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    Counterfeit Christianity
    Counterfeit Christianity
    Counterfeit Christianity
    Ebook123 pages1 hour

    Counterfeit Christianity

    By Anne Kaestner

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Did you know that the Apostle Paul told the church in his day that there is a counterfeit form of Christianity? And that the Jesus they worship is not the Jesus of the Bible (Galatians 1:6-10). That is the subject of this book. Its focus is on the false teachings and false ministers that were prophesied in biblical times (Jude 1:4) and have become evident in the church since the 1970’s. It has five chapters beginning with “The Fun Gospel.” This chapter describes how Holy Spirit anointed preaching has been replaced with jokes, amusement parks, sports, skits, and other carnal endeavors. No longer does the congregation at most churches attend services to obtain a closer walk with God. They go there to socialize with others of like sentiment and to have fun. In fact a person seeking a deeper walk with God would be hard pressed to find a Protestant church these days that does not specialize in entertainment and politics. The Apostle Paul warned believers about the sins that would contaminate the latter-day church with this attitude (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

    All of this fits in with “The Doctrine of Unconditional Eternal Security,” which is the title of Chapter Two. If, after accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior, you become complacent in your walk with God, this doctrine will appeal to you. It is for those who, like Lot’s wife, after being delivered by the Lord out of the city of sin, chose to look back longingly on what she had lost (Genesis 19:26). For Jesus said, “Remember Lot’s wife!” (Luke 17:32 NIV). Because, “...No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62 NIV). Yet many choose to delude themselves into thinking they can love the carnality of this world (1 John 2:15-17) and still get to Heaven (2 Peter 2:20-22).

    This brings us to Chapter Three, “The Prosperity Gospel.” For one of the most popular teachings of counterfeit Christianity is based on appealing to the greed of human nature! It’s a technique that Satan used to tempt Jesus (Matthew 4:8-10), so you know where it’s coming from! Jesus never disputed Satan’s authority over the carnal things of this world. But He encouraged us to keep our eyes on the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:19-21). Yet not only do counterfeit churches promote “...greed, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5-8 NIV), but they encourage their congregations to profit financially from the shed blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19 and James 5:1-3)!

    Chapter Four is “A False Christ And a Counterfeit Gospel.” It goes deeper into the distinction between true Christianity and the counterfeit faith. It focuses on the doctrines of ministers who promote carnality in their church compared to the sacrifices and refining process every believer must endure. Jesus compares it to the way gold is refined (Revelation 3:17-19). How it starts out as dirty rock clinging to the worthless ore the way new Christians cling to the corrupt things of this world. As gold is refined through fire, until all the ore and impurities are burnt away, true believers are refined through rejection and suffering until they reflect the love of Christ into this sinful, decaying world.

    Chapter Five is “Is Anger A Sin” and it exposes a strategy of Satan to weaken the church through pseudo humility. Christians are told to apologize to the worldly folk who hate them. It is supposedly because they must have offended them by following Christ. This doctrine is ridiculous! If the believer is truly living for Jesus, the light of Christ is shining through them into the darkness of this world. Therefore, those who live in the darkness of sin do not want to be exposed. For light destroys darkness (John 3:19-21)! And Satan hates to be exposed. He can’t deceive those who have the light of Christ within their hearts. And that light illuminates the evil in the heart of carnal mankind, which brings them under condemnation.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAnne Kaestner
    Release dateAug 13, 2014
    ISBN9781310915192
    Counterfeit Christianity
    Author

    Anne Kaestner

    Anne Kaestner is co-founder of Bible Believers Fellowship, Inc. with her husband Eric. She is the Vice President and Executive Director. Anne also functions as Secretary of the Corporation, and is involved in all major Executive decisions. She attends all Board of Directors meetings, as well as any initial and/or important meetings with professionals hired by the Corporation, including legal, banking, and accounting services. Anne runs the office and is also in charge of personnel. Aside from all of this, she has pioneered our efforts to purchase, at a drastically reduced price, the numerous Christian role model books that we distribute free of charge in correctional facilities nationwide. Anne is in charge of spiritual and doctrinal matters, as well as most written communication. Except for an occasional inmate testimony, she does all of the writing for our publication “The Good News Letter,” most of our mass produced literature, and most of our ebooks. She is in charge of all counseling, the majority of which she handles personally. She is actively involved in researching information that will assist us with our newsletter articles and similar literature, including our “Answers To Your Questions” series. Besides this, she personally reads any and all books and screens all videos that we purchase for distribution. And she was the original liaison between the video suppliers and this ministry. She arranged for the BBFI imprint in our role model books and worked to ensure that we receive copyright clearance on all the Christian videos that we distribute to prisons and jails.

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      Book preview

      Counterfeit Christianity - Anne Kaestner

      Counterfeit Christianity

      By Anne Kaestner

      Co-Founder of Bible Believers Fellowship, Inc.

      Copyright Page

      Copyright 2014 by Anne Kaestner

      Published by Bible Believers Fellowship, Inc. at Smashwords

      Cover and chapter designs by Eric Kaestner with suggestions from Anne Kaestner.

      Smashwords Edition License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this ebook and did not purchase it, please go to www.smashwords.com or your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

      Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

      EPUB ISBN – 9781310915192

      Table of Contents

      Title Page

      Copyright Page

      Dedication

      Introduction

      1 - The Fun Gospel

      2 - The Doctrine of Unconditional Eternal Security

      3 - The Prosperity Gospel

      4 - A False Christ and A Counterfeit Gospel

      5 - Is Anger A Sin?

      About Anne Kaestner

      Other ebooks by Anne Kaestner

      Connect with Anne Kaestner

      Dedication

      All books are dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in so many ways.

      Introduction

      Did you know that the Apostle Paul told the church in his day that there is a counterfeit form of Christianity? And that the Jesus they worship is not the Jesus of the Bible (Galatians 1:6-10). That is the subject of this book. Its focus is on the false teachings and false ministers that were prophesied in biblical times (Jude 1:4) and have become evident in the church since the 1970’s. It has five chapters beginning with The Fun Gospel. This chapter describes how Holy Spirit anointed preaching has been replaced with jokes, amusement parks, sports, skits, and other carnal endeavors. No longer does the congregation at most churches attend services to obtain a closer walk with God. They go there to socialize with others of like sentiment and to have fun. In fact a person seeking a deeper walk with God would be hard pressed to find a Protestant church these days that does not specialize in entertainment and politics. The Apostle Paul warned believers about the sins that would contaminate the latter-day church with this attitude (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

      All of this fits in with The Doctrine of Unconditional Eternal Security, which is the title of Chapter Two. If, after accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior, you become complacent in your walk with God, this doctrine will appeal to you. It is for those who, like Lot’s wife, after being delivered by the Lord out of the city of sin, chose to look back longingly on what she had lost (Genesis 19:26). For Jesus said, Remember Lot’s wife! (Luke 17:32 NIV). Because, ...No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62 NIV). Yet many choose to delude themselves into thinking they can love the carnality of this world (1 John 2:15-17) and still get to Heaven (2 Peter 2:20-22).

      This brings us to Chapter Three, The Prosperity Gospel. For one of the most popular teachings of counterfeit Christianity is based on appealing to the greed of human nature! It’s a technique that Satan used to tempt Jesus (Matthew 4:8-10), so you know where it’s coming from! Jesus never disputed Satan’s authority over the carnal things of this world. But He encouraged us to keep our eyes on the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:19-21). Yet not only do counterfeit churches promote ...greed, which is idolatry (Colossians 3:5-8 NIV), but they encourage their congregations to profit financially from the shed blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19 and James 5:1-3)!

      Chapter Four is A False Christ And a Counterfeit Gospel. It goes deeper into the distinction between true Christianity and the counterfeit faith. It focuses on the doctrines of ministers who promote carnality in their church compared to the sacrifices and refining process every believer must endure. Jesus compares it to the way gold is refined (Revelation 3:17-19). How it starts out as dirty rock clinging to the worthless ore the way new Christians cling to the corrupt things of this world. As gold is refined through fire, until all the ore and impurities are burnt away, true believers are refined through rejection and suffering until they reflect the love of Christ into this sinful, decaying world.

      Chapter Five is Is Anger A Sin and it exposes a strategy of Satan to weaken the church through pseudo humility. Christians are told to apologize to the worldly folk who hate them. It is supposedly because they must have offended them by following Christ. This doctrine is ridiculous! If the believer is truly living for Jesus, the light of Christ is shining through them into the darkness of this world. Therefore, those who live in the darkness of sin do not want to be exposed. For light destroys darkness (John 3:19-21)! And Satan hates to be exposed. He can’t deceive those who have the light of Christ within their hearts. And that light illuminates the evil in the heart of carnal mankind, which brings them under condemnation.

      Back to Table of Contents

      Chapter One

      The Fun Gospel

      The Video

      A year or two after we moved into our first office building, we received a phone call at our office from a merchant who had seen our website on the Internet. He noticed that we distribute free Christian video tapes to prison chaplains and he was anxious for me to take a look at a set of videos that he was selling. He assured me that he, too, was a Christian, and that selling the videos was his ministry for God. You’re going to love them, he told me. After you’ve viewed them, you’ll tell me that they are the best Christian tapes you’ve ever seen. By the time that you are finished you will really be proud that you are a Christian. I am very choosy about which videos we distribute, I told him. So am I Anne, he replied, and then he went on to tell me that he, like myself, was very disappointed with a lot of things that pass as Christianity these days. Everyone who has seen these tapes has loved them he stated. And if you don’t feel the same way, then you will be one in a thousand.

      It’s not the first time that I’ve been told something like that. But then it’s not the widely traveled, highly popular road that leads to eternal life. It’s the narrow, seldom traveled pathway that most people avoid (Matthew 7:13-14). Nevertheless, there was no discouraging him. So, since he was offering to let me view the videos on a free trial basis, I reluctantly agreed to look at them. They came in a set of four tapes, accompanied by a long letter from the director of another ministry, of which I had never heard. It extolled the virtues of the husband and wife who were selling the tapes, and was intended to impress me with the strength of their faith. Instead, it made me even more skeptical, for those who are truly committed to Christ do not glorify themselves (John 5:44 and 2 Corinthians 10:17-18). They lift up Jesus (Galatians 6:14), and they trust Him to open the right doors for them, according to His will (Philippians 4:19).

      I watched about half of the first video before I decided that I had seen enough. I then returned the tapes with a three page letter explaining why I couldn’t use them. Not only was there no anointing on them, but they portrayed a Christ who was very different from the Christ of the Bible. The Jesus they showed was a happy-go-lucky fellow. This is the very antithesis of the true Jesus, who ...was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering... (Isaiah 53:3 NIV. Also, see

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