Share on Facebook 217 Share on Twitter Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Devotionals   

NAR Pastoral Mask-Shaming - False Faith Devoid of Wisdom

By       (Page 2 of 3 pages)   3 comments

"I don't think anybody can deny that the entire world has been shaken by the virus. The purpose of my recent articles on the subject is to awaken the shaken to the supreme opportunity to shine our lights into a desperate and dark situation. Be honest. Christians are worrying, nervous, fearful and scrambling to do whatever they can to be safe from this invisible threat. This isn't true of all believers, of course. It's true of a whole lot of them though. I don't know how often I hear blood-bought believers urgently warning people to wear masks, to socially distance and to lock down while rarely hearing them proclaim the power of the blood that bought them. I'm dumbfounded. The lack of a faith-driven spiritual response is a problem. If our joy, peace and confidence in Jesus has been impacted, we must respond in repentance. In the midst of a threat, abundant life is still ours. Joy unspeakable and full of glory. Peace that passes all understanding. We are more than conquerors, the head and not the tail, above and not beneath. We trample on serpents and scorpions. We have authority over all the power of the enemy. That will preach." - John Burton

You are dumbfounded? Let me explain. You keep mixing the ability of God to heal, with using wisdom to prevent catching the virus. No one is stressing to wear a mask to heal oneself from the virus. They are stressing such to prevent catching it to begin with. Are you suggesting that Christians should discard wisdom and walk around like idiots proclaiming the power of God will protect me? As I stated in my last devotional about this, you need to read the temptation of Christ. The devil tempts Jesus to cast Himself off the top of the pinnacle of the temple because God will protect Him. He even mangles a scripture reference for Him! Jesus does not jump because it is not wise to put God to the test. Here is the hard truth that escapes John Burton. He is so invested in his dominionist politics that he has lined up against masks for political reasons and he is trying to find scriptural support. I would argue that wearing masks not only honors God but is the epitome of faith. It is faith in God demanding that His followers act with wisdom towards those on the outside of salvation looking in. Faith begins with obedience John. Obedience. Cobbling together positive sounding scripture fragments does not change that. As for authority over the enemy, you don't quite get it. Let me quote Got Questions, which summarizes this point well:

"We have no authority over Satan in ourselves. God has all authority, and He fights on our behalf. Our response to Satan's attacks should include submitting our lives to God, living in a holy manner, praying for God's protection, and resisting sin. When we place ourselves under God's protection, Satan has no authority over us. He will flee. In addition, we can respond to the devil's temptations as Jesus did." - Got Questions

If we live our lives submitted to our Master then we will wear masks to avoid catching a plague because it is wise and we should not put our God to the test. Not running around declaring we are the head and not the tail.

"The sad reality is that a lot of Christians simply don't believe that Jesus heals or protects today. Some believe that He can, but they doubt that He will. Miracles are rare. Wonders of old can be taught in Sunday school but they really don't occur today. They boldly defend the power of the enemy by confessing that nobody is safe, Christian or non-Christian. What many Christians call faith is little more than hope. Hope is posturing ourselves by sitting back and waiting for God to do something we'd like Him to do. Faith is altogether different. It's active. There's an attitude driving it. It's demanding. It's expectant. It's militant. Vibrant faith results in people speaking to mountains, shouting from rooftops, casting out demons, decreeing the Word of God and refusing to allow common sense, human wisdom or anything else to stop them." - John Burton

Let's dismantle the faulty foundation that underlies a lot of Burton's errors. He believes in divine mandatory healing. This false teaching says God MUST heal us. This is one of the reasons I assume that Burton advocates thumbing your nose at wisdom and common sense. Clearly he would have jumped from the top of the temple. Now, CAN God heal? Absolutely. Do you know why? Because He is God. He can do whatever He wants. When you teach that He must heal however, you rob Him of His sovereignty. The other error here is conflating protection with mandatory healing. Can God protect us? Absolutely because He is God. Yet Christians die of cancer every single day. They die in car accidents even though traveling mercies were prayed for. Can God still perform miracles? Absolutely! Every time a sinner repents it is a supernatural miracle! John Burton however believes in false signs and lying wonders. His definition of miracles aligns with Bill Johnson. As for this nonsense about the defending of the power of the enemy let me shake John's world. This virus remains within the will of God. That is right John. God may not have created it but He sure allowed it through His permissive will. It is nothing short of sheer idiocy to assume that everything about the virus must be from the devil and thus if we simply try to not get sick we are defending the enemy. Perhaps God is doing a sifting John. Perhaps He is trying to see which of His ministers do not actually care about His sheep. Faith demands you wear a mask. Faith expects you to socially distance. It is not human wisdom but scriptural.

"Faith crushes fear. Faith destroys worry. Faith demands results. Faith pleases God. Instead, too many default to hope (or hopelessness) and live pretty much the same way as the unredeemed do. Truths of Scripture are somehow dismissed as unreliable: "'These signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover'" (Mark 16:17-18). The "sick may recover" would be a better translation according to the belief system of many Christians. In fact, they tend to get quite mad at those who stand in faith on the Word of God, especially regarding healing. Accusations of "holier than thou" and "spiritual pride" are hurled at those who simply state they believe Jesus paid the price for sickness." - John Burton

Yeah no. You see the problem is that you continue to define faith as being reckless and uncaring in the face of a global pandemic. That is not faith John. It is arrogant stupidity. I am so glad you quoted the Charismatic's favorite scriptures from Mark. Did you know that this section of scripture was not in the original manuscript? That most scholars agree Mark probably never wrote it? Now we keep it in the canon but realize that we should never develop doctrine solely from this part of scripture. That said, you cite this as the basis for divine healing. You are taking it literally, for all sickness. What about the portion that says to take up serpents and drink poison? Under your literalist interpretation, you must believe we should be handling snakes in service, right? No? Where is your faith John? What are you worried about? Doesn't faith destroy worry? Why are you afraid? Doesn't faith crush fear? Going out into the middle of a global plague without taking precautions? Just as ridiculous as handling snakes because of this questionable section from mark's Gospel. Very unwise.

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3

Well Said 1   Supported 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Anthony Wade Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to (more...)
 
Related Topic(s): ; , Add Tags
Add to My Group(s)
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Joel Osteen Blasphemes "I Am" (55000 views)

Why I Have Left the Assemblies of God (38814 views)

Joyce Meyer Teaching the "Relationship over Religion" Heresy (19810 views)

Joyce Meyer -- A Prisoner of Heresy (17521 views)

Francis Chan Stands With Outright Heresy, Again (14573 views)

Bethel Teaches to Declare God is in a Good Mood and Other Insanities (14269 views)

Total Views: 159987

To View Comments or Join the Conversation: