"... beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness."
(2 Peter 2:14-15)
(2 Peter 2:14-15)
In old Westerns, you always knew who the "goody" was because he wore a white hat, and you always knew who the "baddy" was because he wore a black one. You knew exactly who to cheer for; it was a done deal, right from the opening reel. But what if some devious Director has decided to introduce a twist in the tale? What if a character has both a white hat AND a black hat in his wardrobe, and wears either one at will? We can't be sure now if he's going to be rounding up the rustlers, or holding up the Wells Fargo stagecoach! Perhaps our now unpredictable gunslinger just happens to run with the outlaws AND hunt with the posse, depending on which way he thinks the wind is blowing most strongly in his favour?
OK. Let's jump from the Old West to the Old Testament, and have a little look at some maverick called Balaam, who metaphorically had two such hats in his wardrobe. He could play the good guy, donning his gleaming white hat to faithfully proclaim the word of the LORD. But, sad to say, he also had a not-so-nice side to him. Money could talk to him in soft seductive whispers, and quite turn his head. One day he left the white Stetson on its hook and put the black one firmly on his head instead, for he had heard not God but his wallet calling... to be filled with the wages of unrighteousness.
One donkey... or two?
Which brings us to that contemporary cowboy of the Christian airwaves, Mr. Howard Conder. He also has two metaphorical hats on his hall-stand. He can play the good guy when he wants to, donning his shiny white hat to faithfully do what is right before the LORD. But, very sad to say, "Howie" also has a dark side to him, and can wear his black hat with as much ease as he does his white one. Money can talk to him as it did to Balaam, and its soft seductive whispers can similarly quite turn his head...
Partnering with some of the deadliest deceivers on the planet, he happily sells these End-Times antichrist "Word of Faith" heretics airtime on Revelation TV, with their bundles of dirty dollars going straight into the Conders' own private piggy-bank, a Company called 21st. Century Television Limited. Ignoring the warning of Peter's epistle in typically cavalier fashion, he has indeed tragically forsaken the right way and gone astray, determinedly and wretchedly following the fleshly and fickle way of Balaam. But this has consequences which go far, far beyond his personal walk with the LORD.
Because Howard Conder is held in such high regard by so many Christians, his reckless disregard for properly maintaining the purity of the Gospel on the Revelation TV channel has long placed - AND CONTINUES TO PLACE - a great number of people unwittingly in the way of great spiritual harm. It is a very unfortunate fact that far too many Christians take what I will call "The Alice Approach" to what they take on board spiritually. Let me explain...
"THE ALICE APPROACH"
Alice in Wonderland was confronted with a bottle sporting a label saying "Drink Me!" It could have contained cyanide for all she knew, but the impetuous Alice threw caution to the winds, put the bottle to her lips and downed the lot. "The Alice Approach" is not to question, but to swallow with no thought for whether the content is harmful or benign. In Christian terms, it translates as NOT TESTING THE SPIRITS!
What is already a recipe for disaster becomes hugely more so when the "Drink Me!" bottle sits on Howard Conder's RTV table. Viewers tune in and see the doctrinally correct programmes and gulp then down, and then the doctrinally deviant programmes come on and they are gulped down too. What does the Bible say about such a thing?
"A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump."
(1 Corinthians 5:6 and Galatians 5:9)
Leaven is a metaphor for error. When it is introduced, it works its way right through. Truth intermingled with error becomes an inseparable composite. And such a composite is absolutely unacceptable to God. There is no fellowship of righteousness with unrighteousness. There is no communion of Light with darkness. There is no concord of Christ with Belial. Truth is Truth, and error is error, and this will always be so, however hard a man might try in his abject folly to marry the two opposites together!
It has become fashionable in Christian circles to say, "Eat the meat (of Truth) and spit out the bones (of error)" but as far as God is concerned the bones should never be in the pot in the first place! He does not want His people put at risk of spiritually choking to death because of a disobedient and negligent chef!
It has become fashionable in Christian circles to say, "Eat the meat (of Truth) and spit out the bones (of error)" but as far as God is concerned the bones should never be in the pot in the first place! He does not want His people put at risk of spiritually choking to death because of a disobedient and negligent chef!
THE WHOLE ISSUE OF HOWARD CONDER AND REVELATION TV BRINGS INTO SHARP FOCUS EVERYTHING ABOUT WHAT IS COMMONLY CALLED "DISCERNMENT MINISTRY" AND WHY WE WHO ARE INVOLVED IN IT DO WHAT WE DO, AND ALSO WHY WE NEED TO KEEP OUR EYES VERY FIRMLY ON THE BALL AND BE STEADFAST IN UNDERTAKING THIS SOBER DUTY.
SATAN HAS ALWAYS KNOWN THAT THE BEST WAY TO SELL A LIE IS TO PIGGYBACK IT ON TRUTH, AND HE KNOWS ONLY TOO WELL THE DYNAMICS OF LEAVEN IN ANY GIVEN LUMP. THE PUTTING OF ERROR ALONGSIDE TRUTH IS ABSOLUTELY FOUNDATIONAL TO THE ENEMY'S DECEIVING OF THE CHURCH; IT IS UNDOUBTEDLY ONE OF THE SHARPEST AND MOST FREQUENTLY USED TOOLS IN HIS KIT, AND IT IS CRITICAL THAT GOD'S PEOPLE BE AWARE OF THIS.
THIS IS WHY PEOPLE LIKE HOWARD CONDER MUST NOT BE SUPPORTED IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM, BUT RATHER WARNED ABOUT AS STRONGLY AS POSSIBLE. IT IS THE INTEGRITY OF THE GOSPEL ITSELF THAT IS AT STAKE. SO MANY FOLKS TRUST HIM IMPLICITLY, AND IN THEIR EYES HE CAN DO NO WRONG. BUT THE SAD REALITY BEHIND THE ILLUSION IS THAT HOWARD CONDER'S PERSISTENT AND UNREPENTANT MODUS OPERANDI IS BOTH MORALLY AND SPIRITUALLY COMPLETELY REPREHENSIBLE. HE IS INDEFENSIBLE IN HIS WILFUL CONTINUOUS FUSING OF RIGHT AND WRONG, AND CYNICALLY PERSONALLY PROFITING FROM SO DOING. HE IS SADLY A MODERN-DAY BALAAM, AND OF - AND TO - SUCH A PERSON, THE WORD OF GOD DECLARES:
"A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."
(James 1:8)
AND AGAIN:
"Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.
Cleanse your hands, ye sinners;
and purify your hearts, ye double minded."
Cleanse your hands, ye sinners;
and purify your hearts, ye double minded."
(James 4:8)
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