3rd Compass -> Group News and Articles -> Ministry Warnings

Ministry Warnings (Review)
Make Comment		 Minister Ty Alexander
(Ty Huynh)
  3/1/2019 3:52 PM


This is a list of ministries, religious groups, spiritual books, and references that I evaluated to have false and harmful teaching. Their materials should be avoided and any ministry that uses their resources should also be avoided or at least warned about their use of false guidance and teaching.

Keeping these influences out of our lives is important, not just because accepting false teachings will bring spiritual blindness, but it also allows the demons associated with them to spread, which happens very easily when we accept false teaching, like false gospels (see The True Gospel and Imposters for more) and other spiritual teaching. Using them is a sin, which is one reason why Apostle Paul said those who preach "another gospel" or false gospels would be cursed (Galatians 1:8-9).

The groups listed here are largely composed of well-meaning Christians and other spiritual believers, so we should not be too judgmental of their members. Most of them were just taught wrong or believe in the wrong things. However, we should judge their teachings and organizations - examine everything carefully and keep only what is good and true (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22).

Most people in these groups are completely unaware of the enemy's influence on them and their beliefs. Many of their members are also not in leadership or teaching roles, and so should not be viewed negatively just because they claim to be Catholic, Mormon, Pentecostal, etc.

I was privileged throughout my life to be helped by members of many Christian organizations that are listed here. My local Catholic community was especially supportive for my family as refugees of the Vietnam War. It is the false teaching and other bad things these groups spread that need to be avoided.

I am not advocating complete isolation of people that belong to these groups either, though the New Testament does say we should not associate with people who teach to deny Christ had come (2 John 1:9-11), which are antichrist beliefs. I give these warnings so God's People leave these organizations and their false teachings. Most of them belong to the Harlot Babylon of Revelation, which we are told to "come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive her plagues..." (Revelation 18:4), and God has reaffirmed this call to leave her recently. See God's Alarm and the Harlot Babylon Revealed for details.

God has used people in the Harlot and groups below to do His will, whether they truly belong to Him or not. He has control over all things in creation, even demons and people influenced by them, but not all things are directly from God, like the acts of Hitler and the Nazis or pagan societies. God brought these people and kingdoms into being and some of their acts were and are God's will, but they also live or lived in sin and are influenced by the enemy, so not everything is directly from God.

Some groups listed here do get some good guidance from God, but their interpretations and teachings are also influenced by the enemy. I do not want to diminish the contribution of anybody in the Body of Christ, even if they are influenced by darkness. I had believed in false guidance as well, and if you claim to be immune from the enemy or that your teachings are immune, then you have fallen to a common deception; remember that even the elect will be misled (Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22).

The Lord brought me through more than a decade of spiritual warfare to see the truth of the church's negative influences, and so I can help us get out of them. I know it was God's plan for me to go through bad spiritual paths to learn about them. The Lord gave me many physical evidences of this predestiny, which I share in my personal background page.

I could only fully see what was wrong with the church when I came out of the spiritual blindness or brainwashing that accepting lies and false guidance creates. You will also have to come out of bad things you've accepted if you are to understand correctly, so if you want to look at the teachings of the groups listed here, I urge caution and that you study what I teach so you better understand the difference between good and bad spiritual teaching and guidance. It takes much experience and an objective mind, free from false beliefs and false teachings, to correctly identify bad teaching and false spiritual guidance.

Thinking that being saved in God's kingdom, having His Spirit or God's Mind and guidance or spiritual gifts to keep you from falling to error and bad discernment, is an especially bad assumption that many in the church believes will protect her. The problem is, it is impossible for anyone to interpret and understand correctly if they've already accepted lies and false teaching that affects their thinking, especially when the demons associated with them often override the spiritual guidance and truth God tries to give.

Also keep in mind that the majority of spiritual gifts exhibited in the church are false ones from demons, and I've seen no one in the church with a gift of the Spirit that gives them absolutely infallible discernment and wisdom. None of the first apostles claimed that or gave evidence of it; even the Old Testament prophets made their mistakes. I have made mine as well, and I will never claim to be perfect or infallible.

Incomplete guidance and allowing us to err is God's way. The apostle Paul knew this and said, "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part... For now we see through a glass darkly... [until when that which is perfect is come, that is, when the Lord returns and we are transformed into our heavenly bodies]... then shall I know fully... So abide now in faith, hope, and charity" (1 Corinthians 13:9-13).

The Lord will not tell us everything with perfect clarity in this age. That is a very important lesson the Lord has taught me - no one can expect to be guided perfectly or discern perfectly in this age, even if they have gifts of the Spirit. The enemy has too many strongholds in the church and has corrupted nearly every aspect of it with false gifts and teachings, which is why we need people with the proper God-given experience and discernment to help us.

Ministries And Churches To Avoid
A summary of the kind of bad teaching these ministries and churches promote is provided. Many of these groups are influenced by false guidance from imposters of God, His Spirit, saints, and angels, who claim to be the real thing and can give real supernatural miracles to back up their false guidance. The guidance and miracles they give can be very hard to discern from true guidance from God, so if you are interested in learning common tactics of the enemy, see Light Within after this article.
  • Take His Heart Ministries and Roy Sauzek[3.1.50] - I have a great deal of knowledge of their workings and spiritual guidance, as I used to believe many things they teach. Roy is their lead pastor and writes most of the teachings on their website. They did get some good guidance from God and truth mixed with false guidance, but I found they are misled by a false-christ spirit and spread a spirit of slavery with their Brideship or "three spots" teachings, such as mandatory tithing and other mandatory acts. They use a form of guided meditation and emphasize spiritual revelation that is also used by many groups listed here. These practices invite demons since it is a form of divination. Take His Heart's website includes a lot of false guidance, like dreams, words, and visions that are not truly from the Lord.

    God's powers and gifts work independently and at the same time as false gifts and powers from demons, so just because a ministry or person performs deliverances or seems to get good guidance from God does not mean they are free from corruption by dark forces. Everything gets mixed up when people have imposters and demons working in their spiritual lives, so evaluating signs, guidance, or miracles by matching scripture or accepting spiritual powers does not truly validate them as being from God. We need much better discernment than matching things to be in line with scripture, which can also be corrupted with bad translations and interpretations.

  • God Calling[3.1.72] book and ministry and other teachings by the "Two Listeners,"[3.1.104.1] such as God Calling 2: God At Eventide
  • Arthur James Russell (A.J. Russell) and his book For Sinners Only - AJ Russell is also the editor for God Calling and God Calling 2: God At Eventide. In fact, the Two Listeners started their spiritual practices because one of them read AJ Russell's book, For Sinners Only[3.1.73]. However, after using the God Calling book, I found it is false guidance from a false-christ spirit that is very similar to the one spread by Take His Heart Ministries.

    I actually got the God Calling book from Roy Sauzek at Take His Heart, who said it should be called God Speaking. His ministry believes it is God's direct voice, as I used to believe, but after coming out of blindness from accepting their false guidance, I could see that the God Calling spirit and Take His Heart's spirit contradict each other. However, they both use truth, more carnal ways of following God, and techniques of brainwashing to control and prevent deeper thought. One of the Two Listeners was also Roman Catholic[3.1.73], which is a denomination that gives false gospels and teaching.
     
  • Jesus Calling book (subtitled "Devotions for every day of the year; Enjoying Peace In His Presence") and ministry by Sarah Young - After someone sent me an excerpt of this book, I could immediately see that it was just like the God Calling books that share what the author believes is direct guidance or words from the Lord. However, what these imposter spirits say contradict the truth in how God truly speaks and uses people.
     
  • Paramahansa Yogananda and his teachings and books, like The Yoga of Jesus: Understanding the Hidden Teachings of the Gospels - Paramahansa Yogananda teaches meditative spiritual practices that invite demons. These practices are similar to Take His Heart's, A.J. Russell's, and the Two Listeners - trying to listen for spiritual guidance in quiet surroundings and recording what you get. I noticed similarities in how these groups get shared revelations and spiritual guidance, like visions and words, among more than one person. Roy thinks this shared revelation is a sign things are from God, but I have since found out that demons can affect more than one person at the same time and over great distances, so shared revelation is not a test of validity for guidance from God.

    Also, even if you pray and ask for God by name when you try to get spiritual revelation or guidance, demons will interfere and often replace God, because meditation or self-realization techniques to focus on getting spiritual guidance is a form of divination, which demons attach to. We should simply pray and let God speak and guide as He sees fit, which is often not immediate. We should not focus on getting spiritual guidance in the moment, because God does not always reply quickly or through individual guidance. He can use other people and events you encounter to guide as well.
     
  • Deepak Chopra and his teachings and books, like You are the Universe, The Book of Secrets, and The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success -  Dr. Deepak Chopra's teachings are similar to that of Paramahans Yogananda above. They use meditation, which they call "mindfulness exercises" and mix Eastern Buddhist/Hindu spiritualism with Christian beliefs.

    Meditation mixed with spiritualism is a form of divination that other ministries I mentioned here teach and practice, and using them invites demons as I noted above.

    I also noted on a PBS special that promoted Deepak Chopra's material, he used Christian symbols, like a sculpture of an angel, and an Old Testament verse, "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10), which he used to emphasize the importance of silence in prayer and meditation. That scripture and overemphasis on silence is also used by other ministries listed here.

    Dr. Chopra used these Christian symbols alongside Eastern spiritual symbols and teaching. However, the great majority of his teaching was not Biblical and expressed Eastern religious concepts and laws, like karma and spiritual energies.

    This mixing often gets Christians hooked into unhealthy spiritual practices that have demons associated with them. I recommend staying away from any teachings that mix Christian beliefs with Eastern or other forms of spirituality, such as tribal spiritualism and yoga.

  • Amighty Wind Ministries and Elisabeth Elijah (Elisheva Eliyahu)[3.1.21.1] - Their teaching includes guidance from a false-holy-spirit, which they call Mother Shkhinah/Momma Shekhinah (Mother Shekinah). They treat this spirit as God and pray to and worship her much like some Catholics worship and pray to the Mother Mary and other saints. Amighty Wind Ministries also have many prophecies and other spiritual guidance on their website that are not from the Lord.

    Elisabeth Elijah has spiritual roots in the Pentecostal Church, which overemphasizes direct personal revelation and spiritual gifts like the first groups listed, however, these groups do not realize that many of their spiritual gifts are not truly from God or His Spirit, but are actually fakes from the enemy, who have real spiritual power to work signs and miracles (2 Thessalonians 2:9).

  • Pentecostal or Apostolic Church, Charismatic Church, Word of Faith, and other churches and ministries emphasizing spiritual gifts and prophecy - These branches of Christianity overemphasize baptism of the Holy Spirit and often overemphasize a personal relationship with God that include excessive prayer and seeking of spiritual guidance that is similar to the groups above.

    Eternal salvation through a personal relationship with God is a false gospel and spiritual powers and false-gifts-of-the-spirit are easily faked by the enemy. Things like visions, words, and dreams should always be tested and examined (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21).

    Ministries in the apostolic, charismatic, and prophetic sects, like the House of Prayer Movement and Jeremiah Johnson, often have the same kind of false-christ, false-holy-spirits working in them as the above groups that give false prophetic guidance and spiritual gifts that appear authentic, which is also found in the Catholic Church below.

    These sects are also blinded by much false teaching, including heavy emphasis on manifesting or "claiming" God's blessings that are similar to The Secret methods below. I would recommend leaving any group or ministry and their teachings that belong to these sects. I personally know of several people from Pentecostal churches who are afflicted by imposter spirits of Christ, like other sects listed here. They get guidance from "God" that are obvious lies and so these spirits reveal themselves to not be God, Christ, or the Spirit, for God does not lie (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18; Numbers 23:19) and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth (John 14:16-17, 15:26, 16:13; 1 John 5:6).

    For more details showing the false teachings and miracles in the Pentecostal/Apostolic Church and other ministries inspired by the Word of Faith movement, see "Evaluation of Christ Embassy's beliefs" by Enoch Alademerin[3.1.109].
     
  • Ministries showcasing frequent miracles and spiritual guidance, like healings, words, dreams/visions, and prophecy, should be highly scrutinized (1 Thessalonians 5:20-22). More often than not, these ministries are not showcasing true gifts of the Spirit or guidance from God, but are either faking things or showcasing false gifts and guidance from the enemy.

    There are true gifts of the Spirit, but they are not meant for showboating, exalting a certain ministry or church, or for getting funds. God gives them for the common good of the kingdom and righteousness (1 Corinthians 12:7), but too often I've seen ministries seek funding in conjunction with showing gifts.

    I have seen true workings of God and the Spirit in the church, but have seen false gifts in operation much more often. I've even seen ministers faking healings, such as Alexandru Iordan, who I examined because a Christian brother brought his Facebook stream to my attention. He spoke far too often of healing people with little evidence from the people he healed. Photos and videos can be easily faked, and I suspected something wrong with his ministry, but still I was willing to give him the benefit of doubt.

    But then I noticed he posted about healing the same woman with different ailments (arthritis in one post and hip surgery in another), a couple months apart. He used photos of the exact same woman with crutches each time. This proved he was faking things, and so I had to confront him so he could explain it. His response completely avoided the contradictory posts showing he healed the same woman and he blocked me before I could respond further.

    That is not the response of a righteous minister, so I felt his deceptions should be posted here as an example. For more examples, Enoch Alademerin gives testimonies of fake miracles, both from spiritual imposters as well as human fakes, in Pentecostal/Word of Faith ministries here: "Evaluation of Christ Embassy's beliefs"[3.1.109]. I give many examples of how the enemy fakes gifts and guidance in Light Within.
     
  • Rhonda Byrne, The Secret book and movie series, Ultra Manifestation books and products, and other sects teaching how to manifest blessings are linked to spiritualism that tries to manifest things, like healing, wealth, and wishes, by using focused thought. This is a form of greed and idolatry, as it bypasses God and puts the manifestation of what is wanted into the hands of the person. This is also related to teachings in the Pentecostal/Word of Faith movement and other ministries listed here where manifesting or "claiming" blessings is also taught. For more about this see Light Within.
     
  • The Catholic Church teaches false gospels or ways to be saved and other bad teachings. They also practice the worship of saints and angels, which is idolatry and has brought imposters of the Lord, saints, and angels that perform miracles and other signs in their names. These miracles and wonders are not truly of God but are "in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and the deception of wickedness..." (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10).

    God's true saints and angels will not let themselves be worshipped (Acts 10:25-26; Revelation 19:10, 22:8-9), so I would stay away from practices and teachings that put saints and angels into the center of prayer and worship.
     
  • The Orthodox Church teaches a false gospel of salvation by works of righteousness and have many accounts of miracles, many of which are false miracles from the enemy. They also claim to teach the original doctrines of the first apostles, but after examination of their teachings and stories of miracles and wonders, I had to conclude they are being deceived by the enemy and blinded by false teaching.

    The Lord even gave me evidence to counter their claims of the miraculously preserved bodies of dead saints about a week before I needed to use it in reply to a Greek Orthodox. For a deeper look at that and Orthodox teaching, see What Does Spiritual Blindness Look Like?

  • Many Protestant and Reformation denominations, like the Presbyterian Church, adhere to false gospels and doctrine, such as "sola fide," or eternal salvation "by faith alone." Faith in Christ is certainly necessary for salvation in Christ, but it is only the beginning - the justification of our salvation, "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified" (Romans 10:10) to have that salvation in Christ, but it is by your public confession you are saved into God's kingdom, that is, "it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved" (Romans 10:10). The details of this working of the New Covenant can be seen in The True Gospel and Imposters.

    Other false doctrine that is common among Protestant and Reformation churches is the concept of "sola scriptura" or "by scripture alone." This notion is often expressed in teachings where scripture is held as completely inerrant and where all other testimony and spiritual guidance is not considered to be God's word or to have the same authority as God. These teachings are very common among the ultra-religious and by people with religious spirits. They act as if their Bibles are God and hold the translations they have above what God actually says through His servants.

    Much of my teaching and testimony would be dismissed by people holding to sola scriptura, even when I appropriately reference scripture to back it up, so be reminded by the error of the Jews, who only had the Old Testament and their interpretations of it. They dismissed Christ when He came and what His apostles taught, because it didn't match their notion of what they saw in scripture. The Lord does many things contrary to how the carnal mind understands.

    We must also recognize that there are no inerrant scripture or Bible translations, as translation and interpretation is heavily affected by the darkness and carnal thinking contained in man. There are better translations than others, though, so please see How To Choose A Bible for recommendations.
     
  • The Mormon Church or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church) - Teach a false gospel and maintain false-scripture, such as the Book of Mormon[3.1.35]. The Lord also singled out the Mormon church in guidance related to the misuse of His funds (see What Does God Say About 383?).

  • Jehovah's Witnesses teach a false gospel and adhere to misinterpretations of scripture (their New World Translation Bible). For example, they do not believe in the complete divinity of Yeshua (Jesus) or that the Holy Spirit is a person of God[3.1.29].
     
  • Unitarian or Free Christian Churches - Unitarianism does not believe in the divinity of Christ, nor in His atonement for sins and the eternal life it promises[3.1.119]. Christ's atonement for sin and promise of eternal life through Him are essential beliefs required for true salvation in Christ.

  • Shincheonji Church of Jesus and founder Lee Man-hee - This denomination is growing at a dangerous rate, but when I looked at their doctrine I could see it is yet another sect of Christianity being deceived by lying seducing spirits and mind-control tactics that I talked about before. See details in Light Within.
     
  • The Church of Scientology[5.2.2], like Islam, is not a truly Christian organization, but is listed here because their spiritual beliefs and teachings should be avoided. They also use spiritual revelation like the first groups teach. They are also known to use intimidation and brainwashing techniques[5.2.1, 6.3.4], and like other cults, they support the disintegration of family and healthy relationships with excessive isolation from parents and family members[2.5.4]. Scientology even misleads people by using Christian symbols, like the cross and dove, on their website homepage[5.2.2]. However, they do not believe in God or the divinity of Yehsua. Their notion of God is of a supreme being universe "force" or "urge toward existence as infinity" they call the Eighth Dynamic[5.2.3].
     
  • Islam was founded in the 6th or 7th Century[5.1.1], but is not a continuation or correction of Christianity as some Muslims claim. It is a corruption of the truth and scripture. The founder of Islam, Muhammad, claims to have been taught by the Archangel of God, Gabriel[5.1.1], but much Islamic teaching contradicts the Bible and Muslims do not believe in the divinity of Yeshua (Jesus). They maintain false-scripture in their bible called the Quran. See Conversation About Islam for more details on Islam and how to handle a Muslim's beliefs.

  • Judaism - True, untainted Judaism is now extinct because of thousands of years of corruption from pagan and dark forces since the times of the first kings of Israel and even before. The state of corruption in Judaism is the same as that of the church. Many Jewish traditions and "law" today are not truly of God, but came from man-made rules and Satan, like found in the Jewish Halacha, Talmud, and Mishnah, which are texts that came after the Babylonian exile in the 7th Century B.C. and many centuries after the time of Christ.

    These texts are not to be considered scripture or inspired by God in the same way as Biblical scripture (the authenticated scripture of the Old and New Testaments; see Errors of Truth for more) or the Tanakh (the Jewish Old Testament), though they may be treated in the same way as other theological texts which may have some truth and historical record, but must also be treated carefully because they have false teachings and opinions based on false spiritual guidance. Authenticated scripture is not tainted by those forces, though translation of God's original words and interpretations of even good Bible translations are often influenced by darkness.

    Jewish teachers have changed much of what God originally gave His people, but know that the Lord warned against changing His words and laws (Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32; Proverbs 30:6), and Yeshua (Jesus) told the Jews they wrongfully upheld traditions of man over that of God's word (Mark 7:6-13; Matthew 15:3-9). Christ even called some Jews and their synagogues, "of the synagogue of Satan" (Revelation 2:9, 3:9), because of their corrupted ways.

    Jewish teaching and understanding remains darkened and can be seen by their translations of the Old Testament. Their Hebrew manuscripts are translated no better or even worse than done by the church that is also in error. An example from Israel 365, a Messianic Judaism ministry, quoted Deuteronomy 21:12 as "You shall bring her into your house, and she shall shave her head and grow out her nails" when a correct translation is "Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails." God's meaning is actually opposite of what they interpret the words to mean.

    These translation and interpretation errors come from not having God's Mind or Spirit to give correct interpretation and from insufficient anointment and training from God. Like the church that is in error, they interpret with a carnal or worldly mind that is influenced by darkness and bad and false teaching.

    And like the corrupted church, their beliefs and viewpoints are often out of touch with the world and truth. This was further proven to me when I saw the Israel 365 ministry using a photograph of a waning (dying) crescent moon with a bright star set centered at the opposite edge of the crescent as the header for a 2023 article (below). This is symbolism that directly refers to Islam but their material had nothing to do with Islam.



    Perhaps they knew this and wanted to attract Muslims, but this is doubtful. Muslims avoid material from other religions, and they paired this image with singing a new song to God in Psalm 96:1, whom they incorrectly call Hashem (The Name), and God's instatement of the first month for the Jews in Exodus 12:2, which is supposed to be paired with a New Moon (waxing moon, not waning or dying moon; compare this to the waxing moon symbolism God used for the 3rd Compass ministry), so like Muslims, Jews do not know how darkened their understand of things is and that their beliefs and ways are linked to death rather than life with God.

    Their use of incorrect "names" for God also go with the church doing the same and submitting to the rule and false teachings of imposters of God, which I mention in The Actual Names of God. Being out of touch with reality also goes with the Jews remaining in the Old Testament laws for Jewish living, which were given for that age - Bronze-Age society three thousand years ago - so many commands in the Law of Moses are not appropriate and are obsolete for our times.

    Christ came to bring the Jews out of those ways and heavy yoke in the Law of Moses, and into His "new thing" and "new covenant" prophesied by Jeremiah when the Lord said to His People, "How long will you go here and there, O faithless daughter? For Yahovah [the Lord] has created a new thing in the earth — A woman will encompass a man... Behold, days are coming,' declares Yahovah, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them... But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days... I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord Yahovah,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them... for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more" (Jeremiah 31:22, 31:31-34).

    Those words of Jeremiah have been fulfilled, because the "woman" that "will encompass a man" is the Bride of Christ or the church, the "new covenant" is the New Covenant that Yeshua brought into force with His first coming, and God's law written onto our hearts is the ways of Christ and His Law emphasizing forgiveness, mercy, and love for each other and God. The part about "they will not teach again... saying, 'Know the Lord Yahovah,' for they will all know Me," refers to how nearly all nations and peoples around the world now know who Mashiach Yeshua (Christ Jesus) is, so if you are a Jew reading this, take into account Jeremiah's prophecy and how Christ has fulfilled it and forgives all our sin through the New Covenant. May it give you confidence in leaving the old ways given to Moses and see that your God and Mashiach Yeshua is the very same Lord (Adonai) speaking through Jeremiah. God gave proof of this in His actual Hebrew name and its proper translation (see God's Names for more). For more about the New Covenant, see The True Gospel and Imposters.

  • The Church of Satan - While it may seem obvious that any Satanic group be avoided, it is not so obvious how they attract people and that they have members in popular media, government, authorities, and our communities. Actor Christian Bale gave thanks to Satan publicly at the 2019 Golden Globe awards, and I remember seeing someone wearing a necklace with an upside down cross pendant and wondered what it meant. I thought, maybe it was like the sideways cross pendants that often symbolize Christ and our own carrying of the cross under burden, suffering, and pain.

    However, later I found the upside-down cross is used both in the church and by atheists and Satanists. The church uses it as a symbol of the apostle Peter being crucified upside down (the Petrine cross), which came from an old belief passed down by tradition but is not verified[3.1.118].

    Outside the church, atheists and Satanists use the upside down cross as a symbol of opposition to Christianity and God. Upside down crosses can be found in the Church of Satan's "Black House" main hall and in artwork with pentagrams and the Baphomet or goat head within an inverted 5-pointed star. The Church of Satan also uses a Patriarchal cross (traditional Christian cross with two cross bars) with an infinity sign underneath it as an official symbol.

    The Church of Satan officially denounces worship of any spiritual beings, even the devil[5.3.1]. But whether that statement is in ignorance or deception is unclear. What is clear is their beliefs and pursuits are atheist[5.3.1], centered on gratification of the self, and driven by demons. Many of their beliefs directly oppose what Christ teaches[5.3.2], but they make their morality sound sensible and attractive by opposing the hypocritical and seemingly impossible promises made by the church and other religious sects, while they promote what appears to be reasonable and healthy self-wellness, which is seen in their statement in support of Christian Bale's gratitude to Satan: “To us, Satan is a symbol of pride, liberty and individualism, and it serves as an external metaphorical projection of our highest personal potential”[6.14.1].

    This emphasis on personal success and potential seems harmless, but it is also used as a lure by imposter spirits of the Lord and other demons that are linked to the other groups mentioned here (see Light Within for more details).

  • Other ministries using false scripture and teaching include:

    • Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr, WordPress, and other social media, Internet groups and forums - I avoid most social media and Internet groups dedicated to spiritual teaching, spiritual news, or other spiritual focuses, including those of popular preachers, because very often, the most active posters are either laypeople or deceived ministers who spread false teaching, false guidance, and speculation from conspiracy theorists.

      Also, group owners and administers, even if they are long established ministers, often do not have the experience to properly evaluate teaching or spiritual guidance, or they are so committed to erroneous teaching that they refuse to accept any correction or criticism.

      I've seen a lot of misinformation and fake news being spread on these social media platforms, from which the Lord showed me why Paul said, "Do not dispute about words [spiritual teaching], which is useless and leads to the ruin of the listeners… Refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels” (2 Timothy 2:14, 2:23) and “Avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the law [of God], for they are useless and worthless” (Titus 3:9).

      There can certainly be good posts and content in these forums, and God does use their content whether it is good or bad, for He works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called for His purposes (Romans 8:28), but the majority of things I've seen on them are bad teaching spread by people without enough training or knowledge in spiritual things. People with religious spirits trying to spread skewed teaching and false spiritual guidance are usually the most active posters in these forums, and some of the content can be very harmful and give hooks to demons.

      Too many trusting believers flock to social media and blindly accept its content, which keeps God's People in darkness and spreads lies and fake news. It has led many to think the COVID-19 pandemic is not from God when it is His judgment on the nations and church (see COVID-19), and that President Trump is God's leader that somehow got the 2020 election "stolen" when he is not God's example of a righteous leader and the election was legal and valid (see The People's Loss of Discernment), but it actually was also corrupted by Russia to favor Trump[6.20.1].

      Groups and forums that encourage the sharing of erroneous teaching and misinformation put up many stumbling blocks for the people, so that they continually fall into pits of lies and false teaching. But the Lord said, "It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to one through whom they come!" (Luke 17:1), and "at the end of the age, the Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom [the tares of the devil]; all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness" (Matthew 13:40-41). So expect all the resources of groups, ministries, and sects with false teaching and works of the devil to be destroyed in the coming days of this age.

      Blind faith is not for those who want to be loyal to God and what is right, so do not believe and spread everything you hear. All spiritual teaching and guidance should be evaluated, and even secular news and facts should be double-checked, so a detailed evaluation of groups and their content should be made before becoming a regular consumer of their content.

      Unfortunately, most people have no choice in the media they consume, because of the lack of outlets that are without error or contamination from darkness. And most people do not have the experience or discernment to identify what is bad in the media they accept, so if you have any spiritual group or content you want evaluated, feel free to ask through the contact form.

      There are far too many lay-preachers on the Internet, too eager to teach and spread spiritual guidance without enough experience, and worse, they often spread lies and false teaching and guidance from demons. So remember the warning of the apostle James, “Do not become teachers in large numbers, my brethren, since you know that we who are teachers will incur a stricter judgment” (James 3:1), meaning true teachers of the Lord will get worse penalties for sin and are held to higher standards than other ministers.

      If you believe to be called by the Lord to teach, then make yourself one who is approved (2 Timothy 2:15-20) by learning more and getting rid of all the lies and false teaching you have, for what partnership do we have with demons? You do not know how much darkness of the enemy you believe in and spread.

      May you not take great offense to what I say about social media or your own beliefs. My rebuke is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from a sincere faith. But many have strayed from these things and have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions (1 Timothy 1:5-7). Remember that you help the enemy and darkness by keeping and spreading lies and false teaching. As a servant of the Lord, you would not wish to help the enemy or continue in the dark, would you?

    • The Urantia Foundation and Urantia Book[3.1.106.1]. They tout testimonies of miracles and communication with angels, however, Islam does the same but was deceived by an imposter of the Archangel Gabriel (see Islam above). Just because spiritual signs, wonders, and miracles are given does not mean they are from God. Writings and teachings need to be examined closely and can often be quickly dismissed by identifying red flags, such as the use of false gospels (see The True Gospel and Imposters for more), overly religious teaching, and uncommon and un-Biblical "cult" language that refer to things in unusual ways.

  • Churches, ministries, and groups showing gross misuse of funds - The Lord has shown me that a sin of the Harlot Babylon is in the misuse and theft of ministry funds. The LDS Church, above, was especially singled out (see God's 383 guidance and God's Alarm for more), but the Lord also guided on many other ministries, denominations, and megachurches.

    Revelation 18 says how the Harlot made "the merchants of the earth rich from the excessive wealth of her luxury" (Revelation 18:3), and that "she glorified herself and lived luxuriously" (Revelation 18:7). The church has fallen to sins of greed, extravagant luxury, and misusing the Lord's name for unrighteous and dishonest gain throughout her history, but perhaps that sin is even worse today when there are ministers of megachurches and large ministries that collect millions of dollars in donations that end up in their personal bank accounts rather than to benefit God's work or the community.

    Much of those misused funds are actually God's sacred portion, the tithe, so in taking what is God's for personal profit or unrighteous use, they are truly stealing from God, just as prophesied for our Christian Age in Malachi 3:8-9. And what's more, those who give to these churches and ministries can also be accused of robbing God because we are accountable as a People of God to correctly handle what is sacred. You should not give your tithes to any ministries that do not handle funds according to how the Lord has shown in Properly Handling God's Money and Our Taxes.

    And because of God's Alarm to leave the Harlot Babylon, you should not remain loyal to ministries that are not conducting ministry righteously and with good, correct doctrine.

    There are many ministries and churches in this group. They can largely be identified by their greed and extravagant luxuries, both in their personal lives and ministry assets. I will only list some here that were brought to my attention: The Mormon Church/LDS Church, Lakewood Church/Joel Osteen Ministries, Prosperity Gospel ministries, Pentecostal/Word of Faith churches, Catholic and Orthodox denominations.
     
  • Churches and ministries exhibiting excessive control over members - It recently came to my attention that Hillsong College, which is run by the large Hillsong Church ministry (made most famous because of their Hillsong music group, which I also noted problems with), has policies of excessive control over students[6.29.1], such as not allowing them to date in their first semester and that dating someone who does not attend the college should be discussed with staff. These policies appear to be extensions of the primary Hillsong Church policies for their congregation, which I also found to be excessive and hypocritical when their leadership has failed to conduct themselves righteously in sexual matters[3.1.128, 6.29.2, 6.29.3].

    The college also apparently quizzes new students about their sex lives and then are labeled "unsafe," presumably publicly, if they admit to having sex or using pornography. I will remind that there is no condemnation under Christ (Romans 8:1), so we should not publicly "label" people, like used to be done with women who committed adultery, or even today, divorcees are seen as unacceptable by many Catholics and other denominations.

    Many personal issues should remain private, but there are times to publicly rebuke believers for sin, so that all would heed the warning not to sin (1 Timothy 5:20; Titus 1:13; Galatians 2:11-14). However, that should be done by God's direction and not simply as a policy for every case, as it can also be a sin to hurt people's feelings and unjustly hurt someone's public standing (breaking the Second Greatest Commandment and spreading liable or false accusations, which is bearing false witness).

    These policies reminded me of when I reviewed the ABWE's (Association of Baptists for World Evangelism) policies for staff a few years ago. They said staff members could not marry anyone who did not submit to ABWE's doctrinal beliefs. That policy also likely extended to any romantic relationships, though, I cannot recall now. I told ABWE that their policies were excessive and that God does not force divorce when a spouse is a non-believer (1 Corinthians 7:12-16), though having a non-believing spouse can become a problem and is grounds for a valid divorce (see Valid Divorce in Sex and Marriage). I also noted to them that several of their doctrinal beliefs were in serious error, but I never heard back from them.

    Some churches and ministries do require both fiances to submit to their doctrinal beliefs, such as Catholics often require a couple both belong to the congregation and be baptized (and, therefore, hold to their belief system) before a marriage ceremony will be allowed. This however, does not ensure a couple is evenly yoked, as true faith or belief in Christ is needed by the individuals, so making someone go through "submission" to certain beliefs with a public statement really does no good if belief is not there.

    Pastoral counsel is certainly needed before a couple is married, but I would not extend formal policy to include dating outside the membership or congregation, like Hillsong and other ministries do, unless a problem is noted with the relationship. I certainly would not make policy to restrict a person's romantic life, for example, after I did more research into Hillsong's policies, I noted they even tell couples not to kiss for a year.

    Instead of these useless policies, for the New Testament says about, "'Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!'... in accordance with the commandments and teachings of man... [they] have the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and humility and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence" (Colossians 2:22-23), I would inquire as a pastor (not an academic teacher) into a person's romantic life and give appropriate guidance.

    The article that brought Hillsong's policies to my attention was focused more on their teaching that wives must submit sexually to husbands, which a commenter said promoted "rape culture," which I am sad to have noticed too much in the church. I've even seen video of a male dominated congregation chuckling when a preacher proclaimed that wives must submit sexually to husbands. Such ministries are not of God.

    Many churches and ministries use Ephesians 5:22-24 telling wives to submit to their husbands in everything, to also mean wives must be slaves, even sexually, to husbands. This is a doctrine of demons and the misconstruing of good and true teaching, which is balanced with 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 saying that both husbands and wives must submit to each other and 1 Peter 3:7 telling husbands to be considerate of wives and to honor them as coheirs with Christ. God never gave husbands the right to rape or abuse wives in the holy covenant of marriage, so any church, ministry, or preacher that promotes unconditional submission of wives are teaching falsely and should be left. See Sex and Marriage - The Plain Truth for more about what submission in marriage actually means.

    Likewise, I would red-flag and leave any ministry that tries to exert too much control over their membership, as I noted with the AWBE's policies.
     
  • Non-denominational Churches and Ministries - Though there is nothing wrong with non-denominational ministries as a sect or denomination (this ministry is one), but there are churches that do not make it apparent what denomination they belong to. Some are actually planted by and submit to parent denominations, like the Pentecostal Church, so sometimes you have to research further if a non-denominational church is truly non-denominational.

    Truly non-denominational is the preferred way to conduct ministry and church, as there is really only one Church or Body of Christ, which are the believers in the Lord, and not the institutions. I've also never liked promoting division in the church because we are to be all One People under Christ (Romans 10:12-13; 1 Corinthians 12:12-26; Galatians 3:26-29; Ephesians 2:11-22, 3:6; Colossians 3:11; 1 Peter 2:9-10; also Romans 12:4-5) and holding to division and factions is a sin (Galatians 5:20; 1 Corinthians 1:10).
      
  • Educational, news, litigation, and other organizations - Some organizations do not fit a sect or category that have been listed above, such as the ACLJ (American Center For Law and Justice), ICR (Institute for Creation Research), and general news organizations. I have listed the ACLJ and ICR in the alphabetical list below for some time, but I feel I should clarify why these popular Christian organizations are flagged.

    The ACLJ is a Christian organization focusing on law and other legal challenges, such as working to fight abortion protections in law and providing legal support for persecuted Christians around the world. These are good focuses, but I have also seen the leadership and lawyers of the ACLJ also hold to unrighteous, biased judgment, lies and false beliefs from conspiracy theories and false teachings, such as so-called "deep state" conspiracies that put every non-Republican in a demonized, child trafficking, election-rigging group.

    This inability to make righteous judgment is obviously a serious problem for a group that focuses on legal battles. Like the rest of the church and other believing communities, they do good where their focuses are correct, but they sin in unjust attacks and making unrighteous judgment on people and issues where they have no solid proof except for conspiracy theories, false or misconstrued news and facts, and false spiritual guidance.

    Overzealous support for these kinds of lies resulted in the violent January 6th, 2021 insurrection riots at the United States capital and more recently in 2022 they resulted in a military coup attempt against the German[6.23.1] and Brazilian governments[6.24.1, 6.24.2]. At their core, these attempts had people given into lies, false news, and conspiracy theories that are spread by Q groups and other misguided and corrupt people, especially those in power, such as Donald Trump, who blindly believe these things so much that they use violence and illegal means in the name of God.

    However, I talked about how God made a link to Satan with Donald Trump and the last presidential election results, and since then much more information about Trump and his ways has surfaced, such as his illegal possession of hundreds of classified documents and his business dealings were found guilty of bank fraud and tax evasion over many years[6.23.2].

    Lies and deceit are the works of Satan, as he is the Father of Lies (John 8:44). Christ told Jews they could not understand Him because they were given to their father's ways, the devil, who had them blinded in the darkness of lies and corrupt ways (John 8:43-44). The world has seen how lies and skewed truth are being used to overturn God-ordained authority and true righteousness. These dark forces will only become worse as the final antichrist, that man of lawlessness, comes to power.

    News organizations, both secular and Christian or conservative, have the same biases and problems I noted above. This is why I avoid most Christian or conservative news outlets. Their false beliefs and biases are just as bad as secular ones, while some are even worse. I'm more concerned with getting unbiased truth from news, but because I have not found any completely unbiased reporting, I keep informed by reviewing news from many more respected organizations, compare the information they give, and double-check their information, and if they are ministries, I will use news and information from them but not accept their spiritual teaching until I have evaluated their details.

    Evaluating news and facts is similar to evaluating good and bad spiritual teaching. It requires experience and knowledge to see what is good and bad and what is true, false, or misconstrued. After all, you cannot see the difference if you are not aware of the differences or know what the actual truth is. This is a more involved topic that I won't get into here, but as a quick evaluation, if you see reporting that often jumps to conclusions without proper evidence (such as condemning all law enforcement for bad policing) or over exaggerates facts and statistics to support a position, then I would avoid their reporting.

    The ICR is an organization focused on proof and support for creation science as opposed to evolution and a universe that does not need a God Creator to exist. Like general apologetics that try to give proof for God, their focuses can be good, but also like other groups here, they are also biased and blinded by their false beliefs and false teachings. Science and research organizations may seem to only deal with facts and evidence, but like their secular scientist counterparts, their biases and beliefs greatly affect how they interpret facts and evidence.

    Creationists, like at the ICR, often completely dismiss huge amounts of evidence, such as found in fossils, DNA, and geologic evidence. Contrary to what they say about evolution not having any basis in fossil evidence, my studies in fossils and anthropology make it clear to me there is evidence of what the secular world thinks is evolution. There are more logical explanations for this that still fit Creationism, but this is another topic of more detailed discussion that I will not get into here.

    The main point here is to note that believers, like at the ICR, are often so biased that they will not account for evidence that refutes their theories and beliefs. They "shoehorn" the evidence to fit their ideas and then dismiss the evidence that they cannot reconcile. This is exactly the same behavior that teachers of false doctrine have in using and understanding scripture.

    These biased and serious errors of judgment have brought much criticism to and greatly reduces the credibility of creationists. If the goal of creationists is to evangelize people to the truth of God and creation, then we cannot be judged as blind and opinionated people.

    Furthermore, spreading lies and false beliefs about creation and God (as well as any other spiritual topic) falls into the sin of false teaching which has serious consequences that I have spoken much of (see Light Within for more). It is no trivial matter that Paul says false teaching is accursed (Galatians 1:8-9). These curses are why many creationists and other believers are so blinded by their beliefs that they will not accept valid evidence that contradicts them, but dismiss it and overzealously force other evidence to fit their theories.
     
  • Alphabetic Index - Includes all the groups above as well as other people and ministries evaluated to be guided by false teaching and imposters of the Lord, His Spirit, and/or saints and angels or that have serious errors of discernment for good teaching. Some of these groups share false spiritual guidance, like words and visions, that are identical to ones above, and like them, they may get some good guidance, perform successful deliverances, and have true gifts from God, but they are misled by their demons with so much false guidance, or are so seriously in error, that I would not use their teaching or materials unless you have much experience discerning what is good and bad. Names are listed in alphabetical order by last name or ministry name and names are repeated from above to make them easier to find.

Much of the contemporary church and ministries teach false or incomplete gospels (see The True Gospel and Imposters for details) and share other bad teaching like the groups above. In fact, I now recognize teachings from local churches I attended as a new Christian to have come from false teachings, like found in the God Calling books. Bad teaching is so common in the church that no one can assume they have things correct.

It is also hard for even experienced ministers to correctly identify false or erroneous teaching, especially when they believe in them themselves. They can give scripture and what appears to be valid Biblical arguments for their beliefs, but unless you are one approved by the Lord to correctly handle His word and have the necessary discernment, it can be very difficult to see what is wrong with their arguments.

I would leave the churches and organizations listed above, but I would give other churches and ministries the benefit of doubt. However, I would use discretion and evaluate whatever is taught, as all Christians should not simply follow blindly (1 Thessalonians 5:20:21; Deuteronomy 13:1-3). I would especially be wary of and closely examine people and ministries sharing a lot of spiritual guidance, like visions, words, and dreams. I invite everyone to examine the spiritual guidance I got as well.

It is not the pattern of true prophets and ministers to constantly and publicly share a lot of words, visions, dreams, etc., nor to give their interpretations. Interpretation belongs to God and not man (2 Peter 1:20-21; Genesis 40:8), and the original apostles and prophets did not conduct ministry or share spiritual guidance like I see being done too often on the Internet.

Also be wary of churches and teaching that preach eternal salvation by having a personal relationship with God or adoration for Him and other saints and angels. It is a false gospel and is similar to the Pentecostal Church's and other Evangelical beliefs[3.1.38]. The first groups I listed also emphasize this kind of more carnal, worldly way of following God. It invites imposters of the Lord that usurp your relationship with God. They want your adoration and attention and will take the love you give God and use it against you to make you follow them and accept false teaching.

God never taught more carnal adoration for Him in the Bible. That is not the kind of love for the Lord we should show (see True Love - What does it mean to God? for more about loving God). God wants our loyalty and righteousness, and He values our enthusiasm for Him, like when King David danced and rejoiced in public when they brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:14-15).

The enemy, though, will use our love for God against us. This happened to Take His Heart Ministries and Elizabeth Elijah of Amighty Wind Ministries when they were urged by their spirits to spread teaching. Elizabeth said in one of her pages she was afraid to not obey out of fear of sinning, and Take His Heart behaved similarly. We should certainly fear God if we do sin, since He judges all sin, and it is what He refers to by "fear of the Lord" (Colossians 3:22-25; Ephesians 6:5; Psalm 34:11-22, 111:10; Proverbs 1:7, 9:10, 10:27, 14:27, 16:6, 19:23; 22:4; Job 28:28; 2 Chronicles 19:7-10).

However, that refers to true sin. Imposters and religious spirits preach false sin, like mandatory tithing or mandatory church attendance, and use fear to get absolute obedience. The spirits of slavery being spread by Take His Heart Ministries, God Calling, and many other groups also use this fear to get obedience, which is a part of brainwashing people. They offer a solution (their ways and thinking) to remove punishment and pain they inflict to get obedience[6.3.5, 6.3.6].

God does not shackle us with a demon or spirit of slavery just because we stop tithing or obeying a teaching. We do not receive "a spirit of slavery leading to fear again" when we live in Christ (Romans 8:15). Yet this is what happened to people who tried to stop practicing Take His Heart's ways, like mandatory tithing. A literal spirit of slavery actually interfered with them physically and tried to control them, but "where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17), since we are not slaves to law and our yoke with Christ is easy and light (Matthew 11:30).

Most of the time, the Lord will let people sin and do as they wish, especially when they refuse rebuke (Psalm 81:11-12; Proverbs 1:23-33). God gave us freewill, after all, and He uses our mistakes and failures to bring people back to Him (Romans 11:32; Galatians 3:22). That is why "God shut up all in disobedience, so that He may show mercy to all" (Romans 11:32).

However, also recognize there are times when the Lord prevents people from doing things that He does not want. I have experienced this, much like Apostle Paul, when he tried to go and preach in Bithynia, but the Spirit did not let them (Acts 16:7). God's oversight in believers, and especially in His ministers, is why the apostles and even the angels are called bond-servants or bond-slaves of Christ (Romans 1:1; 2 Corinthians 4:5; Philippians 1:1; James 1:1;  2 Peter 1:1; Jude 1:1; Luke 1:38), and why many parables in the New Testament refer to God's servants as slaves.

This is a different kind of control than what I've seen with imposter spirits of slavery. God will let people do what they wish despite His objections, like He let Paul go on to Jerusalem even though he was warned by the Spirit to not go (Acts 21:4). Paul went anyways despite a prophet telling him he would be imprisoned in Jerusalem (Acts 21:10-15). After going, he was in prison for over two years (Acts 24:27). I bring up these comparisons because seeing the differences between God's ways and the ways of imposters can be difficult. It is a reason the Lord guided me to teach on these matters.

I would also be wary of ministries and teaching that overemphasize evangelizing, like the Jehovah's Witnesses do by going door to door or going to public places and evangelizing or preaching at random. Overzealous evangelizing is a symptom of religious spirits, and we do not need to be so zealous in our recruiting for God, because most of the world already knows Who Christ is.

This was prophesied by Jeremiah, "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them" (Jeremiah 31:34).

Most nations and communities now know who Yeshua (Jesus) is and what the church believes. However, I am not saying we should never evangelize or preach. There are still peoples and individuals who need to turn to God, and missionaries are doing good work around the world. We should be witnessing and using our knowledge and Godly wisdom to help people we encounter and live with, but it should not be an overzealous preaching, which is often driven by religious spirits.

We should not be constantly pestering people about Christ or trying to teach them what is right. Instead, try to correct people, especially believers, a few times and leave them alone if they don't want to change (2 Timothy 2:14-18; Titus 3:9-10). This is what God does and teaches (Psalm 81:11-12; Proverbs 1:23-33; Romans 1:24-32; Acts 7:42-43).

As a final warning to everyone, the Lord has revealed who and what the Harlot Babylon is now, and that He has reaffirmed His call for His People to leave the Harlot, so that you may not share in her judgments (Revelation 18:4). The great majority of the ministries and sects listed here belong to the Harlot Babylon, so I urge all to heed God's alarm and warnings, because we are at the end of the age. See God's Alarm and the Harlot Babylon Revealed for details and affirmation of God's prophecies related to that.

May you be blessed by further knowledge and truth, through Mashiach Yeshua. Amen.

References 6/29/2020 5:33 PM

References can be found on the Master Reference List.



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