Barney Wiget's Blog, page 14

Another Poser Prophet

“Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don’t be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.” (Matthew 7:15 – The Message)

Nearly 20 times the Bible calls certain ones “false prophets.” In the New Testament the phrase is a translation of one word: pseudoprophets. In other words, fakers, con artists, and phonies. The word “false” makes it sound like the person is a prophet, but who sometimes makes false predictions.

But given the meaning of the Greek term and the context of its use in the Scripture, so-called false prophets are not real prophets at all. They’re posers. They’re frauds and fakes. True, they might get lucky once in a while and accidentally or with help from demons get something right. They may preach with great bravado and eloquence. They might have a huge twitter and YouTube following. They might have published a dozen books and get big crowds at their conferences, but they’re grifters and con artists.

This is nothing new. These fakers have deceived the unwary since the beginning. Moses predicted the phenomena, the biblical prophets called them out, and repeatedly Jesus warned of them: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)

I said they deceive the “unwary,” otherwise known as careless, ignorant, and foolish people who possess little to no discernment. (If you feel I’m being overly harsh here, I invite you read 2 Peter 2 and/or Jude 1. Those brothers make me sound skittish.)

Now to the poser-prophet Julie Green, a YouTube self-declared “prophetess” (more like fortuneteller) whose wild and crazy predictions have a large following among undiscerning believers. Here is a small sampling of her so-called prophecies.

“From what the Lord was showing me, [Prince Charles] will actually have his mother murdered.”

Well, she was 96 when she died! Seems like knocking her off at that point might have been sort of moot!

“He (Charles) will never get that Crown he killed for.”

Actually, the moment Elizabeth died, he became King. His coronation is to take place on May 6, 2023. I guess maybe watch the news that night and see if Green somehow tapped into the divine on that one!

Green also claimed that 2022 would be a “Year of Vengeance,” where God’s Angel of Death will take out major figures in U.S. government including Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Shumer.

Hmmm. Both still alive. I wonder why the Angel of Death only targets Democrats!

Chief Justice John Roberts, Green said, would be tried for treason after being exposed for being in cahoots with sex criminals such as Jeffrey Epstein.

I wouldn’t hold your breath on this one. Believe it or not, it only gets weirder from here.

“Nancy Pelosi loves to drink the little children’s blood. By drinking this blood, they believe they will receive a longer life. Yes, a true witch she really is. She was part of sacrificing the children to Baal.”

I warned you about the weirdness!

Speaking of Pelosi, Green predicted: “Her days are coming to an end, and she will not last until the 2022 midterm elections. She will be visited by the angel of death for her crimes against my nation.”

Nope. Midterms came and went. She’s still breathing.

Joe Biden, says Green, is dead! “God said he is actually not alive anymore. There is somebody else playing his part.” The Biden actor is being directed via an earpiece, by, wait for it: Barack Obama, who has in effect created for himself a third term.

Oh, baby! Is this a new season of Doctor Who that I wasn’t aware of?

Speaking of Obama, “He is the Antichrist,” Green said. But no need to worry, because Donald J. Trump “is the real president, and he is coming back. And it is going to be by the hand of Almighty God.”

It’s always good to know who the Antichrist is these days!

Green has given dozens, maybe hundreds of similarly wacky “prophecies.”

She’s not the only faker in the prophecy ecosystem. A couple years ago, some others falsely predicted the results of the 2020 election. Some of which apologized, while others held to their guns and made bizarre excuses and ridiculous explanations for how their predictions were correct “in the heavenlies.” At that time, I posted this:

Calling Out Some “Prophets” (Part 1 of 2)

Lastly, as to motive for my rather direct approach to Green and other poser prophets, I appeal to what Peter wrote: “It is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.” 2 Peter 2:15

“Watch out that no one deceives you.” Matthew 24:4

Common Good Righteousness

Our nation’s founders claimed a “self-evident” truth that all humans are equal and that our Creator has endowed us with “certain unalienable Rights.” These “Rights” were so important to the writers of the Declaration that they capitalized the word. Pursuing a just distribution of those rights makes one a good American as well as a faithful follower of Christ.

Achieving this common-good righteousness requires more than abstaining from murder or fornication or punching people in the face. Jesus drills down further into our attitudinal control center and reveals the damage we do when we disparage our neighbors’ inherent worth. He draws a causal line from devaluing fellow image bearers to murder. Murder, according to him, begins in the killer’s heart before he forms a plan in his head and eventually perpetrates it with his hands.

Therefore, by treating people who are different from us with derision, we denigrate the common good and gradually kill off whole segments of our population in soul, if not in body. Those whose ways are unlike ours tend to be hate-seeking targets for all sorts of religious posers. For proof of this we don’t have to look any further than slavery, the holocaust, or Jim Crow laws.

Kingdom subversives have an appetite for something much better, not only for what nourishes them personally but also for that which enriches their neighbors. They “seek first” this Kingdom’s righteousness for themselves and justice for those who lack their own agency and opportunity. They think, talk, act, vote, and advocate for the common good.

[Excerpted from my book: WHAT ON EARTH? Considering the Social Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount]

How Jesus Treated Women

Jesus’ positively pure-hearted way of relating to women was outright scandalous by comparison to their men-first-and-foremost culture.

In his interaction with the woman at the well he broke all the rules regarding religious, ethnic, and worst of all, gender biases. An argument could be made that it was to her that he first clearly disclosed his identity as Messiah. Later he held a one-on-one Bible study with a female friend who sat at his feet and soaked up everything he taught. (Women had no such personal access to rabbinical teaching.) And after he rose to life he chose a group of women to make the announcement of his resurrection to the male apostles. He thereby demonstrated a new and radical precedent for gender equality.

The boxes in which the genders had been packaged for centuries were torn open and would no longer hold them. Equality becomes the new normal for those who choose the upside-down way of Jesus.

[An excerpt from my book: WHAT ON EARTH? Considering the Social Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount]

How to Fight Like Jesus

“Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.

“Barabbas,” they answered.

“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.

They all answered, “Crucify him!” (Matthew 27:21-22)

Barabbas was in prison for murder and insurrection. His name means “Son of the Father.” Sound familiar? He chose to fight Rome with violence, while the other Father’s Son fought by sacrificing himself.

The crowd showed a distinct preference for the Barabbas way over the Jesus way. Again, sound familiar?

Today many Americans who identify as Christ followers are more aligned with Barabbas than with Jesus. They praise January 6th insurrectionists, arm themselves, join militias, or call for outright civil war. Maybe they see the violent way as a more immediate fix to our sociopolitical problems. Waiting for justice at the very end of history can be exhausting. It requires faith. If they can speed up the process by taking matters into our own hands with threats and violence, then…

They reject Jesus’ way for Barabbas. They “trust in chariots and horses,” and fail to “remember the name of the Lord our God.” (Psalm 20:7)

Jesus clearly articulated his way: “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” (John 18:36) But when Simon Peter, who hadn’t entirely embraced Jesus’ way, did fight in the garden, cutting off Malchus’ ear, Jesus slapped it back on saying, “Put it away!”

There was another disciple named Simon. Before meeting Jesus, this Simon had been somewhat of a colleague of Barabbas. No telling if Simon, the formerly Zealot, knew Barabbas personally. Maybe they fought side by side in dark alleys in Jerusalem. Even if they were friends in their past, I can’t imagine him cheering with the crowd for Barabbas’ release, especially with the alternative of putting Jesus to death instead.

Barabbas represents the way of war and violent insurrection. Jesus, the Son of His Father, represents the way of peace, innocence, and sacrifice. When Pilate asks the crowd for their preference, this is the point at issue. “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” (John 18:40)

Those who claim to be “Christian,” and who call for America’s improvement by any means necessary, including violence, vote for Barabbas over Christ.

Who are you voting for?

A Lamb or a Hammer?

Using Christianity to justify violence is diametrically opposite of the message of his prophetic “street theater” on Palm Sunday, not to mention Zechariah’s prophecy.

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!

Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim

and the warhorses from Jerusalem,

and the battle bow will be broken.

He will proclaim peace to the nations. (Zechariah 9:9-10)

“As Zechariah predicted, Jesus rode into Jerusalem intent on removing the weapons of war. He would take away the battle bow, chariot, and warhorse. And in their stead, he modeled a new way of making peace.

“Palm Sunday is fundamentally about the collision of two competing approaches to peacemaking. Given the theatrics of the day, it would be easy to conclude that these conflicting ideologies were embodied by Pilate and Jesus. After all, their processions were on a collision course, and everything about Jesus’ procession seemed to deliberately counter Pilate’s. While this is true, Jesus also intentionally subverted his own people’s paradigm for peacemaking. They expected Jesus to ride into town as Judas Maccabeus (The Hammer) had once done. They hoped Jesus would wage peace with a hammer. But Jesus flipped the script.

“Jesus used his triumphal entry to subtly yet unambiguously declare that he was not the Hammer of God. He was the Lamb of God. And he calls his followers to also embrace the way of a sacrificial lamb.” Jason Porterfield in Fight Like Jesus

Your Eye for Mine

People treat their enemies in one of three ways: demonically, legalistically, or christianly. Returning evil for good is demonic. Giving back good for good and evil for evil (eye for an eye) is legalistic. Many Christians practice this second way without giving it a second thought. Someone puts out your eye and you put out his! In that case, their conduct determines yours and you’re just an echo of them. Christian practitioners live by a different code altogether, a righteousness that “surpasses”[i] all others, a third way that reciprocates good for evil.

Our social media debates about religion and politics these days are rife with eye-for-an-eye justice, or worse, my one eye for both of yours! And consider yourself lucky that I don’t consider breaking your nose (that is, your digital nose)! If you knock out one of my teeth, I can knock out all of yours and my Facebook “friends” will applaud me for it!

The law of the jungle is: For every action, there’s an unequal opposite overreaction. But Jesus, who fulfilled the spirit of the law, proposes a better way, the way of love. And if his way is not workable, “then the heart of the Sermon does not beat––it is a carcass, a dead body of doctrine.”[ii]

[i] Matthew 5:20

[ii] Jones, The Unshakable Kingdom, 150.

A Little Humility Goes a Long Way

Most of our friends and acquaintances in Golden Gate Park have street names – Monkey, Four-Twenty, Felony, Chaos, Animal, and the like. One day I was talking to “Sheriff,” a twenty-something park dweller with a bright red Mohawk – it looked to me like he’d cut it himself, with neither mirror nor particularly sharp scissors. While we were sitting on the ground eating pancakes and talking, in his artist’s pad Sheriff was drawing a picture of a goat head inside a pentagram (typical Satanist symbols). He showed me the rest of his pad full of similar images – quite elaborate all. I complimented him on his obvious talent and asked him what he thought about Jesus, and off we went to the races.

He told me he was a Satanist and made it clear that he wasn’t the least bit interested in Jesus. His main objection to Christianity was that it seemed to him that any father who required his own son’s excruciating death for other people was not anyone he cared to know, let alone trust. His was a perfectly understandable objection, and I was only too happy to respond to it. But when I attempted to explain the concept of why Jesus was willing to lay his life down in our sinful place, I found that I was less than my normally lucid(ish) self. I had a perfectly biblical and, to for my money, logical response in my mind, but my usual propensity to explain why Jesus did what he did was uncharacteristically muddled. I thought to myself, “This is weird. I can usually give a rational and coherent explanation for this.” It’s not like I’m “Mr. Apologetics” or anything, but normally I can defend the basic message of God’s love and Jesus’ sacrifice. I love sharing Christ with people, and have been known to be able to boil it down in pretty graspable terms. But this time I couldn’t quite get it out!

It would’ve been easy at that point to get frustrated (sort of a default of mine), rely on clichés, take on a preachy tone, or become condescendingly spiritual superior. Does any of that sound familiar? Instead, without any forethought, as though it wasn’t even me speaking, I eked out an apology – “I’m really sorry that I’m not explaining this very well.”

At that point, Sheriff paused from his drawing and looked up from his pad. He seemed as surprised by what I’d said as I was, softened his tone, and replied almost sympathetically, “That’s OK. It must be hard to explain.” Still kind of dazed by it myself, and after a pensive pause of my own, I went on to tell him about how much I love Jesus even if I couldn’t explain him very well, soon after which the conversation faded and we parted ways.

It wasn’t until I was driving home afterward musing about that particular exchange when I realized there was definitely something “spiritual” going on there. Duh! To put it bluntly, I think Sheriff had more than a philosophical problem with Christianity that could be solved with good apologetics. His problem (which became my problem) was that there was a demonic force that obstructed my telling of the good news about Jesus. And just so you know, I don’t just say that because he was drawing pictures of Satan. Not everyone who has a fascination with darkness is captive to the prince of darkness, and conversely, not every captive possesses the fascination. But I didn’t come to this opinion that a spiritual distraction was at fault because of his art, but because of how his spirit affected mine.

The more I thought about it I the more I realized that Sheriff was more saturated with demonic spirits than I was with the Holy Spirit. I wasn’t as full of mine as he was of his. As a result, Sheriff’s spiritual influence limited me more than the Spirit of God was able to liberate him – and that’s not a particularly good thing!

When I first heard the term, “Apologetics,” I assumed it had something to do with the skill of apologizing. With all the practice I’ve had at saying I’m sorry, I could teach classes on it. But then somebody told me that it had to do with taking a reasonable approach to our faith and not about making an apology for it. Yet on this day I saw that a sincere apology could actually be evangelistic.

Think about it, how many things could/should we Christians apologize about? You name it – the Crusades, toxic churches, hypocrisy, spiritual pretension – there’s never a shortage of things for which we should be sorry and tell people so. I do think that it goes a long way when we display genuine remorse for our own failures and that of our larger family of supposed believers. I’m not suggesting some new evangelistic device, a sure-fire formula for soul winning; but I just wonder how much better our testimony would be if we toned down the condescension and approached people with genuine humility.

At that particular moment “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world” didn’t seem as operative as it usually did. I know it’s always true theoretically, but it isn’t always a reality for me because I’m only partially full of the Spirit. We have a responsibility to be as full and stay as full as we can, so that in our interactions with people who need Jesus, the influence goes in the right direction. That day, because I wasn’t as Spirit-saturated as I should’ve been, an evil spirit inhibited me more than the Holy Spirit impacted him.

Here’s where I discovered something about sharing Christ and spiritual influence. My guess is that when I apologized, a barrier dropped and Sheriff’s surliness shrank, making the last part of our interaction seem more cogent than the first. You could come to the conclusion that my show of anti-arrogance* reduced his social defenses, and while a case could be made for that, I deduced that it was more than that.

Demons, whose leader is the most conceited being in the world, seem to feed on pride. “Pride,” wrote C.S. Lewis, “is the complete anti-God state of mind.” The devil’s way is the opposite of the way of Jesus, so the best way to defeat the wrong way and advance the right way is to supply what’s lacking in the wrong way with what is provided in the right way! I’m being a little preachy here, but what I mean is, the enemy creates a vacuum and the Lord counteracts it by filling it. When I quite unintentionally displayed humility, I think it disarmed the spirit of pride and momentarily neutralized the adversary’s efforts to keep Sheriff’s heart and head in that dark place. It slightly lifted the spiritual barrier like venetian blinds and let a little sunshine in.

Maybe next time, I’ll start with:  “Please forgive me if I don’t explain this very well, but…”

*I’m certainly not claiming to own a great number of shares of humility or any expertise on the subject. If I’m humble at all it’s incomplete and fleeting. I like it when it comes and hate it when it goes.

[An excerpt from my book: The Other End of the Dark (A Memoir About Divorce, Cancer, and Things God Does Anyway)]

“Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.”

Christians of good conscience have always lent their hand to those in the most need. You’re more likely to find hospitals and orphanages named after saints (St. Luke’s, St. Jude’s) than ones after even the most famous atheists or agnostics. Can you imagine a Christopher Hitchens Hospital or Bertrand Russell Home for Children?

Every week a Korean Church in San Francisco brings hamburgers and coffee to people experiencing homelessness. Throughout the winter they give out gloves and scarves and every year before Christmas they distribute hundreds of expensive jackets. If they don’t have your size, they’ll go out and buy one. In fact, they bought a bus to pick up homeless people and bring them to their church Bible Study. Afterward they bring them to their homes to feed them or buy them a meal in a restaurant. A homeless friend of mine, an atheist (to date), said to me, “These people are the nicest people I’ve ever met! A fascinating group of people to be around.” Blessed are the merciful!

[An excerpt from WHAT ON EARTH? Considering the Social Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount]

Just Wondering (Avoiding Superficial Spirituality Part 8)

[image error] barney wiget

 

“God himself works in our souls, in their deepest depths, taking increasing control as we are progressively willing to be prepared for his wonder.” Thomas Kelly

Speaking of “wonder,” I wonder a lot––mostly about God. I used to wonder if he existed, but since I got that settled to my complete satisfaction forty-five years ago, my wonder is now of a different sort.

“Wonder” itself has a number of connotations. There’s the wonder that involves frustration, another is more of a curious sort, and then there’s the kind that connotes unreserved marvel. My wondering about God includes all three at different times.

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Blessed are the MEEK for they shall inherit the earth

The meek bridle their lust for power and live to serve others. “The ‘politics’ of the Kingdom,” says Scott Bessenecker, “has more to do with meekness, submission and dying to self than it does with exercising authority to increase my share in this life (emphasis mine).”[i]

Some outside observers evaluate Jesus’ words about being good to our enemies and forgiving trespassers as weakness, even masochistic. But anyone who thinks it’s weak to be meek should try being meek for a week! (Say that out loud for full effect.) Ironically it takes a lot of strength to be meek. Not the kind of strength you get in the gym, but the kind you get on your knees––so to speak.

Meekness is not the default position of our broken humanity. Even regenerated humanity doesn’t arrive at meekness involuntarily. You don’t just wake up one morning, make a resolution, and succeed at it. You don’t achieve a broken spirit so much as receive it in your own post-crucifixion resurrections. The harsh reality is that meekness requires dying. That’s why so few of us pursue it.[ii]

Who but Jesus could say with a straight face and without pretense,“I am meek and lowly in heart”?[iii] Yet he never showed the slightest sign of cowardice. Instead of commissioning the legions of angels at his disposal, he permitted a relatively meager cohort of soldiers to take him and nail him to a cross. That’s meekness––power under the control of the powerful.

[i] Bessenecker, How to Inherit the Earth, 53.

[ii] Bessenecker, How to Inherit the Earth, 54.

[iii] Matthew 11:29

(This is an excerpt from my book: WHAT ON EARTH? Considering the Social Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount)

It’d be quite cool if you bought it, shared it, acted on it, and reviewed it on Amazon or wherever you buy books.