Articles

The Myth There Was No J In Hebrew [video]

Paula White Exposed [video]

THAT’s My King! Pastor Lockridge [video]

Powerful Prayers from Children-This Will Shake You [video]

The Fear of the LORD is to Hate Evil: Pride, and Arrogancy #shorts [video]

Exploding the Lies – one by one. There are always the whiners who are looking to take issue with that which is of God, namely the written Word of God. Beware of the deceitful detractors – who, as their father the devil, whisper questions and doubts upon the LORD, His character, and His Word. Share to bless. The LORD kept His promise to preserve His Word to us (Psalms 12:6-7). Always remember saints, it is SATAN who is always behind the doubt casting upon God’s words, sowing confusion. Yet we have the “MORE sure word of prophecy” in the “exceeding great and precious promises” of the Holy Scriptures (2 Peter 1:3-4; 19-21, etc.). See Genesis 3:1; Mark 4:15, etc.. God kept His promise to preserve His Word to us in English in the King James Bible and in Spanish the Reina Valera, etc.

Beware of the uptick in the use of the cult of “yah” ….. that always puts up red flags for this disciple. HIS name is JESUS CHRIST. SAY IT WITH ME OUT LOUD – JESUS CHRIST!!!!! EVERY KNEE WILL BOW TO JESUS CHRIST!

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of JESUS every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that JESUS CHRIST is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11

There is “NONE other name” whereby one can be saved.

“… Jesus Christ of Nazareth … Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:10, 12

ANY QUESTIONS?

Gail Riplinger on the name false names Yahweh, Yahushua, and Yuhuah.

Riplinger on the name game.

The name of God is spelled with the Hebrew letters yod, heh, vav, and heh, read from right to left and then transliterated into English as JHVH (called the Tetragrammaton). In the KJV Old Testament it is translated ‘JEHOVAH’ seven times (and rendered ‘LORD’ the remaining times; see New Age Bible Versions, pp. 373-385). Each of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet paints a picture. The letters in the name of God illustrate the following:

J = jod It suggests a ‘giving, extending hand’ (Marc-Alain Oauknin, Mysteries of the Alphabet, New York: Abbeville Press, 1999, p. 207).

H = heh =
It represents an ‘enclosure,’ like heaven or a window (Mysteries, p.191).

V = vav = It symbolizes a nail (Mysteries, p. 168). A ‘v’ in English is a pictogram of the chiseled end of a nail.

H = heh =
The H is repeated at the end of the name because “Jesus was risen” and “received up into heaven” again (Mark 16:19).

God reached his hand out of the windows of heaven, and we put a nail in it; having taken our punishment for sin, he has returned to heaven. The “nail” “pierced” “hands” of Jesus were foretold in Ps. 22:16 and Isa. 22:23-25. (Dr. Floyd Jones has even suggested that the sign recorded in John 19:19 might have been written in Hebrew, “JESUS OF NAZARETH AND THE KING OF THE JEWS,” creating an acrostic of the name JHVH, as the vav for ‘and’ begins the word for King, melek (see Hebrew O.T. Gen. 14:8 for Hebrew form). This could explain why the Jews immediately asked Pilate to change it to “he said, I am King of the Jews” (v. 21).

Jesus is a transliteration of the Hebrew ‘Joshua,’ meaning ‘JEHOVAH is salvation.’ Jesus Christ is shown to be the J, the jod “the arm of the LORD” in Isaiah 53:1-12 and Isaiah 59:16, which says, “therefore his arm brought salvation.” Isaiah 63:2, 5 repeats this theme. The jod, is a picture of an arm and hand, drawn in a tiny and compact form. Professor Ouaknin traced the jod from pictograms of a praising upright arm and hand, to outstretched arms, as if on a cross, and finally, to an arm and hand reaching down, like the letter  reaching like Jesus  to rescue perishing mankind (Mysteries, pp. 200-207).

In the 19th century, as unbelieving German critics of the Bible were hammering away at the word of God, they tried to refashion God’s name, JEHOVAH. They asserted that the God of Israel’s name should be pronounced Yahweh because, to them, he was nothing more than an offshoot of the pagan deity “Yaho.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Jews, who generally did not utter the name of God, had used, but ceased using the name JEHOVAH “centuries before the Christian era” notes the classic scholar’s edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. It affirms that, “…reading what actually stood in the text, they would inevitably pronounce the name Jehovah” (Encyclop)dia Britannica, 11thedition (New York: Encyclop)dia Britannica, Inc., 1910-11), vol. 15, pp. 311-314, s.v. Jehovah). The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia admits that in the “older system of transliteration, Jehovah” is the pronunciation. It states, “In the Masoretic text the usual form would give the pronunciation Yehowah [pronounced, Jehovah]” (The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1912), vol. VI, p. 117, s.v. Jehovah; vol. XII, p. 470, s.v. Yahweh).

Thousands of years ago, perhaps 3,600, the name JEHOVAH was given by God to Moses. It is seen first in Genesis 2:4 in the Hebrew Old Testament and translated in Exodus 6:3 in the KJV. In his scholarly book, A Dissertation Concerning the Antiquity of the Hebrew Language, Letters, Vowel Points and Accents, John Gill (1697-1771), eminent theologian and writer, documents the use of the very name JEHOVAH from before 200 B.C. and throughout the centuries of the early church and the following millennium. The Hebrew’s Mishna allowed the name as a salutation (Berachoth, ix, 5); according to Thamid, the priests in the temple could use the true name, but those in the country could only use Adonai (vii, 2); Maimonides said the name was used by the priests in the sanctuary and on the Day of Atonement (Moreh Nebukim, I, 61, and “Yad chasaka,” xiv, 10). Even commentators such as Nicholas of Lyra, Tostatus, Cajetan, and Bonfrere defended the pronunciation ‘JEHOVAH’ as received by Moses on Mt. Horeb. The name is found in the writings of Raymund Martin in the 1200s and Porchetus in the 1300s. Theodore Beza, Galatinus, and Cajetan, among many others, use it in the 1500s. Scholars such as Michaelis, Drach and Stier proved the name as the original. The 1602 Spanish Bible uses the name Iehova and gave a lengthy defense of the pronunciation Jehovah in its preface. In “the 17th century the pronunciation JEHOVAH was zealously defended by Fuller, Gataker, Leusden and others, against the criticisms…”(EB, pp. 311-314). (Martin: Pugio fidei, ed. Paris, 1651, pt. III, dist. ii, cap. iii, p. 448, and Note, p. 745; Galatinus: “Areana cathol. veritatis,” I, Bari, 1516, a, p.77; Porchetus: Drusius, “Tetragrammaton,” 8-10, in “Critici Sacri,” Amsterdam, 1698, I, p.ii, col.339-42; “De nomine divino,” ibid., 512-516; see also p. 351 et. al; Michaelis: “Supplementa ad lexica hebraica,” I, 1792, p. 54; Drach: “Harmonic entre l’Eglise et la Synagogue,” I, Paris, 1844, pp. 350-53, Note 30, pp. 512-16, 469-98; Stier: Lehrgebaude der hebr. Sprache, 327.)

“Genebrardus seems to have been the first to suggest the pronunciation Iahue [pronounced Yahweh], but it was not until the 19th century that it became generally accepted” (EB, pp. 311-314). Anti-Semitic German liberals, like Driver and Delitzsch, eagerly grasped the new pronunciation, Yahweh. They and other unsaved ‘higher critics,’ denied that the Old Testament was actually given by God. They grasped at any straw to shelter their unbelief, asserting that the Old Testament was the creation of men who adopted and adapted stories, words, and names from neighboring pagan religions and languages. The higher critics used the new pronunciation, Yahweh, as so-called proof that the God of Israel was nothing more than a tribal god, whose name had evolved from pagan gods like Yaho or Ya-ve, worshipped by the Babylonians and Canaanites, the Hebrews’ captors and neighbors. They said, Yahweh “meant Destroyer” (EB, p. 312). The German critics said, “Yahweh is not a Hebrew name;” such a pronunciation would prove the Hebrews borrowed it (EB, 310-314). Critic Rudolf Kittel asserts, “yahu…do[es] not lead back to a pronunciation represented by Yehovah (or Jehovah)” (The New Schaff, vol. XII, p. 470, s.v. Yahweh). The critics cited ancient documents, like the “magical texts,” Aramaic papyri, and Babylonian tablets that tell of pagan gods named Yaho, Yahu, or Ya-ve. this pagan deity and mocking the God of Israel?)

Driver tried to provide as evidence, an Ethiopic list of magical names for Jesus, which included Yawe. Other Bible critics, anxious to find a linguistic, rather than a supernatural source for the name of the God of Israel, grasped the ‘Canaanite connection’ and the new pronunciation. (These critics include: von Bohlen (Genesis, 1835, p. civ.), Von der Alm (Theol. Briefe, I, 1862, pp. 524-527), Colenso (The Pentateuch, V, 1865, pp. 269-84), and Goldziher (Der Mythusbei den Hebr#ern, 1867, p. 327). (See also: Driver, Studia Biblica, I. 20; I, 5; Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition, 1910-11, vol. 15, pp. 311-314, s.v. Jehovah; Delitzsch, “Wo lag das Paradies,” 1881, pp. 158-164; “LesestKcke,” 3rd ed., 1885, p. 42, Syllab. A, col. I, 13-16).

Even the Oxford English Dictionary warns that “this origin is now disputed” (OED, s.v. Jehovah). So let’s examine why the critics of ‘JEHOVAH’ are wrong. The first letter, jod, could be pronounced in Hebrew, as ‘ye’ in Yeshua, the Hebrew pronunciation of Jesus, but it could not be pronounced that way in English. The English pronunciation and spelling of words which begin with the same Hebrew letter (jod) and vowel pointing (silent sheva Je ) – words like Jerusalem, Jericho or Jew – break the critic’s Canaanite idol, Yaho, in pieces. It cannot be pronounced ‘Ya’ in English. The sound of the Hebrew letter jod came into English as the letter ‘I,’ used as a consonant and having the soft ‘g’ sound, like today’s ‘j.’ In the past the letter ‘I’ was used as both a vowel (i) sound and as the consonant ‘j’ sound. The OED says that the sound of ‘j,’ though originally printed as ‘I,’ was pronounced as a soft ‘g’ (Oxford English Dictionary, Unabridged, 2nd Edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991, s.v. J). The ‘JE’ sound in JEHOVAH was spelled ‘IE’ and pronounced as ‘JE.’ To distinguish the consonant sound (soft ‘g’) of the letter ‘I’ from the vowel sound of ‘I,’ many scribes in the 1200s began putting a tail on the soft ‘g’ ‘I’,’ making it look like our modern ‘J.’ The Spanish, in the 1500s, were the first to more consistently try to distinguish the consonant I (soft ‘g’) sound as the shape of a ‘J.’ At that same time English printers used ‘J’ and ‘I’ fonts interchangeably (as documented elsewhere in this book). During the 1600s, most languages began consistently using the extended ‘I’ form, now called a ‘J,’ to represent the ‘j’ (soft ‘g’) sound. (World Book Encyclopedia, Chicago, Ill.: Field Enterprises, vol. 10, s.v. J.)

The Hebrews used Psalm 119 to teach the Hebrew alphabet. Psalm 119:73 was used to teach, the letter Jod (not yod), the hand pictogram. Interestingly, the first words of verse 73 are “Thy hands” ! These Hebrew letters are shown in King James Bibles printed by Cambridge University Press. The transliteration of the Hebrew letters  as the Roman letters Yahweh requires a German accent (‘Je’ is ‘Ya’ in German), invented vowels, and a translator who does not know that the Germans, who transliterated it that way, pronounce the letter ‘w’ as ‘v’! Only the Latins (Roman Catholicism) and Germans (Higher Criticism), using the Roman alphabet, team up to pronounce ‘J’ as ‘Y.’ (There are no native German words that begin with ‘y.’) Even the untrustworthy Hebrew Aramaic Interlinear Old Testament, by Jay Green, admits, “…the letter J in German is pronounced like an English Y. The bulk of theological studies having come from German sources, there has been an intermixed usage in English of the J and the Y. Our English translations of the Bible reflect this, so we have chosen to use J, thus Jehovah, rather than Yahweh, because this is established English usage for Biblical names beginning with this Hebrew letter. No one suggests we ought to change Jacob, Joseph, Jehoshaphat, Joshua, etc. to begin with a Y, and neither should we at this late date change Jehovah to Yahweh” (The Interlinear Hebrew Aramaic Old Testament, 2nd ed., Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers, 1993, vol. 1, p. xii).

In summary, ‘JEHOVAH’ and ‘JESUS’ have always sounded and been pronounced exactly as they are today, as ‘JEHOVAH’ and ‘JESUS,’ although the type fonts used to represent these sounds sometimes looked like ‘Iehovah’ and ‘Iesvs.’ The letter ‘V’ is the other disputed consonant in JEHOVAH. “The vav is pronounced like a V in vehicle,” writes Professor Marc-Alain Ouaknin of the Department of Comparative Literature at the Hebrew Bar-Illan University and the Jewish Research and Study Center in Paris. Therefore the ending in JEHOVAH would be pronounced in Hebrew and in English as, ‘VAH’ not ‘weh.’ Professor Ouaknin also said that the letter vav went into the Greek alphabet, “bearing the name digamma and being pronounced “v” as in vehicle.” (Mysteries, pp.168, 170). The Ww in Gesenius’ [German] Hebrew Grammar and other Hebrew textbooks is pronounced Vav, in English and Hebrew. Readers misunderstand charts which say “Pronunciation…w,” not knowing that the letter ‘w’ is pronounced as a ‘v’ in German The sounds of Vav and the vowel which follows it, Kamatz (a), can be heard on the instructional Hebrew web site http://www.ejemm.com, pronounced exactly as it would be in JEHOVAH. (E. Kautzsch and A.E. Cowley, Gesenius Hebrew Grammar, 2nd English Edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910, pp. 2628 et. al; See also Menahem Mansoor, Biblical Hebrew, Grand Rapids,Mich: Baker Book House, 1980, pp. 18, 19, 21.)

Even Americans have heard Hogan’s Heroes, Sergeant Schultz say to Colonel Klink, ‘Ya vool Kammandant,’ (spelled “Ja wohl Kammandant,” meaning ‘Yes, indeed Commander’). In German restaurants Schultz said, ‘viener schnitzel’ (spelled wiener), vile he listened to the tunes of V gnr (spelled, Wagner) and Lood-vikh fan Beethofen, (spelled, Ludwig van Beethoven). In German, the letter ‘v’ is pronounced like an ‘f.’ Consequently, in Hebrew textbooks it was necessary to put the letter ‘w’ after the Hebrew vav (‘v’) so that German readers would know that the Hebrew letter ‘v,’ was not the German ‘f’ sound, but the sound of the letter ‘v’ represented by their letter ‘w.’ English speaking textbook authors and seminary professors have misunderstood this and misconveyed to their students that the Hebrew letter should be pronounced like the English ‘w,’ not the German ‘w.’

Where did the phony ‘weh’ sound in Yahweh come from? As Green said,  “German sources.” In German “the “v” sound is rendered by the “double u” (“w”). Although the German critics spelled the name Yahweh, they pronounced it, Yahveh. “In German…W takes the value that V has in English…In German the same symbol w is called Vey, because in that language it has the value of the English v…” (EB, s.v. V; s.v. W; see also The Mysteries of the Alphabet, pp. 168, 170, 171). Because Germans use the letter ‘w’ for the ‘v’ sound, those reading or translating German theological works have brought in the German letter ‘w’ for ‘v.’ It is not to be pronounced like an English ‘w,’ but like a ‘v.’

To further compound the confusion, unbelieving Catholic Bible critics have brought their Latin ‘w’ pronunciation to the letter ‘v.’ “The Latin V, however, was…like the English w…Early borrowings, like wine(Latin vinum [pronounced winum]) [and] wall (Latin vallum [pronounced wallum]), retain the w sound and are therefore spelt with w” (EB, s.v. V; s.v. W). So we have Latin speaking Roman Catholic scholars and liberal German higher critics joining together to fight WW II against the God of Israel and the word of God. Even the NIV translators and editors of the corrupt Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament admit that confusion arises in part “because of past German influence on Hebrew studies.” Imagine 19th century anti-Semitic German scholars recasting the name of the God of Israel in the mold of Yaho, a pagan idol, who speaks with an untrained German accent! To further compound the confusion, there are two conflicting Hebrew systems of pronunciations: 1.) the Ashkenazi, a German method from Jews who immigrated to Germany and central Europe and then some to America and 2.) the classic Sephardi. (R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, Bruce Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Chicago: Moody Press, 1980, vol. 2, p. x; The American Dictionary of the English Language, s.v. W; Mansoor, p. 33.)

Where did the VOWELS in JEHOVAH come from? Most believe the Bible record which states that the vowels in JEHOVAH were heard as, “the LORD said unto Moses…my name JEHOVAH” (Exod. 6:3). The statement, “the LORD said unto Moses,” is repeated over and over in the book of Exodus. Moses heard the pronunciation of words.“ And the LORD said unto Moses, Write…in a book…And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD” (Ex. 17:14, 24:4, 34:27, Num. 33:2, Deut. 31:9, 24.) The book titles in the KJV state that the first five books of “Moses” are the “beginning” of the “old testament” (Luke 24:27, 2 Cor. 3:14, 15).

-Gail Riplinger

Join Us

We saved a place for you to receive our weekly newsletter.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!

The Sacred Name Hebrew Roots Cult [video]

Messianic pawns always seem to have this unwarranted air of superiority. They have no New Testament clue – because they refuse Christ for their laughable “law-keeping” idolatry – blinded to the biblical reality that Jesus Christ alone is salvation and the law is obsolete for righteousness! (Romans 3:28; 8:2-4; 10:4; Galatians 2:16) This message will knock that evil, arrogant smirk right off those self-righteous faces. SOON as I see the Yahua and/or saturn-day worshipping wording/emphasis, I know to delete and avoid such people. Foolishness. These pawns always seem to be pretending to be warriors for truth, exposing things, while they […]

Name Cult Warning: Beware of the Yahweh Cults!

Yahweh Only? Yahushua? Yuhuah? Fake Jewish name cult devils busted. When unsaved men, the world over, take the name of the LORD in vain, which name is that? The name of Jesus Christ. Why? Because Satan, the father of all lost souls, hates his sworn enemy – Jesus Christ. BEWARE of the jewish-cult, judaizing heretics promoting lies such as denying the name of JESUS which appears 983 times in the King James Bible. Block them Titus 3:10-11. All the divine power is in Heaven and earth is specifically invested in the name of Jesus Christ. JESUS CHRIST is the name of […]

4 Verse KJV Comparison [podcast]

Reading a fake “bible” is like still watching CNN. Let that sink in. Fake news. See if you have a real Bible. I love the King James Bible. See if the BLOOD of Jesus has been removed from Colossians 1:14 in your “bible”. Also, see if Matthew 17:21 is removed and if Romans 8:1 has been chopped in half. IF YOU show your pastor this and he STILL refuses to ditch his satanically corrupted, Christ-attacking new version to begin using the King James Bible, RUN! 4 SILENCING VERSES – Here are the 4 verses I compare with people. There is rarely […]

How We Know the Bible is the only Holy Book on Planet Earth [podcast]

Only God knows the future. Law of probability and the fulfillment of Bible prophecies: Odds of the 332 prophecies of the prophets concerning the coming Messiah, given hundreds of years prior to His arrival coming true are: 8,749,002,899,132,046,697,490,008,908,470,485,461,412,622,723,572,849,745,… 703,082,425,425,639,811,996,797,503,692,894,052,708,092,215,296 to 1 Fact: Only the Almighty could know the future and forthtell it in specific detail, long before it ever happened. THIS is how we know that the Bible is truly the Word of the one true God and that all other so-called “holy books” are frauds. “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” Mark […]

Apostasy

Spiritual Formation—A Dangerous Substitute for the Life of Christ [podcast]

Sometimes we think of spiritual formation as formation by the Holy Spirit. Once again. That’s essential. . . . But now I have to say something that may be challenging for you to think about: Spiritual formation is not all by the Holy Spirit. . . . We have to recognize that spiritual formation in us is something that is also done to us by those around us, by ourselves, and by activities which we voluntarily undertake . . .There has to be method.¹—Dallas Willard

Aside from the fact that Spiritual Formation incorporates mystical practices into its infrastructure (remove the contemplative aspect and you don’t have “Spiritual Formation” anymore), Spiritual Formation is a works-based substitute for biblical Christianity. Let us explain.

When one becomes born again (“that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9-10), having given his or her life and heart over to Christ as Savior, Jesus Christ says He will come in and live in that surrendered heart:

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: (Colossians 1:27)

If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (Romans 8:11; emphasis added)

When God, through Jesus Christ, is living in us, He begins to do a transforming work in our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:18). Not only does He change us, He also communes with us. In other words, we have fellowship with Him, and He promises never to leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

This life of God in the believer’s heart is not something we need to conjure up through meditative practices. But if a person does not have this relationship with the Lord, he may seek out ways to feel close to God. This is where Spiritual Formation comes into play. Rather than a surrendered life to Christ (through repentance and faith), the seeking person begins practicing the spiritual disciplines (e.g., prayer, fasting, good works, etc.) with the promise that if he practices these disciplines, he will become more Christ-like.

But merely doing these acts fails to make one feel close to God—something is still missing. And thus, he begins practicing the discipline of silence (or solitude), and now in these altered states of silence, he finally feels connected to God. He now feels complete. What he does not understand is that he has substituted the indwelling of Christ in his heart for a works-based methodology that endangers his spiritual life. Dangerous because these mystical experiences he now engages in appear to be good because they make him feel close to God, but in reality he is being drawn into demonic realms no different than what happens to someone who is practicing transcendental meditation or eastern meditation. Even mystics themselves acknowledge that the contemplative realm is no different than the realm reached by occultists. To understand this more fully, please read Ray Yungen’s book A Time of Departing.

Bottom line, it is not possible to be truly Christ-like without having Christ inside of us because it is His righteousness that is able to change our hearts—we cannot do it without Him. It is His righteousness we need:

Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. (Romans 3:22)

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. (Philippians 3:9)

It is interesting to note that virtually every contemplative teacher has a common theme—they feel dry and empty and want to go “deeper” with God or “become more intimate” with God. But if we have Christ living in us, how can we go any deeper than that? How can we become more intimate than that? And if going deeper and becoming intimate were so important, why is it that none of the disciples or Jesus Himself ever told us to do this? As Larry DeBruyn states:

Why are Christians seeking a divine presence that Jesus promised would abundantly flow in them? . . . Why do they need another voice, another visitation, or another vision? Why are some people unthankfully desirous of “something more” than what God has already given to us? Why is it that some Christians, in the depth of their souls, are not seemingly at rest?²

Is There a “Good” Spiritual Formation?

One of the most common arguments we hear defending Spiritual Formation is that there is a “good” Spiritual Formation done without contemplative prayer. To that we say, we have never yet seen a Spiritual Formation program in a school or a church that doesn’t in some way point people to the contemplative mystics. It might be indirectly, but in every case, if you follow the trail, it will lead you right into the arms of Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, and other contemplative teachers.

Think about this common scenario: A Christian college decides to begin a Spiritual Formation course. The instructor has heard some negative things about Richard Foster, Henri Nouwen, and Brennan Manning, and he figures he will teach the class “good Spiritual Formation” and leave those teachers completely out. But he’s going to need a textbook. He turns to a respected institution, Dallas Theological Seminary, and finds a book written by Paul Pettit, Professor in Pastoral and Education Ministries. The book is titled Foundations of Spiritual Formation. The instructor who has found this book to use in his own class may never mention Richard Foster or Dallas Willard, but the textbook he is using does. Within the pages of Pettit’s book is Richard Foster, Philip Yancey, N.T. Wright, Dallas Willard, Thomas Aquinas, Lectio Divina, Ayn Rand, Parker Palmer, Eugene Peterson, J.P. Moreland, Klaus Issler, Bruce Demarerst, Jim Burns, Kenneth Boa and Brother Lawrence’s “practicing God’s presence.” You may not have heard of all these names, but they are all associated with the mystical contemplative prayer movement and the emerging church.

Another example of this is Donald Whitney’s book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Whitney is former Associate Professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and currently at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. While his book does not promote contemplative mysticism, he says that Richard Foster has “done much good”³ in the area of Christian spirituality (which we believe is blatantly untrue).

Our point is that even if there is a sincere attempt to teach Spiritual Formation and stay away from the mystical side, we contend that it cannot be successfully accomplished because it will always lead back to the ones who have brought it to the church in the first place.

Spiritual formation is sweeping throughout Christianity today. It’s no wonder when the majority of Christian leaders have either endorsed the movement or given it a silent pass. For instance, in Chuck Swindoll’s book So You Want to Be Like Christ: 8 Essential Disciplines to Get You There, Swindoll favorably quotes Richard Foster and Dallas Willard. Swindoll calls Celebration of Discipline a “meaningful work”⁴ and Willard’s book The Spirit of the Disciplines “excellent work.”⁵ In chapter three, ”Silence and Solitude,” Swindoll talks about “digging for secrets . . . that will deepen our intimacy with God.”⁶ Quoting the contemplative poster-verse Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God,” Swindoll says the verse is a call to the “discipline of silence.”⁷ As other contemplative proponents have done, he has taken this verse very much out of context.

Roger Oakland sums it up:

The Spiritual Formation movement . . . teaches people that this is how they can become more intimate with God and truly hear His voice. Even Christian leaders with longstanding reputations of teaching God’s word seem to be succumbing. . . .

We are reconciled to God only through his “death” (the atonement for sin), and we are presented “holy and unblameable and unreproveable” when we belong to Him through rebirth. It has nothing to do with works, rituals, or mystical experiences. It is Christ’s life in the converted believer that transforms him.⁸

“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Romans 5:10

What Christians need is not a method or program or ritual or practice that will supposedly connect them to God. What we need is to be “in Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:30) and Christ in us. And He has promised His Spirit “will guide [us] into all truth” (John 16:13).

“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:” 1 Corinthians 1:30

In Colossians 1:9, the apostle Paul tells the saints that he was praying for them that they “might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” He was praying that they would have discernment (“spiritual understanding”). He said that God, the Father, has made us “partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (vs 12) and had “delivered us from the power of darkness [i.e., power of deception]” (vs. 13). But what was the key to having this wisdom and spiritual understanding and being delivered from the power of darkness? Paul tells us in that same chapter. He calls it “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints” (vs. 26). What is that mystery? Verse 27 says: “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (emphasis added).

For those wanting to get involved with the Spiritual Formation movement (i.e., contemplative, spiritual direction), consider the “direction” you will actually be going.

And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. (Colossians 1:21-23)

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. (Colossians 2: 8-10)

This article is an extract from the Lighthouse Trails booklet, Is Your Church Doing Spiritual Formation? (Important Reasons Why They Shouldn’t). To order this booklet, click here.

Endnotes:
1. Dallas Willard, “Spiritual Formation: What it is, and How it is Done” (https://dwillard.org/resources/articles/spiritual-formation-what-it-is-and-how-it-is-done).

2. Larry DeBruyn, “God’s Present of His Presence” (https://www.guardinghisflock.org/gods-present-of-his-presence/ ).

3. Donald Whitney, “Doctrine and Devotion: A Reunion Devoutly to be Desired” (http://web.archive.org/web/20080828052145/http://biblicalspirituality.org/devotion.html).

4. Chuck Swindoll, So You Want to Be Like Christ: 8 Essential Disciplines to Get You There (Nashville, TN:W Publishing Group, a div. of Thomas Nelson, 2005), p. 15.

5. Ibid., p. 13.

6. Ibid., p. 55.

7. Ibid.

8. Roger Oakland, Faith Undone (Eureka, MT: Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2007), pp. 91-92.

This has been an extract from our booklet Is Your Church Doing Spiritual Formation? (Important Reasons Why It Shouldn’t). To order this booklet, click here.

Spiritual Formation Exposed |

Join Us

We saved a place for you to receive our weekly newsletter.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!

The Dangers of Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Disciplines

The Dangers of Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Disciplines A Critique of Dallas Willard and The Spirit of the Disciplines by Bob DeWaayPractices called “spiritual disciplines” that are deemed necessary for “spiritual formation” have entered evangelicalism. Recent encounters with this teaching narrated to me by friends caused me to investigate these practices. The first experience involved my friend and co-worker Ryan Habbena who went back to seminary to finish his masters degree. Here is his experience in his own words: I recently took a seminary course on the book of Luke. It was a summer intensive and was one of only […]

SHOCKING List of Spiritual Formation Ministries

More Catholic Witchcraft Infiltrating the Apostate Seminaries, Ministries, and Churches “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” 1 Timothy 4:1-2 WHAT is spiritual formation / contemplative prayer or centering prayer? Spiritual formation/contemplative prayer/spirituality is just another self-centered, Christ-denying, self-righteous, works-based, occultic, pagan lie from hell! Seminaries teach it and now many churches today are practicing new age witchcraft called contemplative prayer, or centering Prayer which is part of spiritual formation. […]

Articles

Mission Mexico Part 32

“So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.” Acts 19:20

See picture below.

I recently, “accidently” drove up this very narrow street only to realize that there was no turn around at the end. As God would have it, this man helped me back out of that street and received the spoken Word and a JESUS tract. Romans 8:28 right?

“Ephesians 3:20 was the very verse I prayed for you and the ministry this morning! And v16 as well. May the Spirit of God manifest His full grace and peace upon you today! And give you fruit, more fruit and much fruit! Amen.” Karen Cochran

(see picture below)

It dawns on me afresh today as it has since arriving here in Mexico, that these precious people so deeply hunger for Christ. Today, upon ministering to Victor and Juan and having Victor incessantly asking me about Christianity, Jesus, and being saved…. this was a fresh reminder of the great hunger and openness of the Mexican people. They want Jesus. Plain and simple. “HOW shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14)

These two men were excited to know that you would be lifting them in prayer.

Victor and I are now connected by phone. So he will now be fed the Word of our God and be introduced to Spanish speaking disciples of our LORD Jesus.

Being limited in Spanish, I preached the Gospel, the Bible truth I am able to in Spanish and that including exhorting them both, today to repent and receive Jesus and did this while pointing to the prayer (oracion) on the back of the JESUS tract.

Would you like to kindly pause to lift these 2 dear men in prayer to our LORD?

Mission Mexico

JUST got a call from sister Teri in FL and had the opportunity to speak with brothers Scott and Jorge who were both recently saved by Jesus. Was also blessed to speak with a brother named Raymond who is a flourishing disciple of Jesus!

Thank you for your prayers and support which include our bless-ed opportunity of helping this group of disciples in FL.

Jesus is coming!

Recently…… Many received God’s Word today.

Brother Mark has recently joined in helping with our LORD’s Gospel in Mission Mexico and was amazed when he saw three grown men walking together who were ministered to and walk away, each of them with the JESUS tract open, as they walked read the message. They are that hungry.

The Mexico people deserve to hear our LORD’s glorious Gospel!

“I bet brother Mark is amazed at the response of the Mexican people when you guys go out and minister to them. To have so many hearts open and poor in spirit would be a shock at first. Total opposite of America—who say ‘I am rich, increased with goods have need of nothing!’ Revelation 3:17.

Praise God for the blessed ones who heard the engrafted word of our Lord, which is able to save their souls.” Karen

REPLY:

Yes He is amazing. They WANT it. They DESIRE it. They are like the woman who desires a man and so he marries her and they have a super blessed marriage for life. Instead of the wicked Jezebel woman who just wants to self-servingly shop for the man she can use to accomplish her selfish agenda.

“I was reading Mathew 21:23 this morning and it went through my mind that is what God said to America! ‘The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.’ And that nation is Mexico!“ Karen

“Truly amazing what God is doing in the hearts of the Mexican people. And now He is raising up disciples to bring into the harvest. He is LORD of the harvest. Have you heard of Chick Publications? I just read that they have sent 200,000 tracts to a Mexico missionary and more being ready to be sent. Southern Mexico. So God is sure flooding Mexico with His Word!” Karen Cochran

While walking over to get a haircut, I happened to spot a JESUS tract someone had placed on this vehicle. No it was not me. I didn’t put that tract there. Someone else did.

Then, 5 minutes later, after arriving at barber and sitting down in the chair, straight ahead in my line of sight, there’s a JESUS tract purposely set on display by the barber.

No matter how high prices get in Mexico, your cost of living will always be MUCH less than the USA. A raise awaits you, soon as you cross the border. Is God prompting you to “Go”? (Mark 16:15)

God is good all the time as you well know and thank you.

Your prayers to the Father in the name of our LORD Jesus are the heavenly fuel He uses to bless and empower and supply His people to do His work.

“For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,” Philippians 1:19

todd

Articles

Chosen for Holiness [podcast]

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:” Ephesians 1:4

Holiness comes by the Savior in self denial (death and burial – the cross), not by self will or effort. Surrender is the cross – “NOT my will but thine be done” (Lk. 22:42) and “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). We surrender to Christ by saying “Not my will but thine be done” dear Lord, by Your grace and the deliberate act of my own will I submit to the cross, the crucified life – where You alone reign supreme in this vessel (Luke 22:42; Galatians 2:20, etc.). I love You LORD Jesus! You must increase but I must decrease! (John 3:30)

Holiness, not happiness, is the divine command, the chief purpose and end of Christ’s salvation.

Of holiness, one disciple writes:

“Holiness speaks more to nature than it does conduct. Good conduct is the spontaneous byproduct of the new nature of the new creation man thru the cross and death to the old nature. We are new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17-18). To preach holiness as conduct without the new nature thru the cross understanding is legalism. Holiness is actually derived from ‘wholeness’ meaning the thorough transformation of the whole tripartite man (1 Thess 5:23). So many of these ‘holiness’ preachers are preaching nothing but conduct under law. Law arouses sinful passions and causes sin to increase and was given in order to provoke transgressions (Rom 7:5; 5:20; Gal 3:21). They are enemies of the cross!”

Holiness comes by way of the cross, not by way of the flesh. Just as sin was conquered by the cross of Christ, so sin in the life of the saint is conquered by the daily cross – the crucified life (Luke 9:23-24; Romans 6; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3, etc.). It’s time to stop trying harder and to simply die deeper.

NOTICE: When a believer or group of believers backslides, they no longer separate from the transgressors who are unrepentant:

Fornication Defiles

“It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have (Gr. possessed and wouldn’t repent) his father’s wife. 2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.” 1 Corinthians 5:1-2

Join Us

We saved a place for you to receive our weekly newsletter.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!

The Glorious Church Jesus is Returning for [video]

WHAT church/people is Jesus returning for? “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25-27 “a glorious church” “not having spot (no sin)“ No “wrinkle” “or any such thing” “but that it should be holy and without blemish” WHAT’s the use of talking about end times […]

Can a True Believer Overcome All Sin? [podcast]

Yes. In the church world, there’s an abundance of talk about sin and it comes with the notion, the inflection, the false assumption that somehow, born again believers are relegated to sinning, as if there’s no other choice. Is that true? Is this the biblical perspective? What I want us to do is make sure we are looking at the whole of Scripture and be blessed to gain a godly confidence that our Savior provided a perfect salvation that includes more than just the initial washing away of our sins. This “great grace” that He provided in His “so […]

The Truth about Holiness [podcast]

“Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” Exodus 15:11 As we just read, divine “holiness” is “glorious.” Holiness is not what most of us think it is. Holiness in the divine economy is something of great “beauty” and utterly refreshing (Psalms 96:9). It seems that holiness is not merely a divine attribute but rather the divine nature of the Almighty. Are we ready to allow our LORD, who alone is “Holy, holy, holy,” to define what holiness truly is and how He brings it […]