Are you familiar with Rick Warren and his books from several years ago, The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church? Today’s Movie Time feature, Church of Tares, takes a look at Rick Warren, his materials, programs, and his mentors, and demonstrates how the “Purpose Driven” movement grew into the seeker driven and church growth / megachurch movements, and how they may eventually terminate into a one world religion.
Sound a little “out there” or borderline conspiracy theory? Well, we’ve been seeing a lot of “out there” things come to pass lately. Grab your popcorn, snuggle up on the couch, and watch and judge for yourself.
On the show, we discussed how I got started in discipleship ministry, how women can develop better discernment, how to teach our children discernment, and more! Check it out!
Articles / resources mentioned or touched on in the episode:
Got a podcast of your own or have a podcasting friend who needs a guest? Need a speaker for a women’s conference or church event? Click the “Speaking Engagements” tab in the blue menu bar at the top of this page, drop me an e-mail, and let’s chat!
If you are considering commenting or sending me an e-mail objecting to the fact that I warn against certain teachers, please click here and read this article first. Your objection is most likely answered here. I won’t be publishing comments or answering emails that are answered by this article.
This article is kept continuously updated as needed.
Generally speaking, in order for me to recommend a teacher, speaker, or author, he or she has to meet three criteria:
a) A female teacher cannot currently and unrepentantly preach to or teach men in violation of 1 Timothy 2:12. A male teacher or pastor cannot allow women to carry out this violation of Scripture in his ministry. The pastor or teacher cannot currently and unrepentantly be living in any other sin (for example, cohabiting with her boyfriend or living as a homosexual).
b) The pastor or teacher cannot currently and unrepentantly be partnering with or frequently appearing with false teachers. This is a violation of Scripture.
c) The pastor or teacher cannot currently and unrepentantly be teaching false doctrine.
I recommend against any teacher or ministry who violates one or more of these biblical tenets.
I am not very familiar with most of the teachers I’m asked about (there are so many out there!) and have not had the opportunity to examine their writings or hear them speak, so most of the “quick checking” I do involves items a and b (although in order to partner with false teachers (b) it is reasonable to assume their doctrine is acceptable to the false teacher and that they are not teaching anything that would conflict with the false teacher’s doctrine). Partnering with false teachers and women preaching to men are each sufficient biblical reasons not to follow a pastor, teacher, or author, or use his/her materials.
Just to be clear, “not recommended” is a spectrum. On one end of this spectrum are people like Nancy Leigh DeMoss Wolgemuth and Kay Arthur. These are people I would not label as false teachers because their doctrine is generally sound, but because of some red flags I’m seeing with them, you won’t find me proactively endorsing them or suggesting them as a good resource, either. There are better people you could be listening to. On the other end of the spectrum are people like Joyce Meyer and Rachel Held Evans- complete heretics whose teachings, if believed, might lead you to an eternity in Hell. Most of the teachers I review fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum (leaning toward the latter).
If you’d like to check out some pastors and teachers I heartily recommend, click the Recommended Bible Teachers tab at the top of this page.
NAR false teaching: John and Lisa’s false teaching can be observed in the many videos linked under “Yoking in Ministry with Other False Teachers” (below). They teach a lot about so-called prophecy and extra-biblical revelation.
Preaching to men: Lisa can be observed preaching to men in most of the videos linked under “Yoking in Ministry with Other False Teachers” (below). Her speaking engagement calendar boasts a number of dates when she is preaching the Sunday services at various churches.
Lisa also advocates for women preaching/pastoring in her book Without Rival.
In her article, Women: The Great Commission is Your Permission, you can watch Lisa mercilessly twist Acts 4 and the Great Commission (from The Message, no less) in an attempt to make Scripture endorse women preaching. She even goes so far as to compare Christians who rightly understand that Scripture prohibits women from preaching to the council of Pharisees and Sadducees who imprisoned and “threatened” the apostles (and in the very next chapter, beat them) for preaching the gospel:
For more than two millennia religious leaders have limited and at times prohibited thousands of the church’s daughters from preaching and teaching in the sacred spaces under its governance. Read Acts 4:18 again: So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. As I pondered this verse, I heard the Holy Spirit whisper, “Far too many of the daughters I called and gifted by my Spirit for ministry have been held back and denied their call by the church.” You might have heard religious leaders say, “Women can teach other women but not men.” Or, “Women can share, but there is to be no preaching.” And: “Women can lead, as long as it is outside the church.” These veiled threats appear to be more reasonable, but the result is the same: the gospel is contained…Yet the question before us is the same one raised by Peter and John. Is it right in the sight of God to listen to men rather than to obey God?
“Missions”: John and Lisa have a missions organization called Messenger International, through which they spread their heresy all over the world. Notice the word “resources” in the image below. It doesn’t mean “trustworthy translations of the Bible”. It means their own books.:
The Passion “Translation” is not a translation at all, but more like an NAR fanfic of the Bible, or the NAR’s dangerous and twisted re-write of the Bible. The Beveres not only frequently quote and teach from TPT (and The Message – also not a translation of the Bible, but an error-laden paraphrase from another false teacher, Eugene Peterson), they wrote a hearty endorsement on the TPT website (right alongside some of the worst of the worst NAR heretics alive today: Bill Johnson, Bobbie Houston, Lou Engle, James Goll, Patricia King, Heidi Baker, Banning Liebscher, Che Ahn, Chuck Pierce, Lana Vawser, and Bianca Olthoff.)
John also wrote a devotion for the TPT blog, and Lisa wrote two. And John and Lisa have both gushed over TPT on social media.
Yoking in Ministry with Other False Teachers
John and Lisa associate and partner in ministry almost exclusively with some of the worst of the worst false teachers. Here are just a handful of hundreds of examples:
Benny Hinn (NAR, faith healer):
Early in his ministry, John served in various pastoral capacities under his pastor, Benny Hinn. Because this was in the 1980’s-90’s (pre-Internet), and because John has attempted to distance himself from this fact, there appears not to be any hard online proof (links, pictures, screenshots, etc.) readily available, but it is common knowledge and can be researched offline.
John has preached at Hillsong multiple times: “What a great night at @hillsong Church. I’m always amazed at the health of this church. @brianchouston and @bobbiehouston what an amazing job you’ve done in leading this global church. Lisa and I are honored to be your friends.”
A who’s who of false teachers and heretics have written endorsements for Lisa’s books. Just one example: Without Rival carries written endorsements from: “Pastor” Holly Wagner, Chris Hodges, Sheila Walsh, “Pastor” Caroline Barnett, “Pastor” Charlotte Gambill, “Pastors” Steven and Holly Furtick, “Pastor” Victoria Osteen, Kris Vallotton, James Robison, Jenn Johnson, Sarah Bessey, Lisa Harper, “Pastors” Brian and Bobbie Houston, Jentezen Franklin, Christine Caine, and Mark Batterson.
On the show, we evaluated a few videos of Priscilla Shirer’s teaching, and discussed how and why it’s unbiblical. Other topics included false teachers she has yoked with, the fact that she preaches to men, and whether or not she believes and teaches a heretical view of the Trinity called modalism.
Be sure to check out Dave’s website, Servants of Grace, where you’ll find an abundance of great teaching, podcasts, and materials, as well as his social media links- and give Dave a follow!
Articles / resources mentioned or touched on in the episode:
Got a podcast of your own or have a podcasting friend who needs a guest? Need a speaker for a women’s conference or church event? Click the “Speaking Engagements” tab in the blue menu bar at the top of this page, drop me an e-mail, and let’s chat!
2025 UPDATE: The article below was published in February 2024, approximately one year prior to Gather25. Yesterday (February 12, 2025), Amy and I dropped a much more detailed A Word Fitly Spoken podcast episode about Gather25, which will take place in a little over two weeks: Friday, February 28- Saturday, March 1. I encourage you to give it a listen, and warn your church, your friends, or anyone you think might be interested in attending or streaming.
Does anyone know what Gather25 is about? Is it similar to IF:Gathering?
This past weekend was IF:Gathering 2024. I shared my article about it on social media and one of my followers asked this question. I’m glad she did so I could give you a heads up and you can have a whole year to warn your church and your friends away from it.
According to its website, Gather25 is a 25 hour global simulcast of “prayer, worship, repentance, and commissioning” (i.e. sending people out under the auspices of the Great Commission, ostensibly, to share the gospel) which will take place in March 2025.
“Gather25 is being organized and led by an alliance of Christian organizations: IF:Gathering, YouVersion, illumiNations, Right Now Media, and many more international ministries and churches. The original vision for Gather25 was cast by Jennie Allen.”
Jennie Allen is a false teacher and founder of IF:Gathering, an annual conference for evangelical women (and, no doubt, some men) which routinely platforms false teachers, women pastors, and women who preach to men.
YouVersion is hosted by Craig Groeschel’s LifeChurch.TV. He is a false teacher and platforms many other false teachers and women who preach to men.
illumiNations seems to be a Bible translation and distribution organization, which may be just fine, but I’m concerned that all of the evangelical celebrities they currently and proudly list on their home page as supporting their organization (Elevation Worship, Lecrae, Sadie Huff, Passion, IF:Gathering, MVMNT Conference, and Chris Tomlin) are false/woke teachers, or conferences and individuals that platform false/woke teachers.
And these are just the four organizations mentioned by name on the FAQ page. There are many more sponsors, and the ones I’m familiar with are all doctrinally unsound and/or run by false teachers. This thing is absolutely saturated with false teachers.
This event is going to sucker in a lot of undiscerning pastors, because, “What could possibly be wrong with prayer, worship, repentance, and commissioning people to share the gospel? We can just set aside the ‘secondary issue’ differences we have with these people and join them.”. But Scripture forbids us from having anything to do with false teachers. And if your pastor invites these false teachers into your church via simulcast, he is disqualified from the ministry. Titus 1:9 is part of the biblical qualifications for pastors and elders:
He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
Titus 1:9
Furthermore, what sort of false gospel might these false teachers be “commissioning” people to spread? What sort of unbiblical prayer and worship practices will they lead participants in? What is the definition of “repentance” these false teachers hold to? Will they lead participants to “repent” of things like “whiteness,” refusing to baptize practicing homosexuals, oppressing women by not allowing them to be pastors, and such?
If you think your pastor might be the type to have your church participate in this event, I would recommend you start praying now, start preparing now, and prayerfully consider whether or not you should warn him about Gather25 now so that he has plenty of time to be obedient to the Titus 1:9 mandate the Lord has given him.
If you have a question about: a Bible passage, an aspect of theology, a current issue in Christianity, or how to biblically handle a family, life, or church situation, comment below (I’ll hold all questions in queue {unpublished} for a future edition of The Mailbag) or send me an e-mail or private message. If your question is chosen for publication, your anonymity will be protected.
