I admit; I see some pretty strange things in any given day, but yesterday, I saw a video(/link) that was flat out weird. Watching this video gives me cold chills and caterpillar creeps. The speaker's claims are nothing short of false teaching and psychic babble. He looks out at people and "sees things"...like a television screen between himself and another. Kinda like a gypsy looking into a lighted crystal ball. He encourages the listening audience to begin watching for the things before them...kinda like the "Matrix" red pill, blue pill scene. Hokey pokey dribble.
Nothing flusters me more than a preacher who toys with the hearts and emotions of innocent people who trust his leadership. I simply cannot grasp the reasoning behind this nonsense. Mark Driscoll says he doesn't talk much about "it" (his ability to "see things"), because he'd be inundated with folks who'd want to talk to him. Seems to me if a person didn't want others to know about such an insightful psychic gift, they'd keep it to themselves. Personally, I think this young preacher-man has been watching too many television shows, reading too many Harry Potter books, and watching too many reruns of The Lord of the Ring trilogy. Most certainly those within earshot of his babble should test the spirits surrounding him against the Word of God. I'd trust most saints would come up 66 books shy of any evidence that this man's claims are of God.
Instead of rattling on about visions of disgust that he is seeing, I suggest Mark focus a bit more on proclaiming Jesus and praying for a lost world....(as would we all).
The gift of discernment can be a cumbersome gift. It must be handled with the utmost humility and caution. It's not intuition. It's the ability to tell the difference between good and evil, right and wrong--spiritual darkness. Discernment helps me when I am in counseling situations--to interpret what is really bothering another who is sharing a struggle. It helps me cut to the chase and slice through rhetoric. It's not some mysterious crystal ball view of a person's past, or palm-reading of someone's future. It listens and observes. Unlike horoscopes which are written by a bunch of nut-jobs and give generalized predictions of the day, discernment is Holy Spirit-fed knowledge. The Spirit equips us to help others stay clear of harmful elements in the world. Oppressive forces. Unhelpful attitudes, pride, deceit, guile. Discernment helps me pray more specifically for needs of the saints of God. As we await the second coming of Christ, we must be ever vigilant to discern the voice of God and reject those who claim to speak for Him with forked tongues and twisted words. selahV
"This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD." Jeremiah 23:16
