The splintering of the Bible prophecy crowd, just in time for the end.

 Before delving too deep into a difficult blog post, I want to start with a few key Bible passages that are going to influence what will follow.

For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere human beings What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. (1 Corinthians 3:4-5 NIV)

We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. (2 Thess. 3:4 NIV)

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.  (2 Thess. 3:6-8 NIV)

Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner’s servants came to him and said, "Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?" "An enemy did this," he replied. The servants asked him, "Do you want us to go and pull them up?" "No," he answered, "because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn." (Matthew 13:24-30 NIV)

...slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone. [...] But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them.  (Titus 3:2, 9-10 NIV)

The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: "God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get." (Luke 18:11-12 NIV)

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Phil. 4:8 NIV) 

As you read the rest of this post, keep these verses in mind. Some I will highlight, but they all apply to the whole message I am going to try to get across.

I recognize the pattern.

In the early 2000s (i.e. pre-social media), I spent a lot of time on the internet visiting various Christian sites, many about particular theology and discernment. In phases, I traipsed through likely all of the well-known blogs and forums, one after the other, experiencing the following pattern:

1. Curious and interested in learning.
2. Excited to find other believers who thought as I did, and thankful to find a place to belong.
3. Debating with those who weren't in line with what the majority beliefs were.
4. Arguing with those who weren't in line with what the majority beliefs were.
5. A sense that something was off, either in the teacher/blog, or in how I was understanding or responding.
6. Conviction to step away.
7. Revisiting after a while to see if I missed it.
8. Shocked to see how far down a trail the remaining people had gone and grieved that I could have gone there, too.
9. Saddened to realize I couldn't go back, and saddened to realize how many words I'd put out there that I would have to answer for.
10. Distancing myself not only from the website, but from the particular topic or realm of interest it had featured.

I did this several times, because we are all searching for a place to belong, particularly believers who are increasingly surrounded by unbelief. Why it was that I kept returning to his same pattern, I don't know. The desire to connect with people is very strong, and each time I thought it would be different.

It wasn't.

And it happened again last fall, when I realized the pattern was present one more time.

What was in the forum?

This week, out of curiosity (see step 7), I watched a JD Farag prophecy update, and the related forum entries. I hadn't been back since last fall.

Steps 8 and 9 quickly happened, and I'm somewhere near or in step 10. I will say that for the most part, possibly due to active monitors, this particular forum entry is one of the least volatile I've seen in a long time; people were not outright cruel.

In the forum responses, as of the writing of this post, I saw only two people who pushed back against the teaching, and did so in a gracious manner, raising some valid points. Some tried to insist that they knew JD's heart and that the words he actually said were not actually what he meant. Some took it upon them to fisk their response bit by bit, separating individual statements and "proving" it to be false or dismissible, leaving nothing the person said unscathed or potentially valid, a technique purely used to argue and dispel in piecemeal fashion rather than consider an idea in the spirit of the whole. 

I've used the technique myself many times in decades of blogging; I know how to do and why you do it. It's to prove someone wrong. It is a technique that belongs to the spirit of argument.

Keep in mind, this is among brothers and sisters in Christ.

A paraphrased summation of the rest that I saw in the responses that stood out in particular to me (which you can go look for and find yourself, as I am not going to be attacking people directly) are:

• I'm not going to vote in any elections because the whole system is corrupt. JD said he didn't vote anymore.
• Here is a list of people who have associated with this other list of people, and therefore we should have nothing to do with them.
• This teacher is OK, this one is not, this one is borderline, I'd be wary of this one, stay away from these teachers, this one is too dogmatic, this one has let the wrong people associate with him, etc. etc.
• JD is the only one who isn't deceived, and it's good that he is separating himself from the people who are tainted.
• I trust JD.
• So thankful I found JD. I never miss an update.
• JD is the only one speaking the truth.
• I'm glad he named that person; I get an uneasy feeling about him and now I know why (because JD said so).
• I stand with JD, 100 percent.
• I know it was so hard for JD to pull away from the prophecy crowd he used to be a part of but his heart is so good and I just cry thinking about it.
• Some days I feel hopeless.
• I'm so glad we are part of the remnant. 
• Trump is bad.
• I don't know how to live. If the rapture is coming, I don't know if I should do ______ which I normally would do, but the rapture is coming soon and everything is corrupt and we know this country is going down and I'm just waiting for the rapture.
• I left my church and offered to homeschool my grandchildren but that was rejected and I tried to start some Bible studies but it just didn't pan out and so now we're just isolated here on our farm, waiting.
• "I love this group of truth seekers. It is a relief and so refreshing...it just feels right that we are going in the same direction. Thank you Lord!" (actual quote from forum, emphasis added)

What I saw in too many responses were people who were as ripe for deception as those in the "awakening/patriot" crowd JD mentioned.

I'm not saying JD would sanction such responses, but it is what his followers who are active on the forum have come to adhere to. These are people who are part of the body of Christ, like me, who have apparently pulled away believing themselves to be the correct remnant. 

Isolation, and being in full agreement.

I want to touch on the idea that separating yourself from almost everyone is a good thing, a sign of purity of belief.

I don't admire Bible teachers who isolate themselves; they easily slip into cult creation or incestuous thought. Unless they have leadership in their church who periodically call them out if they go too far, it's only trouble ahead. Overly dedicated followers never know the boiling water they're in. 

I also don't admire believers who are so circularly focused on one aspect of the Bible---ironically focusing purely on prophecy and the end times while hollering at other churches for not focusing on the whole of the Bible---that they actively and even proudly whittle down who can be considered acceptable for their group.

Actual, true heresy is one thing, and we'll cover that next. But is this what JD wants from his followers? Because this is what they are doing in his forum:

In other posts, there are references to the "Jan Markell crowd" as being a problem as well.

Jan Markell has also pointed out the problems with NAR on her program. Amir has gotten some things wrong, but he's gotten things right. Andy Woods doesn't agree with Amir on things, and vice versa. Lee Brainerd disagrees with Andy Woods on some things. JD has been spot on in calling out some things, and has also used seriously questionable sources and been off in others. Don Stewart caused a brouhaha a few months ago with some things he said on Tom Hughes' program. Monkeywerx and John Haller are either pre-wrath or mid-trib or somewhere in the seals. Jack Hibbs is pretty solid with his Bible prophecy, but he has also always been politically active. 

On and on it goes. 

You will never find the one pure, true teacher because you aren't supposed to! (see 1 Cor 3:4-5)

Do not be proud or glad you tune in every week for the prophecy update! Human teachers shouldn't be your daily or weekly bread! Jesus Christ, the Word and the Truth, is! No matter how faithful and good-hearted and sincere a person is (like JD), they are fallen with a sin nature, fallible, and a kind of second-generation truth. There is only one Truth.

We all love to think we're a Berean, but if you're in lockstep with one teacher, I'm willing to bet you're not. The Holy Spirit is nudging and working in us, knowing our strengths and weaknesses and what rabbit trail we should and shouldn't go down, and that means our faith walk isn't 100 percent identical to another's. I can't think of a single teacher I'm agree with 100 percent. Doesn't bother me. They're still brothers and sisters in Christ.

Look at that list of people in the graphic. Go to the forum and see all the people called out by either JD in the video or by others in discussion.

Some are definitely not followers of Christ. But some likely are. God knows.

Between heresy and the calling of God we don't know.

If you can't define what heresy is, and what constitutes heresy in terms of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and you don't know what a teacher/pastor actually teaches, you have no business shredding them, or telling other believers they shouldn't listen to them. If they are a true brother or sister in Christ, stop attacking your own even if you don't understand what they are doing.

Yes, the sketchiness of the "reawakening" movement is too intertwined with the New Age to be comfortable for me. There are lots of unbelievers involved, and what they want to accomplish is not aligned with the Bible, even if there is good in it. I've written about that before.

NAR, New Age---that is heresy, and it should be called out. It has no business in the church, though we can be gracious in speaking the truth about it, being clear how it doesn't align with God's Word, praying for the people involved.

But we must understand what is truly heresy, and what is simply a belief we don't personally hold to, and that requires an understanding of what the core Gospel is. 

It appears far too many people are unable to tell the difference and are assuming that they hold the correct belief and that everything on the outside of my circle gets lumped into heresy. We put so many belief litmus tests in place to qualify for the pure remnant that we become Judaizers in our quest to provide lists of who is safe and who is not.

The Dominionism of many Christian leaders (after all, most Christians in this country are probably not pre-trib/pre-mil; they are waiting for the second coming of Christ, not the rapture) has led them to focus on what I would say are futile goals. Perhaps some have slipped into heresy or idolatry; I don't know their hearts. God does, and that means I don't have to know and I certainly shouldn't spend time speculating in a forum. I imagine if all I focused on was evil and corruption and who's on the naughty list, yes, I'd be confused as to what to do with my life right now. (see Phil. 4:8)

We don't know what God has called them to do.  

We only know what God wants us to do (and not to do). [See this blog post, the section on the three convictions.]

The work God gives us to do is work we are to continue to do until he calls us home. We are to occupy until he comes, and anything less validates those who think pre-trib folks are just sitting on their hands waiting to go up.

It's not up to us to say "God, I know how this is going to end, so it's just futile to try to slow down the evil and corruption. I'm checking out and am not going to be involved in the world." There is no way God wants to see people on a forum admitting they don't know what to do with themselves in these last days while arguing about which Christians are doing work that isn't what God wants them to do.

If God has called Jack Hibbs to be politically active, even though we know he believes the same end times beliefs and how it all goes down, why in the world are we beating him up online? Hibbs knows the nation isn't going to be saved, but he's not retreating to a farm to raise chickens and let hell water wash over him. How could you know if it's idolatry, or him holding the line God placed him at?

What I would say to this forum (and just about any other Christian forum, frankly) is the following:

1. God deals with the tares, not us. He knows which are tares. When we try to pull them out (i.e. rip and shred in a forum and tell newbies which teachers should be shunned) we damage the wheat, too, not to mention insult the calling God has placed on people's lives that we don't understand.
2. God might not have called you to politics or whatever else, but that doesn't mean he hasn't for others. He is still active in this age of grace, working his plan through all true believers even if they don't fall under the same label, and even if they don't understand how his plan could use that other guy doing that other thing. You might think something is idolatry in another person's life simply because you haven't been called to it, perhaps because God knew it would become idolatry in your life. How dare you attack pastors who are at least leading evangelistic meetings and the like, dissecting how they're doing it wrong and insisting that their efforts to push back evil is idolatry because the tribulation is going to come regardless? 
3. We don't have much time left, so stop using what remains to divide and feel pride about how pure your corner of the remnant is. I can't take another believer saying they left their church, can't find anyone to connect with, etc. etc. etc. and they have nothing else to do but live in isolation and tune in online and muck about in a forum, throwing words around that they will answer for some day. Get out there and connect. The world is dying for you to do so. Maybe step away from the forum for a month and ask God to help you connect with believers where you live. It's possible part of the difficulty you have in connecting is that other believers get the sense you don't think they're good enough for you. Hiding behind a patronizing "I'm so heartbroken for people who don't believe as I do" can, in some cases, be its own form of pride. (Luke 18:11-12)
4. Every word you put out there against a Christian, you have to answer for. Be less flippant. Show grace and assume the best, not the worst.
5. No human pastor is infallible, and if you find yourself in perfect agreement every time, you should pause and reflect. It's easy to let someone else do your heavy lifting, leaving you to just find a group to belong in and ride the ride. 

The problem with online life is, despite what you've been told, you are not really connected. It's not the same as going to a place where actual human beings are physically present. If your only church is online, don't get comfortable there.

There is some comfort in watching an online service, in chatting with like-minded believers online, but it is not what God created us for. He is going to resurrect our physical bodies because our physical bodies matter, and that means being with people in physical presence also matters.

All of this forum activity---and I know this from several decades of trying---is not helping anyone. That dopamine hit from all the gladhanding, when you whittle down a forum to just the "true believers," is not valid. 

Whatever you believe about the end times, about Bible prophecy, believe this: the great commission is still in effect. The Great Commission, not critiquing other Christians online. Not spending more time talking about weird bitchute videos from sketchy sources or the coming WEF monstrosity, instead of Biblical foundations. Not obsessing about weather modification. The endless fixation on a growing beast system and all the innumerable ways we are being deceived is less about knowing the signs of the times, and more about spiraling ever downward, leading people to confusion about how to live their lives if everything is going to crash and burn anyway.

A prophecy update should start, heavily contain, and end on God's Word. It should have more Biblical connections than speculation. It should edify the body, elevate the Word of God, and make them excited to actively involve themselves where God is at work. It should not leave people feeling powerless and hopeless...BECAUSE WE KNOW WE WIN!

It should not inspire a forum like what I saw.

Disappointing indeed.