new book: WITITB? Youth With A Mission

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book review--Making Jesus Lord by Loren Cunningham

two abused teachings to support one very bad idea

First, a comment about the Kindle version of this book, which is what I read. It's shoddy and sub-standard. It has no table of content, and doesn't even have paragraph indents or chapter breaks. It was obviously a hurried and slipshod job.

Now, on to the contents.

The author twists two biblical teachings in order to end up pushing one very bad idea.

The first misused teaching is the idea of “giving up your rights”. Now, there is a biblical basis for this idea. One can look in I Corinthians 8 and 9, and see where Paul wrote about how he decided to not exercise certain rights, such as the right to expect the churches to support him financially, or the right to eat certain things when doing so might cause someone else to stumble. Paul's reasons for doing so are love for God and other people, his concern that others shouldn't stumble in his actions such as eating certain foods, though he had the perfect liberty to eat those things, and his concern to preach the gospel free of charge.

But this author uses this idea of giving up rights to smuggle in some very strange ideas, ones not found in the Bible. “He was giving us the strategy for accomplishing the greatest job ever given to man—taking over the earth from Satan and winning it back for God. Jesus was showing us that the only way to conquer is to submit.” (Kindle Locations 114-116) That's something not taught in the Bible at all, but it does lead up to the big bad idea of this book. “It is a rule of the Kingdom of God: Give up something good and receive something of greater value; give up your rights and receive greater privileges with God.” (Kindle Locations 133-134) Wow, great privileges with God? Well, too bad that's not in the Bible. What we're getting here is a quit pro quo, you give up something and God will give you something in return. That's not how it works.

The second abused idea is “moving in the opposite spirit”. Just like the first, this one does a biblical basis. One could, for example, point to Galatians 5:16-26, where the works of the flesh are contrasted with the fruit of the spirit, and show how Christians should turn from those fleshly works and grow more in the fruit of the spirit.

But this author again goes some strange places with his teachings. “God is going to utterly defeat Satan, and He’s going to do it with individuals who move in the opposite spirit to the forces of darkness.” (Kindle Locations 1177-1178) Well, that's quite the claim. Gotta verse for that? Btw he doesn't. “God allows attacks from the enemy in order to extend Christ’s Kingdom on earth. We take literal ground for God in this world every time we respond correctly to Satan’s offensive.” (Kindle Locations 1274-1276) I assume he means “literal” literally, and not figuratively, but he certainly does not mean it biblically, because he offers no biblical support for this claim.

All of this leads up to the last part of the book, where the author introduces his biggest and worst idea. It can be summed up by the phrase “Seven Mountains Dominionism”. “God has told us to take the world for Him. That’s what it says in Matthew 28:18-20 when Jesus tells us that He has been given all authority in Heaven and on earth, all other issues and doubts are settled. Then He turns around and says to us, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you….”” (Kindle Locations 1523-1526) Uh...no, Jesus wasn't telling the disciples to go out and take over the world here, that's nonsense. You can look at what the Bible says in many different places about the state of the world when Christ returns, and you'll see a gaping lack of any mention of the Church having taken over the world and setting up a bliss-filled theocracy just eager for Jesus to finally decide it's time to come join the party.

“If you have given over your rights, if you are standing barefoot in His presence, He is promising to give you all the land that the sole of your foot treads upon (Joshua 13).” (Kindle Locations 1565-1566) I don't know what this author is thinking, but there is nothing like that in Joshua 13. This is a common practice among people like this author, taking a promise made to one person in the Bible and try to shoehorn it for themselves. God made that promise to someone who lived about 3500 years ago, not to us today. This promise is not God telling us to go and take over the world.

“Jesus has promised to give the earth to the meek, to the barefoot, to those who have surrendered their rights to Him. He wants us to claim the nations of the earth as His inheritance.” (Kindle Locations 1807-1808) While Jesus has promised that the meek will inherit the earth, there is nothing in the Bible that tells us that Jesus “... wants us to claim the nations of the earth as His inheritance”. That's just something shameful this author made up.

“Like any other Christian, I read my Bible and try to discern what is going on around me. But one thing I do believe very clearly: Jesus told us to occupy until He came (Luke 19:13 kjv).” (Kindle Locations 1632-1633) “He says to occupy until He comes. To occupy means to take leadership.” (Kindle Location 1816) This is so bad, I'm embarrassed for this author. Luke 19:13 is taken from a parable. “12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’” This is from the ESV, and it gives the real meaning of the word translated “occupy” in the KJV which in context would still be a fine word, it only becomes a problem because of this author's dishonest twisting of that word. In a video on YouTube titled “Ruling With Jesus - Loren Cunningham”, this author even goes so far as to compare the Church to an occupying army. It is completely shameful for this author to try to take the “occupy” from both the meaning of the original word, and from it's context in this parable, and try to make it about some kind of need for the church to act like an occupying army.

There is simply so much wrong with this book, that it's just not worth wading into the sludge to find the few good things he says. There are so many better resources out there, ones that don't try to push made-up ideas and fairy tales about taking over the world. Skip this piece of rot, it's worthless.

book review—The Physics of Heaven

How can one adequately review the sheer stupid in this book?

First, understand that I'm not a scientist, physicist, or anyone like that. But this book is less a work of science then of something pretending to be theology, and about that I think I can say a few things. Because taken as theology, there is pretty much nothing of any value that can be gained from reading this nonsense.

The account in Acts 2 of the events of Pentecost comes in for special abuse by the contributors to this book. “I began thinking about the day of Pentecost. One hundred and twenty believers were in an upper room in Jerusalem when they heard a sound like a mighty rushing wind. It wasn’t a wind, it was a sound. And when that sound ended, the thinking of those men and women was completely changed.” (p. 3). “Just as the people were in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, when suddenly there came from heaven a noise, and this noise was like a violent rushing wind, there will come again a noise that I will release from heaven.” (Introduction). “Clearly, one of the greatest revivals in human history— the vibration of heaven in Acts— set all kinds of things in motion. Why? Because, the 120 believers in the Upper Room didn’t get hung up on sound alone. They let the sound take them somewhere else, triggering all their senses to the point that they were drunk from the vibration.” (p. 102). If you read this book, you might come away thinking that the big thing that happened at Pentecost was that there was a noise. It wasn't, the big thing was that the Holy Spirit came on the people in the upper room. In Acts 8 and 10, where accounts are given of the Spirit coming on other people, no such sound is mentioned.

But to the contributors to this book, sound is pretty much all-important. “When you connect to the spirit realm, you make an alliance with that sound of heaven and all things move to that sound.” (p. 164). Funny how the Bible teaches nothing about this. “We began having prophecies in 1995 that there is a new sound coming, a new heavenly sound.” (p. 25). I don't doubt it, but considering that the person being interviewed here, Bob Jones, was a known false prophet who by his own admission got it wrong hundreds of times, I hardly see why these prophecies would be believed. “God began to teach me through this angel about sound and the power of the spoken word. He said that because God spoke His creative will, man can also speak words that create.” (p. 92). Huh? Really? Where is that in the Bible? “I later met a man God had taken to heaven and shown how to produce four dimensional objects with sound. This man told me he has used sound to project a house that is two and a half inches square and is three dimensional so you can walk around and look inside the windows.” (p. 91). Funny how Pierce doesn't give the man's name, and not even a google search shows any info about this supposed feat.

Some have tried to defend this book by pointing out that one contributor, David Van Koevering, is a scientist. Maybe, but in this book, he isn't writing as a scientist, but as a theologian, and a rubbish one at that. “This Scripture makes sense only when you understand it at the atomic and subatomic level.” (p. 135). Well, that just puts paid to a couple of thousand years of Church history. What did those idiots like Irenaeus, Augustine, Luther, and Calvin know? “The spiritual realm operates above the speed of light.” (p. 136). Says the Bible nowhere. “When man fell, the speed of light slowed down.” (p. 136). Ditto. “Understand that your healing or miracle is within the next nanosecond! In the blink of a nanosecond, He can cause your healing. Observe your healing, your miracle, your deliverance, and be filled with all Truth by observing the future God has for you. Take that quantum leap!” (p. 139). Well, he's sure got the faith-healer schtick down pat, doesn't he? “Have you fixed your past? Have you removed all curses? Have you blessed the things you own? Have you blessed your house, office, car, belongings, money, computer, and phone? Are those things and places free from your past actions, words, and thoughts? You or someone else can speak a blessing or curse on your things. Somebody is about to take a quantum leap!” (pp. 142-143). Umm...dude, here's a hint, just between you and me. Tacking the phrase “quantum leap” onto everything doesn't make unbiblical ideas an better. You have no business being any kind of Christian teacher, because what you're teaching isn't at all biblical, it's just some junk you've made up.

Then, there is Bill Johnson, who is always good for some unbiblical nonsense. “Our role in shaping the world around us through creative expression is never more at the forefront than when we joyfully learn to pull tomorrow into today. God trains us for this role whenever He speaks to us, for in doing so He is working to awaken and establish our affections for His kingdom.” (p. 171). Yeah, calling tomorrow into today, whatever that means, is never taught in the Bible. “If you can see God’s coming future promises, and He hasn’t blinded your eyes to His intent, then He is hoping to hook you into the role of calling “into being that which does not exist.””(p. 178). Nowhere in the Bible are we told to call things into being, that is a pretty silly misreading of a verse that talks about God calling things into being. “There are anointings, mantles, revelations, and mysteries that have lain unclaimed, literally where they were left, because the generation that walked in them never passed them on.” (pp. 30-31). Read or listen to NAR types long enough, and you'll conclude that they are addicted to anointings, mantles, revelations, and such stuff. They are constantly passing them along, saying they are getting them or giving them away, et al. And as you may guess, none of it is biblical.

And that brings up what this book is really about, the NAR and their version of dominionism. They want to rule the world, and they have latched onto quantum physics as a way of justifying certain aspects of their rubbish theology, like how they think they are the ones who can call things into existence, or that vibrations somehow mean that their words have supernatural power.

Finally, if nothing else shows just how stupid this book is, check out this statement. “The four universal elements are water, wind, fire, and earth.” (p. 67). Yes, he's being very serious.

This book is junk. There are so many much betters works of both physics and theology out there, and it's simply sad that a bunch of so-called church leaders wrote this work of utter stupidity.

Loren Cunningham twists Psalm 2

The part transcribed here begins at 4:36

Now we become through Jesus, according to Romans chapter 2 verse 29, as well as Romans 9, Romans 11, and other portions of scripture, we become through Christ sons of Abraham, which means we take on the Abraham covenant. What I'm saying through all of this, you actually can rule this world if you will through Jesus Christ, because we become through Jesus Christ sons of God, joint heirs with Jesus Christ, to rule and reign with Christ. In Psalms chapter 2 verse 8, God says to us, “Ask of me, and I will surely give the nations as thine inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as thy possession”. But Jesus showed us how. In Matthew chapter 5, verse 5, “the meek shall inherit the earth”. So it's not through the ways the world would do it, the ways Satan would do it, but it's through Jesus Christ in the ways he would do it. How did he do it? “The meek shall inherit the earth”. He became a servant to all, and in the process he gained it all.

Ok, so, let's look at Psalm 2

Why do the nations rageand the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,and the rulers take counsel together,against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apartand cast away their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my Kingon Zion, my holy hill.”
7 I will tell of the decree:The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of ironand dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear,and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,for his wrath is quickly kindled.Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

If that context isn't enough to show that Cunningham is trying to pull a fast one, let's go further. This Psalm is referenced in Hebrews 1

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. 5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”?

And the part that's referenced in Hebrews is in the same part of the Psalm that Cunningham references, but where Hebrews clearly shows that this psalm is referring to Christ, Cunningham tries to somehow make it refer to us.

But let's go on, Revelation 19 mentions who will rule with a rod of iron.

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

There's also a reference in Revelation 12.

Now, there is one reference in Revelation 2, what Jesus says to the church at Thyatira, which does say that those who overcome will have authority over the nations, and will rule them with a rod of iron. But there is something in Revelation 20 that this seems to refer to.

4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

Another place to consider is II Timothy 2

11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 

12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;  

13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

There is the promise in the Bible that the saints will have authority on earth, but that time will come when Christ returns. It isn't the church's job to try to take over the world, to try to somehow make the world christianized to such a degree that Christ will return.

It's pretty clear, Psalm 2:8 is not God talking to us, but to His Son, to Christ. Cunningham again proves he has no business teaching like this.

Loren Cunningham's mocking of the Bible

There is something else about the part I transcribed from this video that bugs me.

The Bible is clear to say that all of the earth and the fullness thereof is mine, saith the Lord. He says also that the silver and the gold is mine, saith the Lord. But how does it end up in the devil's pocket? There's gotta be a reason. It's because we as Christians are not ruling in the power of Christ as we are intended to do. Now I would like to make a very clear application on this in practical terms. The Lord said “Occupy until I come”. When an occupation army comes in, what do they do? They don't run up in the hills and hide out. They take over! They take over, if necessary, in the schools, so that no philosophy will be taught that is counter to their particular position. They also take over the banks and the wealth of the nation. They take over the, if necessary, even the churches, to make sure nothing is said that will not go against what they are trying to do. They take over, of course, the military, and all the other aspects of life that they need to control. They take over. Now Jesus said “Occupy until...” And there is certainly a view that says that we, the body of Christ, are really under the hand of Satan in this world and we're going to squeak out and maybe slip out in such a way that nobody will notice because we're so weak when it happens. But I don't believe that. I believe God is wanting a glorious church, a strong church, to go out and triumph. And I like to put it in a way that maybe even in the exaggeration you'll get the impact a little better, that if we work hard enough, sure, there will be an Antichrist, because the Bible says so, but he can hold his international convention in a phone booth. You see, instead of trying to picture the greatness of the Antichrist and what Satan is going to do, let's see the greatness of Jesus through His church according to what we do in faith ruling and reigning with Christ.

It's where he's talking about the Antichrist. "And I like to put it in a way that maybe even in the exaggeration you'll get the impact a little better, that if we work hard enough, sure, there will be an Antichrist, because the Bible says so, but he can hold his international convention in a phone booth.  You see, instead of trying to picture the greatness of the Antichrist and what Satan is going to do, let's see the greatness of Jesus through His church according to what we do in faith ruling and reigning with Christ."

He claims this is some kind of exaggeration to make a point, but it's simply mocking.

The truth is, God is the one who has told us things in the Bible about the end times, how difficult those times will be, how evil mankind will be in the last days, and the nature and power of this last ruler. To mock those things, as Cunningham mocks the idea of the Antichrist here, is at best unwise.

This kind of mocking is a common thing I've seen in the writings and speakings of dominionists. Johnny Enlow is extreme in his denunciations of anyone who has a "defeatist" view of the end times, saying they are part of a Leah church that is saved but only tolerated by God, while he and people like himself who want to take over the world are a part of a Rachel church that God is infatuated with. Outside of being extremely creepy, his use of Rachel and Leah is both problematic as a metaphor, and is also a metaphor without any biblical support.

"Defeatist" is the kind of word often used by these dominionists to label and dismiss others, and while Cunningham doesn't use that word in this video, he brings up the idea, "And there is certainly a view that says that we, the body of Christ, are really under the hand of Satan in this world and we're going to squeak out and maybe slip out in such a way that nobody will notice because we're so weak when it happens".

The Gospels record an interesting exchange between Peter and Jesus, for example here in Matthew 16

21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

I don't think even Cunningham would have the gall to call Jesus "defeatist", but it wouldn't be too difficult to see him in Peter's sandles.

Victory for Christians often doesn't look like what the world would call victory.

Romans 831 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The phrase "...we are more than conquerors..." cannot be rightly understood except in the context of "...in all these things...", and "these things" are tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and sword. And we are more than conquerors when those things happen to us because nothing can "separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord", so even us being more than conquerors is a gift that God gives to us.

Nowhere does the Bible tell the church to go out and conquer the world, to take over nations and societies and impose its will on the whole world. Few visions should be more terrifying to all right-thinking Christians than of a cabal of religious people disguising their ambitions for power behind a cheap facade of christianese ideas and rhetoric. In fact, look at Paul's description in the Romans 8 verses above, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

The day will come when Christ will return, and by all that I've seen in the Bible, it will be a day of conflict. The world didn't welcome Christ at his first coming, and they will greet his second with open rebellion that He will quash. But until then, we are as sheep among wolves, the world will regard us as sheep to be slaughtered, and even in this day many fellow believers are being slaughtered. Remember the words of Jesus recorded in John 15:18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you."

So, the Bible treats the Antichrist in a serious manner, and even Cunningham acknowledges that the Bible says that there will be an Antichrist, but then he mocks and dismisses what the Bible says about it, trying to substitute it for his own made-up dominionist ideas. Not good, YWAM, not good at all.

Loren Cunningham's dishonest word games

What I've transcribed here begins at the 6:00 mark.

The Bible is clear to say that all of the earth and the fullness thereof is mine, saith the Lord. He says also that the silver and the gold is mine, saith the Lord. But how does it end up in the devil's pocket? There's gotta be a reason. It's because we as Christians are not ruling in the power of Christ as we are intended to do. Now I would like to make a very clear application on this in practical terms. The Lord said “Occupy until I come”. When an occupation army comes in, what do they do? They don't run up in the hills and hide out. They take over! They take over, if necessary, in the schools, so that no philosophy will be taught that is counter to their particular position. They also take over the banks and the wealth of the nation. They take over the, if necessary, even the churches, to make sure nothing is said that will not go against what they are trying to do. They take over, of course, the military, and all the other aspects of life that they need to control. They take over. Now Jesus said “Occupy until...” And there is certainly a view that says that we, the body of Christ, are really under the hand of Satan in this world and we're going to squeak out and maybe slip out in such a way that nobody will notice because we're so weak when it happens. But I don't believe that. I believe God is wanting a glorious church, a strong church, to go out and triumph. And I like to put it in a way that maybe even in the exaggeration you'll get the impact a little better, that if we work hard enough, sure, there will be an Antichrist, because the Bible says so, but he can hold his international convention in a phone booth. You see, instead of trying to picture the greatness of the Antichrist and what Satan is going to do, let's see the greatness of Jesus through His church according to what we do in faith ruling and reigning with Christ.

There is actually some stuff before this that could be good to look at later, but this will do for now.

So, where does Jesus say "Occupy til I come"? It should be considered interesting that Cunningham gives no reference for this phrase, though it's likely not a difficult one to find.

Luke 1911 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. 12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ 14 But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15 When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. 16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ 19 And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ 24 And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ 26 ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 27 But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’”

This is from the ESV, so the translation is a bit different, but the sentence in 13 is also translated as something like"Occupy until I come" in some other translations.

But the ESV is a good translation here, because it gives the proper sense of what the nobleman in the parable said. The word is pragmateuomai, and here is its definition.

to be occupied in anything

to carry on a business

to carry on the business of a banker or a trader

The word "occupy" isn't a bad translation, it's only shenanigans like what Cunningham engages in, taking that phrase out of context and trying to make it mean something it isn't even close to meaning, that spoils "occupy.

So, when Cunningham tries to make "Occupy until I come" mean that the church should act like an occupying army, one can have two reasonable reactions--laugh uproariously at such blatant nonsense and falsehood, because in one sense such shenanigans are worthy only of being laughed at, or feel unease when you realize that Cunningham is saying that the church really should act like a occupying army, taking over banks and schools and even churches.

The dishonesty on full display in this video is so obvious and blatant that Cunningham should lose great amounts of credibility for being either so dishonest or such a doofus. At the least, he showed himself unqualified to be a teacher of any kind by promoting such a wrong interpretation of that phrase.

review--Psycho-Pass, season 1

I want to start with a bit of a caveat. This show does contain some scenes of intense violence and some graphic crime scenes. It definitely shouldn't be considered a kid's show. If I were to draw a line, I'd says that if you are fine with crime scenes and crime depictions in the various CSI series or a show like Bones, you should be ok watching Psycho-Pass. If CSI and Bones aren't things you like, you may be wisest to give this show a pass.

Summary

Japan has created an ideal, well-ordered society through the use of the Sibyl System, an apparently computerized system that uses a multitude of scanning devices to monitor citizens' mental states and determine when a person might be in a state of mind to perform a criminal act. But the Sibyl System does far more then evaluate persons; it also determines what kinds of art and music are acceptable for citizens to perform and listen to, and determines what a person's career path would be best for them. All of this is designed to give each person the best chance for a happy life, and so create a happy society.

There is still a need for law enforcement, for times when the Sybil System determines that a person's mental state has made them a latent criminal. Akane Tsunemori is a rookie detective, and she works along side people called Enforcers, who are latent criminals used by Sybil to hunt down other criminals. From her first night on the job, Akane is pushed into a violent world she had previously been unfamiliar with, and has to deal with horrible crimes and their consequences to others and to herself while not allowing those crimes to affect her so much that Sybil determines that her mental state has crossed over into her becoming a latent criminal.

Shinya Kogami is one of the Enforcers, a former detective whose obsession with a series of murders committed a few years before, and in which an Enforcer then under him had been killed, caused his own mental state to become so bad that Sibyl labeled him a latent criminal. He now works under Akane, but is still determined to solve that old murder mystery, and learn about the man he thinks is actually behind so many of the grotesque crimes that have been occurring in recent years. The existence of this mysterious criminal mastermind is doubted by many of the detectives, but then Akane comes face-to-face with him in a devastating way, after which she joins with Kogami is his hunt for him.

The world depicted in Psycho-Pass is an intriguing blend of reality and illusions. Robotic drones used by law enforcement to secure locations are hidden in cutesy-looking holographic images. Living spaces can use holograms so they can look very different from moment to moment, and even the appearance of a character's clothing can be changed using holographic tools. I suspect these small-scale illusions are meant as microcosms of the larger illusions that cover the society as a whole.

The Perfect Society?

Shogo Makishima is the man who has been supporting and encouraging various forms of criminal activities. His idea is that the Sibyl System has done the people more harm then good. But protecting the people from crime, the system has essentially made the citizens in livestock, they have become sheeple who live dull, programmed lives that do not require them to think, make decisions, or face real conflicts.

And it could be said that he does have a point. When the systems can decide a person's future for them, when it can evaluate for them what kind of work would make them happy, when it can determine what kinds of music and art the people should be exposed to, and when it can determine when a person has become so dangerous that they need to be captured or eliminated even before that person had committed any criminal action, then it could be argued that the system has become something oppressive, even when the oppression wears a mask of benevolence.

But Makishima himself hardly offers a better alternative. How is society-wide chaos suppose to be superior to society-wide control? How is the freedom to commit crimes with impunity better then the oppression of being labeled a latent criminal before one has even committed a crime?

All such attempts at a utopian society fall apart, and they fall apart for the reason that man, the creator of these utopias, is himself fallen

What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like gods’— could set up on their own as if they had created themselves— be their own masters— invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history— money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery— the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.

The reason why it can never succeed is this. God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.


That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended— civilisations are built up— excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top and it all slides back into misery and ruin. In fact, the machine conks. It seems to start up all right and runs a few yards, and then it breaks down. They are trying to run it on the wrong juice. That is what Satan has done to us humans.”

Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis Signature Classics) (pp. 49-50)

Is This the Church's Job?

One things I've been looking into a good bit has been ideas in the church about societal transformations. While some of these views have appeared loopy, others are sane enough to be taken seriously.

As I visited primarily Christianized nations— Togo, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa— my anguish increased. Missions statistics that I had quoted with joy burned in my mind. “Africa, 80 percent Christian south of the Sahara by the end of the twentieth century.” “Africa, the most evangelized continent in the world.” “Africa, the most churched continent by the end of this century.” In each nation the story was the same. Poverty, disease, violence, corruption, injustice, and chaos met me at every turn. I found myself asking, Is this “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven”? Is this what the blessing of the gospel brought into a community looks like? Is this what a nation looks like when it is “reached”? In southern Africa nearly every person has heard the gospel. Churches are planted and full. African evangelists abound and continue the work. Is this what it looks like when our work as Christians is finished in a nation? God forbid! My anguish increased.

Cope, Landa. An Introduction to the Old Testament Template: Rediscovering God's Principles for Discipling Nations (Kindle Locations 215-222)

I can understand this woman's concerns. The fallenness of man has resulted in societies that are filled with the things she mentions--poverty, disease, violence, corruption, injustice, and chaos. Those things can be seen in any nation, even in nations that could be considered highly christianized in places outside of Africa.

But if I can understand her concerns, I also find her solutions troubling.

God’s truth, if applied, can and does transform communities and nations. If God can develop these impoverished Jews into a great nation, he can do it for any existing nation in any age, because not one community or nation in the world today is worse off than the Israelites in that wilderness. God has told us to reach every creature with the message of salvation, and he has taught us how to do that. He left us the models of Jesus and Paul and the New Testament church to guide us into the global vision of reaching every language, every tribe, and every people. But God has also told us to disciple every nation. How do we do that? God has not given us a job and then been silent on how to accomplish it. Just as the keys to evangelism are in the stories of Jesus and Paul, the keys to our job in transforming communities are in the story of Moses. Israel— its journey from slavery to greatness— is our Old Testament template of how to disciple a nation.

Cope, Landa. An Introduction to the Old Testament Template: Rediscovering God's Principles for Discipling Nations (Kindle Locations 494-500)

Is this really what Jesus meant when he told the church to make disciples of all nations? Is the church's job really to somehow put the nations of the world under the law of Moses, or at least impose some principles the church gets from the law of Moses? Where did Jesus or any writer in the New Testament hold up ancient Israel as an example of what they meant by making disciples of all nations?

To put it maybe rather crudely, is it the church's job to become Big Brother, or the Sibyl System, or any kind of societal ruler or overseer, whose job is to conform society and the lives of individuals, even those who do not belief in God or believe in other gods, to biblical standards and biblical principles?

Because how good of an example in ancient Israel do we have of a discipled society? The biblical book of Judges is grim reading indeed, and while one could point out the time of Kings David and Solomon as being high points in that nation's history, they are still hardly perfect times. The Bible is not silent about David's sins and how Solomon fell into idolatry in his later years, and after them the history of Israel is a story of division and bad kings, being conquered and going into exile.

I see this emphasis on transforming societies, on dominionism, as at best a distraction. That doesn't mean Christians are not to care about the lives and well-being of their neighbors, or hope and pray for godly rulers and just laws, but to give the church an assignment that the Bible does not plainly give it is unwise.

Conclusion

I started out comparing Psycho-Pass to some TV shows, and I'll end by comparing it to a movie, The Matrix. Though very different, both look at mankind's problematic relationship with technologies and machines, especially when those machines are set up in ways that control mankind more and more. Both are stories with lots of action, but also well thought out and insightful. If you think you can handle the disturbing elements, I can recommend season 1 of Psycho-Pass pretty highly. There is also a season 2, though I haven't yet seen it.

who will keep Johnny Enlow accountable?

I WAS AWAKENED AT 3:43 a.m. in December 2008, and the Lord instructed me to go look at Psalm 34:3: “Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.” The Lord began to speak to me: 

My people are magnifying their fears, their doubts, their concerns, their anxieties. I am very large for them at this time, and I need you to tell them to magnify Me so that they will see Me the size that I actually am. For those who get a vision of my true size, I will cause these next seven years to be seven years of plenty. I have one quadrillion dollars of resources that I am making available for my Josephs. A treasure chest has been made available as of Rosh Hashanah 2008 [September 29, the day Wall Street Dow Jones fell a record 777.7 points], and it will be open until Rosh Hashanah 2015. I am longing to show Myself strong and large to My people and to the nations as a God of provision during these seven years. Many of my people have known that there will be an End time transfer of wealth, but they have been fishing in the wrong pond. Wall Street is not the source from which my one quadrillion dollars of resources will come. I have many other ways of providing wealth. My Joseph dreams will be coming to my sons and daughters, and I will have strategies, inventions, and hidden treasures of every kind available to be discovered.

Enlow, Johnny. The Seven Mountain Mantle: Receiving the Joseph Anointing to Reform Nations (p. 65). Charisma House. Kindle Edition. 

 So, Enlow claimed that almost eight years ago God told him that He had one quadrillion dollars He's going to give to "my Josephs". This was suppose to happen in the 7 year period up to whenever Rosh Hashanah was in 2015.

Safe to say, that didn't happen. Not even close.

Now, who is going to hold Enlow accountable for this horrendously wrong prophetic word? Who will hold him accountable for saying God told him something when God clearly hadn't told him a thing?

new book: At the Seven Mountains of Madness

"As a young man, Rayton Stanford learns that he has a powerful gift, something the apostles and prophets call an anointing. He becomes a part of a group called 7M, and is taught and encouraged in ways of conquering the seven mountains of society for Christ, and to put his trust in the leadership of the apostles and the prophets. But when he learns that the apostles and prophets and faith healers practice deception and engage in secret corruption practices, his world is turned upside down, and he struggles to determine the truth and how he is to respond to the truth."



Few popular teachings in the church today seem more at odds with Scripture then forms of dominionism, including Seven Mountains dominionism. Dress it up in christianese as much as you want, but the idea of the church needing to somehow take over the world not only has no sound support in the Bible, but is contradicted by much of what the Bible says about the state of things in the world, particularly about how things will be in the end.

This story is about the madness of this dominionist vision, and the lies and hypocrisies practiced by those who call themselves apostles and prophets and faith healers.