Many Christians are concerned about the condition of the Church of Jesus Christ today. There is growing apostasy in many areas, lukewarm, watered down gospel preaching, and outright deception. I will address these issues.

Many people are in a dilemma about the Holy Laughter and the Charismatic revivals taking place in Toronto, and other places. What do we make of these? Are they genuine? Are they the great apostasy predicted by the Apostle Paul? After seeking understanding from God on this matter I believe there is a passage in Deuteronomy that applies to this.

Most people are aware that false prophets in the Old Testament are supposed to be stoned to death, but another statement will shock many people; some true prophets that God speaks to and gives prophecies to, some of these true prophets teach false doctrines:

I will apply the above passage to Christianity; here we have a preacher, he preaches that Jesus is the Christ, he holds crusades and build churches, and God speaks to him telling him what to do; but the man also preaches a false doctrine that will result in people becoming spiritually poor, blind, and naked, such as the "prosperity gospel." Now why would God speak to such a man, why would he answer this man's prayers if he teaches false doctrines that will lead people away from God? According to verse three and four it is because God is testing us to find out if we will follow a man or follow what God has already told us in his Word;

Theologically, I never had a problem with Holy Laughter (Psalm 126:2, "then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing.") so I did not call it false. The only thing I saw with it that was a potential problem was the person through which this came into the Church, because he is a big believer in the get-rich gospel. I believe that there are no preachers that teach 100% correct doctrine, therefore, God does use ministers that teach some false doctrine. The problem is, how wrong? The doctrines taught by the Word of Faith ministers will lead to damnation. My concerns about Holy Laughter were confirmed by a prophet from New Zealand, Andrew Strom:

Commentaries water this down by saying God allows or permits people to be deceived, but that is not what it says. It clearly says that there are people that refuse to believe the truth, so God sends them lying signs and wonders so they will have even more reason to believe what is false, resulting in their damnation.

Paul was referring to those who refuse the gospel, but I believe this also happens to those who profess Christianity but who refuse to believe what God clearly says in the Bible, choosing rather to believe what they want. There is evidence that God sends false signs and wonders designed to give people reasons to believe the false doctrines which they want to believe. The end result may or may not be damnation, some will eventually see the light and repent, but others will follow the false ministers into Hell.

For example, Catholics are having weeping statues of Mary, visions of Mary and other signs and wonders that give them reason to worship Mary and believe their false Catholic religion. And so we should not be surprised that similar things happen to others that refuse to believe the truth.

Mormons also have a lying sign which is a burning in the bosom. When Mormon missionaries come into a home they instruct people to ask God to prove that Joseph Smith is a true prophet and the Book of Mormon is genuine scripture. The proof they say will be a burning sensation in the chest. This has been a part of Mormonism from the very beginning (Moroni 10:4), without which there would not have been nearly as many converts. Many foolish people do as instructed and low and behold, they get the burning sensation in the chest. This is a lying sign given to those who refuse to believe without such signs. Jesus said, "an evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign" (Matthew 12:39). That statement strikes me as though Jesus were a bit angry when he said it. Yet, Mormons specifically tell people to ask for a sign, and God obliges because they refuse to believe the truth and be saved.

Sometimes God just tells us to go ahead down the path we want to go, even if that path leads to destruction. During the sexual revolution of the 1960s, people were engaging in "free love." During this time there was a Bible-believing preacher in California who secretly desired to have sex with other women besides his wife. He wondered if maybe sex was not a sin, he dwelled on that thought until he began to believe that it was from God; this is because in his heart he was influenced by the world around him and wanted to indulge his lusts. So he asked God if it was right, "sure, sex is not a sin, go-ahead and have all the sex you want." So he formed his own religion which became a sex cult called the Children of God; also called The Family. The founder was David Berg, also known as Moses David.

There was a preacher who was infected with the idea that financial success was an indicator of success in preaching. Finally one day he had a revelation about the 100-fold return and began preaching it and became what he always wanted, a wealthy preacher. And so he also became an instrument for leading others down the road that leads to destruction, because they refuse to believe what the Bible clearly teaches on this subject. He became a favorite of TBN and even teaches that God will help you find buried treasure.

Some Christians who live in wealth and luxury will have even more money coming to them without even trying. Of course they believe it is just evidence of God's blessings upon their lives, while in fact it is because they refuse to feed the hungry while living in extravagance, so God gives them even more reason to believe they are correct when in fact they are going even farther down the path to destruction.

There is a revival taking place in Toronto which in all practical purposes is getting people saved, healed and set free, yet it is also teaching the false wealth gospel. Need we be surprised then that teeth began being filled with gold back in the 1990s?! The first time I heard about teeth being filled with gold back in 1989 it was my belief that it had to be false; I believed that God does not fill bad teeth with silver or gold, it makes no sense, God would merely give you a new tooth. Who ever heard of God putting an artificial hip in someone with a bad hip? No, God would give only a new hip, so I declared it a falsehood. After it began happening in Canada I reasoned that I must have been wrong, perhaps God is doing it as a sign of his power, his love, to get the attention of the world, or some other good reason.

What really surprised me was that this church is teaching the false gospel of wealth. Now I see the light! My first assumption was correct, teeth that are filled with anything but God's original enamel is a counterfeit. It is one of the lying signs and wonders that give people reason to continue believing the lie of material wealth, which leads to spiritual bankruptcy. It is likely that the same can be said of those churches that have gold flakes falling onto people, they teach this or that doctrine which will lead people astray, therefore God has given them lying signs and wonders.

Some Christians believe they can commit adultery or homosexual acts and still make heaven, others believe they can murder unborn children. When they seek God's approval, they frequently get an A-OK. David Wilkerson relates this story:

Prophesying while in the act of committing adultery, wow! They both must have believed that it was A-OK with God, that he approved of their sin. This is what happens when people refuse to believe what the Bible clearly teaches. There are many false doctrines out there that will lead a person to destruction. Be careful what you believe. Don't seek for a sign, seek God, seek wisdom, seek understanding from the Holy Spirit. God might decided to give someone a sign on his own, that is OK, but do not require a sign before you believe the truth. And never ask God if it is OK to sin!

Many people will refuse to accept this teaching and will say, "how then could we ever know what to believe? How could we know whether we are being lead astray by a false teacher or even God himself? Simple! BELIEVE THE WORD OF GOD! The Bible clearly condemns adultery and excess wealth, yet many Christians show no interest in obeying these commands. Clearly, there are lots of people today who choose to follow what men teach, and so they choose to believe the Scripture-twisting rather than what it clearly says. They will end up spiritually bankrupt and their end will be destruction.

I am sure that there are many clues that will tell you that these preachers are in the true minister yet false teacher category, such as many prophecies that turn out to be false. Sometimes they may just speak from their own minds but other times they clearly tell lies or say "thus says God" when God has not spoken, but Satan. There are many recorded examples of Word of Faith preachers making false statements and outlandish claims. Do a search on the internet and you will find much info about the present-day false teachers. But it is not limited to the Word of Faith movement, it is also found in luke-warm preaching of mainline denominations that reject many teachings of the New Testament, such as tongues and interpretation of tongues.

"We’re all about building people up. We’re all about helping people reach their full potential. We don’t push some kind of religion.... all we push is joy and peace and victory through Jesus Christ.... We’ve heard a lot about the judgment of God and what we can’t do and what’s going to keep us out of heaven. But it’s time people start hearing about the goodness of God, about a God that loves them. A God that believes in them...."

All the great preachers of the past that have ushered in a revival have all been preachers of repentance. The famous sermon of Jonathan Edwards, "Sinners in The Hands of An Angry God," is a prime example. He did not preach "God wants you to be happy," sermons. All the positive, uplifting preachers of today are preaching falsehood, only falling on our faces in repentance will bring genuine revival in our lives and in the Church. Andrew Strom states; "All that is showy, all that is soulish, all that is shallow and that would wrap people up in a warm, positive, "feel-good" cocoon - all this God hates" (The Coming Street Revival, page 35).

The doctrinal statement of the CA church is a very weak, limp dishrag statement which includes; "God has allowed evil to provide us with a choice." Perhaps that is one reason God has allowed false ministers including him. Jesus said few people will find the gate that leads to life,

Notice the verse that immediately follows the statement about the narrow gate and the broad way; it refers to false prophets. Jesus is connecting the broad way with false teachers. Therefore, large numbers by itself is reason to suspect that the preacher is a false teacher.

Be careful which church you choose to join. Be careful which gospel you choose to believe. God help Christianity, it is filled with false preachers and false Christians.