Just When You Thought it Couldn't Get Any Weirder...

Some things need no comment.

I want to share with you all an "Event Invite" I just received from a women's ministry group on Facebook:

I wanted to make sure you knew about a very important upcoming training for those called to emotional and physical healing and deliverance to the Body of Christ. There is a Convergence Spiritual Cleansing Method(TM) Ministers' Training on July 8th - 10th both nationally via live stream video and locally in Raleigh, NC.

The 4 Essential steps to true deliverance will be taught in detail. It will be great for ministry leaders to attend. It will elevate your entire ministry! You can see the four steps on a brief teaching video and get full info at http://www.erickajackson.com/CSCM.htm.

Ooohhh....the "Spiritual Cleansing Method (TM)". Sounds like something no biblical counselor worth her salt should be without, right? Right. Yeah, that's exactly what I said to myself. Then I clicked on the link.

Look at all that's promised - and what's more, PAYMENT PLANS ARE AVAILABLE TO WATCH THE VIDEO STREAM!!! Praise the Lord and Pass the Plate:

A special training for those men and women called to emotional and/or physical healing and deliverance for the Body of Christ.

Friday, July 8th - Sunday, July 10th, 2011
Marriott Courtyard North Raleigh/Triangle Town Center
Raleigh, NC


$397* - Live Training
$300 now through June 20th
You receive $97 off of your live registration before June 30th!

$197* - Live Video Stream
$140 now through June 20th
You receive $57 off of your video stream registration before June 30th!

*Payment Plans are available - see below.
Registration discounts do not apply to payment plans.

Jesus is raising up a new crop of ministers who truly believe and flow in His works upon the earth. Those who are willing to take off the masks of tradition and stand against the works of this world so the true believers of the Lord can usher the presence of the Kingdom of Heaven upon the earth to become the Kingdom of God.

The Lord is looking for those called to Truth and whose hands He can use to be His body and cast darkness away from his beloved children. He is equipping and training up those who are heeding His call to be vessels so others may know the liberty and freedom they can receive through the power, dominion and authority of Jesus.

Are you one of them?

Then, this training is just for YOU!

Three years ago the Lord revealed the process to fully being a vessel for a complete four-step process to fully deliver and heal His people to Ericka. He instructed her to put together trainings for those called to take the work into the Body of Christ. This is the first comprehensive training in which Ericka fully reveals the entire method the Holy Spirit laid out to her.

Do you have a heart for those in need of inner and physical healing?
Are you tired of seeing Christians live so far beneath all they are promised in the Word?
Do you long for the knowledge, wisdom and understanding to go along with your gifts of discernment and healing?
Then, this training is just for YOU!

If you have wondered why the people of God do not seem to be accessing and living the promises of scripture and are ready to learn why...

If you are ready to experience God in a whole new dimension…

If you are ready to be a vessel to guide others to truly be free from all emotional pain…

If you are ready to be a powerful vessel for physical healing in others…

If you are ready to finally access the full reward of overcoming...

Then you are ready for The Convergence Spiritual Cleansing MethodTM.


Who should attend?

Apostles, Pastors, Evangelists, Christian Leaders, Ministry Founders, Ministry Leaders, Teachers of the gospel, those with the gift of healing, those ready to better understand and appropriate the authority of Jesus upon the earth.
Based on the ground-breaking work of Ericka D. Jackson’s book, Beyond Fearless: How to Remove Every Hindrance From Your Life , this 100 % scriptural work guides you and all you work with into position to inherit the Kingdom of God. This work was breathed forth from the Holy Spirit through Ericka and she is bringing it to you at this training.


You will leave this training with:

A clear 4-step tested, proven and fail-proof process to walking people through full deliverance.

Standing in your authority over all sickness and able to cast out infirmities in yourself and others.

Being a pure vessel for the Lord to guide others into the freedom of the Lord.

Full knowledge of how to operate in your heavenly position upon the earth.

The clear step-by-step process of purifying the hearts of the people of God..

Understanding of how to recognize and demolish all 14 stronghold spirits and the thousands of unclean fruit they produce in Christians' lives.

Operating in the full power in the name of Jesus to cast out the unclean in others.

Activate the full ability to heal yourself and others that is contained within you.

Full understanding in how to walk into the fullness of your calling.

Be clear of all works of the flesh that have inhibited your ability to inherit the Kingdom of God and walk others through the same process.

Understanding and appropriating the 7 Spirits of God and how to catalyze their clean fruits to manifest and grow in your life and the lives of those the Lord sends to you to be a vessel for their wholeness.

The Lord told me that there were many of His flock that needed to take this training and that I needed to provide a way for everyone who desires to participate to receive the training. He instructed me to live video stream the training so there are no geographic barriers to being able to get the valuable information that you need to move forward in your calling as a healer and vessel for deliverance.

This will give you a choice as to what works best for your lifestyle. There are two ways that you can participate in this ground-breaking training.

You can either attend the event live in Raleigh, NC. If you attend the event live, it includes on-demand access to the live event recording through July 31st, 2011.


- or -

You can save the additional travel and lodging expenses and join us via live videostream. This means that you can join us from the privacy of your own home for the weekend or as much as you can attend during the actual event. Or you can access the event on-demand for the rest of the month of July. (I KNOW...this is exciting!!!)


LIVE EVENT PAYMENT PLANS

If you would like to travel into Raleigh, NC or live in the Raleigh, NC area, this option is ideal.

Your live event registration includes all training materials, breakfast and lunch on Saturday and refreshments throughout the conference, and access to the on-demand recording through July 31st, 2011.

To Pay in Full - $397
You recieve $97 off of your live registration before June 30th!
(your discount will instantly appear as you check out)

Click Here to Submit Your Payment in Full

- or -

Live Event 2-Payment Plan

2 Payments of $198.50 due by June 5th and July 5th

Click Here for the Live Event 2-Payment Plan

LIVE VIDEO STREAM PAYMENT PLANS

If you live outside of the Raleigh, NC area and would like to be a part of the training, this option is perfect for you.

Your live video streaming event registration includes all training materials and access to the on demand recording through July 31st, 2011.

Single Payment of $197

You recieve $57 off of your video stream registration before June 30th!

Click Here to Submit Your Live Video Stream Payment in Full

(your discount will instantly appear as you check out)

- or -

2-Payment Plan

2 Payments of $98.50 due on June 5th and July 5th

Click Here for the LiveStream 2-Payment Plan

Brilliant! So, after more than 2,000 years of Church history, the Holy Spirit has just now seen fit to reveal God's Plan for Healing (TM) to Ericka! And she can teach it to others for the low, low price of $400! (Only $200 to watch via "live video stream"!)

Notice NO mention whatsoever of the Bible's clear teaching on sanctification; "putting off" the old nature and "putting on" holiness and a life pleasing to God. Notice no exposition of a SINGLE biblical text or ANY of the numerous passages that deal with counseling, ecclesiology, or the little fact that PRIVATE REVELATION CEASED WITH THE CLOSING OF THE CANON.

Perhaps most galling is this little sidebar on the page:

"You will become a fully certified Convergence Spiritual Cleansing MethodTM Minister as a result of attending this training and completing the final certification exam that will be available online following the training.

Once you are certified, you will be able to:

• Have ongoing support as you minister this process to others.
  
• Create an additional revenue stream for your ministry. *
  
• Be a part of a network and team of trained ministers that Ericka can send out to train church and ministry leaders at retreats and conferences.
  
• Have access to ongoing training and breakthroughs in The Convergence Spiritual Cleansing MethodTM.

* Real biblical counseling is NOT designed to create a "revenue stream". That is a serious ethical and moral violation right there.

Wowzers; a certification exam! Almost like real biblical counseling associations offer, huh?! Gee, I wonder how many years of exegetical study a prospective minister of the "Convergence Spiritual Cleansing Method" would need? Goodness, a seminary degree would seem like a minimal requirement for such an exclusive, only-given-to-one-person, God-breathed "cleansing" method! And then, when they HAVE their certificates, these sheeple can "play counselor" just like those of us who have actually studied and trained to minister the Word of God to counselees.

Perhaps because I do not have cable TV (and therefore cannot watch the heretical Word of Faith charlatans bilking money from naive people night and day) this sort of scam still annoys me - big time. These false prophets and greedy, lying charlatans who evidently find extra-biblical, sensationalistic speaking more attractive than opening their Bibles are a blight to the Name of Christ. May He break their deception and offer them repentance before it's too late. (Isaiah 44:25; Jeremiah 14:14, 23:16, 50:36; Ezekiel 13:9, 22:28; Matt. 7:15, 24:11,24; Mark 13:22; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1).

The Loving Friendship of Jesus Christ (J.C. Ryle Quote)

Every true Christian has a Friend in heaven, of almighty power and boundless love. They are thought of, cared for, provided for, defended by God’s eternal Son. They have an unfailing Protector, who never slumbers or sleeps, and watches continually over their interests. The world may despise them, but they have no cause to be ashamed. Father and mother even may cast them out, but Christ having once taken them up, will never let them go. They are the friend of Christ even after they are dead! The friendships of this world are often fair-weather friendships, and fail us like summer-dried fountains, when our need is the greatest; but the friendship of the Son of God is stronger than death, and goes beyond the grave. The Friend of sinners is a Friend that sticks closer than a brother.

~ J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, volume 2, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1987], 275. {John 11:7-16}

100 Things We Love About Dad

This month, I decided to help our four kids make a "special" card for Daddy on Father's Day - telling him all the things they love about him. Last year, when looking through the Father's Day card selection at Walmart, I couldn't help but notice that most all of them were vaguely mocking or insulting in a "humorous" way. The cards from kids seemed to revolve, for the most part, around joking with Dad that he would be utterly lost and incompetent without Mom; most implied that she "wore the pants in the family". (I would be mortified if my children ever gave such a card to my husband, or for a second believed that to be the case!)

More important than cards or a particular day on the calendar, honoring Dads and telling them what we love about them is so important. Biblical fatherhood, obviously, isn't just about siring offspring and bringing home a paycheck. Children, by and large, know and appreciate when they are deeply loved and brought up in the knowledge of the Lord. Good fathers are a special gift from God!

I challenged the kids to come up with 100 things they love about Dad, and I helped them glue the sheets to a poster board with a colorful title. The two little ones (5 and 7) rattled off the first 65 entries while the older kids were still doing their homework. Here is their Litany to Dad:

1. Dad took me to the doctor when I was sick.

2. Dad gave me a nice present after my eye operation.

3. Dad hugs me all the time.

4. Dad’s coming to see my show at gymnastics.

5. Dad helps me understand my homework.

6. Dad gives me treats when I help him outside.

7. Dad works hard so we can have food.

8. Dad picks me up from preschool sometimes.

9. Dad gives me gum when I go in his car.

10. Dad tries to comfort us when we cry.

11. Dad hugs us when we’re scared.

12. Dad compliments our work.

13. Dad likes our pictures.

14. Dad’s very nice to us.

15. Dad kisses us and hugs us a lot of times.

16. Dad helps us read something when we don’t know what it says.

17. Dad reads me books.

18. Dad paid the people to do the addition.

19. Dad says prayers with us.

20. Dad gives us money to buy things.

21. Dad works outside and does things for us.

22. Dad gives us M&M’s.

23. Dad teaches us about God.

24. Dad brings us to birthday parties.

25. Dad brings us to his work sometimes!

26. Dad tells us what to do when someone’s mean to us or does something to us.

27. Dad gives us haircuts.

28. Dad gives us rides in his car sometimes.

29. Dad always gives us presents on our birthdays.

30. Dad sings “Happy Birthday” to us.

31. Dad gets me “Flat Stanley” books.

32. Dad helps us with ideas for things.

33. When we try to make something with Play-Doh, he makes it for us ‘cause he’s so good!

34. When Dad broke my pink pail, he still made a really good sandcastle out of the small one.

35. Dad gives us costumes.

36. Dad lets us eat donuts.

37. Dad has good ideas and gives them to us.

38. Dad bought the Wii for us.

39. Dad got my PSP.

40. Dad gets me games for my PSP.

41. Dad prays for us.

42. Dad loves God.

43. When Natalia broke my owl pencil, Dad gave her money to buy me new Expo markers.

44. Dad tries to tell people about God.

45. Dad takes pictures of us.

46. Dad plays Wii with us.

47. When Miro and Stefan wouldn’t play a board game with me, Dad took me to Home Depot with him.

48. Dad offers things to us like going to the store.

49. Dad goes in the pictures with us.

50. Dad makes bacon on Sunday.

51. Dad helps me do things on the Wii that I can’t do.

52. Dad reads the Bible with us on Sunday afternoons.

53. Dad lets us go to our friends’ house.

54. Dad helps us spell words.

55. Dad helps us learn Bulgarian.

56. Dad makes kebapcheta.

57. Dad takes care of us.

58. Dad sometimes shares Bulgarian secrets with us (like the food).

59. Dad tells us stories of when he was a kid.

60. Dad helps us cool off when we’re hot.

61. Dad lets us go to waterparks (and he pays).

62. If we’re confused, Dad helps us understand.

63. Dad sometimes says “Great job!” on things.

64. Dad helps us make things.

65. Dad tells us what’s right and what’s wrong.

66. Dad shares his chocolate with us.

67. Dad lets us play on his computer.

68. Dad’s laugh is contagious.

69. Dad’s a great cook and can make anything with any recipe.

70. Dad has such a good sense of direction, if we were lost in Antarctica, he would still be able to tell us where to go.

71. Dad teaches us the importance of morals and life values.

72. Dad brings us to Bulgaria.

73. Dad brings us to soccer games, like Levski-Milan vs. Inter-Milan.

74. Dad tucks me in for bed.

75. Dad makes banitsa.

76. Dad tells us about WW I and WW II.

77. Dad makes up brilliant words, like “idiotistic”.

78. Dad lets me watch Veggie Tales movies on his computer when Mom’s at work.

79. Dad knows how to ski, and taught us to ski.

80. Dad has a very good sense of humor and sarcasm.

81. Dad bought the TV.

82. Dad’s very generous.

83. Dad puts up with a lot of things.

84. Dad is wise.

85. Dad planted some of the plants I want and he let me have two strawberries.

86. Dad helps us with our Valentines.

87. Dad brings home gifts from work (like candies.)

88. Dad kisses us and says “goodnight” when he goes to work.

89. Dad says “thank you” when we help him.

90. Dad shares. If we want to use something and he has to use it, he lets us go first. That’s called “sharing”.

91. Dad makes us hot cocoa.

92. Dad gets me lunch.

93. Dad play-fights with us.

94. Dad teaches me letters.

95. Dad made a bathroom downstairs.

96. Dad tickles us.

97. Dad lets us go under the sprinkler.

98. Dad taught me to ride my bike.

99. Dad took me to the library and let me get a library card.

100. Dad loves all of us!!

Movies of Christ vs. Reading the Gospel Account

A Facebook friend just posted the YouTube link to a beautiful worship song, "Amazing Love". ("Amazing love....how can it be...that You my King would die for me?" You know the one.) The frame, as much of this particular clip, features "The Passion of the Christ". I have a confession to make: neither that film, nor the depictions in more biblically-precise films such as the excellent "The Gospel of John", inspire devotion in me.

The song is beautiful and heart-felt. And (in my opinion,) there is nothing wrong with making evangelistic films about Christ, so long as they are absolutely faithful to the biblical text. But, for me, they do not whomp up emotions, inspire devotion, or bring me to my knees in repentance the way reading the Scripture itself does. Why?

Well, I guess I have an overly-literal nature. Not once, not for a single nano-second, did I forget that the man hanging on the Cross is Jim Caviezel. He's a great actor. I'm sure he's a really good guy, too. But he is not my Lord and Savior, and watching scenes of him accompanied by "Amazing Love" makes me feel like I am watching....Jim Caviezel playing Jesus to the accompaniment of "Amazing Love" (or in a full-length rated R movie.)

I try to think abstractly. I try to forget it's an actor I'm watching, and let him inspire devotion to Christ. Peeps, I'm sorry; it doesn't work. All it makes me think is, "Man, that Jim is a good actor!"

I was in a Christian bookstore once (once? Maybe twice?) and noticed they had artwork - framed portraits of "Christ" - Jim Caviezel reaching down to the Italian actress playing Mary Magdalene. Jim Caviezel looking pensively past the camera and off into the distance. "Jim Caviezel is good looking," I thought. "But I certainly wouldn't want portraits of him hanging in the living room!" (Not to pick on Jim Caviezel - there have been lots of other fine actors to play Christ over the years, like that British-Peruvian guy Henry Ian Cusick in "The Gospel of John", but I have never seen anything approaching the number of devotional-style music videos and artwork that is based on POTC.) Movie-generated images and clips, no matter how bloodied the actor, don't make me feel as if I'm vicariously gazing upon Christ.

You know what does, though?

Reading the Bible - especially the Gospel of John. There are parts of Chapters 14-15 that I can barely read without getting a lump in my throat. You can hear the sadness in Jesus' voice as He predicts His betrayal; comforts His disciples; tells them to have joy. He's going to be crucified in a few hours, and He's talking about joy? That gets me every time.

Does anyone else feel this way? I am not saying it's wrong to be affected emotionally by a movie - as long as your heart is moved closer to the Christ of the Bible (which, of course, should be the whole point of the movie in the first place.) Perhaps the problem is mine for being utterly unsentimental (I did not even cry as a kid at "E.T.", and I couldn't understand why the other kids did, because it was just a story.) I watch Christian videos others call "amazing" and "powerful" and think, "Uh.....I don't get it."

While we certainly aren't to live our faith based on emotions, as the Holy Spirit convicts, teaches, grows and conforms us increasingly to the image of Christ, He will continually light that "spark" of devotion to Christ that is a hallmark of a true disciple. I do not believe, nor have I experienced, any means of kindling true love and devotion for our Lord outside of Scripture itself. He truly is sufficient for meeting all of our needs -- especially our need for more of Him.

The Bible is "Inspired". Great. What Does That Mean?

Starting a series on bibliology this morning. Today's post: the nature of "inspired" Scripture.

NOTE: For those of you writing the NANC exam who are looking for info, please don't forget to use citations (you can hyperlink to this entry in your exam, rather than formal footnotes) when phrasing your answer. In other words, kindly remember to give me credit if quoting from this page. I will appreciate it, and so will the NANC Fellows who are grading your exam. Thanks! :)

When the Bible is spoken of as being “inspired”, it literally means “God-breathed”. In 2 Timothy 3:16, Paul explains that “all Scripture is God-breathed” – meaning that it is the writings, not the writers which are “inspired”. The Greek term which translates to “given by inspiration of God”, theopneustos, appears elsewhere only once in Scripture – in Job 32:8, where it is translated “breath”: “But it is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding.” This indicates that what is given as biblical revelation is straight from the mouth of God, and is not subject to the personal interpretation of those recording Scripture (as more liberal denominations may teach).

Jay Adams correctly notes that “inspired” would be more correctly translated “expired”, in keeping with the “breathing out” meaning of the Greek term. This verse tells us that the Scriptures are “every bit as much God’s Word as if you could hear them spoken audibly (by breath).” Therefore, to claim an extra-biblical writing as “inspired” (speaking for God) is actually heretical, since such a claim would put the text on par with Scripture. (Just this morning, a woman was gushing about "God speaking to her" through the devotional, "Jesus Calling". This is a book a woman wrote a few years ago claiming Jesus gave her messages as private revelation. Scary stuff...yet many Christians buy into these types of books unquestioningly.)

Additionally, 2 Peter 1:19-21 affirms that while men prophesied and wrote Scripture, the origin was never with them – they were “moved” or “carried along” by the Spirit, the Divine Author. The Apocrypha, the additional texts written in the inter-testamental period, are thus not considered "inspired" since they contain geographical, historical, and even theological errors. (These books were never quoted by Christ or the Apostles, nor were they ever a part of the Jewish Torah.) Only the 66 books of the Canon may accurately be described as "God-breathed".

The importance of the divine origin of Scripture is important to understand in relation to counseling, because after building his case for Scripture’s source of authority – God Himself – Paul goes on to state why biblical truth is therefore reliable: it is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (vs. 16-17; emphasis mine). Because it is divine in origin, Scriptural injunction is trustworthy and therefore efficacious for training in holiness. Paul affirms that the Bible is a useful book, for teaching (revealing what God requires); for convicting (showing us where we fail to measure up to these); for correction (helping us get out of the problems we get into); and disciplined training in righteousness (helping us stay out of them in the future while obeying God).

Having established the “God-breathed” nature of Scripture, it follows that acceptance and adherence to its principles are non-negotiable. Our sin nature will cause all of us to attempt to rationalize, justify and otherwise excuse behavior that is contrary to the commands of God given in the Bible, but if we believe Scripture is “God breathed” – coming verbatim from Him – we are not free to add to, ignore, or subjectively interpret what has been dictated by God (Rev. 22:18-19; Matt. 7:26; 2 Pet. 1:20).

Interesting Way to Get Your Name on the Cover of a Magazine...

I was contacted by the Editor of "Christeenianity Magazine" a few weeks ago, asking permission to use my testimony and experience in an issue devoted to addressing eating disorders. Although I don't agree with the "self-esteem" talk in the issue (I'm only responsible for what I write) I agreed. Also featured is an essay from Stephanie, a young woman who has been counseled at a doctrinally-sound biblical counseling residential facility.

They included a nice plug from Olympic gold medalist Laura Wilkinson for my upcoming book, too.

Open publication - Free publishing - More christ