Back   828 Ministries
Font
PageWidth
Original Content at
https://www.828ministries.com/articles/When-False-Prophets-Try-to-by-Anthony-Wade-God_Prophet-160920-212.html

September 20, 2016

When False Prophets Try to Silence Discernment -- Jennifer Leclaire Edition

By Anthony Wade

Another attempt from those that are false trying to silence those that would warn the sheep.

::::::::


(Image by Unknown Owner)   Details   DMCA

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. -- Hebrews 5: 14 (ESV)

http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/watchman-on-the-wall/59980-when-believers-crucify-each-other-in-the-name-of-discernment

False prophetess Jennifer Leclaire is at it again. The link above is to her latest article on Charisma News, where she serves as an editor to promote her wild heresies. Jennifer is part of the false signs and lying wonders crowd, who embraces the New Apostolic Reformation and Seven Mountains Mandate heresies. She fancies herself a prophet who not only hears directly from God audibly but apparently has the throne room phone number on her speed dial. She often writes about hearing from God as casually as lay people speak about having a latte with a friend. Prophecy is big business to Jennifer as she relies on suckers to buy her books or even plunk down a few hundred dollars so she can teach them how to be their own false prophet at her "prophecy school." As such, she has a brand to protect and protect it she does; abusing her powers as editor of the popular but compromised Charisma News to defend her shtick. Thus every couple of months we can expect a full throated defense of the absurd from her and abusing the Bible to push back against those who would dare question her bogus credentials and inherent falseness.

The latest push back is entitled, "When Believers Crucify Each Other in the Name of Discernment." Within the title we see the disconnect Jennifer suffers from. Believers are not crucifying believers when they properly discern what is biblically true and what is false. Let me clarify. This devotional is warning the saints about a wolf named Jennifer Leclaire. She is not their sister in Christ. She is devouring the sheep of the Lord. The key verse reminds us that ultimately all discernment is distinguishing between good and evil. What is from God and what is not. Those that are false will always try to muddy the waters by offering up the notion that the differences are somehow minor and that all parties involved are just trying to serve the Lord, so can't we all just get along? No, we cannot. The Bible says there is no fellowship between light and darkness. None. There is nothing "lightly" heretical. Jesus offers two choices. You are either gathering to Him or scattering away from Him. There is no third option. So believers are not crucifying other believers in the name of discernment; they are discerning who is teaching believers falsely. Such as Jennifer Leclaire:

"Discernment is ever so vital in this hour, but discernment can turn into a critical spirit if it is not bound by love on both sides of the river banks. Indeed, whether you have a discerning heart or the gift of discerning spirits, there's always the danger of tapping into a faultfinding flow when you should be making intercession." -- Jennifer Leclaire

No Jennifer, just no. While it is true that discernment is vital in this hour the rest of this statement drowns in the sewage that is the imaginary river of Jennifer Leclaire's theology. Can discernment turn into a critical spirit? No it cannot because discernment is driven by the Holy Spirit and is held accountable by the very same principles that guide it. That means all discernment must stand the rigors of biblical truth, period. For example, if a discernment minister was to write that people should not follow Joel Osteen because he dresses funny that would not be discernment. Why? Because the Bible does not speak about false teaching based upon a dress code. It is unbiblical to declare someone is a false teacher because of the suits they wear. This is not to say there are not people who operate within extremely critical spirits. But they are not in the ministry of discernment. You can tell who they are the same way you tell who a false teacher is -- by holding a Bible up to what they are saying.

Secondly, discernment is not bound by love on both sides and there are no river banks. This is just more gobbledygook that always seems to infiltrate Leclaire's theology. There is always a river and a shifting of something, with a possible atmospheric disturbance. Anything to sound mystical without having any real substance. Discernment is actually bound by the truth of God's Word on both sides. Why? Because it is an impartial mediator. Unlike the concept of love that Jennifer espouses, which is not uncommon within the false teaching circles she makes her living in. Anyone who dares to speak against her is deemed as unloving and judgmental. They always need what she would refer to as a "deeper revelation" of the Holy Spirit. The problem is that is not the Holy Spirit that she traffics in. If it were, He would lead her into all truth within the Word of God. Beloved, when you use "love" as your guiding principle then you are leaving it up to your heart, which according to the Bible is not a good strategy:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? -- Jeremiah 17: 9 (ESV)

The heart is wickedly deceitful beloved. Yours, mine, and Jennifer's. I do not trust my heart but I do trust my Bible. What Jennifer is seeking to do here is say it is unloving to discern. The Bible and God disagree with her. Then Jennifer tries to get cute. There is no such thing as a "faultfinding flow." What she is trying to do is undermine the entire concept of true biblical discernment. According to the key verse, by definition, discernment is not only distinguishing what is good but differentiating it from what is evil. You cannot merely find what is not at fault unless you are contrasting it with what is in fault. The cuteness however is Jennifer's implicit inference that instead of discerning, one ought to be interceding. So in other words, if I see a wolf tearing the sheep of the Lord apart, I should not wield the rod and staff the shepherd is equipped with but instead I should intercede in prayer for the wolf. Once again, this is completely unbiblical:

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 (ESV)

This verse cannot be clearer. If you call yourself a pastor you are required to rebuke what and who is false. You must do this, so that your sheep do not fall prey to false teachings. I have heard recently of entire congregations being eviscerated because the pastor allowed the oneness Pentecostal teachings to spread throughout his church until it was too late one day and half the people walked out. We are not called to pray for wolves beloved. We are not called to coddle them. We are not called to pet them. Jennifer now tries to double down:

"I've discovered it's easier to grumble and complain about people who behave wrongly than it is to hit my knees with a prayer burden and cry out to God for their freedom." -- Jennifer Leclaire

Let me be clear. If we see someone who is merely "behaving wrongly" we ought to not complain and grumble. We ought to pray for them. The problem is the context in which Jennifer is introducing this is within a discussion about discernment, which is once again distinguishing between what is good and what is evil. It is a masterful attempt by Jennifer to make herself appear more pious and spiritual than those mean, nasty discernment ministers who keep warning people to avoid her and her wild heresies. Leclaire continues to not understand discernment:

"My spiritual father, Ken Malone, once told me, 'People who walk in a high level of discernment need to walk in a higher level of humility. We all have issues and we don't need people to point them out. Those who feel compelled to point out other people's flaws constantly are elevating themselves and walking in pride.'" -- Jennifer Leclaire

We all need to walk with a high level of humility. It is what the Bible commands us. It is one of only three things God says he requires of us. But within this statement is the constant misunderstanding people like Jennifer Leclaire suffers from. The point of discernment is not to point out issues the false teacher has. If someone says that Joseph Prince has a ridiculous hairstyle that is not discernment. That is pointing "issues." If someone however says that Prince teaches antinomianism that leads people straight to hell; that is discernment. The latter example is distinguishing between what is good -- the Bible and what is evil -- antinomianism. Even that would not be enough. A true discernment minister will show you in God's Word why the position Prince espouses is so heretical. Either way, it is not "pointing out issues." Jennifer Leclaire and her "spiritual father" are trying to personalize the discernment. Discernment ministers do not point out the flaws of the false teacher but rather the flaws in what they are teaching. Rarely, should motive even be discussed. I can live with the thought that Joel Osteen thinks he is doing a great service and on a purely carnal level one can argue he is. I would actually expect no less from someone who clearly knows so little about the Bible. He cannot discern good from evil. He seems like a likable enough fellow though. I am sure he has done plenty of good works on this earth with the fortune he has amassed. None of that is relevant to the fact that his teachings of blatant word faith and prosperity are absolute heresies that will result in untold numbers of people standing before Jesus on the last day and saying, "Lord Lord."

On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' -- Matthew 7: 22-23 (ESV)

But Lord, didn't we go to Pastor Osteen's church every week? Didn't we tithe as he commanded us? Didn't we speak better about ourselves and give back to our community? Away from me, I never knew thee. As for walking in pride, Jennifer is right but this is something we all must fight as Christians. Our flesh is inherently prideful. A true discernment minister is not comparing himself to what is false. He is comparing what is false to the Bible. I have no position here. There is no angle for me. I am amazed if God uses me for anything. Jennifer now goes full carnal on us:

"Discernment is 'The quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure,' also 'An act of perceiving or discerning something,' according to Merriam-Webster. Discerning means 'Able to see and understand people, things or situations clearly and intelligently.'" -- Jennifer Leclaire

Beloved, I use dictionary definitions all the time in writing but that is never for concepts as biblical as discernment. There are clear scriptural definitions, including the key verse today. But Jennifer wants to throw up as much smoke as possible to make things hazy. Let us not lose sight however of what God has made very clear. Discernment is distinguishing between what is good and what is evil. What is from the Spirit of the Lord and what is from the spirits of this world. It is not understanding people, things or situations intelligently but rather biblically. Now it is true that Jennifer then recites a bible dictionary definition but by the time she gets to an actual Bible verses she has laid a carnal groundwork and then tries this:

"Hebrews 4:12 tells us the Word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. We need to let the Lord deal with the hearts of people. He will bring people into your life, at times, so you can discern the spirits and help them break free -- not so you can judge their hearts and avoid them like the plague because you have convinced yourself they can't be helped." -- Jennifer Leclaire

Oh Jennifer, you came so close to the truth here. Yes, the Word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. That is why someone involved in true discernment will only use the Bible as their plumb line. Hebrews 4:12 does not even remotely suggest that therefore we leave it all to God when it comes to dealing with what is true and what is false. Then Jennifer launches into more of the metaphysical gibberish she makes her living from. Discernment becomes a demonic deliverance issue instead of an issue of determining false teaching. Once again however we see how she fundamentally does not understand discernment or the Bible. Judging the hearts of people is not what discernment ministries do. I do not know Jennifer Leclaire's heart apart from the aforementioned Jeremiah verse. Her setting up an online school to charge people hundreds of dollars to teach them gifts of the Holy Spirit sure looks fishy to me but there is the possibility she is so deceived herself she cannot see the difference between good and evil anymore. More importantly, I do not have to get bogged down in her intents because her teaching is the only issue here. What she believes and teaches is demonstrably false when compared to the Bible. Jennifer continues:

"Presuming someone has a bad spirit based on a checklist and not direct revelation from God grieves the Lord." -- Jennifer Leclaire

This one sentence is so egregiously bad it deserved separate attention. The first half of the argument is what is known as a strawman. It is a fake situation Leclaire is pretending is real so she can then knock her own strawman down. I do not know anyone who presumes anyone has a bad spirit. Once again, it is a monumentally poor understanding of discernment. The checklist Leclaire is so against here is what is known as the Bible. It is the checklist God has provided to test every spirit. Perhaps the most egregious part though is the direct revelation card. When the Jennifer Leclaire's of the world speak about direct revelation they are speaking about audible words directly from God. As indicated earlier, she often speaks about God speaking to her like you or I would speak with our mailman. This is the new norm amongst the false signs and lying wonders crowd. They all claim direct revelation from God, practically on a daily basis. God speaks to them about absurdities too. Day to day minutia. They recount full and coherent conversations with Him and trips to the throne room to shoot the breeze. I picture a red phone in all of their offices like Commissioner Gordon used to have on the old Batman TV program. It is quite simply absurd. Did God audibly speak to people throughout the Bible? Yes, He did. Primarily this was in the Old Testament, before we had the written and final revealed will of God in the Bible of course. Still, we lose sight that the Bible encompasses over 6000 years of history beloved. The amount of times He audibly spoke to people is actually quite small. One could watch a full day of programming on TBN and hear more claims to direct revelation than the previous 6000 years combined. What Jennifer is doing here is setting up an impossible threshold for discernment. Unless God comes into your room at night, you should shut up. The reality is the Bible is direct revelation Jennifer. So when it tells me you are false, that is God telling me you are false. For the record, He just confirmed it; you are false.

"And even if they have a bad spirit, we need to separate the principality from the personality, as it were. We need to love the people and hate the demons that hold them in bondage." -- Jennifer Leclaire

Uh huh. Now Leclaire shows why she is so dangerous. She is playing the same game the seven sons of Sceva played in Acts 19. She is playing with demons as if she knows what she is doing but her own words indicate she does not. A false teacher may very well be demonically influenced. Our concern however lies with the sheep -- not the wolf.

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. -- 2Peter 2: 1-3 (ESV)

Beloved, it is a noble notion to think we ought to pray for the wolves but it is folly. Can you think of one false teacher who came to preach the true Gospel of Jesus Christ? There is a reason why Jesus says that those who think their darkness is light are in the deepest of darkness. These verses would indicate as well that their judgment is swift. Their condemnation is from long ago. Their destruction sleeps not. I do not love the wolves that devour the sheep of the Lord. I do not love those who make a profit by making merchandise of the Gospel or the sheep. I love God's Word and as such, I must rebuke those who do not. Those who would teach what they ought not for shameful gain. Those who would entice people down the broad path with their sensual theologies designed to tickle the ear and eternally condemn the soul. Those who would traffic in destructive heresies and then have the temerity to chastise those who would point them out as being critical or unloving. People like Jennifer Leclaire. She said one true thing here however. Avoid her like the plague because that is what she is upon the body of Christ.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- September 20, 2016



Authors Bio:
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 His purpose.

Back