It's Time to Dust Off Your Bible

"For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear." (2Tim. 4:3 NLT)

I have been concerned, and I believe that many others share this concern, about the direction in which the Church has been going in recent years regarding biblical doctrine.

As I read this article by Dennis Cramer, I was convinced that I should post it here to provide greater exposure. I trust that as you read it you will be blessed and motivated to shun heresies and embrace the unadulterated word of God.

Dennis Cramer: 

Eleven "Words" for 2011!

It is Time to Dust Off Your Bible!

Picture in your mind, if you will, the image of an unused, dust-covered Bible. Now picture in your mind that this same dust-covered Bible is your Bible! This is not a good image to be sure, especially for a Bible-believing Christian in 2011. Sadly, many Christians now read more books about the Bible than they do the Bible itself.

Consequently, many in the Church have gradually and somewhat unknowingly; become Biblically ignorant, unaware or stunted. And doctrinally speaking, anything goes. There is now wide-spread acceptance of "marginal to heretical" doctrines. Just 25 years ago individuals would have been thrown out of the Church if caught teaching these heresies. How did this happen?

Simply, we have become Biblically ignorant. We have not been diligent to feed on the unadulterated Word of God. We are at best malnourished, and in some cases, starving to death. Biblical ignorance is on the increase in the Church, even to epidemic levels! Like any form of "lack" created by ignorance, which can lead to sickness, only the proper "intake," or in these cases, only proper Biblical education can remedy it.

Warning: We Live in an Age of "Anything Goes" Theology! The Charismatic Church is in Big Trouble!

So, here is my 2011 prophetic "prescription" for this beautiful but Biblically challenged, even unhealthy, Bride.

1. Orthodoxy! I would like to prescribe a good healthy dose of the written Word of God, the Bible. The Church needs an immediate injection of the truth! We must all pray for the Church to return to the orthodoxy (traditional belief) of Scripture. This means a return to the proper reading, INTERPRETATION, and application of the Bible in our lives. There is a growing trend toward some really bad doctrine out there. And we, the Church, must put a stop to it! If we don't, no one else will! The Church must begin to police herself against unorthodox (false) teaching and bizarre practices. You must reacquaint yourself with the Scriptures and know your Bible.

In 40 years of serving God, I have not heard so much bad doctrine preached from so-called "Bible-believing" Christians – specifically charismatic Christians.

2. Berea! We must pray for a "Berean Revival" in the Church – a revival which returns us all to our roots – our roots in the Word of God. In the Bible, the original Bereans were Believers who "searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things be so." There is a lot of doctrine currently in circulation in the charismatic Church that is highly questionable – even heretical.

Each Believer must begin to "search the Scriptures" for himself to discover whether what he is believing is Biblical or not (Acts 17:11). Stop unequivocally trusting ministers and their pulpits to always and completely preach the truth – some do, some do not. You need to search and know the Scriptures for yourself. If their teachings sound too good to be true – they very well may be! Know your Bible.

3. Preach the Word! (2 Timothy 4:2). It is time for the Church to return to her basic Bible beliefs (fundamental doctrines) and the core values these fundamental doctrines produce. Peripheral doctrines or beliefs are peripheral for a reason, and can lead to dangerous theologically positions and questionable practices. We must stop extracting obscure, vague, single, solitary verses out of context, and stop trying to make major "sound" doctrines out of them.

This "stretching of the truth" must stop. Some of our so-called "proof texts" do not prove what's being preached at all. We are "twisting the Scriptures to our own destruction." We must again major in major doctrine and minor in the minor ones. My prophetic word to all Pastors/Teachers for 2011 is simple: "Preach the Word!" Know your Bible.

Some examples of current doctrine circulating in the Church: You must believe me that I am NOT making this stuff up!

• Open Theism: Teaches God is not sovereign = BAD DOCTRINE
• Ultimate Reconciliation/Restitution of all things = BAD DOCTRINE
• The "nefilin" children alive on earth = BAD DOCTRINE
• Open Heaven/Spiritual portals = BAD DOCTRINE
• Third Heaven experiences at will = BAD DOCTRINE
• Going to Heaven at will to get your gifts = BAD DOCTRINE
• Cloud of witnesses/dead saints = BAD DOCTRINE
• Traveling in time at will = BAD DOCTRINE
• Transporting physically at will = BAD DOCTRINE
• Over-emphasis on angels and specifically arc-angels = BAD DOCTRINE
• Going into trances at will = BAD DOCTRINE
• Trance dancing = BAD DOCTRINE
• Going to Hell to discern evil spirits = BAD DOCTRINE
• Hyper-Grace: Christians do not need to repent of sin = BAD DOCTRINE
• Quick restoration of fallen church leaders... (click here to read the rest of   this word).

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