You see, I believe in the doctrine of grace, the fact that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, that elders and pastors are are held to a higher standard and should exemplify that standard, and that Jesus is my savior and it's Him who I serve.
I don't care that the Elevation church has decided to keep Steven's salary completely and totally secret from his congregation and the public, that's Between Steven, God, and the IRS. And if Steven Furtick has a big enough family that would fill a a 16,000 square foot house so be it - however the dark side of me would love to see him vacuum such an edifice. (B-52 bombers get parked in similar sized buildings) I do have a problem with the fact that he purchased the $1,600,000 estate for $365,000 or slightly more than 20% of its value. That's the kind of deal that gets people in trouble.
There's plenty of reasons why I'd never follow Steven Furtick of Elevation Church in Charlotte NC, but financial reasons are far down on the list of of reasons to steer clear, there's much more happening here that moves me to avoid Mr. Furticks cult of personality.
“But Jesus wanted the crowd to know, look, ‘John’s (the baptist) the one who got this whole thing started.’ In verse ten He says, ‘This is the one about whom it is written, ‘I’ll send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare Your way before You.’ Jesus says, ‘If it wasn’t for John, I wouldn’t even be here performing these miracles.’”
Seriously? The reason that Jesus was doing miracles was because John the Baptist went through so much work preparing the way that Jesus just had to perform miracles? What about GOD, didn't HE have something to do with the miracles Jesus performed? Furtick then went on to say that John the Baptist didn't think he was doing all that much but because of what he did, Jesus was able to perform miracles. He follows up with a Osteenesque Cheer up! "You’re doing better than you think you are!”
A big problem with the cult of Furtick is doctrine, his preaching is Emergent Church/Word Faith gimme gimme with a side of arrogance, pride, and self adulation. and because I disagree with him I am a "hater". This is how Steven Furtick handles theological discussion, he attacks people who disagree with his false gospel through lies and false accusations. His video "hey haters" is classic Steven Furtick: arrogance, pride, and ego hiding behind Jesus. Unfortunately, if you love Jesus, if you've given your life to Jesus, you're beneath Steven Furtick:“If you know Jesus, I am sorry to break it to you, this church is not for you.” – Steve Furtick, Confessions of a Pastor
But that's ok, he's not teaching about Jesus, he's teaching about something he made up. Jesus is the New Testament, Jesus is all over the Old Testament, but not in the Elevation church:
“We don’t teach from Books of the Bible because it gets in the way of evangelism. We don’t offer different kinds of Bible studies because it gets in the way of evangelism. We don’t teach doctrine because it gets in the way of evangelism.
If you want to be fed God’s word or have the Bible explained to you then you are a fat lazy Christian and you need to shut up and get to work or you need to leave this church because we ONLY do evangelism.” - Steven Furtick
What is "evangelism" if you don't know what you're evangelizing? To evangelize means to convert someone to Christianity, so how can the Bible - God's own word - get "In the way of Evangelizing"? Without the bible Steven Furtick's version of Evangelizing merely inviting people into his megachurch (checkbook in hand) to listen to him insult and berate anyone who knows the truth:
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (2 Timothy 3:16)
Unfortunately sound doctrine doesn't escape the wrath of Furtick, Paul's beautiful letter to the Ephesians comes under fire from Furtick:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. ( Ephesians 2:8-9 )To which Mr. Furtick replies
"...if that doesn't get you excited and you need the doctrines of grace as defined by John Calvin to excite you, you in the wrong church. Let me get a phone book. There are 720 churches in Charlotte. I am sure we can find one where you can stuff your face until you're so obese spiritually that you can't even move."
So what do you get when your teacher turns his back on sound doctrine, who teaches a made up prosperity gospel staring a made up version of Jesus? You get a cult who serves a man:
- We serve a Lead Pastor who seeks and hears from God.
- We serve a Lead Pastor we can trust.
- We serve a Lead Pastor who pours into us spiritually and professionally
- We serve a Lead Pastor who goes first
For more information on the Cult of Furtick see the following:
Do Not Bash The Bride
Emergent Monday - Getting Your Ears Tickled by Steven Furtick
Whoa, that guy is even worse than I thought! Thanks for the overview.
ReplyDeleteThese quotes are incredible! He recently claimed he wanted to be a super apostle after quoting 2 Corinthians 11 to a crowd of thousands at a Hillsong Conference in Australia. If Hillsong is in bed with this guy, they are also in a worse condition than anyone realised.
ReplyDeleteI actually disagree with your perspective. While I respect that this is your opinion, I have listened to many of Pastor Furtick's sermons and find them to be quite accurate and reflective of the The Bible as God's Word without deduction or addition. I listened to this particular pod cast that you are quoting and out of context, as I find they are noted on this blog, they mean something very different than what was meant in context of the entire series. For example the "fat lazy Christian" reference you made actually was a reminder that as Christian's our job on this earth is not to sit in a church pew soaking up as many sermons and Bible facts as we can but to go out and make disciples of all nations. I wonder if we might encourage others to test Pastor Furtick's sermons (in their entirety), if they choose to listen to them, in light of The Bible (in its entirety), and in reflection with the Holy Spirit rather than attempting to discredit someone that is spreading the Gospel of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and, whether our opinions agree or not, and bringing people through that message to salvation in Christ.
ReplyDeleteRespectfully submitted.
"I want you to stand up on your feet right now and let's welcome to the stage the greatest preacher of our time bishop T.D. Jakes. Come on and show him some embarrassing love." - Steven Furtick
DeleteTD Jakes is an unapologetic modalist. "Modalism has long been labeled as a heresy meaning that if you believe it in place of the biblical understanding of the Trinity, you are not and cannot be a true Christian." - Tim Challies
That shows a HUGE lack of discernment and a true interest in basking in Mr. Jakes fame rather than in the grace of God.
With all respect and love I still stand by my words even more convinced that the Holy Spirit guided me as I wrote and researched them, and I pray that someday you may experience a pastor who is true to the Word of God and is truly interested in discernment.
i have found Furtrick's application consistently derails from the actual text he is preaching on. more so, his doctrine is very shaky and flaky. i would tread cautiously listening to him.
DeleteJessica Snyder, if you think that Furtick is a commendable "pastor" then when the Antichrist is revealed you are not going to know what has hit you and you are going to be like the many "Christians" that take the mark of the beast, that is if you are still alive during the tribulation. Furtick is a puppet for the illuminati, i.e., satan, and he is getting luke-warmed Christians ready for the greatest deception that mankind has ever encountered.
DeleteHe is lost...............
DeleteI agree jessica. Well put. I have found that it is easy to criticize. Please listen to a whole sermon before deducing an opinion.
DeleteMiriam - I have heard his sermons, and I've written about them in other posts and yes it is easy to criticize, especially if you know your bible when listening to his narcigesis
DeleteI agree that Furtick's messages and his cult church are deceptive at the core.
DeleteBut, believing contrary to what Doug Evans called "the biblical understanding of the Trinity" doesn't necessarily discredit Furtick.
The word "Trinity" isn't in the Bible. There are verses which mention Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but those verses don't necessarily make a clear distinction between them as separate persons or personalities.
The name our Creator gave us in Exodus "YHWH" means the Elohim who was, the Elohim who is, the Elohim who will always be". Essentially the Elohim not confined by time. Time and space are inseparable quantum fields and so YHWH is also not confined by space.
But we all generally know this because we often call Him "omnipresent". We just don't usually realize that it means He can be wholly Himself AND in more than 1 role or location at once.
Standard Trinitarian doctrine usually includes that the Father, Son and Spirit are 3 separate persons or entities with unified goals.
Normal "Oneness" doctrine teaches that He can not be anything other than the one He is at any given moment.
BOTH of those doctrines teach applying some sort of physical limitation to our unlimited Creator/Savior.
I believe He is entirely unconfined by physics and I am very confident that the Scriptures demonstrate this perspective perfectly without the conflicts which the other 2 views create.
I hope this helps people let go of this MASSIVE dividing factor where we all demand that others join OUR club of which physical limitation box to put our Maker/Savior into. We don't need to lock Him up and throw away the key for harmony. We need to grab a hold of the unifying theory which reconciles all of the Scripture verses in question.
Shalom in Messiah.
I think all of those who believe this man get it together...he might be that anti Christ we here of...read your bible and get down on your knees and pray...this man and his followers are going down the wrong road...hes taking my niece and her young daughte..i pray she opens her eyes
DeleteActually -=әףּvפ=-, you have the entire doctrine of the Trinity completely wrong which probably explains your confusion. The word "Cat" isn't in the bible either, does that mean that cats don't exist? Also not in the bible are the words Atheism, Divinity, Incarnation, Monotheism, and Rapture. So, to say that the Trinity isn't true because the word isn't in the Bible is an invalid argument.
DeleteYou claim that the oneness doctrine is "normal", which is utterly false. The oneness doctrine is the denial of the true nature of God is heretical and has been since its invention in 1914 and now is only held by fringe false teachers like Irvin Baxter. Just the verse John 10:30 shows how false it is
You claim that "standard" trinitarian doctrine claims that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are 3 separate persons or entities with unified goals which is also completely and utterly false. This is polytheism and as pagan as it gets.
"Standard" (in this case meaning true) Trinity theology states that God is a trinity of persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are not three gods and not three beings. They are three distinct persons; yet, they are all the one God. Each has a will, can speak, can love, etc., and these are demonstrations of personhood. They are in absolute perfect harmony consisting of one substance. They are coeternal, coequal, and copowerful. If any one of the three were removed, there would be no God.
Thank you Brother Doug Evans, I admire you for standing strong!
DeleteAww u have to approve comments first...cultict much!!!!
ReplyDeleteyes I do have to approve comments first, mostly to block language like you used in your second comment. (and I got my degree in English with honors)
DeleteBTW - if you see a squiggly red line beneath a word, it's means you misspelled that word.
Fantastic reply Doug! And thanks for this site. I'm desperately worried about a friend who's just been hooked into Furtive...sorry, Furtick's teaching. I'm worried.
DeleteDoug Evans, since I just wrote a lengthy comment which expresses a possibly unwelcome view from an unpopular angle, I hope that you at least consider what I presented, even if you don't approve it.
Delete-=әףּvפ=- - I considered your post and I found that your arguments not so much unpopular but utterly unbiblical
DeleteFurtick is nothing but a con artist and Joel Osteen wanna be deceiving people and making a a fortune of gullible Christians. WAKE UP, CHURCH...stop being deceived by false teachers and wolves in sheep's clothing like Furtick. He is a very deceived incompetent "bible teacher," Stop supporting liars like Furtick.
ReplyDeleteThe Bible warns about wolves like Furtick...
"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the spirit of God" - I John 4:1
"That we from now on be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;" - Ephesians 4:14
1 Timothy 4:1 - "Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to deceitful spirits, and doctrines of demons; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron..."
2 Timothy 4:3 - "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they draw to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto myths."
And this, which should make a man like Hagee tremble in fear...
2 Peter 2:1-3, "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness (lust after money and material wealth) shall they with feigned words (words of deception) make merchandise (a source of money) of you: whose judgment (their evil exposed) now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation (being sent to hell) slumbereth not (will not be delayed)."
I agree with your assessment. He is young and full of himself. This is very easy for thirty something. I think he could go the same route as Mark Driscoll. It seems that true biblical Christianity is very difficult to see based on the seeker friendly movement Warren, Hybels and others like Furtick is promoting as well as the even more popular NAR movement that is sweeping the globe. Furtick and other are not fully to be blamed, it is the people that support and blindly follow false teacher and mis guided pastors that feel the pressure by the culture to do the same. I was part of the Jesus freak movement in the 70's and this is very similar. There were a lot of cultic type leaders that the local churches were built on and they fell as well. I pray for Furticks salvation and the people who blindly follow him. If the Holy Spirit is not leading then the only conclusion is that another spirit is leading and filling these places. Come Lord Jesus!
ReplyDeleteIn the last days and the times we are living in so many people have turned the church into a marketing environment to gain more money, Jesus came in with whips and whipped the people who were selling in his Father's house (John 2:15)...and also if you look into the prophet Jeremiah's life and during the times he lived, no one wanted to accept him and accept the words they were getting from the Lord instead they looked at the false prophets and those were the ones who were getting the biggest crowds and this is exactly happening in our time today
ReplyDeleteThis is what is happening in the last days, we look during the times of Jeremiah the prophet and how he had the true word of the Lord, but the Isralites rejected it instead they would believe the false prophets and the false prophhets were drawing the biggest crowds and gaining power and influence, we are living in the last days and this is happening all over, it is up for you to be in the Word of God on your own to gain the wisdom and discernment you need to understand this or otherwise like previously mentioned you will follow the Antichrist and you will miss the true Messiah, some people also think that this could be judgment upon people for receiving what their carnal hearts desire, I would recommend some good teachers to listen to but LISTEN TO THE LORD AND HIS WORD
ReplyDeleteI read your article and it made me do more research on Paster Steven. Keep in mind I grew up my whole life in private school and Sunday school so the Bible is not foreign to me by any means. Bible class was also the only class I was able to get an A in lol.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say though that your comments are way off base and you took his words completely out of context. I would go as far as calling this guy a Jesus Freak!
Thanks to the research I've done I have now been listening to his sermons daily. I also have bought some music by the elevation worship band from ITunes. I hope to one day visit elevation church. Not every preacher of a large church is a false prophet guys. Pray for him if you disagree with him but don't bash him
There's no "bashing" going on here, unless you consider reporting on what he says and what he does "Bashing". My main concern with Mr. Furtick is that his idea of the church and God's idea are two different things. Why on earth would a man of God tell a Christian "you need to leave this church because we ONLY do evangelism"
DeleteWhat Mr. Furtick said here is that if you don't agree with him then you're not a Christian. I say this because because the church is not a building with a preacher at one end connected to the audience at the other end via a collection basket. The Church is the congregation, the people, those called out by the Holy Spirit to love Christ. The Believers
"ONLY evangelism" is what Christians are to do OUTSIDE of the church, evangelism is reaching out to unbelievers because unbelievers are not part of the church. Inside the church it's completely different. Believers do not need evangelism, they need revival. Church is not designed for unbelievers, it's designed to edify, equip, and encourage the believers to go out and bring the Gospel to the unbelievers. Only then when the unbeliever becomes a believer are they part of the church.
God has given us teaching elders, who are called pastors, so that the church can:
Equip the believers "for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ," (Eph. 4:12). 1 Cor. 12:28 tells us that, "God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues." The term "body of Christ" is another name for the Christian church.
The Bible reveals additional aspects of the purpose of the church:
•To disciple believers Matt 28:19-20
•To nourish those new (lambs) in the faith - John 21:15-17
•To feed those mature (sheep) in the faith - John 21:15-17
•To guard the correct teachings of the church 2 Tim. 2:1-2,
•To discipline believers, Matt. 18:15-17
•To become more like Christ, Eph. 4:15-16
•To be subject to Godly pastoral leadership, 1 Pet. 5:1-3
•To be unified in Christ, Gal. 3:28, "
If there's any bashing going on, it has been by Mr. Furtick calling people who know Jesus a "fat lazy Christian" and tells them "you need to shut up". Would a shepard drive sheep from the flock? Furtick also denies spiritual food, the living bible, from his flock, starving the sheep and malnurshing the lambs. He rails against doctrine such as the doctrine of Grace but his rage against doctrine is actually anti-biblical
Acts 2:42 - And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ DOCTRINE and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
1 Tim 4:6 - If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good DOCTRINE which you have carefully followed.
1 Tim 4:13 - Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to DOCTRINE.
Church service is to edify the saints, to sharpen the only offensive weapon God gave us - the sword of the Spirit
The church is the bride of Christ, and what Mr. Furtick is saying is "I love Jesus, but is wife sucks"
I pray for Steven Furitck, but I also pray for his followers who fall for his spiritual junk food, his anger, and his love for proven apostates and false teachers such as Joel Osteen and TD Jakes.
And through all your comments all you see is judgmental words. Does your bible not teach you that only God may judge?
DeleteIf you disagree with Ps. Furtick's teachings then dont watch his sermons, and if you think so highly about yourself having degrees in English and judging others spelling maybe you too should not even be preaching God's word. Just saying.
Hypocrites are as much in full force as false prophets, the bible teaches that too.
Does my bible teach me that only God may judge? No, it does not, and if you learned that from Mr. Furtick then he lied to you. The bible very clearly says to “Judge with righteous judgement” (John 7:24) which means to judge by biblical standards. It also very clearly says to ignore people outside of the church and judge those within the church
DeleteWhat business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? (1 Corinthians 5:12)
Are you saying that Mr. Furtick is outside of the church, if so I will stop pointing out where he’s lying to you and leading you astray and tell my fellow to leave Mr. Furtick alone because he’s actually an atheist, otherwise I will continue offer the truth of the bible
And speaking of the truth of the bible where does it say in the bible that it is wrong to help people to advance their communication skills? Do you protest your children’s teachers?
And yes, hypocrites are in full force, as are false prophets, as are the myriads of deceived (2 Timothy 3:6) so seriously, if you don’t like my exposing falsehoods (as we are required to do by the bible) the stop reading my blog. Just saying.
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)
100% correct Doug!
Delete100% correct Doug! As believers we are to warn the brethren of false teachers & questionable doctrine at the least.
DeleteThis is not what I gathered from watching his video that you are speaking about. He feels his job is to bring people to Christ. His church has small groups. That's where the Christian grows. I've been investigating him for 3 weeks now and so far he's right on point. I've done tons of Google searches and watched plenty of YouTube videos.
ReplyDeleteI was able to find out that they have 10 locations and spend just under 30% on staff. The average church spends 40%
I encourage you to listen for yourself with a open mind to just a few of his sermons.
The comment he made about lazy Christians I couldn't agree more with. Most of us hardly bring a Bible to church anymore.
I guess I have a different perspective. We shouldn't be so quick to label a pastor a false prophet without even hearing him preach a full sermon.
You say you studied him but it's clear you missed some VERY important points - he's not insulting and berating Christians because they don't bring their bible to his palace, he's attacking them because they ARE.
Delete"We don't teach from Books of the Bible because it gets in the way of evangelism. We don't offer different kinds of Bible studies because it gets in the way of evangelism. We don't teach doctrine because it gets in the way of evangelism. If you want to be fed God's word or have the Bible explained to you then you are a fat lazy Christian and you need to shut up and get to work or you need to leave this church because we ONLY do evangelism." - Steven Furtick
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:17)
1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:1-4)
7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. 10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. (Titus 1:7-10)
6 Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; 7 in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, 8 sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. (Titus 2:6-8)
That's not the full quote smh. Just watch some of his sermons and see for yourself. Here is the full comment in context http://youtu.be/8wILPzCyWYk This is how EVERY church should be. Sunday morning is about saving people. Sunday school and Wednesday night service is about discipleship.
ReplyDeleteA shining example of where Steven Furtick has it backwards. Worship service, Sunday School, and Wednesday night service are all for the Worship of God and the edification of believers (Ephesians 4:12 and repeatedly in 1 Corinthians 14:1-26)
DeleteThe Church is not a rec-center to attract unbelievers to God:
Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it (1 Corinthians 12:17)
The Church is unified as the Body of Christ, we are members of His body. When you consider changing worship of God into a watered down Christian flavored circus simply to attract outsiders is analogous to inviting infection. WE do not build the church, Jesus builds the church.
I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. (Matthew 16:18)
We come together for education, edification, support, correction, love and fellowship, we go out into the world to spread the gospel to the unbelievers:
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28: 18-20)
When it comes to the Church, our job is to support and love each other when we're together then go out into the nations and preach the Gospel, let Jesus bring his chosen in to our midst. He won't need a Starbucks or 16 piece rock band. Silly attempts to draw in unbelievers with frippery and gimmicks, women in the pulpits, gay marriages just to show the unbelievers how 'hip' they are usurp Jesus' position as the builder of the church. The seeker sensitive church tells Jesus He's not doing His job right and it tells the world exactly how far they have fallen from God's grace.
Please don't tell me you believe women should not be in the pulpit! That horse left the barn about 2,000 yrs ago my friend.
DeleteAlso, that is a narrow interpretation of who the Father is my friend.
DeleteI'm God's worshiper, not his editor. When 1 Timothy 2:12–13 is studied prayerfully, in context there's no question of how God wants His church governed. I have written at length on this question but if you truly cared about what God says on this matter rather than what popular culture says read this study:
Deletehttps://carm.org/1-tim-212-13-and-women-pastors-and-elders
100% correct Doug!" The seeker sensitive church tells Jesus He's not doing His job right and it tells the world exactly how far they have fallen from God's grace." By the way I'm gonna borrow that I like that observation.
DeleteHe would agree with you that Christ builds the church. I'll leave it at this. I have now heard 15 sermons from Steven Furtick and not a 1 was off base. I'm 32 years old. Been studying the Bible since I was 7. I listen to ONLY praise and worship music whenever I do listen to music. No Furtick is not perfect but he is without a doubt spirit filled. I spent time to really investigate what he says and not what others have to say. After 15 sermons I have a good idea of what he stands for and all these comments in here prove folks just are to lazy to do their research. His Thanksgiving weekend message is the best message I've heard in years.
ReplyDeleteI have listened to his sermons, and I've found that Steven Furitck delivers Homilies rather than Sermons. His homilies are passionate and moving and light and fluffy. Oh, sometimes he gets riled up but to the undiscerning he sounds good. One fine example is his homily "The Great Emoti Con" - over and over he repeats Your Joy, Your Heart, Your Emotions, Your Feelings, Your Moods, Your Needs, Your Wants... 45 minutes of You, You, You.
DeleteFor nearly an hour he gets everything backwards, he starts with John 15:11 talking about joy, but had Mr. Furtick mentioned John 15:10 also his lecture would have taken a different tack. He talks about guarding your heart (Proverbs 4:23) he talks about keeping evil and pain out of your heart, but that's not what Proverbs 4:23 means, you're not guarding your heart from outside influences, you're to guard your heart from letting your sin escape out of your mouth which is in the next verse(Proverbs 4:24). He goes on and on about protecting your heart in the most unbiblical manner, even quoting Matthew 15:17 and somehow twisted this into saying that bad ideas from the mind can hurt the heart. A discerning person would have known this is reversed had they read the next two verses which actually carry the context for what Christ Jesus was saying:
Matthew 15:18-19 - But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, slanders.
Christ words are the complete opposite of his entire homily, Furtick is saying "Emotions are good" and God is saying "Not so much" Proverbs 16:32, Philippians 4:7, Colossians 3:2, Romans 8:6... Furtick is demanding that we own our emotions and own our moods and God is saying A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back. (Proverbs 29:11)
Probably the most disturbing thing, to me, is when he gets the audience riled up by screaming that we should bless the lord because it makes us feel good. It's a wild celebration of false teaching. In reality we will bless the Lord because He deserves it, He alone is worthy. We don't praise God for our benefit, we praise God for His.
It's not about You You You, it's about GOD GOD GOD. This is the teaching of Word of Faith heretics such as TD Jakes, Joyce Meyers, Kenneth Hagin, Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Paul and Jan Crouch, and Fred Price who demote God to deify mere human beings... and wouldn't you know it - Steven Furtick says that Word of Faith heretic TD Jakes "is my favorite preacher in the world"
Steven Furtick presented false teacher TD Jakes $35,000 in a wheelbarrow in a big show of "look at me" generosity to honor Jakes "ministry" ignoring what Christ Jesus said in Matthew 6:1-2 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full
DeleteSteven Furtick welcomed Pastix Christine Caine to preach on a Sunday morning at Elevation Church, he's even made his wife preach! Women pastors in the church have been debated for many years. However, just because something is debated, doesn't mean that both sides have valid arguments. The issue is not if a woman is an international speaker, great musician, great parent, etc. Instead, we must ask if having a woman preacher is what the Bible affirms. It is not. 1 Tim. 2:12-13. A Preacher is an elder in the church and neither Holly Furtick nor Christine Caine fill the requirements Titus 1:5–7
And another question - How are the church finances being managed? The manner in which a church manages its finances should be completely transparent. A church should always be ready to demonstrate that the funds God has provided are being stewarded wisely. However Elevation and its pastor, Steven Furtick, refuse to disclose audited financial statements, salaries, tax-free housing allowances and contracts with for-profit publishers. Elevation does not disclose its audited financial statement, even to donors and members.
And Furtick himself does not release his finances - good for him, he doesn't have to. But he says the reason why he doesn't is because it would go against the teachings of Jesus, he doesn't exactly say what those teaching are mostly because there are none that apply.
So yes, I've listened to his messages, and I will admit they are passionate and expressive, well crafted and emotional. However they are unbiblical pablum designed to feed the goats and starve the sheep. In St8 Talk For Crooked Church By Rahsaan A. Armand. Rahsaan tells us a goat doesn't exercise discipline when it comes to eating. Goats literally eat anything. Spiritually that translates to persons who will accept or "eat" any diet - most times including those not spiritually nutritious. Sheep on the other hand eat only what the shepherd feeds them. Spiritually that translated as a steady dies of God's words, The Bible. (Pp 206-207)
Yes Furticks homilies sound like the word of God to the undiscerning, because he throws in a lot of bible verses however a Berean would quickly realize that they're being used out of context or they're being used improperly. His biggest failure is to use a verse out of context like he did with Matthew 15:17. Since you've been studying the bible for a quarter of a century you know the 20/20 rule of context. To understand the context of a verse read 20 verse before the verse used, and 20 verses after the verse used.
Sadly there's fewer and fewer people out there testing the spirits (1 John 1:4) fewer and fewer people being the Berean (Acts 17:11) but instead sit back and let someone tickle their ears
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
Ok. I'm done listening to you. May God Bless and open your narrow eyes and heart to live a less miserable life in Christ. I bet you WON'T approve my replies. God sees.
DeleteYou lose.
DeleteDoug Evans, You are spot on with your assessment of Steven Furtick. He appeals to a large number of people who take a low view of scripture and the church in spite of what they may say here or anywhere else. Furtick has built an empire unto himself and a following of lemmings who will one day crash and burn.
ReplyDeleteI ran across one of his teachings - talking about Me Too !!!! it seems as if they are celebrating and enjoying failing - Me Too !!!! falling - Me Too ....
ReplyDeleteI mentioned - I don't agree with this kind of teaching - because the many comments are embracing failure - I'd rather be saying Me Too !!! to
casting out demons - Me Too !!!!
DELIVERING and HEALING IN THE NAME OF JESUS - Me Too !!!!
anyway - I was attacked heavily by his cult - and after listening to a few of his sermons - one being death by distraction - I do see the softness in his message to cater to the world and not THE BODY OF CHRIST.
Last time I checked ? ACTING, BEING, LIVING, TALKING and WALKING LIKE CHRIST will draw people to CHRIST - and not you ... but so many are trying to do and say any and everything to draw people unto them ... and not CHRIST.
I have more - but doing some investigations on these quotes here.
I want to hear for myself - if The Writer has taken anything out of context.
Can someone EXPLAIN this to me ????
ReplyDeleteIs he actually - contradicting himself in this small amount of time -
""“If you know Jesus, I am sorry to break it to you, this church is not for you.” – Steve Furtick, ""
but brags about 500 people accepting CHRIST in 5 months ..
So ... once you accept JESUS - it's time to leave his church ???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wILPzCyWYk
That is a strange statement to say, but with Mr. Furtick it's all about Mr. Furtick. He wants to sound edgy and cool, he puts anonymity between himself and the bride of Christ, and for what reason I can't fathom.
DeleteOf course if you listen to his homilies as I have; with a bible in one hand and a prayer for the Holy Spirit to guide you as you Be The Berean, you will see that a lot of time he strays from what God is actually saying. In that case he is being brutally honest: if you know Jesus and what Jesus actually said and did, then his church is not for you.
His (Furtick) tactic is two-pronged: 1) Degrade Church tradition, or the dismantling of all ties with previous generations of Christians, and 2) "Chase" the older (dare I say the more discerning) members of the church by appealing to the sensibilities of a younger image-crazed generation. So, if your church is heavily populated with newly-minted and young "Christians" then you have the freedom to operate with very little accountability.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteInteresting monolog, but it has nothing to do with the discussion on this blog entry.
DeleteThe reason he and other "preachers" like him don't want you to know the Bible is because if you actually armed yourself with the Word of God, you would see exactly what they really are. False prophets.
ReplyDeleteEphesians 6:11-18 says it all...
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
AMEN!
DeleteKristina, so true!!!
Delete2 Timothy
ReplyDelete4 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
I had the misfortune to watch this man as I was studying the Apostasy of the Last Days. This man Mr Furtick has a spirit of Pride. It is easy to see how he brings the world in but anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of the Bible would identify him as a snake oil salesman.
If you want to see a Preacher of the style of John the Baptist, you could do no better than listen to this believing Jew expositing the Bible teaching on the Breastplate of Righteousness.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Uz1Fh8i3ok
I've heard Mr. Prasch speak at conferences and I agree with your assessment, and Mr. Furtick would do well to listen to Jacob
DeleteI totally disagree with you and not even based on making choices between Pastors but just your judgmental way of criticizing Steven Furtick, who gives you the right, because my bible says that only God may judge others.
ReplyDeleteFollow whomever you see fit and let others make their own decisions, but dont bad mouth a Pastor just because you dont like him, God has given us all free will and He will deliver a message to all of us through different channels.
Sorry but I just find your comments very disappointing if youre a christian yourself.
Disagree with me all you want, the bible clearly does not want mindless robots
DeleteBeloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)
Please tell me what bible you use, because the Holy Bible, the word of God Himself NEVER says not to judge others, and God makes it very clear that we are to judge with righteous judgement (John 7:24), which is to judge without hypocrisy using the word of God as a standard. Have I ever criticized Mr. Furtick’s statements without a biblical standard to reference my observations? No I haven’t, I have been very careful to insure that I advance my comments with love for his followers and love for the Word of God, and to say otherwise would be a false accusation. Paul very clearly states that it is our duty to judge those within the church:
For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? (1 Corinthians 5:12)
If you read my blog, I do not comment on atheists other than point out where their actions are hurting Christians. So to insist that Mr. Furtick is above criticism and demand that we do not judge him is to say to us that he’s not a Christian if you are demanding from a biblical perspective.
As for liking Mr. Furtick, I don’t know him, I’ve never met him, I don’t like him or dislike him. What he does for me is break my heart, his false statements and twisting of scripture is tearing hundreds and thousands of would-be Christians away from the true word of God and leading them down the path of Word of Faith heresy which I have shown in multiple articles.
The message that God wants you to hear is in the bible, not coming out of a Pastors mouth. If you’re not spending time every day in God’s word with a reliable translation (NIV, ESV, or NASB) then you are opening yourself up to ravenous wolves.
And with the love of Christ I forgive you for your judgmental statements, but I’m sure if you take my advice and read every day, you’ll grow in your love for those of us that do.
Oh, and by the way, if it sounds like I hold teachers to a higher standard, it's because God does too
DeleteLet not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. (James 3:1)
I apologize in advance if my question is perceived as ignorant. I'm only recently truly believing Jesus came as my savior. I was encouraged to start with the New Testament in my pursuit of Him that saved me.
DeleteJudgement was touched on several times I noticed. I also appreciate that you have multiple verses linked in your responses above, thank you. It helps me to better see verses that lead to scripture that I may have missed or not fully stopped to appreciate and dissect.
My question though is this. You make the statement: "Please tell me what bible you use, because the Holy Bible, the word of God Himself NEVER says not to judge others, "
I am confused, does not Matthew 7:1-3 clearly reference Judging others? Would you please further explain. I went and looked at multiple Bible versions including in Greek only to discover they all reference not judging others. I feel like you make some very good points above, but I feel ignorant in my interpretation. I feel I'm not grasping something in your statement.
Thank you in advance for your time AND your spreading of the word!!
This is something that falls under the 20/20 rule that new believers truly need to follow and seasoned citizens of God's family need to be reminded of on a constant basis. The 20/20 rule simply states that if you're going to use a bible verse for any reason at all you need to read (at least) 20 verses before it and (at least) 20 verses after it to insure you understand the context
DeleteIf you continue to read Matthew 7 you would see that Jesus continued to say:
4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Clearly He is saying that if you are going to judge one man's sin make sure you are not not committing it yourself. Then later when teaching at the temple he reiterated this to the pharisees in John 7:24 "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
What does it mean to judge with righteous judgement? In John 5:30 Jesus explained “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me" so in other words righteous judgement is judgement in according to the will of God.
But wait, there's more
In 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 Paul says 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? 13 But those who are outside, God will judge. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.
In other words it's our duty to judge those inside the church with righteous judgement. It's called Church Discipline and it was developed by Jesus Christ himself (Matthew 18:15-20) to keep sin and false teachers out of His beloved church
DeleteThis is what my berean study came up with for Jason question:
There's 3 words in the Greek that are translated into the English as judge:
Krino Strong's #2919 which is what Jesus used in Matthew 7:1 when He said judge not. It's the same # used for condemn in John 3:17:Jesus came to this world not to condemn. As in judge unto condemnation or hell.
diakrino Strong's #1252 to discriminate or prefer. Like I'm going shopping for a car and prefer a Honda over Toyota, Chevy over Ford, silver over black or red, etc.
anakrino Strong's #350 scrutinize, as in ask, question or discern. This 3rd is the one where we can use the Word of God to line up with what we see around us.
God is the only One who can krino someone's motives.
Usually when you hear someone throw the term "judge not" in your face, is because they know they're wrong and are lashing out to shut you up. They've been deceived by the enemy and they have a stronghold that's upset about being exposed. All things become visible when exposed to the light. And the enemy takes a fight or flight to protect his territory.
The weapons of our warfare aren't carnal, but mighty thru God to the pulling down of strongholds. We're to cast down any thing that raises itself up against the knowledge of God and bring it captive to the obedience of Christ. We war in the heavenlies. Then take the action Jesus commanded us. It's hard to confront, especially in this day and age where everyone wants to litigate when they're offended.
Our war is spiritual. The enemy wants to take it to the physical, because in the physical, we lose EVERY time. We need to always ask God, when do you want me to fight in the physical? Just like king David, always asked God whether or not to pick up and fight, and how
I came across furtick through k love and started watching his videos. What always stuck out to me was his pride and arrogance . My own pastor admits to funding elevation church's startup.. Coincidence aside, I began to feel as though this young man has a darkness to him I couldn't explain. And his twisting of the scripture was what made me suspicious. I didn't like it that he was using the NIV version but that aside, he stood out to me as very attention needy. He is always referred to as Lead Pastor
ReplyDeleteAlso, let me please add in this new post since the site didn't allow me to post longer on mobile that a lot of churches are infiltrated by satan. If you believe in how the wolves are wearing sheets clothing, I highly suggest you research about churches (covens in disguise) used to curse and place demonic strongholds in our lives and families. Research plainsville
ReplyDeleteResearch witches in modern day churches. Example... Plainsville baptist coven. These satanic nwo churches are being displayed as Christian churches and we should all discern and rebuke according to the Word of God and sanctify through the blood of the lamb, Jesus Christ ..thank you for reading
ReplyDeleteSteven presented TD $35k in a wheelbarrow? He is presenting a millionaire with more money. The Bishops net worth is 150 million. He does not need this money. How many people within furtick's community could have benefited from this 35k? If this was church funds, I wonder if he checked with them before he wheelbarrowed that money to TD? He is held accountable to church funds he is donating. It is not his money. Maybe in due time, he will be able to provide TD with a Bentley as Paula White generously gave to TD.
ReplyDeleteHis company is the crowed of "word faith" preachers; Paula White, TD, Joel, etc. I think we see the future of this. Furtick is rubbing elbows with the pulpit pimping preachers crowd.
I saw this Steve Furtick on a video on Youtube, albeit not in the best light. I did some research at a glance for my fingertips. It was a video of him responding to criticisms for leading the church in a "new" direction. It was evident he was addressing people at his church who carried opinions on his "vision" or "direction." It is unclear if his doctrine was under scrutiny or his new direction. The video was silly and infantile. I'm the least bit enamored.
Jump to 51:09
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn-9qVw2Jck
Anyway....It was said his church has no elders, deacons. When we visit the churches website we are greeted by 30-ish crowd of young men which fall under Steven Furtick.
He has a CFO – Oversees the Finance dept. at Elevation Church, helps develop our Campus Leadership, and works with our expansion teach to identify future location opportunities.
Operations and Expansion Pastor – oversees the operations at all of our facilities, construction of future locations, as well as some of our Campus Pastors. He also manages outreach, human resources, and staff development.
Creative Pastor – Leads our Creative Team, overseeing the film, design, broadcast, digital, and communications team of the church. He also assists in the programming of the weekend worship experience.
Worship Pastor – Speaks of itself.
http://elevationchurch.org/leadership/
Lots of “pastors” but no deacons or elders in the church. He has no clergy. Many Churches at least had elders to guide even young churches. No elders or deacons. Very “techy” leadership, not very pastoral. Leading the church is not the focus.
As often with these “Mega” churches, these pastors are not readily touchable like smaller churches. If you have a problem, you can meet with a deacon, elder or the pastor. Furktick's ministry focus is on expansion and staring other ministries to promote their books and DVD’s. Expanding is fine, but you are "pastor" a church and leader and is a responsibility. I believe his members are over 10k? I doubt he knows their names. He’s driving at the wheel with no guidance which he clearly needs.
Layman driving with him are caught up on popularity, flaky gospel and “oh but he preaches from the Bible.” Satan also quoted Scripture to Jesus.
No, most people sitting in these mega-churches are a mixed multitude of saved, lost and confused people. They hear words from the Bible and a message preached from the Bible = 100% authentic preacher in their eyes. Jimmy Swaggert was a powerful preacher and look how that went south quickly.
I believe many of the primetime preachers may have been sincere at one time in ministering the Gospel. Once money comes into play, fame etc…The human element is so weak to resist temptations especially when funds become very readily available. Sadly, layman go for the ride while a preacher drives reckless at the wheel using holy scripture to justify every wrong turn and every wrong direction he drives.
Regarding his thoughts about traditional music, Furtick said that (and I quote) "A lot of people don't like rock and roll music in church 'cause they're stupid."
ReplyDeleteThe context before and after that quote offered no hint at any meaning beyond what he said.
It is sad that the people who disagree with you do not have any scripture to back up any of their defense of him.If they do its totally out of context.
ReplyDeleteI guess that people do not realize we are living in the times of the "great falling away" and have already been "given over" to possessing a reprobate mind as the scriptures say. Its is sad that so many are deceived based on what they think is scriptualy sound.
I pray that these who defend the likes Of Mr Furticks preaching and those that he associates with eyes be opened.I was part of all the evangelical hype of these churches until a massive tragedy occurred. In pain and with questions I erased everything they taught and started my walk again using the bible as my guide and not mans words.I realized that God was Sovereign and most of what I was taught was man made doctrine for self edification.
Yes it took a tragedy but I encourage each person to search deeply and ensure they are not led astray by wolves in sheeps clothing.
The bible says that even the elect will be deceived. If the elect are deceived how easily are the sheep led astray!
Amen brother! I was involved in a tragedy probably like one you allude to, but in a small church which I believe is more painful because in a small church the entire congregation is a family. There's no hiding in a crowd when the crowd is under 100 people
DeleteBut that's the whole thing of a cult - a cult follows a man's word, not God's word. And to their own damnation that's the defense that the Furtickites use - "Have you listened to his whole sermon?"
Yes, I've listened to his whole sermon, I've also looked up the few bible references he uses. And if his flock had bothered to Be the Berean Mr. Furtick would be standing in an empty auditorium while his flock was out begging forgiveness for their apostasy.
This is lack of discernment plain and simple, and discernment is not knowing the difference between wrong and right, it's knowing the difference between right, and almost right.
I would not be surprised if the Cult of Furtick comes out with their own bible, or worse, chooses to use the MESSage.
I was a huge follower of Proverbs 31 ministries, especially using Lysa Terkeurst's Bible studies. Sadly, after researching her beloved church Elevation, I had to leave the ministry that was my morning devotional for my 6 months of my new walk with Jesus. She and some of the other writers who I adored are also members of that church. I am praying as to how to approach my church's women's ministry to let them know :-(
ReplyDeleteLet me start by saying I'm very thrown off be Furtick. I have a love-hate relationship with him and can't decide if he's a wolf in sheep's clothing, or an extremely gifted Pastor who lost his way. (Having such a big church so fast, so young can do that).
ReplyDeleteBut man. This is the pot calling the kettle black. You completely twisted his words. (And oddly enough, people seem to agree with your twisting despite seeing an actual video of what you twisted). Let's look at this in it's full context:
"I want Elevation Church to be a church for the overlooked. For the unloved. Not for us to have as many different varieties of Bible studies. "We got Beth More and K Arthur and Joyce Meyer." No. You know what we got? We got Jesus. We preach him. We preach so that people can come to faith in Christ, and we want them to get in a small group and serve so other people can meet Christ. If you know Jesus, I am sorry to break it to you. This church is not for you. "Yeah but I just gave my life to Christ last week at Elevation." Last week was the last week that Elevation existed for you. You''re in the army now. We do one thing. We preach Jesus so people far from God can know Jesus. And then we train them up so others can know Jesus. It's called kingdom multiplication. It what Elevation Church is all about. And over 500 people have given their life to Jesus for the first time in this church, in the last five months. That's over a hundred per month. If that doesn't get you excited you, and you need the doctrines of grace as defined by John Calvin to excite you, you in the wrong church. Let me get a phone book. There are 720 churches in Charlotte. I'm SURE we can find one where you can stuff your face until you're so obese spiritually that you can't even move. This is a church that wants to get you on the field, playing the game, changing lives, looking for an opportinity to impact. It's what we're all about. We're focused like a laser, we're not perfect, but we know what we came to do. Luke 19:10, Seek and save that which is lost. It's the mission of Jesus. Its the mission of Elevation Church. And may we never become a church of front row spectators. Who judge the deeds being done more than we care about the people Jesus wants to see."
Essentially, what he says is:
It's not about you. It's about Jesus. Getting others to know Christ. I've seen many people go from church to church, because they like being the new person, and the center of attention. Steven is telling you right out the gate, it's not about you. Once you become a member, it's all about the mission of Jesus. It's not about much doctrine you know, or jow many bible studies you can start. All of that is for one thing....Knowing Jesus. We should care about saving other more than we care about ourselves and what the church can do for us.
Shame on people for twisting what seemed like sincere, biblically sound statements.
That being said, Furtick certainly has his issues. He does have the habit of "narcegisis", and while extremely clever, a lot of his messages lack true substance. And again I'm torn on if he's someone that had good intentions but got lost himself along the way.
Interesting that you claim that he says he wants you to know about Christ, but what he said about actually getting to know Christ he called "Stuffing your face until your obese spiritually"
DeleteThat means he wants his followers stupid so he can say anything he wants and you'll believe it.
There's nothing unbiblical or wrong about the doctrine of grace, in fact it's the basis of the entire New Testament, Mr. Furtick's offer to find you another church in the Charlotte area where you can stuff your face on the word of God should have been a warning bell to go and find a biblically oriented church.
Mr. Furtick is entitled to not agree with the doctrines of grace, but to mock them as he did is uncalled for and is potentially a serious spiritual error on his part. It seems that he is not only ridiculing those who hold to the doctrines of grace, but that he is also mocking the very doctrines which the scriptures teach. Is not God a God of grace? Of course he is (Rom. 3:24; 11:6, Eph. 2:8; 2 Thess. 1:12). Mr. Furtick's mockery divides the body of Christ, helps to create a holier-than-thou attitude and potentially risks a direct violation of scripture.
First of all, Furtick is not very doctrinally minded; otherwise, he wouldn't allow a heretic such as T. D. Jakes (who denies the Trinity) to preach in his church. Furtick affirms the Trinity and the deity of Christ, but as a pastor he is required to uphold orthodoxy and not promote preachers who deny even one essential Christian doctrine. This is a very serious issue.
Second, he violates scripture in his promotion of women pastors. This is also a serious issue, because it shows rebellion against the word of God. Our goal is to promote God's truth, not man's opinions.
Third, his mockery of the doctrines of grace is shameful and embarrassing. I'm not saying he must affirm the doctrines of grace as found in Calvinism, but his disdainful attack upon them and those who hold to those doctrines is a serious concern. It shows a lack of pastoral care for Christians who don't agree with him on these issues, and it risks violating Scripture.
Again, you're twisting the meaning behind his words. He's not saying he wants people to be dumb. Or that the Bible isn't important. And he didn't actually say he disagreed with the doctrines of Grace.
DeleteBut there are many who try to "Bible whip" people. Just bash them in the head with scripture after scripture, without ever piercing their heart. He's stressing the importance of actually forming a relationship.
Again, there's definitely some things not right about his church. And his preaching lands on the side of fluff to often for the type of growth Christians really need. So I can't understand why of all things, you're choosing to harp on a ten year old clip you're taking completely out of context. By not being objective, and bringing up the valid issues that exist, you're hurting your own credibility in my opinon. You come across as being vindictive and having a personal agenda against one man, versus wanting to sincerely spread God's Truth.
Quenton - You come across as being very blind. He's not taking him out of context. Anyone who'd build a 16,000 sq ft mansion while hiding the amount they're paid from the very ones who are paying it (under the auspices of giving to the Lord) is just the sort of person who would have their tables overturned by Jesus and be driven out of the church with a whip. If you want to defend him and call his detractors judgmental, go ahead, but don't expect it to fly with the Lord. You're on the wrong side of the truth. Stop playing the fool for one who cares nothing whatsoever about anyone but himself.
DeleteJust do a search "Illuminati Elevation Church". This guy's hand signs (I attached a link) show it all but if you pair it with sermons, symbolism in logos, on and on, a pattern emerges that I have seen with Hillsong and now even Bethel (Redding, CA). https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/36/e7/fc/36e7fcd90ba4a1c19664905376058054.jpg
ReplyDeleteThis was my immediate first reaction...Illuminati/Intel agency stuff. This guy is connected...whereas, Jesus was not. When you see a ready-made platform and an agenda that promotes self, with a load of money in his hands, then it is not evangelism, but sorcery. All sorcerers are Narcissists who, as the Bible describes, project themselves as "some great one."
DeleteJust research Elevation Church Illuminati. Anytime you see symbolism change in a church, sermons change, can pick up on hand signals used, or see a lot of money in a church chances are its in with the Illuminati. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/22/fb/bc/22fbbc9b4dd0b791bc252eb186b53351.jpg http://olivetjournal.com/false-ministries-2-occult-hand-signs/
ReplyDeleteTo me he is a big bully. He always is bad mouthing anonymous church members in his sermons as examples.
ReplyDeleteMy doctor's office is literally right across a parking lot from one of the million dollar plus pieces of real estate of Elevation. We have talks about this place, the Elevationites, Mr. Furtick, etc. at times. Personally, I have no beef with him or Elevation. That is, I could care less and am not impressed or intimidated with it all. But the one thing that does bother me most is the seemingly constant financial sleight-of-hands that keep coming up. Money talks more than words because it sometimes, if not always, shows where desires and intentions lie. The churches of NT days had the wealthier members literally giving it selling their lands, houses, etc. To minister to those among them who had little. I'll never presume to tell anyone what to do with their money, but what Furtick and Elevation do with theirs is painful and sorrowful for me to see and read about when there are no doubt many Elevationites in need of help in these times. It speaks to the fact they want attention, they want to be seen of men and have that celebrity worship (of one could call it that).
ReplyDeleteRegardless...these types of "leaders" and "churches" give people a false impression of the wonderful gospel of Yeshua. And this is none more true in the way they collect, use, spend, waste, and chase little pieces of paper with dead men's faces and serial #'a on them...as if YHWH cares about paper currencies.
As I have set here and read these post concernimg Steven Furtick all I can say is what the word of God declares in Acts 5 when Peter and other disciples were put on trial for preaching the Gospel of Christ and the priest wanted to have put to death.
ReplyDeleteGamelial a powerful scribe of the law made this declaration to the people accusing the disciples.
Acts: 5:34-35,38-39.
34 Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;
35. And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.
38. And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:
39. But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.
If Steven Furtic is not of God all that he us doing will come to nothing and God will make sure it does. But if he is of God, then all that he is doing can not be overthrown, and this argument is against God...and no one can fight against God or his work and win.
Let God do what needs to be done and if he is a deciever pray that God delivers him and changes his heart to preach to truth.
But if he is of God then pray for God to continue to strengthen him so he can continue in the faith and in Christ's strength to win more souls for Christ.
Just my thoughts.
Randy Martin - Absolutely right, but let us all not forget
Delete15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Matthew 7:15-20)
And Mr. Furtick's hiding church finances, his loving embrace of the Word Faith Heresy, and his gladhanding of the wolf TD Jake to the tune of $35,000 is fruit enough. Our job is to identify and call out these wolves, not to stand back passively and let our brothers and sisters be torn apart by these demons
10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group.
11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. (Titus 1:10-11)
Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. (Luke 6:26)
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (Ephesians 5:11)
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)
Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. (1 John 4:1)
It is hard listening to these "new age" pastors whose form of preaching is more like an inspirational talk. It leaves me flat and spiritually unfed. The Bible says the day is coming when there will be a famine, not of food, but of hearing the word of God. These pastors, like Furtick, aren't preaching the word. They are entertaining people and getting rich from it.
ReplyDeleteAmen brother!
DeleteThere are 2 kinds of people. . . Those that want to be right and those who want the truth. . . Ask yourselves which one you are! Nobody says crazy things about my Pastor because he's not famous and he doesn't want to be. He just wants to reach the Lost and teach, edify and encourage his church. Those fat lazy Christian. . . I would say are the babes who desire the sincere milk. . . The Lord says in Matthew 18:6
ReplyDeleteBut whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
THANK YOU FOR EXPOSING THIS PASTOR FOR ALL TO SEE. GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR BLOG!