Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. - Colossians 4: 14 (ESV)
You think that discernment ministries do not matter? That people are just to judgmental and should stop throwing stones? That doctrine is a dirty word and after all, who can really interpret the Bible correctly? Beloved these are lies from the pit of hell. As Paul taught Timothy, what we choose to believe determines whether people actually get saved or not. There are real life ramifications as well. Just ask Wenona and Travis Rossiter from Albany Oregon. They were convicted this week of first and second degree manslaughter. Who were they convicted of killing? Their 12 year old daughter, Syble. You see, Syble suffered from Type 1 Diabetes. Now, if you are wondering how she could have died from that you are on the right track. It seems that these two parents withheld medical care for Syble based upon their religious beliefs.
The Rossiters belong to the Church of the Firstborn and one of their held beliefs is that medical care is sinful and that we must rely upon prayer. So the Rossiters prayed and Syble died. They were arrested charged and now convicted. Where exactly did the Church of the Firstborn arise from? It is a splinter church from the Church of Latter Day Saints, better known as Mormonism. I remember back to just the last presidential election when Christians and Christian leaders were falling over themselves to excuse Mormonism and say it was a part of the Christian family because they wanted to justify their vote for Mitt Romney. This is why you do not sell out your faith for politics or anything else beloved. It is too important.
In 1857 a Mormon man named Joseph Morris claimed to have received a heavenly revelation naming him the seventh angel from the Book of Revelation. He wrote to Brigham Young seeking recognition from the church as to his newly minted status as the seventh angel. Young never responded and Morris started drawing followers unto himself. Even though he was killed in a skirmish, the damage was done and years later the Church of the First born rose from the ashes of these initial false divine revelations. His followers considered the "Revelations, Articles, and Letters" of Joseph Morris to be sacred scripture and believed that he was a reincarnated Moses. Somehow through the expanse of American history this splinter group survived and continued to teach nonsense as religion. In 2013 it cost Syble her life and in 2014 her parents were convicted of it. Don't you think for a second that doctrine is not important.
Wait a minute preacher! This is an extreme example. No one in their right mind is going to follow someone cause they claim God told them they were the seventh angel from Revelation! Really? How many hundreds of thousands of people follow the false teachings of Joseph Prince even though he claims he received his heretical gospel of grace as divine revelation? What about the recently deceased Jose Luis Miranda De Jesus. Miranda taught that he was Jesus Christ! He made his followers get "666" tattoos. In 2007 it was reported that Mr. Miranda preached to 35 nations, had 287 radio programs, and a 24 hour television network. He had his own satellite channel which was carried to 16 countries by 600 cable companies. He had 355 education centers. He literally had millions of followers. Not every false teaching is as easy to spot as those who handle snakes in their services or those who think it is a sin to see a doctor. There is no "eat the meat and spit out the bones." If the bone is rotten then so is the meat. Followers of Bill Johnson may not know that he believes in grave sucking the residual anointing off the bones of departed heretics. Followers of Creflo Dollar may not realize that he believes we are all little gods. Followers of Rick Warren may not understand his recent infatuation with the Pope and the Catholic Church. The recently departed Myles Munroe taught that God is not allowed to do anything here on earth without our permission! Church is not a game and doctrine is not a box holding you back. Ask the Rossiters how important it is.
For the record, I do believe that we need to be careful to only turn to the solutions of this world. We need to bring God in and in faith do as He instructs. I do not believe entirely in the medical model, especially in certain areas. This is based upon factual, secular reasoning however, not religious reasons. God is our healer but sometimes He uses doctors to do the healing! The notion that God views medicine as sinful is so absurd. Just consider from a logical standpoint our key verse for today. A verse I probably never thought I would ever cover. Luke the beloved physician greets you. The beloved what? Physician. That is right beloved. The man who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts was a doctor. It is kind of odd that God would be so against medicine yet use a Doctor to write two of the most important books of the Bible.
I could get into deeper theological proofs for medicine but I hope the point has been made. We rely upon God but we can use medicine. The problem is when we rely upon medicine and only use God. People look at stories like this and cult horrors like Jonestown and wonder how people can be so deceived. First of all it is spiritual in nature, not carnal. When we are dealing with teachings such as this we must realize that they are demonic. Jim Jones was demonic. It does not start that way however. It starts a lot more subtly. It starts with a charismatic leader. Somebody we can follow. Someone we can believe in. That charismatic leader always claims divine revelation. Why? Because then you cannot question it. Beloved there is a stark difference between the following two claims:
"I feel God is impressing upon my heart""
"Yesterday God told me""
God has already told us His revealed will in His Word. Do not go chasing men who claim they have the throne room on speed dial. To listen to some of these preachers tell it, God must spend half His day with them! You know it simply is untrue because if God was going to speak to them, He would start by chastising them for twisting the Word and preaching falsely. Joseph Smith started Mormonism by claiming angelic visitation. Joseph Morris started the Church of the First Born by claiming angelic visitations. Are you aware that Todd Bentley's Lakeland Revival was partially based on Bentley's claims of angelic visitations? Are you aware that Bill Johnson at Bethel Church claims angel feathers randomly fall out of sky around him because there are so many angels surrounding him? Are you aware the Kim Walker-Smith of the heretical worship group Jesus Culture claims waking visitations from Jesus and the Father Himself? Mike Bickle claimed angelic visions to start IHOP. The list just goes on and on and on. Not just visions but daily occurrences of God speaking directly to them. Divine visitations. Angelic feathers. Gold dust, gem stones, and glory clouds. And we laugh at someone who might believe a Joseph Smith? Or a Joseph Morris? While hundreds of thousands follow Joseph Prince? Who is fooling who?
Mourn for Syble Rossiter who was only 12 years old when her parents denied her medical treatment that could have guaranteed a normal life. Mourn the parents, who were so deluded in their faith. Mourn for Christians today who cannot see the comparisons here. Who cannot connect the dots from this horrific story of cult faith to their own following of foolish false doctrine. Their own charismatic leader they can follow. Beware the Kool-Aid beloved. Beware.
Rev. Anthony.
