Gwen Shamblin, The Christian Diet Guru

If you are overweight and tired of being spiritually defeated, Gwen Shamblin claims to have the answers and reveals them in her Weigh Down Workshops. Though she says she's a Christian, she has made it very clear that she denies the doctrine of the Trinity, which is a fundamental aspect of the Christan faith. Here are a couple of news clips of interviews with Gwen where she talks more about her beliefs.

Gwen believes that there is only one God, who is God the Father. She also says that she believes in Jesus, who is God's Son, but that neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit are God. In fact, the Holy Spirit, she says, is not a person, but is just the "force" of God.

Back in Oct. 2000, Rob Bowman, the Director of Research at Watchman Fellowship wrote a letter to Gwen Shamblin in the hopes of being able to share with her what the doctrine of the Trinity actually teaches and to clear up any misunderstandings that she may have been taught about the Trinity.

A few weeks ago, my Adult Bible Fellowship class at church finished a 2-week study on the Trinity, and I just recently my professor in my Systematic Theology class taught a lecture on the doctrine of the Trinity. Trinitarian doctrine is a very heavy subject, and after reviewing Mr. Bowman's letter, I think he did a very good job in covering the basics and explaining its key aspects.

(Excerpt from website)
The core elements of the doctrine of the Trinity are these:

1. There is one true God, the LORD, i.e., Yahweh, or Jehovah. (Deut. 4:35, 39; 6:4; Isa. 43:10; 44:6-8; Acts 17:29; James 2:19)
   


2. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is this one true God, the LORD. (John 17:3; 20:17; cf. Ps. 110:1)
   


3. The Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is this one true God, the LORD. (John 1:1; 20:28; Rom. 10:9-13; Phil. 2:9-11; Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 1:1; 1 John 5:20).
   


4. The Holy Spirit, who was sent by the Son from the Father, is this one true God, the LORD. (Acts 5:3-4, 9; 2 Cor. 3:17-18)
   

Though the concept of the Trinity can be a difficult subject to fully grasp, we simply have to accept that even though we don't completely understand it, it's still true because the Bible says so. In spite of what Gwen Shamblin, Jehovah's Witnesses, or Oneness Pentecostals may say, Evangelical Christians are not polytheists, nor are we modalist. We are monotheists... we worship the only one true God who eternally and co-equally exists as 3 Persons: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.

If you would like to receive a free information packet about Gwen Shamblin or any other cult, religion, celebrity, or bestselling book, click here.

The Gospel of Inclusion

I just listened to an audio clip on the Watchman Fellowship website of an interview with Bishop Pearson discussing his movement called the Gospel of Inclusion and how he interprets the Gospel of Christ. Click here to listen to the audio clip.

At first, Pearson sounds biblically correct, but as you listen on, his beliefs are revealed to be very far off track from evangelical Christianity. One part of the audio clip that really caught my attention was the following question and answer between the lady interviewer and Bishop Pearson.

Lady: "Are you saying that everyone is going to heaven, basically?"
Pearson: "Yes! Your religion, your dogma and doctrines, cannot dictate to God who He will love and redeem. He made us all. Why would He not redeem us all? Unless we think that God is prejudice and bigoted like we are. God is not. God loves everybody, and anything outside of love is outside His character, His moral character."

I would agree with Pearson that God is love and thus is merciful and gracious; but God is also just (moral character). If He were not just, He would not be a holy, righteous Judge. God despises sin and will punish those who have sinned. Yes, it is true that when Christ died on the cross, His sacrifice was for the world, but only for those that put their faith and trust in Him.

Jesus declared in John 3:3 "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." As well as John 11:25-26, "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'" Jesus is clearly stating that His salvation must be accepted by the individual. We are not just saved by accident or without our knowledge. Every individual, in order to be saved, must accept Jesus Christ's free gift of grace and thus become born again.
However, Pearson (who is a universalist ) believes that Jesus' sacrifice gave everyone a "get-out-of-hell-free card." So, every religion: Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Mormon, Buddhist, etc. are all "saved" and are all going to heaven. He even tries to justify his view by quoting 1 Tim. 2:5 that says "there is one God and there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus." And thus, all religions are saved because Jesus is our mediator. However, many religions would strongly object with that statement. Hindus would not agree because they are polytheistic and believe in thousands of gods as well as reincarnation as the vehicle for salvation. There are also Atheists who neither believe in any god nor in an afterlife.

Another comment that disturbed me was Pearson speaking about Jesus in 1 Tim. 2:5. He said, "Most Christians worship the mediator. They don't really worship God." After hearing that, I had to ask myself, "So, who does Pearson think Jesus is?" Jesus made very clear in Scripture that He is God (John 13:19) and He even received worship (Matt. 28:17). But apparently, Parsons does not believe that Jesus is God since he thinks worshiping Jesus doesn't mean you're worshiping God.

Here's a link if you'd like to learn more about Bishop Pearson and his Gospel of Inclusion or hear any of the other audio clip interviews. I also found a video of an NBC interview with Pearson.

The Da Vinci Con

Since its book release in 2003 (and the movie version in 2006), The Da Vinci Code, the mystery/detective novel by Dan Brown, has been a hot topic of controversy in both the church and the media. Dan Brown tells an intriguing fictitious story of an American symbologist who gets caught up in a ghastly murder in France and then seeks to find the murderer as well as the secret truth about Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene that led to the victim's untimely demise. Since the book hit the shelve in 2003, it has sold over 60 million copies worldwide, and the blockbuster movie in 2006 starring Tom Hanks has grossed over $758 million worldwide.

Though the book is advertised as fiction, Dan Brown makes it very clear in both the book as well as in interviews that he honestly believes the content of The Da Vinci Code which includes (excerpt from a Watchman Fellowship article):

• The Bible cannot be trusted.
  
• Jesus is not God, nor did the first century church believe him to be God.


• Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and intended to restore the worship of the goddess.
  

After watching the ABC news interview with Dan Brown, I was shocked that all his curiosity began with a painting that his college professor had shown them in class one day. In the painting of the "Last Supper" by Leonardo Da Vinci (which is discussed in the book and shown in the movie), the "cup of Christ" is not in the painting anywhere, and some believe that the person on Jesus' right is not the Apostle John but is Mary Magdalene. They believe that Da Vinci was trying to convey in his art that Mary was the Holy Grail. Whether or not this is true, I am simply amazed that this one piece of art all of sudden is treated like the greatest archaeological find in history. Even if Da Vinci did intend to point to Mary as the Holy Grail... so what? People throughout history have painted their interpretation of things; so does that mean that the ancient paintings in Greece that depict Pegasus the flying horse or Medusa the snake-haired gorgon-women must also be real things and be absolutely true too? I think not!

I also think that Dan Brown's assumptions tainted his judgment during his "investigation" of the Holy Grail truth pursuit. He either intentionally fabricated or apparently did not do any real academic research on the actual Council of Nicea and what really transpired during that meeting. The book claims that "...Jesus' establishment as the ‘Son of God’ was officially proposed and voted on by the Council...[and it won by] A relatively close vote at that." (pg. 233) First of all, Jesus being the "Son of God" was never in question at the Council meeting. There was a debate on whether Jesus was of the same substance as God (orthodox Christianity) or if he was of similar substance (Arianism). "The council decided against the Arians overwhelmingly (of the estimated 250-318 attendees, all but 2 voted against Arius)." (excerpt from Wikipedia)

Lastly, I also think that the people who believe that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and base this belief solely on a damaged gnostic document, the Gospel of Phillip, are being very naive and presumptuous. In the document, it says that Mary was beloved of Jesus, but I should point out that it also says that James was his beloved too. Dan Brown also claims that the document clearly shows that Jesus and Mary were married because he kisses her many times on the mouth. However, that is not true. Since the document is damaged, all it actually says is:

"And the companion of the [...] Mary Magdalene [...] her more than [...] the disciples [...] kiss her [...] on her [...]"

For all we know, the document could have originally stated, "And the companion of [the Apostle Peter was] Mary Magdalene [and he liked] her more than [all] the disciples [and would] kiss her [occasionally] on her [hand]... who knows? But nowhere does the document say that Jesus and Mary were married.

Hopefully, Christians will not be discouraged by the many people who have have bought into Dan Brown's ridiculous theories. Instead, I hope that they will use this book & movie as an opportunity to engage our culture. By researching the claims he makes about Jesus, the Bible, and the Church, we can be prepared to refute the errors and present the truth about the real Jesus of the Bible, His mission, and His salvation.

For more information and resources on The Da Vinci Code or Dan Brown, please visit the Watchman Fellowship website.

Are you Growing in Grace?

If you are unfamiliar with the Growing in Grace (Creciendo en Gracia) movement, please take a moment to watch this excerpt from The Today Show.
After watching the video and reading the article about it, needless to say I was shocked and appalled. Jose Miranda is a charlatan who has apparently targeted the Hispanic community brainwashing them into believing that he is Jesus Christ, the Second Coming.

Until today I had never heard of this movement, and I was amazed that they can be found in over 20 countries, mostly in central and south America, but also in the United States. They claim that they have over 30 teaching centers nationwide, and though they do not keep track of their membership, they estimate it to be at least a million or more.

These are just a few of Miranda's teachings:

• Sin no longer exists.
• There's not such thing as the Devil.
• Prayer is a waste of time.
• All other religions are liars (including Catholic, Protestant, Evangelicals, etc.)

I find it blatantly ironic that even though Miranda claims to be Jesus Christ and refers to the Bible (i.e. he requires his followers to tithe), his life, speech, and actions do not compare at all with the Lamb of God. Every one of his "teachings" directly contradict things that Jesus Himself preached.

The Bible clearly warns about false teachers & false prophets:

• Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. (Matt. 7:15)
• I know full well that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. (Acts 20:29)
• Those false teachers who are so anxious to win your favor are not doing it for your good. They are trying to shut you off from me so that you will pay more attention to them. (Gal. 4:17)
• Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. (1 John 4:1)

What disturbs me the most about this cult is its potential violent nature. Miranda believes that all other religions are evil, deceiving, lying dogs and encourages his followers to protest them, and even be willing to give their lives to "spread the truth." Since he claims to be God, Miranda also demands unquestioned loyalty from his followers. Sounds a lot like the Branch Davidians and Koresh, doesn't it?

To learn more about Growing in Grace or other cults and alternative religions, please visit the Watchman Fellowship website.