The Mailbag: Gather25 | Michelle Lesley

The Mailbag: Gather25

Originally published February 27, 2024

2025 UPDATE: The article below was published in February 2024, approximately one year prior to Gather25. Yesterday (February 12, 2025), Amy and I dropped a much more detailed A Word Fitly Spoken podcast episode about Gather25, which will take place in a little over two weeks: Friday, February 28- Saturday, March 1. I encourage you to give it a listen, and warn your church, your friends, or anyone you think might be interested in attending or streaming.

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Does anyone know what Gather25 is about? Is it similar to IF:Gathering?

This past weekend was IF:Gathering 2024. I shared my article about it on social media and one of my followers asked this question. I’m glad she did so I could give you a heads up and you can have a whole year to warn your church and your friends away from it.

According to its website, Gather25 is a 25 hour global simulcast of “prayer, worship, repentance, and commissioning” (i.e. sending people out under the auspices of the Great Commission, ostensibly, to share the gospel) which will take place in March 2025.

On their FAQ page it says:

“Gather25 is being organized and led by an alliance of Christian organizations: IF:Gathering, YouVersion, illumiNations, Right Now Media, and many more international ministries and churches. The original vision for Gather25 was cast by Jennie Allen.”

Jennie Allen is a false teacher and founder of IF:Gathering, an annual conference for evangelical women (and, no doubt, some men) which routinely platforms false teachers, women pastors, and women who preach to men.

YouVersion is hosted by Craig Groeschel’s LifeChurch.TV. He is a false teacher and platforms many other false teachers and women who preach to men.

The majority of the resources RightNow Media carries are from false teachers. For example, their home page – the “face” they present to the public – currently features Tony Evans, Jennie Allen, Bianca Olthoff, Francis Chan, and First Baptist Orlando.

illumiNations seems to be a Bible translation and distribution organization, which may be just fine, but I’m concerned that all of the evangelical celebrities they currently and proudly list on their home page as supporting their organization (Elevation Worship, Lecrae, Sadie Huff, Passion, IF:Gathering, MVMNT Conference, and Chris Tomlin) are false/woke teachers, or conferences and individuals that platform false/woke teachers. 

And these are just the four organizations mentioned by name on the FAQ page. There are many more sponsors, and the ones I’m familiar with are all doctrinally unsound and/or run by false teachers. This thing is absolutely saturated with false teachers.

This event is going to sucker in a lot of undiscerning pastors, because, “What could possibly be wrong with prayer, worship, repentance, and commissioning people to share the gospel? We can just set aside the ‘secondary issue’ differences we have with these people and join them.”. But Scripture forbids us from having anything to do with false teachers. And if your pastor invites these false teachers into your church via simulcast, he is disqualified from the ministry. Titus 1:9 is part of the biblical qualifications for pastors and elders:

He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.Titus 1:9

Furthermore, what sort of false gospel might these false teachers be “commissioning” people to spread? What sort of unbiblical prayer and worship practices will they lead participants in? What is the definition of “repentance” these false teachers hold to? Will they lead participants to “repent” of things like “whiteness,” refusing to baptize practicing homosexuals, oppressing women by not allowing them to be pastors, and such?

If you think your pastor might be the type to have your church participate in this event, I would recommend you start praying now, start preparing now, and prayerfully consider whether or not you should warn him about Gather25 now so that he has plenty of time to be obedient to the Titus 1:9 mandate the Lord has given him.

If not, and he throws open the doors of your church to these false teachers, he’s a hireling, not a shepherd, and it’s time to start searching for a new church.

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If you have a question about: a Bible passage, an aspect of theology, a current issue in Christianity, or how to biblically handle a family, life, or church situation, comment below (I’ll hold all questions in queue {unpublished} for a future edition of The Mailbag) or send me an e-mail or private message. If your question is chosen for publication, your anonymity will be protected.

Why do we keep warning? Because the train is still coming down the tracks | Elizabeth Prata

Why do we keep warning? Because the train is still coming down the tracks

By Elizabeth Prata

EPrata photo

Growing up in my town in the 1960s, there was a train track running along the shoreline. Behind the tracks there was a busy wharf with fishermen, moorings for recreational boaters, and shoreside homes and their children running about. There were a lot of train crossings, and many of them weren’t guarded by automatic gates and warning signals.

Sadly, we frequently read back then in our local paper of crossing fatalities, both vehicular and pedestrian. To my impressionable ears it seems like almost a weekly occurrence. It wasn’t that frequent but I do remember my father, who was on the town Zoning Committee for a time, talking about the Town Council’s plans to automate and/or close some of the crossings to reduce potential for fatalities.

It’s still happening. In my growing up town in 2016 a teenage girl was killed by a passing Amtrak train. For 50 years, people have been struck by the train passing through.

It’s hard to believe that someone couldn’t or wouldn’t hear or see something as big and obvious as a train, but sadly, that is not the case. Folk Singer John Prine was affected by the incident of a young altar boy who belonged to an Episcopal church that Prine was working in. The altar boy was struck from behind and killed by a slow moving commuter train. The boy was apparently day-dreaming as he ambled down the tracks. Prine wrote the song Bruised Orange about the incident.

We tend to be oblivious to these dangers, and that’s why cities and town erect crossing gates, lights, and signals, to warn us.

Is there a sane town or city mayor who would say “We’ve had those crossing lights and signals there long enough, everybody is sick of hearing the bells and seeing the blinking lights. Let’s take the warning paraphernalia down. We’re tired of them.”

Even from your own number, men will rise up and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them. 31Therefore be alert and remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. (Acts 20:30-31).

A few years ago there was yet another controversy surrounding the teacher Beth Moore. During the Truth Matters conference Q & A moderator Todd Friel presented a word association game to the panelists; John MacArthur, Phil Johnson, Mike Riccardi, and Justin Peters. Friel asked the panel to give a one or two word pithy answer to the names he’d say. When he said “Beth Moore,” after a hesitation, MacArthur said “Go home”. He followed that up with a 7-minute explanation.

In culture today when you tell a woman to go home or stay home, it’s fighting words. Feminism has made the God-ordained career of the woman at home in the form of homemaker a dirty word.

Through the succeeding week, many people weighed in on the response MacArthur gave. Much of it was heat without light, and many people, including me, attempted to give that light in the form of reasonable discourse and biblical answers.

5 years later, here is an 8-minute video from Fight for Truth, well done “Throwback” to when John MacArthur said about Beth Moore to ‘Go Home,’ from Fight for Truth. The video gives 3 reasons why MacArthur was exactly right for saying what he did and how he said it.

Beth Moore is “a lot more emotional than truthful…”

As the clamor began to subside, other people began complaining about the seemingly never-ending controversies. Discerners and truth-tellers hear these comments often: ‘We’re tired of hearing about it. There are other, better things to focus on. Why does social media have to be such a hotbed. Stop being so obsessed. Why are you so jealous?’ And so on and so forth.

I am reminded of Paul. He warned of false teachers. Warned. Night and day. With tears. Why? Satan is a restless evil. He lurks, crouches, prowls, and roams up and down upon the earth. He doesn’t stop.

When do we stop warning that a destructive false teacher is luring the unwary, poisoning the church with false doctrines, prying open the canon with dreams and visions and fanciful vain talk? Never. They used to kill false prophets who spewed empty visions and who put words into God’s mouth, (Deuteronomy 18:20), and they will do so again (Zechariah 13:3). Meanwhile, in this period of grace while Jesus is building His church, we warn. Night and day. With tears. Earnestly.

Can we say that enough people have heard the news that this or that teacher is false? That everyone is all set, perfectly topped up with enough discernment to make their own way? What about the lambs coming up? What about those who haven’t heard, or who don’t understand?

There are many successful satanic counterfeits operating in this and the last century. When I write about one of them, I have gathered a mountain of evidence to support this contention, I do not make it unwisely or rashly.

As long as the warning bells and train gates are down and flashing, it is a grace and a gift from the Lord to those with ears to hear.

The irreversible destruction of false teachers | Elizabeth Prata

The irreversible destruction of false teachers

By Elizabeth Prata

A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy. (Proverbs 29:1).

Gill’s Exposition explains the intriguing part about broken beyond remedy:

shall suddenly be destroyed; or “broken” (e); as a potter’s vessel is broken to pieces with an iron rod, and can never he put together again; so such persons shall be punished with everlasting destruction, which shall come upon them suddenly, when they are crying Peace to themselves notwithstanding the reproofs of God and men;

I understand that when Christians are developing and practicing discernment, it’s sometimes difficult to detect a false teacher, especially in the early days of the false teacher’s ministry or the early days of the Christian. Other people, though they suspect, find it hard to admit that their favorite teacher is false. “But they teach about Jesus!” they say. I know, it’s interesting to listen to some of the more crafty (Genesis 3:1) teachers who have such eloquence of tongue and then believe they are insincere. But remember that the antichrist is prophesied to gain the world by a smooth tongue and flattery. (Daniel 11:21). These present mini-antichrists (1 John 2:22) are almost as smooth as the prophesied Antichrist will be in the future, so it is no wonder that they are so slick in their speeches.

The main way to detect a false teacher of course is to compare what they say to the Bible (Acts 17:11).

But even then, some are so disguised as an angel of light that they never put a word wrong. Think of Demas who traveled with Paul, Simon Magus who was baptized by Philip, and of course Judas who lived WITH the disciples.

So here is another way to detect a false teacher: how they react when they are corrected or challenged. Doctrine is utmost, but behavior is important. How does the true or the false teacher respond when posed a question, challenged in their interpretation, or rebuked for their teaching?

It’s the behavior when corrected that also indicates the true vs false teacher. If the teacher is God-honoring s/he cares about the word as primary importance. How crushing it is when we say or teach something in error or contrary to proper exposition! We hasten to correct, humbling ourselves to Him and the truth of His word.

The false teacher who rebels when teaching the word will continue to rebel when corrected in the word. As the Proverb says, he will harden his neck. Stiff necked is a synonym for stubborn. Instead of being teachable and gentle, the false teacher will entrench him or herself into stubbornness and double down on their position. This is because they are full of pride, and care not for the truth of God’s word. They SAY they care, but their behavior SHOWS they do not.

The second half of the Proverb is encouraging. I know it’s all the rage to claim love and kindness to and for false teachers, but I do not. If a teacher has abused the name of Christ, twisted His words, and persistently shown that they care only for themselves, money or fame, harming His sheep in the process, the second half of the Proverb is rallying to my soul. It motivates me to leave the judgment of this scourge of fiery ants to the Lord, and to take comfort in His timing. They WILL be broken beyond remedy. Good.

When challenged over these issues the false teachers stiffen themselves, they entrench into their stubbornness. This is a God-ordained exposure. Let us not ignore these exposures seen through their behavior, but heed the wisdom in Proverbs.

It’s OK to take comfort in the knowledge of the coming permanent and irreversible destruction of these wolves. It means that the name of Jesus will eternally remain spotless with no dung thrown on Him or on His people, ever again. What a day that will be!

Things To Think About | The Watchman’s Bagpipes

Christianity Today Astray extremely wrongly tells Christians to NOT vote while in reality promoting the anti-Christian Harris. See my previous post about the importance of the Christian vote.

Bethel, Hillsong, Elevation Worship Music—should we be using it? Absolutely not!

The Disturbing Trend of Continuationism Embraced by the Modern Church

The Disturbing Trend of Continuationism Embraced by the Modern Church

Russell Moore swings farther and farther away from true Christianity.

How about examining something in popular culture: Stevie Nicks & Taylor Swift Witchcraft Influencers

Aimee Byrd goes further astray with apostasy. Further information.

Jonathan Cahn is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Why is the book of Enoch not accepted in the Christian (or Jewish) canon?

Todd White is a lying false teacher/false believer. Michael Brown and Sid Roth are also a false teachers who support White!

With all the false teaching of Andy Stanley, I’m wondering if he is a true believer.

False teacher Jenny Weaver tells people to order everything to resist the hurricane in the name of Jesus! And a whole lot of other lies about your power to protect yourself from the hurricanes, binding demons, etc  This sort of nonsense is dangerous to people who follow her and her ilk who claim “apostolic authority.” No, she isn’t getting any word from God nor is she speaking in tongues

A dangerous new cult is called Shincheonji Church of Jesus, founded in 1984 by Lee Man-hee.

Take these things to heart and spread the word to save people from false teachers/teachings.

http://watchmansbagpipes.blogspot.com/2024/10/things-to-think-about.html