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The Devil comes in many disguises. Quite often, he comes dressed up as a minister of the Gospel. Sometimes it is difficult to spot him. He masquerades as a Pastor, looks so holy, so prosperous, so loving, so helpful. The Devil is sometimes good at using colorful Christian-sounding lingo, hollering out "Praise Jesus!" a few times to his congregation. Words like "Alleluia!" may slide off his tongue like silk.
The Devil knows how to speak in other tongues, too, and he does it often. The Hindu gurus over in India regularly speak in other tongues, as do some witches, and it's been known to happen in Mormon Churches and in Voodoo trance-rituals. But the Devil seems to be most acclaimed and gets the most mileage when he wears the garb of a Charismatic, "spirit-filled" pastor and lets his babbling tongue fly in front of a huge bunch of dancing, jumping up and down, tongue-speaking Charismatic church-goers.
"His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
"Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.
"Come ye, say they, ...to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant." Isaiah 56: 10 - 12
Now understand, I am not doubting for a moment that the Holy Ghost can speak in tongues through a Christian believer. We know that from the scriptures. And, no doubt, that's why the Devil does it, too, to mock, imitate and counterfeit.
On page 3 of this newsletter is the tragic, true story (reprinted from Newsweek magazine, June 6, 2005) of one Pastor in Louisiana who was filled with the Devil and the horrors that befell his church.
This pastor literally turned his church into a hell-house in which members raped and sexually abused as many as 24 children in satanic rituals and devil worship. Neighbors said at night they sometimes heard strange noises coming from the church. Newsweek called it, "The Devil's Handiwork."
Such incidents—and they are happening more and more now—boggle the mind. But as sick and monstrous as they are, I believe the Devil is accomplishing much, much more through ministries like that of Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, and Billy Graham than he is through Pastors like the one in Louisiana.
You see, the Louisiana Pastor only tainted and brought hell to a very small group of people. What a piker! Slick ministers like Warren, Osteen, and Graham are able to persuade tens of millions of victims to give up Jesus Christ. As a consequence, as the Bible says in Isaiah 5:14 and Habakkuk 2:5, Hell is ever being enlarged, and more and more unsaved souls are plunging into its depths every day.
Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Community Church in Lake Forest, California, is the hip and trendy, twenty-first century model of Dr. Robert Schuller. In fact, Schuller just happens to be his mentor. Warren's bestselling book, The Purpose Driven Life, is vintage New Ageism. The selfish "me" generation loves it, because they are always trying to figure out their "purpose" in life. The Bible, of course, tells us our purpose: Our purpose is to deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow Jesus. But no one today would buy a book that says that. Today's narcissistic, "party, party, party" generation isn't gonna deny itself. It's looking for a way to affirm self and to deny God.
What is Rick Warren "driven" to do in his life? In front of a gigantic crowd of some 30,000 people in Los Angeles' baseball stadium, "Pastor Rick" came out in a psychedelic-colored T-shirt and kicked off a rally recently by singing an impersonation of a 60s, hippie-era, Jimi Hendrix' hit song, "Purple Haze." The enthusiastic crowd went wild with laughter. Purpose-driven Pastor Rick told them, "I've always wanted to do that in this stadium."
Think about it. Jimi Hendrix, a heavy metal guitarist and singer, died of a drug overdose. He was a crackhead and a heroin addict. He would violently smash his guitar, make a fire out of the splinters, and go into a drugged-out voodoo trance. Hendrix said that's when he did his "best" music, when the spirits entered him amidst the "Purple Haze."
Now we have America's Pastor, Rick Warren, soaking up the applause as he goes back to lap up the dead Jimi Hendrix' vomit.
Then along comes smiley boy Joel Osteen. He's got a book that's rocketed up to #1 on The New York Times bestseller list. He's filling up auditoriums. His happy times prosperity gospel church has even bought up a 60,000 seat stadium for Osteen to do his preaching at.
And what does he preach? Well, Osteen, on CNN's The Larry King Show, said he doesn't get into controversial subjects like sin and judgment. False religions such as Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism don't concern him. He doesn't really know who's going to hell and who isn't, says smiley boy Joel.
"God is a good god," he repeats over and over, so Osteen is not into condemnation, hell, fire, and brimstone. If you're a Mormon, a Buddhist, a Mason, a Moslem it's all the same to God. God just wants you to have your "best life, now."
That's it. That's the Osteen Gospel: The Best Life for Earth's six billion inhabitants, with or without Jesus. Indeed, with his book they can have it right now, this minute, by thinking positive and staying away from all those unwholesome, negative, Bible believers.
The twenty-first century ministries of Warren, Osteen, and others of today's up and coming preacher corps dovetail quite nicely with the outgoing crew of Schuller and Graham. At his so-called "final crusade" in Queens, New York, Billy Graham talked about singer Madonna. Then he invited into the pulpit a man who is best described as the "Fornicator-General of the Planet." I'm talking about former President Bill Clinton, the big liar who declared, "I did not have sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky."
Graham purred and puffed, and praised his pal Bill Clinton, telling the audience in New York and around the world via TV that Clinton was a fine man who should become a Christian evangelist and preach crusades. And as for Hillary—yes, she was there in person, too, invited by Graham—Billy Graham said that while Bill Clinton was out on the road preaching, Hillary should be back at the White House running the country!
That same week, Billy Graham let everybody know that his pro-Clinton comments were no accident. Interviewed by Katey Couric on NBC's Today show, Graham assured the perky little liberal that he has always been a life-long member of the Democrat Party.
Gasp, snort. Billy Graham a Democrat? You mean, Graham is a supporter of that political party that's rabidly pro-abortion, pro-homosexual, pro-globalist, pro-United Nations, pro-Communist? Yep, exactly. Graham says he's always been one of those kind of political partisans, always will be.
Anyone who's read Dr. Cathy Burns' documented exposé book of Graham entitled Billy Graham and His Friends could have told you. Yet, thousands of Christian evangelicals now say they are "shocked, shocked" to find out Graham is a big, goofy, loopy supporter of Bill and Hillary Clinton and the entire Democrat Party. (Reminds ya of that famous line in the classic Humphrey Bogart movie, Casablanca, where the lying, crooked police commissioner protested he was "shocked, shocked," to see gambling going on at a night club in Casablanca.)
All these things and more I examine in my brand-new audiotape exposing the popular new generation of "Christian" leaders. On it, I call them what they are: Slumbering Dogs, Greedy Dogs. The Bible uses those words, and I cannot possibly improve on them.
Yes, Pastor Rick and Pastor Joel are, indeed, loved and admired by the world. Everyone loves a nice little dog, especially if it's one of those cute, little lap dogs that have no bark and no bite.
Sadly, that's what the Christian establishment is full of these days: Lazy dogs that eat, consume, luxuriate, sleep, not understanding, believing that this day is prosperous and tomorrow will be even more abundant.
But these men are wrong. By the time these slumbering dogs, greedy dogs and their millions of dumbed-down followers wake up, it will be all over but the shouting and the wailing. And that is why Texe Marrs, and a few like me who subscribe to this newsletter, when we see the ruin caused by apostates like Warren, Osteen, and others, are compelled to drop to our knees and cry out with bitter tears, "Lord Jesus, please, come quickly."
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