Category: Opinions

Opinions

This Must Be Read: Beware of the False ‘Gospel’

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I am writing today with a heavy heart as there is a heresy that is finding its way around the world and it is the prosperity ‘gospel’. I am saddened to find out that someone who has been very important to my own theology is being mixed up with the doctrine of demons, which we are warned in many parts of Paul’s writings to stamp out whenever we see it.

You may have been exposed to such people as Kenneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis, Creflo Dollar, TD Jaques, Larry Lea, Trimble, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, Trinity Broadcasting Network and this bunch of greedy TV evangelists who I would be bold enough to say are a satanic group. The Bible says out of a good tree comes good fruit and out of a bad tree comes bad fruit.

If you check the origin and the root of this you will find it goes back to a man called Robert Schuller, who is connected with the author of The Power of Positive Thinking. Such men as Kenneth Hagin took their original teaching from a man called Kemp. A famous book that I have on my bookshelf The Invisible Man was where Kenneth Hagin was influenced with the whole faith movement.

I was mixed up with this movement for several years and at one time I idolised and followed a man who taught these erroneous doctrines, not the Man Christ Jesus. By the way, these faith teachers say that when Jesus was born on the earth He was just a man and when He was in the River Jordan He was filled with the Holy Spirit. This is blasphemy, as if Jesus was not very man and very God He could not have died for us. He had to be the spotless Lamb of God.

Over the Christmas period and New Year the Holy Spirit has challenged me. He even took me to a book that I have always had problems with written by Rick Warren and is used by most megachurches around the world. To say the body of Christ in the west is in trouble would be an understatement, as many of our leaders are barricaded behind their church doors or are part of this insidious megachurch movement. Jesus said very clearly we can only serve one master, God or mammon. I hope like me you choose God. I have also been looking at the scripture recently Matthew 7: 13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” I am disturbed when I hear people preaching that the wide road is just another road and that it is up to you which road you want to go through, when scripture is clear: God’s way is the tough way. John Bunyan knew this and many of the reformers in Great Britain centuries ago.

I am glad that even though I rose to great heights and fell to the ground financially, I will never accept this garbage as it is another gospel, and as it tells us in Galatians 1: 8, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!” Also 2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; avoid such men as these.”

The Bible says in the last days (Matthew 24: 24) “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.” I am just ashamed that for many years I believed this rubbish, but now the Lord has opened my eyes and has shown me there is only one way – His way – to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Rev Ross Rennie

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What Is Wrong with the Church

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Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ

As we enter into 2016 I have had some thoughts recently. I have been a Christian since 1979. I have been in many churches. In my early years I was a member of the old Baptist Union. I was saved in a free evangelical church. I then went into the Assemblies of God. From the Assemblies of God owing to a series of unfortunate events in my Christian life and being baptised in the Holy Spirit while in the pentecostal church I then went into Elim. From there I became an independent pentecostal Christian.

I have seen many things in my life and as many of you know I have travelled to many countries. I have just come back from one of the largest countries in the world with a population of 1.4 billion and I have met many Christians from many denominations here in the UK and also abroad. I have been a pastor in large churches and small churches. I have seen the many miracles that Jesus spoke about, healings from cancers and tinnitus, blind eyes opening, the deaf hearing, hearts being restored spiritually and physically, and I am amazed at the power and the majesty of our Almighty Father.

But like many of you I have longed for true revival. I have seen manifestations of what man believes to be revival but Toronto and other sparks of God’s power I believe have been snuffed out by man. There is a problem in the body of Christ. Many commentators such as Leonard Ravenhill and other great saints of God who have gone on before us have highlighted that the problem with the church in the United Kingdom and across the world is a lack of prayer. The Bible tells us clearly, ‘If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land’ (2 Chronicles 7: 14). I long for a day hopefully in my lifetime when the church of Jesus Christ will get serious about prayer. If we put on a chicken supper or a banquet or a praise and worship night, many churches across London and across this country will be full, but sadly when it comes to prayer the prayer meetings in many churches are empty. I would even suggest in many individuals’ lives their prayer life is barren and they wonder why they do not seem to succeed. Many great women and men of the past such as Müller, Tozer, Whitfield and Wesley understood the power of prayer. So I pray quietly that there will be an enthusiastic return to prayers across our nation: not just once a week for an hour giving God a shopping list but solid intercessory prayer. We have seen it in such places as Seoul Korea where they have prayer mountains.

I am 100% convinced if we in the United Kingdom want to see true revival, the church needs to repent and turn back to the things of God and not clever schemes, not clever programmes, but getting down on our knees and praying for the lost, the widow, the lonely and the downcast, and not just them, but the rich, the powerful, our MPs, our Queen, all strata of society, as I know this will bring revival and restoration for our nation. I hope when you read this you will ponder and seek God for yourself, as you do not need to go to buildings; we just need people across the nation to burst into spontaneous prayer in their communities.

God bless you. My prayer for 2016 is we start to take back that which the devil has stolen: our cities, our towns, our families, our children, our nation. Amen

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Wickedness in High Places

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The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

I wonder if he had in mind the Roman Empire and meant us today to see the wickedness that is gong on in our name in the Mother of all Parliaments. When a nation has no consideration for the poor, the sick and the disabled I believe it has lost its way. When its moral compass has shifted to benefit the rich and not the less well off we have lost the heart of the nation. I would like you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for the leaders of the United Kingdom. They say they were elected on a majority but our electoral system has been manipulated and corrupted over many hundreds of years by the Labour and Conservative parties, as for as long as I can remember they have always been the parties that have been in power. They are like Tweedledum and Tweedledee who went to fight a battle. I think it was over a rattle. But unfortunately these two parties have squabbled since the Second World War on who is right and who is wrong. I am old enough to remember the Winter of Discontent when this country was on a three-day week and we lit our homes with candles. The price of a candle could be anything up to £5, which was a lot of money back in those days. But I have seen another phenomenon, which I believe to be evil, that was brought in by Margaret Thatcher and that was the love of money.

I praise God that the House of Lords has blocked this wicked bill to reform the tax credits, but it would seem now those in power are not happy with the results even though the majority of the country are opposed to these slashing cuts. Yes, we all know we have to live within our means, but unfortunately the politicians have short memories. It was the banks that caused the crash because of their greed and it was us, the public, taxpayers, who baled the banks out. We had the scandal of politicians manipulating their expenses, PPI, corruption at all levels of government, police forces being castigated for their behaviour, and now we see the inhumanity to man regarding people escaping a war zone. My brothers and sisters, I will put this all down to the love of money. Jesus told us we can only serve one master, Him or money.

So I would like us all to seek the Lord, as those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.

The Bible also says that Jesus is the Head of the church, so we are the shoulders. That would intimate to me that we are the government or the governing power on this earth. So therefore we have a say in the affairs of man through the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The solution to this country’s problems is simple. Well paid work that pays to go to work, investment in our industry as Germany has done, affordable housing whether rented or bought. That would mean the rich being taxed, companies paying their fair share such as Amazon, Starbucks, and the list goes on. I think it was Mr Cameron who once said we are all in this together, but unfortunately his party only benefits the rich and the powerful. They still treat us like public schoolboys and throw us a few crumbs when they choose to when they want our vote. So I hope in four years’ time, if this government survives, you will remember what they did at the beginning and punish them, as nowhere in their manifesto did the Tory party ever say they were going to attack tax credits. As the press has borne out, these tax credits are a safety net to many lower paid families who did get off their backs and go to work, and I am sure you know many and so do I. As for the minimum wage, many employers will never pay that, as many companies now are reducing staff to reduce their pay bills, which will mean that their existing workers will end up doing more for less, which is always the case. The bottom line, as many of us in business understand, is if you do not speculate you do not accumulate, and this present government seems to have no understanding that selling off the family silver and emptying the cupboards is unsustainable. Austerity never works; it just puts more money in the pockets of the mega rich. The only way for a country to grow is inward investment: building small businesses which then can become larger, as Germany has done in the past twenty years. As for Cameron, he has already stated he does not intend to see this parliament out and he will do the damage before he goes. When I look at the political elite unfortunately I do not see any leaders, and that is a sad state for our nation.
So, my brothers and sisters, if you live in the United Kingdom pray like you have never prayed before. If you are reading this from across the world please pray for us, as the only answer to this country’s problems is if this nation turns back to Jesus and the values of our forefathers.

What can you do? Lobby your MP about your disgust at the way the poor, the needy and those who need help are being treated.

God bless you as you read this thoughtfully.

Ross Rennie

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Another Company Not To Trade With

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Warning

If you are travelling anywhere in the world and you go on to a comparison web site such as Skyscanner which is a very useful comparison site for flights as we have found, beware of this company Netflights.

As some of you know, I am making a very important trip over the Christmas period. I cannot tell you where I am going as it would endanger the people I will meet, except I am going to east Asia. My experience of this company has been their internal policy is not very professional when booking a flight. I found myself losing £552 which is now to be recovered by the credit card company. I cannot give a recommendation to this company as I have found they are a company lacking in grace. When I first booked my ticket with this company we went on their web site, we followed their procedures, but their web site did not work. We were then given a number to contact which cost 10.5p per minute which unfortunately they take so long to answer this will cost you money. When they do answer on the first trip was quite smooth. My problem came when I had to change the dates owing to events beyond my control. I then contacted the company again which took me a considerable amount of time. I ended up paying £4.50 for the privilege and when I did finally get through they charged me £137.50 for the change of the ticket which is normal practice. I felt everything at that point was OK but here is the rub. The minute you book with this company you have no recourse. It is like playing Russian roulette. On arriving home to see the confirmation the same day I found out they had booked me not for December but November. On seeing the mistake I contacted the company and was told they believed I had asked for November and not December. The problem with this, as many of you know who travel, most reputable companies give you 24 hours to check your paperwork.

This company I believe is a bucket shop. Their only interest is to extend their bank account and not look after their customers as they have no procedure for you to check your confirmation, which is a common practice with reputable companies. On seeing the mistake I contacted the company by two emails, asked them to contact me and they did not even bother. I gave them reasonable time to respond and then contacted them. I was then told there was nothing they could do and my flight was booked for November and a dispute ensued. To say their attitude was aggressive would be an understatement and it seems that once they had my money they were not interested. So I found myself with a ticket to a land that I need to go to on the wrong dates and then they told me if I wanted to change the flight again it would cost me another £137 to change the tickets, but to add insult to injury I would lose the first flight and I would have to pay another £152 to change my flight again. That would be the price of the flight and the £137 admin charge.

I think a few hundred years ago there was man called Dick Turpin and he was a highway robbery man, as some of you know from history. So I would say this company Netflights (remember their name) are bandits. And therefore like Vodafone, TalkTalk, Tesco, I am afraid they go into God’s hall of shame. We may not be watchdog but we serve one who is more powerful than any human organisation, the Almighty God, and He says, ‘Vengeance is mine, says the Lord’.

So, my brothers and sisters, please share this with your friends and family and your Facebook, Twitter, etc, as we need to be aware of these companies and their underhand tactics.

We have also found this company was first owned by Thomas Cook. In February 2014 the company was acquired by Dubai-based air service provider dnata, whose CEO is Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum. So if you do have any disputes with this company I cannot see you getting much redress, as there seems to be nowhere to write to except the London office, which, as I have already said, I believe is just a bucket shop.

So beware. The Bible says we have to be as crafty as serpents and as gentle as doves; therefore I have left this matter in the hands of the Lord. Yes, I have lost £552 but, as many of you know, I live by faith and have done for many years. They have not stolen from me; they have stolen from the Almighty God. If this company Netflights had behaved in a respectable manner and looked at some way of recompense they would not find themselves in God’s hall of shame.

So if you know of other companies such as these please let me know, as we live in perilous times, and I will be pleased to publish it if is supported by evidence and truth.

God bless you

Rev Ross Rennie

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