IQ World Record Holder Exposed!

You may have heard of YoungHoon Kim on X, the self-proclaimed world record IQ holder.  In the pinned post, he claims to have an IQ of 276.  And if you scroll down his main profile page, you'll find he parrots all of the mainstream Christian talking points, and Young-Earth Creationist (I am also YEC) talking points.  There's just one problem, and I'll let this video I found explain it:

Yeah, YoungHoon Kim made-up his IQ score.  But nearly every Christian (including myself) fell for him.  While I don't agree with all of his talking points, I did fall for his claims that (a) he's the certified world record IQ holder, and (b) that he's a Christian.  Looking back on it, I should have been able to identify the red flags that the video pointed-out and investigate myself.  But I didn't.  In fact, it would seem that hardly anyone did.  They all failed to "test al things" (1 Thessalonians 5:21), as did I.

By the way, one point brought up in the video is that apologetics ministries were promoting him and didn't do anything to verify his claims before doing so.  Here's a question:  Why?  The answer is quite simple:  The man is parroting all of their most important talking points (most apologetics ministries that I know of are YEC, by the way) under the perceived authority that comes from being known as the world's smartest person.  They're looking to justify themselves in the eyes of man.  This is a trait that everyone has by default and resurfaces from time to time.  But you can bet that these same ministries would be blasting him if he was parroting atheist talking points under the perceived authority of the world's smartest person.

Now, let's take a look at some of these posts and see for ourselves that this man is speaking out of pride (for some reason, these X posts don't seem to be embedding properly):

From the world's highest IQ record holder : Truth spreads through the voice of @joerogan. Thank you Joe Rogan for following me. pic.twitter.com/Nj3gCKyOOn

— YoungHoon Kim (@yhbryankimiq) June 29, 2025

Notice that he starts off each post with "From the world's highest IQ record holder..."  Almost all of his posts begin this way.  He wants you to believe him just because he's (allegedly) the smartest person in the world.  In the best case scenario, this is simply pride talking.  Even if he does hold the record for highest IQ, that does not mean you should forgo testing everything.  As far as you should be concerned, anyone who starts their posts of with any claim of authority, be it a PhD or an IQ record holder, it is the equivalent of saying, "Suchandsuch is true because I say it is.  Don't try to verify my claims."

Even if this man is speaking with integrity, that doesn't mean he's always going to be right.  If he's prideful (which he is), that pride will one day result in him being wrong in the most obvious and most embarrassing way possible.  One must always be careful to keep one's own pride in check before it destroys one's credibility.  And once one's credibility is destroyed, it's hard to rebuild it.  Remember that God opposes the proud (James 4:6).  So even those who speak the truth will be brought low by God if they become puffed up with pride.

Now what about the claim that Truth speaks through Joe Rogan?  Well, I don't pay attention to Joe Rogan and I am not familiar with any of his teachings, so I am not in a position to say one way or another if he is telling the truth.  That is something that you will have to test yourself.

Here's another one of his posts:

As the world's highest IQ record holder. I conclude. Evolution is a scam. Only Creation is the truth revealed by God. https://t.co/3SpaL1MW1c

— YoungHoon Kim (@yhbryankimiq) June 29, 2025

Same pattern of claiming authority to get you to uncritically accept his claims.  This time, in declaring evolution is a scam.  Mr. Kim is absolutely correct that evolution is a scam, and that only the Biblical account of Creation is the truthful account of Creation.

Here's another post:

From the world’s highest IQ record holder: Abortion is murder. No exception. No excuse. Because God said, “Do not kill.”

— YoungHoon Kim (@yhbryankimiq) June 29, 2025

Same pattern.  But this time, his claim is not entirely correct.  While it is true that abortion, without exception, is murder, and it is true that there is never an excuse for abortion, what is not true is the claim that God said, "Do not kill".  The actual commandment is "Do not murder".  The KJV got it wrong in Exodus 20:13.

This simply proves the point that we should still test everything that anyone says.  Being the smartest person in the world doesn't mean you know everything.  And there is a big difference between knowledge and intelligence.  No matter how much knowledge you have, you will always be wrong about something and not know something.  But what you do not know, someone else probably does know.  But even the collective knowledge of all mankind does not know everything.

Now, I actually do not blame him for getting this one wrong.  Not everyone can study everything.  And I do not expect most Christians to do a deep study on the Hebrew or Greek texts of Scripture.  Nor do I expect most Christians to know how to do that.  I would like for all Christians to know how to do that (and I encourage you to do so), as it would make my job a lot easier and (more importantly) increase the level of discernment among Christians.  But that is just not going to happen.  And for all intents and purposes, whether the command is a blanket prohibition against killing or just an explicit prohibition against murder isn't going to affect most Christians.

Let's now take a look at another one of his posts:

From the world's highest IQ record holder: I had severe depression and anxiety disorder. I even tried to end my life. But when I met Jesus, everything changed. He healed me and set me free. I’m living proof that Jesus is God. He is the only way.

— YoungHoon Kim (@yhbryankimiq) June 28, 2025

Here, he shares a bit of personal testimony.  But here is also where I think his pride shines through the most.  Because he is trying to get you to accept everything he says by claiming at he beginning to be the record IQ holder.  This simply is not needed for personal testimony.  In this case, I'm not quite sure he's giving a personal testimony.  Since he's puffed himself up full of pride, this may actually be a call for help.  But I would love for this to be personal testimony.  And if I'm wrong, and it is personal testimony, then this is fantastic.

But what's going to happen when more and more people wake up to the fact that he's lying about being the official IQ record holder?  All his fame will disappear.  Apologetics ministries will quietly unpublish all of their articles about him, or make an example out of him about the difference between professing faith and living faith.  Atheists and other enemies of Christianity will use him as proof that Christians need fraudsters to uphold their faith.  And it will be a massive blow to the credibility of Christianity that this man was uncritically accepted by so many Christians.

Also, being cured of depression and anxiety isn't proof that Jesus is God.  Especially not by itself.  In fact, that one claim alone exposes a huge lapse in critical thinking on Mr. Kim's part.  For someone with the (allegedly) highest IQ in the world, he made a huge blunder that would be expected from someone with just an average IQ or lower.  And don't IQ tests measure a person's critical thinking skills among other things?  I believe that this statement alone proves his IQ isn't nearly as high as he claims it is.

If you really want proof that Jesus is God, look no further than the record of Jesus fulfilling every prophecy concerning his first coming (many of them are impossible to fabricate), including all of the miracles that he was to perform, and him teaching and practicing the law of God perfectly and according to its intended meaning.  That, coupled with the fact that Scripture points to Jesus as the one that the prophets spoke about as being "God with us", proves that Jesus is God.

Miracles by themselves cannot prove that Jesus is God.  Fulfillment of prophecies alone cannot prove it.  Rising from the dead doesn't prove it.  Raising others from the dead cannot prove it.  Even teaching and practicing the law perfectly cannot prove it.  It is all of those things combined with the necessary statement from the prophets that the Messiah would be "God with us" that proves that Jesus is God.  Had the prophets never said that he would be "God with us", then Jesus would not be God.

By the way, we're not very far in this man's timeline (even though I have skipped over many of his posts), and we have already found a major example of his pride getting in the way of his intelligence.  Assuming that his intelligence is as high as he wants us to believe it is.  Ever heard of the Dunning-Kruger Effect?

Let's take a careful look at a couple more posts:

As the world's highest IQ record holder, I believe President Donald Trump is the smartest president in all of human history, with an estimated IQ of 200. pic.twitter.com/qITiQ84oOQ

— YoungHoon Kim (@yhbryankimiq) June 27, 2025

Here, he's using his alleged IQ record to claim that somebody else (Donald Trump) is the smartest person in the world.  Mr. Kim is outright saying that he is both the smartest person in the world and not the smartest person in the world in the same post!  And if Trump is the smartest at an IQ of around 200, then it's impossible for Mr. Kim to have an IQ higher than Trump's IQ.  This one post alone (in my opinion) proves the grift, and is a lousy attempt at false humility.  The irony is that (in my opinion at least), Trump is actually much smarter than Mr. Kim.  Mr. Kim has become instantly famous, but his fame is going to quickly unravel, probably fading into obscurity quickly.  Trump built-up his fame in such a way that it will last for generations.  Whether or not you agree with what Trump is doing is irrelevant here.  There can be no doubt that Trump is more intelligent than Mr. Kim on this point alone.

Okay, here's the last post we're going to cover:

My entire faith stands on this absolute truth: The Bible is the perfect Word of God. Therefore, it is 100% truth, 0% error.

- Highest IQ Record Holder

— YoungHoon Kim (@yhbryankimiq) June 26, 2025

For those who don't know, I actually tested the Biblical inerrancy claim and found it to be both unbiblical and false.  I've even made a couple posts here and here, the latter of which goes into detail about a claim used to "prove" inerrancy.  In short, the Bible isn't perfect, nor does it claim to be perfect.  Nor is everything in the Bible the "word of God", and that's actually a good thing.  And your faith certainly should not stand on the Bible being perfect.  Rather, it should stand on the Bible being trustworthy, because it is trustworthy, in spite of the fact that it's not perfect.  Though, the number of errors in Scripture is so low that rounding to the nearest percent almost certainly yields a result of 0%.

Review his timeline while you still can.  I've been scrolling far beyond the post I quoted above, and cannot find one instance of him correcting a single mainstream Christian doctrine.  Not one post.  And it's not like there's a lack of incorrect doctrine within mainstream Christianity.  Even if you disagree with me on Biblical inerrancy (which is your right, especially if you have studied Scripture for yourself to draw your own conclusions), we should at least agree that mainstream Christianity is going to get something wrong eventually.  Right?  So why does it seem that he does not use the implicit authority that comes from having the highest IQ to correct errors in mainstream Christian doctrine?  Perhaps it's because he's seeking praise from men.

If he wasn't outright lying about his IQ, I would conclude that this man is an infant in the faith and letting his pride get in the way of growing in the Messiah.  And that he needs to be taught humility.  The most intelligent people are the ones who, upon receiving correct, test the correction, and upon learning that it's true, take it to heart, accept it, and put it into practice.  Those who seek attention and pride will be brought low, even if they are right about everything else.

But the fact that he actually is lying about his IQ record status proves that he isn't practicing the Christian faith.  And if he somehow doesn't know that you're not allowed to lie for Jesus (not surprising, since most apologists do exactly that, but at least try to appear humble), his response to being exposed will tell us everything about the sincerity of his faith.  If he accepts correction, and changes his ways, he is a genuine Christian.  If he rejects correction, especially repeated correction, continuing in his lies, then he is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

What Did Jesus Mean by "But I Say..."? [UPDATED]

IMPORTANT NOTE:  This article was originally published on December 27, 2021 but contains a serious error that I am correcting here.  You can still read the original in its entirety through this link.  Other than this one correction, this post is completely unmodified from the original.

Making Claims on the Bible's Behalf

If there's one thing that I've noticed while testing everything, it's the fact that the Church makes claims about what the Bible says about itself that, quite frankly, the Bible never makes!  These claims are made by the Church on behalf of the Bible, and if you dare to question whether the Bible makes these claims (or even claim that the Bible does not make them), then you are "undermining the authority of the word of God" (or something along those lines).  Responses like these are how the Church protects their doctrine from Biblical scrutiny.  Here are two of the claims that the Church makes about the Bible on the Bible's behalf:

1. The Bible claims to be the word of God.
2. The Bible claims to be inerrant.

Let's first take a look at the evidence that the Church provides to prove these claims about the Bible.  For the assertion that the Bible claims to be the word of God, some quote this passage:

For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. [1 Thessalonians 2:13; NKJV]

And that is how we get 100% proof that the Bible claims to be the word of God!  Never-mind the fact that Paul was referring to what he spoke to the Thessalonians when he was physically with them!  So what was Paul referring to?  Probably the Law of God and the writings of the prophets in order to prove that Yeshua is the Messiah, and also the Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah.

After reviewing all of the instances in the New Testament where the phrase "word of God" appears (71 times according to Bible Gateway), I have to conclude that every single one of those appearances is referring to the "Old Testament" or specific portions of the "Old Testament", such as the Law of God and the writings of the Prophets.  There is no evidence that the phrase "word of God" is used to refer to any of the "New Testament" writings.  And in fact, if you look at the book of Revelations, you will find that the "word of God" is actually distinguished from the "testimony of Jesus [the] Christ" (that is, the Gospel message of Jesus the Messiah).

On a side note:  While none of the "New Testament" writings claim to be the word of God, Yeshua did claim to be God and he proved his claims to be true.  This makes all of Yeshua's teachings the word of God by definition, even though the writers of the Gospels never claimed that their writings were the word of God.

In the so-called "Old Testament", we see the phrase "word of Yahweh" many, many times.  Each time, it refers specifically to something that God has spoken through his prophets, or sometimes the law of God.  And in the case of the writings of the prophets, the phrase "word of Yahweh" is used many times specifically to claim that what is being said (or is about to be said) is indeed the word of God.  But the phrase "word of God" in the "Old Testament" usually just refers to the Law of God.

Does the fact that these prophetic writings claim to be the word of God mean that the whole Bible is claiming to be the word of God?  Not at all.

By the way, some within the KJV only cult will use Proverbs 30:5 to prove that the KJV is the word of God.  The line of logic behind that claim is this:  "The KJV says every word of God is pure, therefore the KJV (and only the KJV) is the word of God."  With that line of logic, you might as well use every single appearance of the phrase "word of God" as proof that the Bible itself is claiming to be the word of God.

Another passage often used as proof that the Bible itself claims to be the word of God is this verse:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness [2 Timothy 3:16; NKJV]

What's the line of logic here?  The line of logic is that since the Bible is also called Scripture, this verse is the Bible itself claiming to be the word of God.  By the way, the word (singular) translated as "given by inspiration of God", literally means "God-breathed".  This fact is used to claim that God dictated every word that is in the Bible and that the Bible is therefore claiming to be inerrant.  But that's not what this passage is saying!  By the way, since we're on the topic of taking the Greek text literally, the word translated as "scripture" is the Greek word "graphe", which literally means "writing" or "document".  Have fun trying to explain that one away!

Actually, the "New Testament" outright tells us what it is referring to when it uses "graphe":

44 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures [graphe]. [Luke 24:44-45; NKJV]

The "Scriptures" refer to the law of Yahweh, the writings of his prophets, and the Psalms.  Usually, when the word "graphe" ("writing") is used, it's referring either to the law of Yahweh or the writings of the prophets, but not the Psalms.  This passage is one of only a few exceptions to this rule.  In other words, the "New Testament" used the generic word for "writing" to refer only to the writings which were widely regarded as having a great deal of authority.  And we can see this usage clearly in 2 Peter 3:16.

Now, about the "God-breathed" part:  It does not necessarily mean that Yahweh dictated every word that's in the writings that Paul is referring to.  In fact, it is highly unlikely that this is the case at all.  While the parts that claim to be quoting Yahweh directly are this way (and probably a significant portion that is not claiming to be quoting Yahweh directly), there is no reason why this cannot simply refer to Yahweh guiding the process, or motivating those who seek truth to write what they have written.  Of course, there are places where Yahweh dictated what these documents should say.  And nothing that comes directly from the mouth of Yahweh is ever in error.  But the Bible never claims to be without error.

Now, is the Bible even capable of making claims about itself?  No.  Why?  Because the Bible is a book that was compiled from 66 individual books.  It has no content of its own and is therefore not able to make any claims about itself.  Instead, what we see is some of the books in the Bible claim to be the word of God.  And some claim that other books (which are also in the Bible) are the word of God.  But the Bible itself makes no claims about itself whatsoever.  In fact, even when all of the 66 documents which are now contained within the Bible were completed, the Bible still didn't exist until these documents were compiled into a single book.  Ironically, this compilation was done by the Catholic Church, which is pretty much the only work of the Catholic Church that has any instructional value on how to carry-out the will of Yahweh, as Yeshua warned.  Though the 66 documents that are in the Bible were widely accepted as having a high level of authority long before that happened.

Weaponizing Matthew 12:31

In Matthew 12:31, Yeshua states that blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.  For quite some time now, people have been claiming to have heard from the Holy Spirit various things.  Or claim that the Holy Spirit has done various things.  How do these people know it was the Holy Spirit?  They don't!  Because they don't know how to test the spirits.  Those who do know how to test the spirits will easily be able to find everything wrong with what the "Holy Spirit" is saying or doing, and prove that it's not actually the Holy Spirit saying or doing these things.  But what happens when these counterfeit spirits are exposed for what they really are?  Those who claim to have heard from the Holy Spirit invoke Matthew 12:31, and even 1 Thessalonians 5:19.  In other words, they will claim that you are blaspheming or quenching the Holy Spirit.

As with any doctrine that cannot withstand Biblical scrutiny, the wolves claiming that the Holy Spirit is speaking to them do not tolerate you testing the spirit to see if it's from Yahweh.  Instead, they claim that you have committed the unforgivable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, or that you are quenching the Holy Spirit in order to silence those who know better, and to cause impressionable people to believe that whoever opposes them are in the wrong.  Of course, if any spirit claims to be the Holy Spirit but is not, then that spirit must be quenched and exposed for the fraud that it really is.  For no spirit that is from Yahweh will falsely claim to be the Holy Spirit.

Testing to see if a spirit is actually the Holy Spirit requires knowledge and a robust understanding of the Bible.  Especially of the Law of Yahweh, the Prophets, and the teachings of Yeshua.  A good understanding of what the Holy Spirit has done historically is also of great significance.  Particularly, what the Holy Spirit did as recorded in the book of Acts.  It's actually a shame that so few Christians have even read the Bible, let alone understand it.  And while I'm not claiming to have a perfect understanding of Scripture, I understand enough to know that the spirits claiming to be the Holy Spirit, are actually from the enemy!

Let me give you an example.  Paul's conversion.  What does Acts say happened to Paul during his conversion?  Acts 9:1-9 reveals that Paul fell to the ground!  The Bible does not reveal if it was the Holy Spirit that did this, but for the sake of the argument, let's say that it was (though I don't believe it was).  Notice that Paul was receiving correction from Yeshua when this happened.  If we take a look at instances in the book of Acts, instances where Yahweh isn't correcting anyone, we see that not one of them ever fell to the ground.  The only ones who fell to the ground were the ones receiving correction!  Think about that!  And also think about how those who allegedly have the Holy Spirit fall in such a manner that there is a very serious risk of injury.  Funny how the alleged proof that the Holy Spirit is doing those things can result in injury instead of healing, which is often what is promised.

When these counterfeit spirits aren't making an awe-inspiring display that fools the people into believing that they are the Holy Spirit, there's saying things which contradict what Yahweh revealed through his Law, the Prophets, and his son, Yeshua.  And they also contradict the accounts that the historical records give concerning the Holy Spirit's actions.  Records that Yahweh made sure were written by people of integrity!  These spirits are calling Yahweh a liar!  Among the lies that these spirits teach are vein repetition and counterfeit tongues (which numbs the brain, making them more susceptible to possession), that those who have the Holy Spirit can lose control over their bodies (that's actually demon possession), and prosperity gospel.

Of course, we can't forget the most basic test:

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. [1 John 1:3; NKJV]

Nobody seems to test the spirit concerning this one basic thing, or other like it (eg: whether Yeshua is the son of Yahweh, or is the Messiah).  It's kind of important to get this information from the beginning, so that nobody will be deceived later on.

Misunderstanding the Doctrine of Obedience

Have you ever heard the claim that "obedience to God's Law is by definition, salvation by works"?  Well, that's a lie!  According to Deuteronomy 13, those that love Yahweh obey his Law.  And those that rebel against his Law by definition, practice idolatry!  Is it possible that someone will keep Yahweh's Law as a means of salvation?  Yes.  But there are other reasons to keep the Law of Yahweh.  For example, to prove that you love Yahweh.  Or to prove that they believe in Yeshua.  Yeshua said that those who love him will keep his commandments (John 14:21).  And Yeshua commanded us to live on every word of Yahweh (Matthew 4:4).  You are not living on every word of Yahweh if you are rebelling against his Law!

This misunderstanding concerning obedience is understandable.  Simply put, the teaching that, "one cannot be saved so long is one is living in rebellion", can be easily misinterpreted as saying that it's the obedience that saves you, rather than faith in Yeshua.  For example, Hebrews 10:26 makes it clear that those living in rebellion have no atonement.  But it is also clear from other passages, such as Romans 3:19-20, make it clear that, even if one were to stop rebelling against Yahweh's Law, they would still not be saved!  And Yeshua said, "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men [Matthew 12:31; NKJV]."  So the one who stops their rebellion will be forgiven of their rebellion.

While this may look like salvation by works, it's not.  It only looks that way because living in rebellion will prevent you from being saved.  If someone stops rebelling against Yahweh's commandments, that does not automatically mean they are saved.  It just means they can be saved.  Salvation still comes from believing in Yeshua.  All this can be summed-up by the following saying:  "Obedience cannot save you, but rebellion will condemn you."  You might have also heard this saying:  "We do not keep the Law to be saved.  We keep the Law because we're saved."

There are some things that need to be addressed.  The ultimate reason that this misunderstanding exists is because Satan wants to keep us away from Yahweh.  And he does that by deceiving us into believing that the Law is bad, and that keeping it is bad.  Yeshua warned against this tactic when he said, "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men [Matthew 15:8-9; NKJV]."  Their hearts are far from Yahweh because they do not keep his commandments.  So now you know that drawing close to Yahweh starts with keeping his Law.

There are of course human motivations for believing that obedience is salvation by works:  People do not like change!  They want to continue in their ways and their hearts deceive them into making excuses for continuing in what they now know is sinful.  This is an excellent example of the mind being governed by the flesh not being able to submit to Yahweh's Law, as Paul warned about in Romans 8:7.  For teachers, there is even more motivation to teach this:  Money and/or power!  Or rather, the love of money and/or power.  People generally have itching ears and will not tolerate anyone who does not tell them exactly what they want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3-4)!  And guess what:  You can't maintain a Church building if nobody is there to give their "tithe" to the Church.  Then there are the wolves!  These teachers know the truth, and teach the opposite.  It is their job to make sure that you perish in the Lake of Fire!  By the way, the more people realize that God expects us to keep his Law, the more wolves will make themselves known.

What Did Jesus Mean by "But I Say..."?

The phrase "but I say" or "but I tell you" appears in the Gospels quite a few times.  But what does it mean?  Let's examine the first time it appears, which is in Matthew 5:22.

21 "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister [without cause] will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, 'Raca,' is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell. [Matthew 5:21-22; NIV]

It appears that Jesus is quoting from the Law.  And indeed, the Law does say, "you shall not murder" [Exodus 20:13].  However, the Law does not say, "anyone who murders will be subject to judgement".  It says the one who murders is to be put to death [Numbers 35:16-21]!  Is Jesus making the Law harder to follow?  Not at all.  For the Law says, "love your neighbor as yourself" [Leviticus 19:18] and, "do not bear a grudge against anyone" [Leviticus 19:18].  What Jesus is doing here is linking Leviticus 19:18 with Exodus 20:13.  If you break the later, then you've broken the former in your heart.  This wouldn't be the only time that Jesus linked two different commands together, so that breaking one means you break the other in your heart.  In Matthew 5:27-28, Jesus linked coveting with adultery.

So what about the next example?  Here's a verse where Jesus appears to be overriding God's Law.

31 "Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' 32 But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery."  [Matthew 5:31-32; NIV]

The Law does indeed say that anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce [Deuteronomy 24:1].  But here's the question:  Is Jesus forbidding what God has previously allowed?  Or is the intent behind the command in question being misused?  Remember the Deuteronomy 13 Test.  And the fact that Jesus condemned the Pharisees for nullifying the Law of God:

1 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!"

3 Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.' 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is 'devoted to God,' 6 they are not to 'honor their father or mother' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. [Matthew 15:1-6; NIV]

So according to Jesus himself, anyone who nullifies the Law of God is guilty of sin.  This means that it can't be that Jesus is nullifying Deuteronomy 24:1 by forbidding adultery.  So it must be that the intent of Deuteronomy 24:1 is being ignored.  What's the intent?  The word translated as "uncleanness" is the Hebrew word "erva", which means "nakedness" or "shamefulness".  If you read through Scripture carefully, you will find that sin is always linked with shame, with the former justifying the latter.  In other words, the intent of the command is to allow a man to divorce his wife if he finds out that she has been sexually immoral.

So then, what's with Matthew 19:8, where Jesus appears to be saying that the commands concerning divorce are not of God?  If Jesus was doing just that, it means that the inerrancy doctrine is wrong.  Also, remember Deuteronomy 13?  Moses could not have put that command there if God had not approved of it!  Otherwise, Jesus would be guilty of sin by forbidding what God's Law has allowed.  The issue here is the intent of the command, which agrees with what Jesus is saying.

Here's another example of Jesus apparently contradicting God's Law.  Mind you that Jesus is God, and God does not change (if he does change, then he cannot be eternal).

33 "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one." [Matthew 5:33-37; NKJV]

If we take a careful look at the Greek text, you will notice that the "not" in verse 34 is a qualified not.  The most likely qualifier is the word "falsely" between "swear" and "at all".  What's going on here is that the Pharisees (in typical fashion) are saying, "If you swear by the Lord, you are bound by that oath.  But if you swear by other things, then the oath means nothing."  Jesus had a few things to say about the Pharisees rules concerning what you may or may not swear falsely by.  To paraphrase, "anyone who swears by anything is bound by the oath that they swear."

One more thing.  I noticed that the NIV says in verse 37, "All you need to say is simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."  Notice the clear change in meaning between the two translations.  The saying, "let your 'yes' be 'yes' and your 'no' be 'no'" means we are to speak truthfully when we swear.  But the saying, "all you need to say is simply 'yes' or 'no'; anything further is from the evil one" is a clear violation of Deuteronomy 12:32.

To summarize, when Jesus said, "but I say", he either contradicted a human rule by what he said, or brought to light the intent of God's command, or linked breaking one command (one that cannot be enforced) with breaking another command (one that can be enforced) in your heart.  Never did Jesus speak against God's Law.  For he gave the Law and told King David through the Holy Spirit that the Law is eternal [Psalm 119:160].

The Paganism of Christmas

From the beginning, Satan's goal is to keep people away from God.  And he does that through any means necessary.  From deceiving people into believing that the Bible is scientifically and historically inaccurate, to following human traditions and rules under the guise of "this is what the Bible requires", even to leading people to follow other gods which at best, don't exist.  And that's without mentioning the repeated use of the trick of making God's Law look burdensome.  There is no shortage of ways that people have been kept away from God.

The reason I mentioned the deception of making God's Law look burdensome is because it makes it easier to lead people to do things their own way, just as Adam and Eve did things their own way by trying to obtain a type of knowledge that God never indented for us to have.  Take this exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees, for example:

1 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!"

3 Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.' 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is 'devoted to God,' 6 they are not to 'honor their father or mother' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

8 "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.'" [Matthew 15:1-9; NIV]

The elders of the day put in place a tradition of washing ones hands before they ate, and the Pharisees expected everyone to follow that tradition (along with many, many other human traditions) as if it was equal to God's Law.  Some of these traditions even broke God's Law as you can see from the quoted verses.  Jesus points this out, then quotes Isaiah 29:13, exposing the system for what it really is:  A set of human rules!  To drive the point home, Jesus outright said that the Pharisees cannot escape being condemned because of their system that keeps people far from God [Matthew 23:13-36].  How does it keep people far from God?  By keeping them in rebellion against God's Law, in direct violation of Deuteronomy 13.  Isn't it interesting that the Pharisees tested Jesus against Deuteronomy 13, but never tested their own?

What does this have to do with Christmas?  Only everything.  Christmas is nothing but human tradition built upon human tradition.  These traditions are in place as a means of worshiping God, in direct violation of Deuteronomy 12, which, in summary, says that we shall worship him the way he wants to be worshiped [12:1], not as the pagans worshiped their gods [12:4], nor as we see fit [12:8].  And that we are to keep his commands, not adding to them or diminishing from them [12:32].

So, you think Christmas is not a pagan holiday?  Let's say, for argument sake that it isn't.  Does that change anything?  God did not authorize us to worship him in the ways that are done on Christmas (violates Deuteronomy 12:1).  That in and of itself disqualifies Christmas as a Christian holiday.  What about why Christmas is celebrated?  Isn't it because it's viewed as okay in the eyes of man because "God never forbade it" or "the Disciples did it"?  Strike two, violation of Deuteronomy 12:8!  In other words, Christmas being Christian in origin would mean nothing!

As mentioned in a previous post, the Catholic Church is part of a much larger, satanic cult that is bent on ruling the world.  So if you trace any teaching or tradition back to the Catholic Church, you are, by definition, tracing that teaching or tradition back to paganism.  For the Catholic Church is a pagan Church.  We, as Christians, should be doing nothing that originates from them.

The Catholic Church never creates anything new.  All of their practices come from somewhere.  They just modify these practices to suit their counterfeit version of Christianity (if that).  When it comes to Christmas, they took the winter solstice practices of the surrounding pagan cultures, condensed it down to a single day, and named the modified practice "Christmas".  These days were the Saturnalia and Sol Invictus (and perhaps a couple others).  These practices are themselves modifications of the pagan practices of the Babylonians, Egyptians, etc.  Practices that long pre-date Christianity.  Even the date that Christmas is celebrated is the same as Sol Invictus.  And if it wasn't for the fact that the calendar tends to drift about 1 day every 100 or so years, the winter solstice would still be on December 25, as it was when the Julian calendar was established.

Let's talk about the Christmas Tree.  Those who wish to defend it will trace its origins back to the Catholic Church, which we already discussed why that doesn't work.  But the practice of using trees in the worship of the pagan gods long pre-dates Christianity.  In fact, if you've read the historical documentation contained in the Bible, you'll realize just how prevalent tree worship was in the pagan societies.  Deuteronomy 12:2 commands us to seek-out and destroy all of the pagan alters under every green tree.  Deuteronomy 16:21 commands us not to plant any trees next to any alter of Yahweh.  Deuteronomy 12:4 commands us not to worship God the way the pagans worshiped their gods.

So the mere fact that the pagans used trees to worship their god is enough to make the Christmas Tree a satanic practice.  But did you know that what Christians do to pine trees is exactly what the pagans in the middle eastern regions did to Cedar trees?  Isaiah 14:8 notes the type of trees used in idol worship:  They are indeed evergreen trees!  Jeremiah 10:1-4 gives a perfect description of a Christmas Tree.  And it's rather interesting how the practice evolved over time.  The ancient pagans carved images into the tree.  Christians do not.  The ancient pagans used Cedars (and Junipers, and sometimes even Pines), Christians use Pines.  Some modern trees are made of metal or plastic and are stored when not in use.  What about the claim that the trees in Jeremiah 10 aren't Christmas Trees?  That claim is a lie!  By the way, here's another description of pagan practices surrounding trees!  Isaiah 44:14-19.  Notice that most of the trees listed are evergreen trees (the exception being the Oak).

The Catholics didn't invent the Christmas Tree.  Some pagan convert to Catholicism brought an existing custom into the Catholic Church and it stuck.  Also notice in the passage in Isaiah that these people don't know why they are worshiping trees.  They never stop to think about the absurdity of their practices!  Christians do the exact same things that Isaiah was mocking 2,500 years ago!  Those who set up a tree in the name of Yeshua (Jesus) are worshiping the tree, not the Son of God.  Those who put an angel on top of the tree are worshiping the angel.  Those who put a star on top of the tree are worshiping the star (which represents the pagan sun gods, but was renamed to "Star of Bethlehem" after being adopted by the Catholic Church) and the pagan sun gods that are associated with it.  Those who set up a manger scene worship the manger scene, not the one that is allegedly represented by it.  These are all golden calves.  And I already pointed out how much God hates setting up images in his name!  The one who sets up a "golden calf" does not worship God, but the calf, even if they say in their heart "I'm worshiping God."

Every single thing that is done at Christmas time is a human tradition, including the date.  The rationalization for the date is also an appeal to human tradition.  Some have appealed to a Jewish tradition that a prophet of God lives an exact number of years.  They even admit in their argument that it's a human tradition!  The evidence that this tradition is true:  None that I've seen!  They just assume that this tradition is true, and state that because a prophet lives an exact number of years, and because life begins at conception, and because Jesus died on March 25, and because human gestation is 9 months, Jesus must have been born on December 25.

There are so many holes in this argument that it's astonishing that it's even believed!  Where to begin?  How about the fact that the tradition actually uses the Hebrew calendar (which typically has 355 days in a year), while those justifying the December 25 date are applying it to the Julian or Gregorian calendar.  If the tradition is true, then you need to calculate from the Hebrew calendar when Jesus would be born, not the Julian or Gregorian calendar.  Even if his death was on March 25 (it was not), you would have to find the Hebrew date that year, then calculate back to the year of his conception to get the actual Julian date of his conception.  And the same for the date of his birth.  Except there's one problem:  Birth can happen anywhere between 37 and 42 weeks from conception.  That's a span of 1.5 months!  So we can't know for sure when he was born just by knowing when he was conceived.

The next problem is that the years that a person has been alive is counted from birth, not conception.  It is true that life begins at conception, but the years of a persons life are counted from birth.  In other words, according to the tradition being appealed to, it is the day of birth that is also the day of death.  Oh, and did I mention that this appeal began with the Catholic Church?  Add that to the list of traditions that the Catholic Church modified to suit their agenda.  Anyone who uses this argument is not appealing to a Jewish tradition, but a Catholic one.

Because the Catholic Church hated the Jews, they set up Good Friday and Easter Sunday to never fall on the same day as Passover or the Feast of Firstfruits.  Granted, they still sometimes fall on the same day, but this is rare by design.  So we can know for sure that whatever day Good Friday fell on in the year that Jesus died is not when Passover was (which is when he actually died).  So without even looking for when Passover that year was, we know that the March 25 date is wrong.  Also, 33 AD is not the year that Jesus died.  It was 30 AD.  And March 25 did not land on a Friday that year.  And neither did Passover.

The fact that the Church appeals to tradition rather than the Bible or other period documents to determine the day that Jesus was born tells you everything you need to know about the December 25 date.  In fact, it is impossible to determine the day of the Messiah's birth from the Bible or any other documentation of the time.  That should tell you all you need to know about how God feels about our celebration of his birthday.  If God wanted us to celebrate his birthday, he would have revealed to us when it was.  God hid it from us because he does not want us to celebrate it.  Why?  Because the pagans celebrated the birthdays of their gods.  And Jesus' birthday is irrelevant to the gospel message.

Want to see just how demonic Christmas really is?  Here's a documentary produced by Passion for Truth Ministries showing just that:

Here's another documentary from 119 Ministries, also showing the paganism of Christmas:

There's also more evidence for those who care about searching for the truth instead of justifying unbiblical and demonic traditions.

The Lie of Dressing Modestly

So, the Bible has a lot to say about modesty, right?  Well, according to some teachers, the answer is yes.  But according to our English translations of the Bible, it's just two verses.  Which don't say anything concerning what the Church says concerning modesty.  And there's a mistranslation in one of them.

9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; 10 but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. [1 Timothy 2:9-10; KJV]

The word translated as "modest" in this passage is the Greek word "kosmios".  It appears twice in the New Testament, both times in 1 Timothy.  Here's the other instance:

2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; [1 Timothy 3:2; KJV]

If we just go by how this word is translated, we see that there is one standard for men, and a different standard for women.  For men, it's just about behavior.  For women, it's about behavior and choice of clothing.  God calls those who have such double standards abominations! [Deuteronomy 25:13-16]  So it's either the case that Paul is setting two different standards (one for men and another for women), or there is something that is being missed.

Turns out, it's the latter.  The word "kosmios" literally means "orderly".  It's derived from the Greek word "kosmos", which means "orderly array".  Knowing this solves most of the apparent double-standard, as it means that the same standard is being applied to both men and women.  But why is it specifically women who are told to dress in "orderly apparel"?  If you take a look at what Paul said they should not be wearing, then you have your answer.  The women that Paul is addressing here are wealthy women who love showing off their wealth through expensive clothing and hair styles.  Some have suggested that they were competing against each other for bragging rights on most elaborate clothing.  Such behavior and clothing is obviously disorderly.

Let's assume though, that "modest" is the correct translation.  The issue of modesty in the above passage is not whether the women are wearing enough, but whether they're wearing too much.  The former is a cultural norm that is read into the text based on a grossly-incorrect understanding of Scripture, especially in the area of "lust", which has nothing to do with a woman's clothing (or lack thereof).  The definition of modest that Paul gives is to not wear expensive clothing, jewelry, or hair styles.  That is it.

But the word is not "modest", the word is "orderly".  If you read the passage carefully, you will notice that what is defined as orderly is one's behavior and character.  Shamefacedness means humility, and viewing yourself less highly than others.  Sobriety means self-control.  In other words, this passage is all about behavior, and has nothing to do with physical clothing.  The same rule holds true for any other passage in the New Testament that is misinterpreted as addressing the issue of modesty.

In fact, the Church's rules concerning modesty not only are in direct violation of Deuteronomy 24:16, since the woman is held responsible for the sin of the man, it is also a direct violation of Deuteronomy 12:32, since it adds to God's commandments.  Even Paul, in 1 Timothy 2:8 admitted that his rules concerning orderly apparel are his own rules, not God's commandments.  Again, it is sinful to blame the woman for the sin of the man, regardless of the reason she is being blamed.  It is also sinful to hold a cultural norm (the Church's vague rules concerning modesty) as equal to the Law of God.

Also, the Greek text of 1 Timothy 3:15 uses the phrase "house of God", which appears to be able to have either of the meanings I listed in a previous post about the word Church, but not both at the same time (The distinction I made is only in some English translations, not in the Greek text.  Oops!).  So it is possible that the rules that Paul gave before this verse only apply to the behavior expected within the Church setting (some argue exactly that point).  I have my doubts that this is the case, but if is, then the Church should not be applying its rules on modesty outside of the Church setting.

Even if the rules laid out prior to 1 Timothy 3:15 are meant to always apply (which I believe to be the case), the fact that the passage uses the word "orderly" instead of "modest" should be enough to prove that the setting determines what is or is not orderly.  But to leave this on a somewhat positive note:  The Church does have some concept of different settings calling for different standards of acceptable (or required) clothing.  And most will probably agree with me to a point that what is acceptable in one setting may be completely unacceptable in a different setting.  The problem here is that the Church is restricting what these standards can be on a perceived moral ground that does not exist in Scripture.

Go to Jail to Fall-Away

It is typically believed that if a minister is sent to jail even though he has done nothing wrong, that the prisoners within the jail will be saved.  And the minister who was falsely jailed will come out stronger in faith than ever.  But I've noticed two cases where a minister is falsely jailed, and when he got out, ended up going off the deep end.  These two ministers are Dr. Kent Hovind, and Pastor Jim Staley.

Before we get started, keep in mind that just because someone is mentioned in a positive light on this blog, or one of their teachings are featured on occasion, doesn't mean I agree with all of their teachings.

Dr. Kent Hovind is a Young Earth Creationist who was arrested for tax evasion.  Well, tax evasion is the official story.  He not only taught about YEC, but also about government and corporate corruption.  And made many predictions about what these corrupt entities would do in the future.  All of these predictions that I know of have come true, by the way.  When it comes to YEC, Kent Hovind actually got a lot of things wrong.  For example, the blood vessels in the eye are not in front of the photoreceptors.  It's the nerve fibers that carry signals from the receptors to the brain that are in front of the receptors.

Kent Hovind wasn't jailed for what he got wrong.  He was jailed for what he got right, which has very little to do with YEC.  After he got out of jail, he wound up reading a New Age book, and accepted its demonic teachings as biblical.  And he did not listen to his viewers who warned him about the deceptions in that book.  To this day, I do not know if he has since renounced those teachings since then (probably not).  By the way, this is an excellent example of the point I made in a previous post:  Either learn to obey the whole Word of God, or you will fall away.

Next, we have Pastor Jim Staley, who was charged with fraud, investigated by his own state, and cleared of all charges.  Many years later, some women who hated Jim Staley accused him of the exact same crime that he was cleared of many years earlier, but this time, he was jailed.  This jailing is an example of something known as "double jeopardy", and it's illegal.  Jim Staley is not your traditional Christian.  In fact, he's hated by the Church for exposing the pagan traditions that exist within Christianity.  But he is (or was?) a Christian by the standards set forth in the Bible.  His teachings are mostly Messianic in nature last time I checked.

So what went wrong?  The 2020 election.  Although I can no longer find the video, Jim Staley prophesied in God's name that Biden was celebrating his victory too early and that Trump would be declared the winner of the 2020 election.  He compared it to Adonijah declaring himself king over Israel, only for King David to declare Solomon king over Israel.  Apparently, the idea that his arrest brought him closer to God went to his head.  So although he passes the Deuteronomy 13 Test, this single, failed prophesy makes him a false prophet according to Deuteronomy 18.  Also, some time later, I went back to that video to find that the comments were disabled.  It's because of this that I said, "his teachings are mostly Messianic in nature last time I checked."  And if I ever feature any of his teachings on this blog (which I have in the past), it'll be one from before the 2020 election.

What Does Believing Moses Really Mean?

A common (and 100% correct) argument used to refute theistic evolution is the fact that those who don't believe Moses will not believe Jesus.  When Young Earth Creationists (which I am one) make this argument, they are quoting Jesus directly, from John 5:46.  Again, this is 100% correct, but not just for the reasons that creationists give.

Most of the time, when a creationist invokes John 5:46, they're talking exclusively about believing what Moses wrote concerning the origin of everything.  And while they are right that you need to believe what Moses wrote concerning the origin of everything in order to believe Jesus, where they go wrong is the exclusion of the rest of what Moses wrote.

Some will point to Genesis 3:14-15 as being where Moses wrote about Jesus.  This is indeed a prophesy about Jesus written by Moses, but there is so much more that Moses wrote than a single prophesy in a single book.  In fact, Genesis as a whole is a mirror image of the Messiah (both literally and figuratively).  The literal part because of the fact that Hebrew scrolls are striped (to guide the scribes on where to write) and pierced (to bind the different scroll pieces together to make a single scroll) just as Jesus was striped (by whips) and pierced (by thorns and nails).  The figurative part because many of the lives of those who are recorded in Torah mirror the life of Jesus.

Here are some examples of people who's lives mirrored that of Jesus:

• Noah's Ark saving Noah and his family, and two of every kind of animal from God's judgement is a mirror of Jesus saving us from God's coming judgement.
• Noah's Ark being the only means of salvation from God's judgement is a mirror of Jesus being the only means of salvation from God's coming judgement.
• Isaac being born by the Spirit of God is a mirror of Jesus also being born by the Spirit of God.
• Isaac nearly being sacrificed is a mirror of Jesus actually being sacrificed.
• Joseph being betrayed by his brothers is a mirror of Jesus being betrayed by a close friend.
• God using the treason against Joseph to save the world is a mirror of God using the treason against Jesus to save the world.
• Joseph is never recorded to have sinned even once, mirroring Jesus never sinning once.

In addition to that, many of the things which are found in Moses' writings point directly to Jesus, including:

• Jesus is the Passover Lamb that caused God's wrath to pass over us (the Passover meal).
• Jesus is the Unleavened Bread, leaven representing sin (Feast of Unleavened Bread).
• Jesus is the First Fruits from the dead (Feast of First Fruits).
• Jesus is the Sabbath (seventh day) rest.
• Jesus is the Atonement for our sins (Day of Atonement).

There is quite a bit more in Torah that points directly to Jesus than what I've listed here.  Go search for yourself!  As you can see from this sample, Genesis is only a small part of what it means to "believe Moses".  If you believe Moses concerning Genesis, but not the rest of what he wrote, then you really don't believe him.  For nearly everything recorded in Torah is a picture of Jesus our Lord and savior!  In fact, according to the biblical definition of faith, merely believing what Moses said is not good enough.  You must also obey him!

Again, believing Moses about Genesis, but not the rest of what he wrote is not believing Moses.  Believing Moses only starts with believing Genesis.  And believing all of what Moses wrote without obeying him is also not believing Moses.  For Moses told us how to live holy (set apart) lives dedicated to God.  Obeying him shows that you believe he was truthful concerning holiness, while disobedience shows that you believe he was mistaking or lying about holiness.  And Jesus obeyed Moses!  Isn't it interesting that those who do not obey Moses (who wrote exactly what God commanded him to write [Exodus 24:4]) also do not obey Jesus?  And that those who cherry-pick Moses' teachings also cherry-pick Jesus' teachings?

Can the Church be Reformed?

Churches more and more are falling away to Universalism and New Age mysticism.  This falling away is not happening by the individual congregation, but by the denomination.  There is a desperate need to reform the Church.  But, can the Church even be reformed?

To answer that question, we just need to take a look at history, when a Catholic Priest by the name of Martin Luther tried to reform the Catholic Church with his 95 thesis.  Little did Martin Luther know at the time that the Catholic Church is run by those who are not hungry for the Word, but by corruption up to the highest levels in the Church (yes, he did have some idea of the Church's corruption, but only a small portion of it).  The resulting movement was not a reformation of the Catholic Church, but a break-away from the Catholic Church and its many, many heresies.

Also, note that the Catholic Church is not Christian by any stretch of the imagination.  It is but one branch of a satanic cult bent on ruling the world.  Those that run the Catholic Church (both in the past and in the present) do unimaginable acts of wickedness in secret.  And the wickedness that they do in public, and teach their members to do in the name of Jesus, is just the tip of the iceberg.  The Catholic Church, as Martin Luther found out the hard way, cannot be reformed.

Martin Luther's movement resulted in many people abandoning some of the Catholic Church's practices.  But this move to return to God's commandments would be greatly incomplete and short-lived, as most who are in the Church are governed by the flesh.  This is also why the Puritan's move to outlaw the counterfeit holidays of Christmas and Easter ultimately failed.  Those who are governed by the flesh worship God their own way, rather than God's way.

Over the past several decades, the Church has been infiltrated by the same, satanic cult that runs the Catholic Church.  But this time, that which was previously done in private is more and more being done in public for all to see.  And the means of deception have only gotten better, so that those who would otherwise be convinced of the intolerable nature of these acts are instead committing them themselves!  And by the way, we're still talking about the tip of the iceberg!

The teachings of these abominations have to do with gratification in this life, or hope only for this life.  Sin is rarely, if ever discussed, and the message of salvation and the promise of eternal life is reduced to allegory.  And there is absolutely no concept of being held accountable to God on Judgement Day.  Their teaching is ultimately one of hopelessness with the "perk" of no accountability or condemnation on Judgement Day.  In other words, their teachings add up to this:  This is the only life you have and when it's over, it's over for good, with no hope of eternal life, and no accountability for what you have done.

Contrast that with the numerous warnings in Scripture given by both Jesus and his disciples:

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. [Matthew 7:21-23; KJV]

But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. [Matthew 12:36; NIV]

Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, [Hebrews 9:27; NIV]

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. [Romans 3:19]

The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. [Matthew 3:10; NIV]

His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. [Matthew 3:12; NIV]

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. [Matthew 7:19; NIV]

As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. [Matthew 13:40; NIV]

That's just a small sample of the numerous warnings about what will happen to the wicked.  Get the picture?  The one who does not have their sins atoned for will be BUNRED! UP! on Judgement Day!  Those who trust in Jesus for this life only instead of for the remission of sins and his promise of eternal life will BURN! UP! on Judgement Day!  Once this life is over, you will be raised from the dead to face God's Judgement!  The righteous will inherit eternal life, but the wicked will perish in the lake of fire!

14 Then death and [the Grave] were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. [Revelation 20:14-15]

It would seem that the mission of these wicked pastors is to make sure that people are blind to the danger of the impending judgement.  Any Church run by such people cannot be reformed until all those who teach against the Judgement by not mentioning it are removed from said Church.  Even then, as we've learned from history, most of those who call themselves "Christian" are governed by the flesh, which compels them to worship God their own way instead of God's way.  Even those who are supposed to be teaching people how to live by God's Word are instead governed by the flesh.  So the Church as a whole cannot be reformed.  And the extremely few congregations that may reform will incur a great financial loss.

Your best option is to leave a Church as soon as you recognize that it's falling away, and form your own Bible study group.  And to study the Bible for yourself and to obey it!  And to test everything against it.  Also, any Church that refuses to learn to obey the front of the book will eventually stop obeying what little of the back of the book that they are currently obeying.

Divine Inspiration vs Divine Guidance

So, according to Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.  By the way, the Greek text literally says "God-breathed".  But what does it mean for something to be inspired by God.  Many claim that because Scripture is inspired by God, that it must therefore be inerrant because God would not inspire error.  Which, I completely agree that God would not inspire error.  But what does it mean to "inspire", anyways?

Side note:  The word translated as "Scripture" in this verse is the Greek word "graphe", which literally means "writing" or "document".  It's where we get the word "graph" from.  A purely literal translation of this verse would read "All writings are God-breathed".  Obviously, context needs to be taken into consideration when determining which writings Paul is talking about.  Also, when he wrote that, the New Testament didn't exist, and most of the writings in the New Testament either (a) didn't exist yet, or (b) weren't widely known about.

Anyways, back to the topic at hand.  What does it mean to inspire something?  Well, I looked it up in both the Merriam-Webster dictionary, and Dictionary.com.  And inspiration has to do mainly with motivation.  And it has nothing to do with guidance except, for some reason, when it comes to divine inspiration.  Interesting exception to the rule.  But the inclusion of guidance exclusively when it comes to divine inspiration seems rather arbitrary, so I'm going to reject the definition of guidance and stick with motivation.  That is not to say that God did not give any guidance.  It just means that guidance and inspiration are two separate things.

So, if a writing is "inspired by God", then that means God motivated someone to produce said writing.  Does that mean that the resulting document is going to be inerrant?  Absolutely not.  Also, simply inspiring someone to produce a document has nothing to do with whether the person is inspired to write truth.  The question is:  Would God inspire someone who prioritizes an agenda over truth?  Certainly not!  God would inspire a God-fearing person to produce the document.  And the faith of the God-fearing person would inspire truth!

To put this another way, God motivates a God-fearing person to produce a document, and the faith of that person is what motivates that person to be truthful in the document that he/she writes.  Such a person will diligently investigate the matter in which he or she is writing about to make sure that everything in the document that he or she is producing is correct.  In other words, God doesn't have to inspire truth.  The faith of the God-fearing person he inspires will do that for him.  Now does this mean that the resulting work will be inerrant?  No.  It can be inerrant, but that is not guaranteed for the simple fact that humans still make mistakes.  But the fact that the person's faith inspires truth will make the document as close to perfect as humanly possible.

In order for to get inerrancy in a document, God has to do more than just inspire the right person.  He has to tell that person what to write down, or guide that person concerning the truth.  Some prime examples of the former would be the five books of Moses, where Moses wrote everything that God commanded.  And we can't forget about the books of the prophets, who were required to speak EXACTLY what God spoke to them.  And of course all of the teachings of Jesus are inerrant, for Jesus is God in the flesh!  Some examples of God guiding the person the truth is found in the book of Psalms.  For example, Psalm 8:8, which mentions the "paths of the seas".  Today, we call these paths "ocean currents".  And the example that Jesus gave is Psalm 82:6.  By the way, Proverbs 1:7 and 9:10 state that the fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge.  The one who fears God is the one God guides in matters of truth.  Everyone else is on their own!

Does everything in the Bible need to be the literal word of God in order for it to be the primary (or only) authority in our lives?  No.  Only the parts that claim to be the literal word of God need to be that.  Does the entire Bible need to be inerrant in order to be the primary (or only) authority in our lives?  No.  But the parts that claim to be the literal word of God does have to be without error.  Otherwise, Deuteronomy 18 applies.  Anything that claims to be the literal word of God, yet gets so much as one item wrong, is not the word of God.