Category: Bible Knowledge

Even though “clairvoyant Christian” Troy Griffin uses his powers to talk to the dead in order to help the police solve “unsolvable cases where tracks had run cold,” Charisma News senior editor Jennifer LeClaire believes that what he is doing is wrong. “The trouble with this type of prophetic ministry is that it violates Scripture. I have no doubt Griffin is talking to spirits—familiar spirits who know everything about the deceased person,” she writes for Charisma News. “Why these familiar spirits would cooperate in solving crimes, I do not know. What I do know is necromancy—which Merriam-Webster defines as ‘conjuration of the spirits of the dead for purposes of magically revealing the future or influencing the course of events’—is an abomination to the Lord.” The Bible passage Deuteronomy 18:9-13 says that it is an “abomination to the Lord” for any person to use “divination, or use witchcraft,” or become “an interpreter of omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts spells, or a spiritualist, or an occultist, or a necromancer.” Griffin argues that his “psychic calling” is a gift from God, so he uses Christian themes in his readings. “Many of the readings I do for private clients are for people who have lost children to suicide or to other tragic events, and this has caused them to lose or doubt their faith,” he said. “They’re looking to repair their faith and my religious background plays a role in helping them on that journey.” LeClaire says Griffin’s statements are a “tragic deception” because Christians are not supposed to turn to psychics or prophets to get in touch with dead loved ones when they feel down, since the only one they should turn to is God. “Prophets are not supposed to get prophetic words from any other source but God, yet in this hour we are clearly seeing these and other troubling trends emerge among those who call themselves prophetic,” she says. She then warned Christians to “beware” of psychics, mediums, familiar spirits, tarot card readers, crystal ball readers, palm readers, and the like. “They may claim to serve God, but they are tapping into the spirit realm illegally and offering false comfort and fearful predictions that probably won’t even come to pass,” she says.

One way to work on strengthening our spiritual lives is to meditate on the role that God has had in them. We can become so preoccupied with asking God to intervene in situations that we can can forget how far we’ve already come with his help and all of the growth that we’ve undergone as a result of his involvement. We can easily find ourselves fixated on chasing and obtaining the ‘next big thing’ that we think will bring us happiness if we don’t make time to give thanks and reflect on what we have. This same attitude can have a negative impact on our spiritual progress. The desire to build on our relationship with Jesus and to develop spiritually is understandable and should be encouraged but we should also accept that an important part of this is showing appreciation for what has already happened. Here are three questions which can help us to get thinking about the role God has had in our spiritual development. How have I changed? Reflecting on the practical changes that we’ve made can help us realise how differently we approach situations now to how we did in the past. Do you have a different attitude when you’re faced with a difficult personal or financial issue? How can this positive change be linked back to your faith? Maybe you make more time in your schedule for the people you care about than you did before as a result of reexamining how Jesus dealt with people. How have I grown spiritually? Are you praying more often and more deeply than before? Maybe you feel more peaceful during prayer or more comfortable during worship. From an experience of inner peace to better communication with Jesus, it’s important to recognise and give thanks for how we’ve grown spiritually in whatever form it presents itself. Realising the spiritual growth that we’ve experienced can encourage us to channel these gifts into outward expressions of Jesus’ love. How has my faith deepened? A greater trust in God is one way that we can see evidence of a deeper faith. One of the things that many of us do is worry unnecessarily. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God,” (Philippians 4:6). We’re probably opening up to God more if we’re worrying less than before. Taking stock of our deepened faith can help motivate us to respond positively to our calling when previously we would have been too worried to act.

I was once asked by a member of our church a very trivial question. It needed a lot of thinking and the leading of the Holy Spirit to answer, and by God’s grace I was able to shed some light that day. The question went something like this: “If I were to make a living from professional lottery betting and give a very significant portion to the poor and to the church, would gambling still then be a sin?” The Bible says nothing directly against gambling, betting and the lottery, but that’s not to say that the Bible is incomplete or that gambling just took a slide. Although the Bible does not give us a picture of how we are not to earn money, it is filled with stories of how we are supposed to earn money. God reminds us of two truths when it comes to earning money: that it comes solely because of the grace of God, and that the most natural way that God allows us to earn money is to work for it, not win it. The Bible has nothing against getting rich, that’s true, but it does warn us against getting rich too quickly, which is what most people really desire when they gamble or bet. Proverbs 13:11 tells us that “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.” When we gamble, we put ourselves in a spot where we set ourselves up for destruction. A Biblical example would be the prodigal son. Though he didn’t get his wealth through gambling, God wanted to tell us how quick money will often spell quick danger. There are also those who argue that gambling can be a form of leisure for those who have disposable wealth to squander, but isn’t that just wasteful and selfish? The Bible also speaks of the love of money, which comes easily when we have too much of it right away. I remember the time I started one of my most successful business ventures prior to becoming a full-time minster. I was 18 years old and earning a lot of money. Was I sinning by working hard? No, I wasn’t, but the true goal of my work was to honor my wallet, not God. That was sin, and I had to repent. Luke 16:11 tells us, “If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?” Gambling is bad not because we earn money. It can be treacherous because it is often always a given that we try to earn money without the God-ordained purpose of working hard for it and trusting Him to bless us because of our labor. That’s not to say that we work hard and think it’s about our ability. At the end of the day, it’s about honoring God and doing things His way, trusting that He will make things work out for us.

So God is calling me to do something…or is he? I haven’t heard an audible voice but somehow I have the sense that God is saying something – just to me. I don’t want to be gullible – perhaps it is just wishful thinking or my own ideas formulating. On the other hand if it is God speaking to me I certainly don’t want to be disobedient. If only I knew for sure it was God’s voice… The problem is I have heard too many crazy claims. I’ve heard boys say to girls, “God has told me that you should be my girlfriend”. And I’ve heard a girl respond to this somewhat creepy chat-up line with an abrupt, “Well he hasn’t told me that so push off”. I’ve also read more sinister stories like the primary school teacher who recently physically attacked skateboarders because apparently Jesus told him to. On an almost daily basis we hear news of atrocities committed because somebody thought God was telling them to do it. But I have also seen people clearly led by God to do incredible things – adopt children, quit their jobs to help the vulnerable, become a a social worker or a politician or a scientist. I even met someone who felt God told him to give away a year’s wages. So how can we know if God really is speaking to us? Here are five pathways that may help: 1. Search your heart Sometimes saying we have heard from God is simply a means of justifying what we wanted to do anyway. The infatuated young man who seeks divine backing for asking the object of his affections out on a date is one obvious example. Many of the wars waged around the world involve egomaniacal leaders who put words in God’s mouth so that they hear him saying just what they want him to say. So if we think God is speaking to us, we must first check our hearts and our consciences to see if we are using God as a ventriloquist’s dummy for our own desires. One way we can respond to God’s voice is to pray with the Psalmist, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). 2. Search the Scriptures I have all sorts of strange thoughts that come into my head, often influenced by how much coffee I have imbibed or how much cheese I have eaten before I go to sleep. I can easily be moved by a movie or a news story. My priorities and ideas shift around depending on who I have spoken to, what I have read and how I feel. Having an external reference point to assess God’s voice and priorities for me is vital. For Christians the Scriptures provide the clearest revelation of what God wants of us. Scripture provides both clarity and authority when it comes to God’s direction in our lives. We get clarity through direct commands such as the Ten Commandments where God sets out what he considers normative for Christian obedience. We get authority from the fact that Jesus himself demonstrated how to use the Bible appropriately to remain obedient to God. I say ‘appropriately’ because even our use of Scripture can be biased, whether it is our love-struck young example pointing to “You shall go out with joy” (Isaiah 55:12), or those egomaniacal dictators pointing to genocides in the Old Testament. Sadly, Scripture has been used to justify many horrific things. We must make sure we have done our homework to understand the original intent and context of the Bible. If we are feeling led to do something that is contrary to the clear teaching of the Bible, however sincerely we may feel it, we are being misled. 3. Search out the counsel of friends Our consciences are slippery and our desires and hopes are too easily confused with God’s voice. Even our use of Scripture can easily become self-serving. But we can employ another way to test the guidance we think we have received from God by searching out the counsel of others. Having friends whom we can use as sounding boards when we think God might be leading us can be very helpful. It is often easier to justify something to ourselves than it is to convince others. Sharing the leading we have received can bring a sense of objectivity to our reasoning. Of course this is not an infallible measure either, as we could subconsciously choose friends who will tell us what we want to hear, or perhaps, as was the case with Job’s friends/comforters, all of our friends could be mistaken. But as part of the checks and balances of listening to God, involving others in our reflection is vitally important. Christian discipleship was never meant to be a solitary practice. It was always intended to take place as part of a church community. Not that this always makes it easier – as different friends add in their views, God’s voice sometimes becomes even less clear – but as we continue to pray and discern with praying and discerning friends, if God is trying to tell us something there will be clarification. 4. Search your wisdom and experience Some people treat divine guidance as intentionally irrational, but this runs counter to what the Bible actually says. The Proverbs describe the search for wisdom and discernment as one of the highest goals of human existence (Proverbs 2:1-11). The quest for wisdom comes with the promise that we will know how to make good decisions and choose the right paths. Being a Christian disciple means loving God with every part of our being: “heart, soul and mind”, as Jesus puts it, and deliberately choosing to ignore your mind is deficient discipleship. Of course our reasoning can be flawed and biased. Sometimes in the Bible God asks people to do things that didn’t seem wise at all…

It’s been overemphasized how husbands are called by God to be the leaders of the household. In fact, it’s been said so many times that husbands are starting to get cocky and wives are getting sick of it. Allow me to add to that long list, but don’t worry, I’m not cutting the husbands any slack today. In fact, we need to make one thing clear today that will hopefully challenge men to step up and do more. Ephesians 5:23 says, “For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.” It is very clear in scripture that husbands are called to be the leaders of the home and of their wives. But one thing that many husbands fail to realize is that the Bible also makes clear how men are to lead their households. Scripture also tells us that men are to lead “as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.” We all know what Christ did for the church. It was Christ who did the hard work of laying down the foundation, building and even sanctifying the church through His own death. In the same way, husbands are to lead their wives the same way Jesus did — by serving and sacrificing. Doesn’t sound all too comfortable, does it? That’s because God never meant for leadership to be perk-filled and easy. God calls men to lead their wives by serving them. Husbands do not rule over their wives. In case we have forgotten, there is only one person who can rule over families, and that’s God Himself. Leading and ruling are not one thing. The leadership God calls husbands into is in the context of service and love, pointing our family always to the one true Ruler of the home. So where are we supposed to get the energy to love and serve our wives and families? John 13:34 tells us, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” The first step husbands must take to be effective in the way they lead their families is to experience the love, grace and power of God, and then let it trickle down to their families. Leadership has always been described by God in the context of serving others, and we serve best when we realize how much Jesus — as our leader — has served and loved us so that we can lead our families with love and grace as well.

Easter is a celebration with a powerful message that all people need to hear. I doubt that there is even a message more powerful than the Easter message, and it has nothing to do with barbecues and egg hunts. The message of Easter is that of hope and life. It is the message that our God came down as man to die for our sins. Although he died a death of earthly nature, death could not hold Him, so on the third day He rose again, establishing His authority over all the earth. That man was Jesus. This is the message that we need to hear, not only on Easter but every day of our lives. It’s also a message that all mankind needs to hear. This is the message that we should be giving on Easter. Without the power of Christ’s resurrection, we would still be slaves to our own sin. But because of His death, burial and resurrection, we are now given life and power to overcome death. Our salvation comes because God came down to rescue us, not because we have the capacity to save ourselves. Here are some verses that share the message of God’s power, as displayed through His resurrection. Romans 4:25 “He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day.” Romans 6:5 “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” Acts 4:33 “And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.” John 11:25-26 “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Isaiah 25:8 “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces.” Job 19:25 “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth.” 1 Corinthians 6:14 “God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.” Romans 8:34 “Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life– is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Romans 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”