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I just finished watching a fantastic documentary, American Gospel – Christ Alone, contrasting the Gospel with its predominant portrayal in American culture, today. The filmmaker, Brandon Kimber, did a masterful and thorough job on this 2 hour and 19-minute film.

The buzz around American Gospel is how it defines and addresses the problems of the prosperity Gospel. While it does accomplish that vital task (something I’d hoped for, but didn’t find in “Blessed”), it does much more than that. It first presents the authentic Gospel (first 40 minutes), contrasts it with faith vs. works fallacies, what the Bible really says about suffering and evil, and highlights some of those associated with the NAR controversy though none of these things are its primary focus.

Some ‘Blessed” Questions Answered

In my review of “Blessed”, I posed questions about prosperity and the Gospel the author did not address:

What is the relationship, if any, between the Gospel and human prosperity? How could salvation of the lost have nothing, whatsoever, to do with human flourishing?Every believer with a heartbeat might have an opinion on such questions. But, what is the truth contained in the Biblical text?

What might a believer seeking the whole counsel of God, conclude? Have some, or all, of these prosperity gospel preachers been fleecing the sheep or does the fulfillment of one or more of the missions of Jesus Christ involve prosperity and believers?

American Gospel” solidly answers the last question with scriptural references that will leave the viewer inspired yet with no doubts about the spiritual crimes of a half-dozen or so of these gospel hucksters.

Soon to Become a Handy Video Reference

Given its quality and thoroughness, I’ll likely be referring to American Gospel as a resource for illustrating, if not altogether resolving, many of questions and issues that come up on forums and in conversations. Therefore, I’ll need to re-watch this documentary and capture timestamps and summaries of the many problems this film handles and illustrates so well. That will take some time since the work, while quite entertaining, is rather comprehensive in its coverage.

If you’re looking for a one-stop resource to clearly delineate many of the ways the predominant modern portrayal of the Gospel in the American culture differs from the Biblical Text, this film is the best single resource I’ve seen on the subject.

Modern Money Changers

There’s plenty in the film that may have you relating to Christ’s anger at the money changers in the Temple. But it’s the trail of needlessly ruined or impoverished lives and the thwarting of those genuinely seeking God that’s probably the greater cost.

The hoarded and fraudulently gained earthly wealth of these hucksters is the best demonstration and proof of their genuinely held values: that the Gospel is just a mesmerizing tale that keeps the attention of believers long enough to separate them from their wallets and purses.

For the benefit of Benny Hinn’s $20k nightly stays in Dubai, the un-healed believer with cerebral palsy spends a lifetime questioning why his faith is not strong enough to convince God to heal him. Too bad he doesn’t know that Benny’s handlers screen out the hard cases before they get too close to the stage.

Pentecostal Lunacy

Kenneth Copeland plagiarizes his loony mentor (Kenneth Hagin) and takes “Ye shall be as gods” to the next level claiming he has Jesus’ DNA. With such exalted genetic street-cred established, it’s perfectly natural to demand another $60 million for a second jet for his private airport. After all, the contributing believers would be entitled to their own earthly empires if they only had the “wisdom” to ask.

Here’s an episode in Copeland’s apprenticeship with Hagin, his psychopathic mentor:

Passing the Baton

Here’s Copeland “passing the baton” to Todd White. Can we look forward to subsequent references to this episode described as Todd’s “anointing?”

In “American Gospel,” Todd White demonstrates what is apparently his schtick: a super slow manipulation of the ankle to make it look like he’s called the power of the Holy Spirit down to even up the lengths of a seeker’s legs and putting an end to chronic back pain.

The Beginning of the End, Hopefully

Is walking to the head of every line and claiming to be first proof of “God’s plan for your life” or just common lousy behavior? Is a graceful walk through the long process of sanctification only necessary because I don’t understand what my Bible really says, like Copeland or White?

For all “American Gospel” does to clarify the true Gospel and expose the false, it also does a wonderful job in championing God’s word and its role in fostering and deepening a relationship with our Creator. Let’s pray that “American Gospel” is the beginning of the end of the horrible spiritual destruction that follows in the wake of the false prosperity gospel.

By TheBibleProject

This is the first of a video series by The Bible Project illustrating material from biblical scholar Dr. Michael S. Heiser’s Unseen Realm.

In the first pages of the Bible, we’re introduced to God and humans as the main characters. But there’s also a whole cast of spiritual beings who play an important role throughout the Bible, though they’re often in the background. In this video, we begin to explore these beings and how they fit into the unified storyline of the Bible.

Spiritual Beings

If you’ve ever been puzzled about angels, demons, and other spiritual beings in the Bible, you’re not alone! Our modern depictions of these creatures are mostly based on misunderstandings of who they are and how they fit into the overall storyline of the Bible. In this first installment of our Spiritual Beings video series, we’ll introduce the biblical concept of spiritual beings and rediscover their role in the biblical story that leads to Jesus.

Here’s the link to the series Exploring Spiritual Beings.

Persecution is increasing in Nepal. In the latter third of 2018, the Nepal government has deported and expelled at least 78 missionaries representing some 21 nations of the world. This in response to new legislation passed in October 2017 and put into effect in the summer of 2018.

For a personal overview of current conditions in Nepal, listen to my interview with Dr. Michael S. Heiser.

Also, please remember the native Nepalese believers “in chains” arrested by the same legislation (as we’re exhorted to do in Hebrews 13:3.) They face a hefty fine up to 50,000 rupees and five years in prisons (not up to Western standards) and often need total support from their families to survive (akin to the parable in Matthew 25:31-46.)

Biblical Era Powers

Nepali conditions are more akin to that of the world of the Bible than those in the west might imagine. We are surrounded by powers that would rather their influence or King (earthly or heavenly) not be impinged upon by any new kingdom; especially after the overthrow of their former monarchy.

Misleading Census Data

The 2011 census report in Wikipedia for Religions in Nepal is probably not accurate:

  • Hindu 81.3%
  • Buddhist  9.0%
  • Muslim 4.4%
  • Folk  3.0%
  • Christian 1.42%
  • Other 0.9%

The census is probably not accurate because the powers that be don’t want to report on the increase of Christianity resulting from the wave of Christian aid after the 2015 earthquakes.

Current Nepali Government

The current government is elected but is led by a communist faction with an overwhelming 2/3 majority for a five-year term. Nevertheless, it’s the first stable government since the bloody ravaged filled uprising in 2006. That uprising was focused on Christians as one of their primary necessities and partnered with the governments of both India and China in a unified effort.

Here is the Chinese media reporting on its pact with India and Nepal to drive out the West and Christianity in particular and an interview from this past summer as the legislation began to be enforced. The interviewee is a Christian political leader in Nepal and one of the principals at a college where I teach. He travels across Nepal with a book he’s written to address abuses of members of congregations who are being mistreated and deceived into giving up their rights so hard fought for in the newly established constitution.

Recent Persecution Events

Recent events in Nepal’s history concerning the rise in persecution is documented in the following articles:

Also, a school was shut down and children forced out because outsiders believed the children were being forcibly converted.

Preservation Law

The Anti-Conversion Law was followed up by a similar Preservation Law to protect the Hindu religion and religious tourists’ sites from the spread of Christianity. Such sites are at the heart of their economy. The Preservation Law can be used against anyone with a beef against believers for any reason to bring harassment through trumped-up charges.

Christian Moonies?

A recent summit was held and the focus was on the need to curtail Christianity. The “Moonies” and their “daughter of Jesus” represented Christianity and gave USD 100,000.

Tons of criticism ensued that this was even allowed among the Hindu/Buddhist majority currently ruling.

On the docket was a discussion of the role of faith-based organizations/initiatives in Asia. As a result, certain powers that be were ready to restore Nepal to a Hindu kingdom and drive out Christianity entirely.

Violent Swings

Much that happens in the new political environ of Nepal is in the wake of violent swings from one extreme to another. Those poised use the momentum to achieve their goals. Each one waits for their “moment” to strike while the iron is hot!

At the same time, though, in India, some elections of interest “just happened” to be going on. Their election process there have separate states voting each according to its designs. The current prime minister, Narendra Modi, recently lost his super majority and his influence has been gradually reduced to more like a fifty-fifty split at present it would seem.

Modi’s Upsurge

As the champion in Asian politics of Hinduism, Modi’s upsurge has been the driving force behind much persecution since in both India and subsequently Nepal. Those opposed to Christianity have ridden his “wave” of popularity to bring about their own agendas and as Nero of Rome did centuries ago take it out on Christians. Asia is much more akin to Biblical times in so many ways.

Now that he is not so strong, many feared what would happen if this slide/trend continues. Traditionally, the Congress party in India has stood up for the rights of Christians. Due to much political corruption, they lost to Modi when he and his party initially rose to power in 2014. Now the opposition to Modi has been able to cobble back a 50% stake apparently in the legislature and who will be the next prime minister in the wake of India’s 2019 General election.

Facebook Nonsense in Nepal

You wouldn’t believe what goes on Facebook here. A while back, they had Navy Seals in Syria slitting children’s throats! That was tough for some people to process albeit many knew the US is not like that!

The Empire Strikes Back

Teach Nepal (a Christian only entity) was being threatened because they don’t hire non-Christians. As a result, Teach Nepal shut down altogether and remain aloof.

Current Sentiment

The last paragraph of this article represents much the current sentiment in Nepal.

Here’s a new update coming out of China. and an update from India. and one on Christmas in Nepal.

Here’s an important ongoing story to help one understand where the persecution is trending amid the swirling powers of Nepal. A school in a remote district was closed and several Christians arrested. Afterward, the update on their “triumphant” release.

Not Looking Good for Christians

The Christians here see through the Hindus more influenced by the current Hindu party in power in India which is very opposed to Christians. The effect of a recent election in India shifted the thinking of the Hindus here is a case in point.

Either way, for Christians in Asia, it is not looking good. From what I am seeing on the ground Hindus respond more to Hindus in India than the communist in China presently while both factors do play significant roles.

God’s Hand on Elections!

Thus, on the very day, the contentions in Nepal swelled as many were hoping to take advantage and act, the news of the results in India’s provisional elections in three nearby states caused them to cool their jets and think more carefully.

With so many facets of political intrigue in competition for their piece of the pie, it is often tough to know where things may turn at any given moment. Many agendas get set aside as new interests prevail.

With Nepal so small in the world nestled between two of the largest people groups in the world, only God knows where things may end up.

This reminds me of the peripeties in the book of Esther! We just trust the Lord to lead and guide despite what “in the world” may transpire.

There is still more to the story as the General elections have yet to take place due in April, but if these recent state elections are any indication, things at least are being held in check at the moment. All sides look cautiously as the largest democracy in the world is set to vote.

After King Henry VIII broke from Rome in 1534, England began enforcing Anglican religious uniformity. Some wanted to purify the Anglican Church from the inside, being given the name “Puritans.” Others separated themselves completely from the Anglican Church as dissenters. Of those were Thomas Helwys, John Murton and John Smyth, who founded the Baptist faith in England.

Thomas Helwys wrote “A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity,” 1612, considered the first English book defending the principle of religious liberty: “Queen Mary … had no power over her subjects consciences … neither hath our Lord the King … power over his subjects consciences. … The King is a mortal man, and not God, therefore he hath no power over the mortal soul of his subjects to make laws and ordinances for them and to set spiritual Lords over them. …”

He continued: “If the King’s people be obedient and true subjects, obeying all humane laws made by the King, our Lord the King can require no more: for men’s religion to God is betwixt God and themselves; the King shall not answer for it, neither may the King be judge between God and man.”

Thomas Helwys was arrested and thrown into London’s notorious Newgate Prison, where he died in 1616.

Another Baptist dissenter, John Murton, was locked in Newgate Prison as punishment for spreading politically incorrect religious views. Prisoners were not fed, but instead relied on charity of friends to bring them food, such as bread or bottles of milk.

Roger Williams referred to John Murton in his work, “The Bloody Tenet (Practice) of Persecution for the Cause of Conscience,” 1644: “The author of these arguments against persecution … being committed (a) prisoner to Newgate for the witness of some truths of Jesus … and having not use of pen and ink, wrote these arguments in milk, in sheets of paper brought to him by the woman, his keeper, from a friend in London as the stopples (corks) of his milk bottle. … In such paper, written with milk, nothing will appear; but the way of reading by fire being known to this friend who received the papers, he transcribed and kept together the papers, although the author himself could not correct nor view what himself had written. … It was in milk, tending to soul nourishment, even for babes and sucklings in Christ … the word of truth … testify against … slaughtering each other for their several respective religions and consciences.”

Williams wrote: “Persecution for cause of conscience is most contrary to the doctrine of Christ Jesus the Prince of Peace. … Enforced uniformity is the greatest occasion of civil war, ravishing of conscience, persecution of Christ Jesus in his servants.”

Roger Williams was a contemporary of John Bunyan, who wrote “Pilgrim’s Progress” while in prison for conscience sake. When the government sought to arrest Roger Williams for preaching religious liberty, he fled to Boston, Massachusetts, on Feb. 5, 1631.

To his dismay, Puritans in Massachusetts had begun enforcing Puritan religious uniformity. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black wrote in Engel v. Vitale, 1962: “When some of the very groups which had most strenuously opposed the established Church of England found themselves sufficiently in control of colonial governments … they passed laws making their own religion the official religion of their respective colonies.”

A controversy raged among inhabitants of Massachusetts, between “a covenant of grace” versus “a covenant of works.” The “covenant of grace” leaders were Sir Henry Vane, Rev. John Cotton, Rev. John Wheelwright, and his sister-in-law, Anne Hutchinson.

Rev. John Wheelwright fled Puritan uniformity in Massachusetts in 1637 and founded Exeter, New Hampshire. Roger Williams was briefly the pastor a church till “notorious disagreements” caused the Massachusetts General Court to censor his religious speech. Upon hearing the sheriff was on his way to arrest him and send him back to England, Williams fled again, in freezing weather, January of 1636. For weeks he traveled alone till he was befriended by the Indians of Narragansett. He founded Providence Plantation, Rhode Island – the first place where the church was not controlled by state.

Roger Williams wrote in 1661: “I having made covenant of peaceable neighborhood with all the Sachems (Chiefs) and natives round about us, and having in a sense of God’s merciful providence unto me in my distress called the place Providence … a shelter for persons distressed of conscience.”

A historical plaque reads: “To the memory of Roger Williams, the Apostle of Soul Liberty, Founder of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation.”

The reverse of the plaque reads: “Below this spot then at the water’s edge stood the rock on which according to tradition Roger Williams, an exile for the devotion to the freedom of conscience, landed. 1636.”

In 1638, Roger Williams organized the first Baptist Church in America.

A plaque reads: “The First Baptist Church, Founded by Roger Williams, AD 1638, The Oldest Baptist Church in America, The Oldest Church in this State.”

Physician John Clarke came to Rhode Island and founded another Baptist Church in Newport. Other dissenters arrived in Williams’ Rhode Island Colony, such as William Coddington, Philip Sherman, and Anne Hutchinson. Anne soon left again to settle in the Dutch settlement of the Bronx in New York City, where all her family was scalped and beheaded by raiding Indians in 1643. There was only one survivor, Anne’s nine-year-old daughter Susanna, who was taken captive. After several years, she escaped and married an innkeeper, Samuel Cole. Their descendants included three U.S. presidents.

The Governor of Massachusetts from 1636 to 1637 was Sir Henry Vane, who helped found Harvard. He supported the efforts of Roger Williams. Due to the “covenant of grace” versus “covenant of works” controversy, Governor Sir Henry Vane was not reelected, being replaced by John Winthrop.

In 1639, Sir Henry Vane returned to England where he backed the Puritan Revolution, led by Oliver Cromwell, though he did not support the Rump Parliament which beheaded Charles I.

During the brief English Commonwealth, Vane helped draft for Roger Williams the Patent for Providence Plantation, which was unique in that it did not acknowledge a king, and it guaranteed freedom of religion and conscience. Vane later defended the Patent on behalf of Roger Williams against a competing charter.

Roger William wrote of Vane in April of 1664: “Under God, the great anchor of our ship is Sir Henry Vane … an instrument in the hand of God for procuring this island.”

A statue of Sir Henry Vane is in the Boston Public Library with a plaque that reads: “Sir Henry Vane … An ardent defender of civil liberty and advocate of free thought in religion. He maintained that God, Law, and Parliament were superior to the King.”

The Plantation Agreement at Providence, Sept. 6, 1640, stated: “We agree, as formerly hath been the liberties of the town, so still, to hold forth liberty of conscience.”

The Government of Rhode Island, March 19, 1641, stated: “The Government … in this Island … is a Democracy, or Popular Government; that is to say, It is in the Power of the Body of Freemen orderly assembled.”

Roger Williams responded to Puritan leader John Cotton’s accusations by publishing “The Bloody Tenet (Practice) of Persecution for the Cause of Conscience and Mr. Cotton’s Letter Lately Printed, Examined and Answered in 1644.” In this, Williams first mentioned his now famous phrase, “wall of separation”: “Mr. Cotton … hath not duly considered these following particulars. First, the faithful labors of many witnesses of Jesus Christ, existing in the world, abundantly proving, that the Church of the Jews under the Old Testament in the type and the Church of the Christians under the New Testament in the anti-type, were both separate from the world; and that when they have opened a gap in the hedge, or wall of separation, between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world, God hath ever broken down the wall itself, removed the candlestick, &c. and made his garden a wilderness, as at this day. And that therefore if He will ever please to restore His garden and paradise again, it must of necessity be walled in peculiarly unto Himself from the world, and that all that shall be saved out of the world are to be transplanted out of the wilderness of the world and added unto His Church or garden … a separation of Holy from unHoly, penitent from impenitent, Godly from unGodly.”

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By Yuliya Talmazan

“If heaven is made for ISIS and their belief,” said one convert, “I would choose hell for myself instead of being again with them in the same place, even if it’s paradise.”

Four years have passed since the Islamic State group’s fighters were run out of Kobani, a strategic city on the Syrian-Turkish border, but the militants’ violent and extreme interpretation of Islam has left some questioning their faith.

A new church is attracting converts. It is the first local Christian place of worship for decades.

“If ISIS represents Islam, I don’t want to be a Muslim anymore,” Farhad Jasim, 23, who attends the Church of the Brethren, told NBC News. “Their God is not my God.”

Religious conversions are rare and taboo in Syria, with those who abandon Islam often ostracized by their families and communities.

“Even under the Syrian regime before the revolution, it was strictly forbidden to change religion from Islam to Christianity or the opposite,” said Omar, 38, who serves as an administrator at the Protestant church. (He asked for his last name not to be revealed for safety reasons. The church’s priest declined to be interviewed.)

“Changing your religion under ISIS wasn’t even imaginable. ISIS would kill you immediately,” he added.

While residents are still dealing with the emotional scars left by the brutality of ISIS, Omar says many people in Kobani have been open-minded about Christianity.

Omar reads the Bible at the Church of the Brethren in Kobani, Syria.NBC News

“Most of the brothers here converted or come to church as a result of what ISIS did to them and to their families,” he added. “No one is forced to convert. Our weapon is the prayer, the spreading of spirit of love, brotherhood and tolerance.”

Islamic leaders around the world have spoken against the extremists’ ideology, accusing the ISIS militants of hijacking their religion.

In 2014, more than 100 Muslim scholars wrote an open letter to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi saying the militant group has “misinterpreted Islam into a religion of harshness, brutality, torture and murder.”

>”I saw dead bodies of young men being thrown from high buildings for being gay.”

Only 4.6 percent of Syrians are believed to be Christian, according to a report by the Aid to the Church in Need. The Catholic charity estimates that 700,000 Christians have fled the country since the civil war erupted in 2011, an exodus that has halved their proportion of the population.

Jasim, who works as a mechanic, converted to Christianity late last year.

He says he was jailed by ISIS for six months in early 2016 after the militants discovered he didn’t know the basics of Islam. He says he was tortured in ISIS captivity and forced to read the Quran.

Farhad Jasim worships in the Church of the Brethren in Kobani, Syria.NBC News

“After I witnessed their brutality with my own eyes, I started to be skeptical about my belief,” Jasim said, anger rising in his voice.

After hearing about the Church of the Brethren — which opened in September and is part of a denomination with its origins in 18th-century Germany — Jasim decided to visit and see for himself what it was all about.

“It didn’t take me long to discover that Christianity was the religion I was searching for,” he said.

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