What happens when you step back?

For those following the accompanying social media channels on MeWe and Telegram, you'll have noticed a slowdown in publishing.

Part was due to the Christmas holidays and the end-of-year and beginning-of-year things that crowd out time, but part was due to stepping back and re-evaluating. 

Since an incident in September 2022, I've gradually pulled back from the online prophecy world. Except for the most basic and known teachers whose ministries have been around for a long time and who produce fairly steady and reliable content, I've shared very little.

This morning, in my email, I received an update out of nowhere from an online forum attached to a popular prophecy teacher's website that indicated they were going to be cutting down and removing some of the content that had been posted, and being more restrictive in how people could post.

I believed it to be a good idea.

But, being curious as to how things were going there since I'd left in September and not looked back, I hopped in the forum. I was dismayed to see it was no better, in terms of paranoia and fixation on conspiracy (true or false, it's still a distraction), but possibly worse. I saw posts claiming that changed DNA from certain shots were like the day of Noah where people were probably Christians but still couldn't be saved because they'd changed their DNA (think about that statement, historically and logically), posts obsessing about the WEF and weather mod and whatever else.

I quickly understood why the forum was going to be whipped into shape.

Bible prophecy is not to be a speculative distraction; it is to produce hope and reassure us that God is who he says he is.

How is it, then, that so many have turned into conspiracy hair-splitting? Again, I don't care if the conspiracy is true or false; a true conspiracy can be just as distracting. We aren't told we must know all the details, just know the general signs and be reassured God's plan is unfolding; I think we all can see the general signs.

Since September, I've been trying to come up with a rubric of how I will choose which teachers to listen to. This is different from the Bible telling us how to determine a false teacher (Deut. 18:20, Ezk. 13:9, Jer 14:14, Mtw 16:11-12, 2 Tim. 4:3-4, Acts 20:28-30, etc.); some teachers who I don't think are false teachers are still, in their own way, feeding a distraction.

In other words, I'm not judging them on whether or not I think they are truly a Christian. I'm trying to make a dividing line on what content I ought to consume for myself that will not lead me away from the Word of God into internet search on various conspiratorial topics, and instead, lead me to wanting to consume God's Word more and get a bit bored with the internet and all it's fantastical piles of dread information. This is my goal with the content I share on these platforms as well, for those who follow them.

Here are the questions I'm trying to use as a standard when it comes to prophecy teaching:

1. What is the foundation? Is its foundation clearly in God's Word, instead of in a conspiracy with a few Bible verses tacked on? Does it force me to consider God's Word in greater depth, or to dwell on or argue about conspiracy theories? Does it stir up all kinds of fantastical stories only to tack on "trust in God" at the end as if that covers it?
2. What is its fruit? Does the teachers message bring hope and encouragement, or fear and dread? Does it stir up anger and argument? Does it instruct people further in God's Word and create Christians with a deeper understanding of it, or does it encourage sensationalism, division, and slavish devotion to being "awakened to the truth" in the form of gathering knowledge? Do you exercise your mind, or feed your baser desires for secret knowledge and scandal?
3. What is the spirit driving it? Does the teacher use sensationalism in the headlines as click bait? Are they steady and even-keeled, or all over the place emotionally? Does God's Word outweigh sensationalism? Is there careful thought and prayer put into the content?
4. Is there any yeast mixed in? Does the teacher introduce leaders, organizations, or other teachers who are not true followers of Christ and endanger followers by opening a door to the New Age, false teaching, or other such things?
5. Where does it point? Does it point back to God, or to "doing your own research" somewhere online? What kind of sources are they using? When people check on the research, what are they being exposed to, and does it fit into the Philippians 4:8 model?

Number four is especially concerning, as the New Age has heavily infected the health freedom movement, the patriot movement, and the global conspiracy movement. Many of the leaders are slipping in New Age ideals and I find that completely unacceptable, no matter how much of the rest of it they got right. By using these sources, Christian leaders (even with a caveat to warn people) are normalizing unbiblical ideas and softening reception to teachers Christians have no business listening to.

I will be readjusting the list of sources in the sidebar of this blog as a result of this shift based on these questions. I'm not saying that you cannot listen to certain teachers, only that I've determine that I am not to, and therefore, I cannot in good conscience promote them, either.

The title of this blog is "what happens when you step back" and the answer is simple: you have new eyes. 

It was good for me to lighten my dive into prophecy teachers for a few months.

It's the old example of a frog in boiling water. Having stepped back from some of these prophecy teachers and channels, and then gone back a few months later, I really see how odd some of the content (to be fair, often fan or user generated) has become. I realize now I hadn't seen it before, when I was there as it was being created and morphing in a direction I did not see.

While I understand that some folks would appreciate more content posted on the social networks, I have to proceed with caution not only in weighing the content, but also, in allowing it to consume my own life. Nevertheless, I did want to let readers know that I had not abandoned the effort but was trying to work through how I would continue.

I hope you understand.