drew the ire of Brown due to the fact that the shooter apparently claimed to be a devout Christian. In reading the above article from Brown it is apparent that if he could just apply this logic to how he approaches false teachers perhaps he could regain some of his credibility. While we hope this would happen in all likelihood the double standard will not even be acknowledged but let us reason together again.
"I don't care what this demented young man claims. I don't care how much Scripture he can quote or how much Christianese he uses. The man is not a Christian. And I can say that on the authority of the New Testament. Jesus Himself deplores such heinous, murderous, cowardly acts. How can I be so sure? Jesus taught us to judge a tree by its fruits. James (actually, Jacob) wrote that we must prove our faith by our works and that faith without accompanying works was dead.
And John (Yochanan in Hebrew) said that "no murderer has eternal life abiding in him" (1 John 3:15b). The man is a murderer. He does not have eternal life. The New Testament is clear. "In this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Whoever does not live in righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother" (1 John 3:10)." -- Dr. Michael Brown
This may come as a shock but I will agree with the premise here. I think the fruits verse and the James verse are weak defenses of the position but the John verse hits it pretty much on the head. Given the reporting, this young man at a bare minimum was poorly taught. This only further highlights the damage caused by false teaching. So my issue is not with Dr. Brown's assertion that this man was not saved but rather why not just apply the same standard when evaluating false teachers? Brown's claim here is that it does not matter what the killer says -- judge him by his actions which are contrary to what scripture teaches. Amen! Yet why then does he insist on applying the opposite standard for those caught in false teaching? Instead of assessing them solely on what they do (or say) he takes their vocal claim of being a Christian and loving Jesus as proof that their teaching could not possibly be false.
"It is one thing to be a repentant murderer. It is one thing to commit a terrible crime--even to take another life--and to ask God for forgiveness, turning to Him in contrition and welcoming the legal penalty for your misdeeds. It is another thing to murder innocent people in Jesus' name. Such a person denies the very faith they profess." -- Dr. Michael Brown
Dr. Brown is again correct. The staggering disconnect is that he fails to see the more egregious murder of the eternal soul committed by the false teachers he defends. The double standard reveals a focus more on the carnal life here on earth that is consistent with the NAR thinking and teachings. False teachers murder people eternally every single day. The bible teaches us this in multiple places! Paul tells the Ephesians he is innocent of their blood because he did not hesitate to proclaim the whole Gospel to them. Paul teaches Timothy that the salvation of his listeners is dependent upon his doctrine. Matthew 7 finds Jesus telling people who say Lord Lord that He never knew them. As a minister of the Gospel I wish Dr. Brown would be more concerned about the eternal murderers he supports with as much zeal as he is showing over this shooting.
"But I had not yet read the shooter's manifesto, a screed that repeated virtually all the major antisemitic tropes. A screed that justified the shedding of Jewish blood in Jesus' name. A screed that quoted the New Testament in support of murderous hatred. This only heightens the pain and the grief. Once again, a false Christian brings mockery to the name of Jesus and the Christian faith." -- Dr. Michael Brown
If a false Christian brings such mockery what about false teachers? Are you seeing the double standard yet? Clearly the shooter was demented as Brown outlined. Clearly he does not represent the teachings of Jesus Christ. Neither does Bill Johnson, Benny Hinn or Jennifer Leclaire. The real mockery however resides in people who provide cover for such blatant wolves.
The remainder of the article is calling for an end to antisemitism and to which I say amen. Remember beloved the issue is not Brown's stance on this shooter's salvation. I take no issue with such. My issue is that Brown seems to forget the admonition from Jesus in the key verse. We do not fear people like this shooter but instead should be wary of He who can destroy our soul and body in hell. Just apply that to how we deal with all people and we will see that Brown's indignation towards this killer, while certainly acceptable, is wholly inconsistent with his defense of sheep devouring wolves. There is no question that this shooting was horrific and condemnable but the eternal homicide being perpetrated in the pulpits across this country should be of far greater concern and at a bare minimum be worthy of the same standards of evaluation and condemnation.
Rev. Anthony.
