Again a poor word-faith interpretation of scripture. It is not a blessing to allow someone to mangle the word of God. It is not a curse to properly discern as the bible tells us to do. Discernment ministries reject, condemn, and attack doctrine that disagrees with the bible, not the individual minister. The crucial mistake Virkler makes here is in assuming everyone who can spell Jesus is his brethren. Yes we are to show love for each other within the body of Christ but wolves are not my brethren. The bible says to mark them.
"Error 2: Believing you can't learn from non-Christians (For example, "You can't learn anything from a New Ager."). God granted revelation to Pharaoh, an evil king (Gen. 41) as well as to Belshazzar (Dan. 5). God gave insight to Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, as to how to govern (Ex. 18). Everyone can receive God's revelation. Therefore we can learn from all." -- Mark Virkler
Uh, no. Bible interpretation does not work like this. Because you can point to three times in 6000 years that God gave glimpses of insight to pagans; that does not mean we therefore can learn from all unbelievers. That is like saying God spoke through a donkey once so we should listen to all donkeys. It is an illogical leap. You must understand that Mark Virkler espouses doctrine that loves this world, which is why he has no issue listening to their experts. The reality however is if I wish to learn something carnal, I can certainly learn it from someone unsaved but if I want to learn something eternal, why would I turn to someone who thinks my beliefs are pure foolishness? More importantly, if I have the final revealed will of God in His word -- why would I want a carnal opinion on anything?
"Error 3: To live in reaction to error. Some suggest we should live in reaction to the New Age, making sure we don't do anything similar to what they do. The Bible never instructs us to live in reaction to error. We are to explore truth and live in the truth. We believe what the Bible and the Spirit instruct us to believe, period! We do not care if every cult group or no cult group believes things similar to what we believe." -- Mark Virkler
Ooh, this is quite revealing. Apparently, Virkler has faced criticism for believing as a cult and it struck a nerve. What he is missing in his anger is the fact that his interpretation of scripture is so skewed to begin with that I assume the criticism was correct. If you "explore the truth" and think the bible says we are to reign with God and that we can speak things into existence then I am going to say that you either did not explore the bible or you do not have the indwelt Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth. How disturbing it would be to me if a cult actually believed what I was espousing! At the very least I would have to examine my doctrine to make sure no leaven had snuck in! The truth is that Mark Virkler's doctrine is very cultish. Many have described IHOP and Bethel as cults. They center on a cult of personality preacher and the bible is cast aside as the final arbiter of truth. Sorry Mark, if the cult fits, wear it.
"Error 4: To believe that the Bible, coupled with man's reason, is enough to discover truth. We believe the Bible is the inerrant, authoritative, divinely-inspired Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16). Even as Jesus "opened the Scriptures" to the disciples on the Emmaus road (Luke 24:32), so today, we need the Holy Spirit to assist us by opening the Scriptures to our understanding (Prov. 3:5). We "reason together" with God (Isa. 1:18) rather than reasoning on our own. We ask God for wisdom and tune to the river of the Holy Spirit Who flows within. This results in insight, illumination and revelation." -- Mark Virkler
While this sounds all pious it seems to set up the pretense of denying the sound basis of what the text says in favor of this "illumination." For example he took three scriptures that said nothing about God saying we can learn from unbelievers and concluded from them that we can. He took three scriptures that had nothing to do with overthrowing the kingdom of darkness through deliverance and healing and concluded there was proof for this. The reason why is he started with his doctrine and went verse fishing. That is not illumination beloved. It is scripture hijacking, also known as proof texting. The bottom line is we need to be protective of scripture as these end times deepen because the Mark Virkler's of the world will gather more and more people around them because they scratch itching ears. Who wouldn't rather hear that they should reign with God as opposed to being His servant? Guard your life and your doctrine closely beloved. The wolves are coming for them.
Reverend Anthony Wade -- February 20, 2019
