Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

When corrupt movements respond to exposure by quietly removing the names of those who have been called out, it is not repentance or reform. It is merely scooping dung off a pile of dung. Image management is not righteousness.

To see a church like Bethel in Redding, California, scrub a name such as Shawn Bolz is not honorable or commendable. Bethel itself produces men like him. This is not a matter of a healthy tree bearing a few bad apples. It is a dead tree producing dead fruit. Cutting off one rotten apple does nothing to change the nature of the tree. You cannot reform what is dead.

While efforts to expose rotten fruit, ungodly lives, false prophecies, and the real harm done to real people are commendable as far as they go, the problem runs far deeper. It is truly commendable when men love the church and desire to maintain the purity of Christ’s bride. Marking false teachers and false prophets and warning the church about them is not easy work. It invites harsh criticism and slanderous attacks, often from the biblically ignorant who prop up those very false teachers. A man of conviction does this work anyway.

However, when false teachers are treated as brothers merely in need of church discipline rather than identified as wolves, a serious danger remains. The issue is not merely that people are hurt, that prophecies fail, or that immorality is discovered. These men are false teachers. Their lives reflect their false profession. Their doctrine, their immorality, and their protection of one another are not separate issues. They are the fruit of the same corrupt root.

The fruit is not merely bad behavior. The fruit is their teaching. The fruit is the system that elevates experience over Scripture, anointing over qualification, and charisma over truth. The fruit comes from men who are still dead in sin, men with unregenerate hearts. You cannot reform that. Scripture does not call us to rehabilitate wolves but to expose them.

If false doctrine itself is not confronted and rejected, and if reform does not mean a return to sound doctrine, then the system remains intact. In such environments, false doctrine continues to produce false converts who rise to positions of authority and perpetuate cycles of spiritual abuse and deception.

It should not surprise anyone when these same men later make statements aligning themselves with the language of justice and accountability, attempting to appear righteous or repentant. Nor should it surprise us when others respond by accusing those who speak clearly of being divisive. Both reactions are predictable. Neither indicates repentance. Both are strategies of self-preservation.

Asking a wolf to reform is impossible. He cannot. Instead, he smiles, relieved that he has not been fully exposed. He simply changes his outer garments, adopts the language of humility, admits to mistakes, and promises to do better. All the while, beneath the surface, he remains the same ravenous wolf. In fact, he often emerges more empowered than before. When exposure targets only some bad fruit while affirming the man as a brother, or refusing to name him as a wolf, it grants him cover to continue devouring the flock.

Scripture does not treat wolves and erring believers the same way. A Christian who falls into doctrinal error or sin and responds to rebuke with genuine repentance gives evidence of the Spirit at work within him. That is discipline unto restoration. Wolves, however, are not corrected into health. They are identified, marked, and avoided.

Exposing wolves is not merely pointing to isolated failures or unfortunate outcomes. It is naming false teachers for what they are. To refuse to do so is not charity. It is disobedience. It leaves the flock vulnerable and grants predators room to continue their destruction under the appearance of reform.

Reform is not merely picking off bad fruit. It is a return to sound doctrine that purifies the church.

You do not ask a corrupt tree to produce good fruit. It cannot. You expose it for what it is.

Grace and peace, y’all.
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Living in contradiction to the profession of one’s faith is not merely being a poor witness to the world; it grieves the Holy Spirit by whom we are sealed and who is actively at work in us, sanctifying us and conforming us to the image of Christ. When we walk according to our old nature, we demonstrate a heart in disobedience to God. We are not living as those empowered by grace to walk in truth, love, and unity within the body of Christ. While unbelievers walk according to their sinful nature because they cannot do otherwise, we walk according to the Spirit, and when we sin, we do so by choice. That reality ought to grieve our hearts, especially in light of the brevity of this life. We are enabled by the indwelling Spirit and empowered by the grace of God, and yet we choose disobedience. In doing so, we grieve the Holy Spirit.

Our lives ought to be markedly different from those who walk according to the flesh. We have not only been declared righteous by the righteousness of another, namely Christ, but we have also been indwelt, filled, baptized in, and sealed by the Holy Spirit of God. There are no second-class Christians or “levels.” There is maturity and growth, and every truly born-again believer possesses the Holy Spirit, who gives both the desire and the power to do what pleases God. When we act contrary to that grace and power at work within us, we cannot honestly say, “I couldn’t help it.” The truth is, we could have obeyed, but we chose not to.

There is grace sufficient for our sin, and that grace ought to lead us to repentance. It ought to grieve us when we sin against God, not harden us or excuse us. As we grow in the knowledge of God, we grow in grace and in the truth, and our lives ought increasingly to display the glory, grace, and power of God at work in the believer.

Many today speak enthusiastically of the power of the Holy Spirit, often defining that power in terms of miracles, signs, and wonders that bear no resemblance to scripture. Unsurprisingly, many who promote such teaching are later exposed for lives marked by gross immorality. The true work of the Spirit is far less attractive to those who seek fame, influence, and spectacle.

The most beautiful work of the Spirit is seen in the lives of those who are controlled by Him, those who submit to His work and walk in the grace and power He supplies. It is a glorious work of God to save and sanctify sinners who will one day stand before Him, glorified, though such an end is scarcely comprehensible to us now.

The Holy Spirit is not grieved, as false teachers often claim, by those who test doctrine, examine a man’s qualifications according to Scripture, or sit quietly under faithful preaching without outward displays of praise. Scripture is abundantly clear that grieving the Spirit is spoken of in the context of God’s sanctifying work in the believer, set in contrast to the unbeliever. It is a matter of personal holiness and life within the church.

Dear saint, let us live and walk according to the Spirit, being careful that these terms are defined biblically. Many have hijacked the language surrounding the Holy Spirit and so distorted His true work that Scripture bears little resemblance to what is said and done in His name, or to what He is blamed for.

There are those who claim to fear grieving the Spirit and yet preside over churches marked by disorder. They argue that order itself grieves the Spirit. Such conclusions are impossible to reconcile with Scripture. Others claim that restraining out-of-order behavior quenches or grieves the Spirit. Nonsense. Scripture plainly teaches that the fruit of the Spirit includes self-control.

Be careful who is leading you, and by what spirit.

The true work of the Holy Spirit produces a life increasingly conformed to the image of Christ and distinctly different from the world. He does all things decently and in order, just as Scripture teaches. He never contradicts God’s Word, but works through it as it is rightly taught and faithfully applied.

Many claim to love Jesus. Many claim to love the Holy Spirit. Many claim to love the Bible and to love God. Yet their love is not informed by the truth of Scripture. The result is devotion to a god who is not the God of the Bible, submission to a spirit who is not the Holy Spirit, and allegiance to a different Jesus and another gospel.

God’s self-revelation is Scripture. He will not contradict His Word.

Grace and peace, y’all.
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

One of the most troubling things is when, out of nowhere, a song comes to mind like a friend but is a foe. As it plays, I begin to think about the words, and suddenly I have to hit eject and search for another song to play in my head.

I actually love the phenomenon of unbidden songs that return to mind, songs that surface without warning. I sing them, though I cannot carry a tune. I wake with songs in my mind. I fall asleep with them playing quietly in my thoughts. Not always. But when so, it truly is a gift.

And yet, even though years have passed since I left false doctrine and the music that accompanied it, those songs are still there. I wish they were not. I wish I could erase them entirely and remember only what is theologically sound.

But even in that frustration, I am reminded of something Voddie Baucham once said: “You can’t take my memories of my sin. I won’t let you.” Why would he say such a thing? Because those memories remind us of what we were. They humble us. They show us how vile our sin is. In doing so, they help us see the cross rightly. If we could not remember our sin, we could not be broken over it, nor could we fully grasp the magnitude of God’s grace in saving a wretch like us.

So while I despise the songs I once loved, as they recall not only some errors in the songs but the weight of bad theology hidden beneath their surface, they remind me not only of God’s mercy in saving me, but of His kindness in rescuing me from theology that was dangerously wrong, though I once thought it anointed and powerful.

Dear saint, it has wisely been said, though I know not by whom, that men are often better catechized by what they sing and by their jokes than by their arguments. What we sing matters. And much of what is most popular in “Christian music” today is either theologically erroneous or flowing from churches that are fundamentally corrupt.

We often remember songs better than sermons. I wish that were not so. I wish we remembered them equally. But the reality is that we can recall songs we have not sung in decades, while often struggling to remember the sermon we heard just last week.

If your pastor faithfully exposits the text, he is a gift to the church. Yes, I said that correctly. A gift. In His grace, God has placed a man in your midst who opens the Word and explains it faithfully. Even when you cannot remember everything he said, you can return to the text itself, now better equipped to understand it, to know God more clearly, and to see the richness of Scripture unfold over time.

A faithful pastor teaches you more than the content of the passage. He teaches you how to hear God by showing you how to study His Word rightly. Many sit under teaching that conditions them to depend entirely on the pastor to tell them what God is saying, because those men do not open the text or exposit it. They claim to hear God, but they do not rightly handle His Word.

When God uses faithful exposition to shape your understanding, and that truth wells up into praise, worship is no longer merely singing. It becomes a life lived before God, formed by truth, anchored in Scripture, offered in Spirit and in truth.

Dear saint, if our doctrine is wrong, everything else will be wrong as well. What we sit under matters. Sound theology leads to sound doxology. It sanctifies the believer and glorifies God.

Many test how good the church service was by whether they felt something or had an experience. That is not only subjective, but it is quite arrogant to think that in order for the service to have been good we must have felt something or had an experience. The music, the message, the atmosphere in such churches is then designed to make sure you have an experience so you can walk away claiming God is moving in that place and there is something special there. No. You wanted to have an experience, they designed everything around you having an experience, and you got what you wanted. It was not God.

And that is the kind of music many seek. They do not like theologically rich songs. They want something that is going to speak to their experiences and move them emotionally. They get what they want and claim it is God moving. No. You are being emotionally manipulated and you want to believe it is God, so your worship is all about you, your experience, your felt needs, your miracle, your breakthrough, your encounter, your difficulties. That is not worship. That is not praise. You can have that experience at a concert. All you have done is add Christian language to your experience.

Friend, sound doctrine sanctifies the believer and leads to true praise and true worship in godly living. That is not what many want when they think of church, sermons, or music. They want an experience. They want their miracle, their breakthrough, their own personal word from God. Sadly, there are false teachers and men bankrupt in conviction, ready and eager to give you what you want.

It is, as Voddie Baucham once said, because Scripture is true. That is why these men are in pulpits and that is why the most popular “Christian music” today is unbiblical and dangerous, because people will not endure sound teaching and they heap up men who tell them what they want to hear. Many know the verse, they are just so disconnected from sound doctrine that they do not realize it is speaking of them.

What we sing is to be tested by Scripture, not by how it makes us feel, how it speaks to us in the moment, or how it moves us. Sound theology leads to sound doxology. If our test is subjective, we are not seeking truth or worshipping in truth. We are seeking an experience and worshipping with the desire to have an encounter and get what we want from God. Many do not sing praise or worship God rightly because their doctrine that informs their worship is wrong. Test all things by God’s Word, by sound doctrine.

Grace and peace, y’all.
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

There was a time when I consumed the same content, books, studies, conferences, voices I believed were anointed. They always seemed to know exactly what to say and always spoke directly to what I was feeling. I assumed that had to mean they were hearing from God.

Now I look back and it is cringeworthy.

There is no substance there. God is mentioned, but only as a supporting character in the story of my brokenness, my destiny, my path to greatness. It is not even a convincing counterfeit. One has to be both starved for truth and deeply absorbed with self to find it compelling. And yet, I was all in and proud of it.

The sheer volume of shallow, self indulgent Bible studies and books marketed to women is astonishing. Why do we tolerate it? Why are we so governed by our emotions that we lie to ourselves and to one another, calling this empowerment, depth, or spiritual maturity?

Much of it feels like those once viral videos where women filmed themselves pretending to put their husbands in their place, only to realize, when the camera is held at the husband’s height, why he laughs and says, “You’re so cute when you’re mad.” It is not powerful. It is embarrassing.

And yet we ask, do we actually care about truth?

Why do we elevate anyone with a testimony as though suffering grants secret knowledge or a special anointing? As if hardship itself confers authority. As if the Gospel is no longer sufficient on its own.

That is the real issue. We are dissatisfied with the Word of God.

That statement will ruffle feathers. Good. The lion does not need to be contained. And frankly, the voices demanding it be caged sound more like kittens anyway.

Many women have sat for so long under shallow teaching that they no longer recognize sound doctrine. When they finally encounter it, they are offended, not because it is harsh, but because it exposes the immaturity and silliness of what they have been celebrating as deep.

What so many women boast in as profound, powerful, and transformative simply is not.

We have told women endlessly how anointed they are and how their testimony must be shared because souls depend on it. Seriously? So now the Gospel is not enough either?

If what you want to hear is that your suffering is happening because the devil is threatened by your greatness, because you are about to rise up and do amazing things, then you do not want Scripture. You do not want the Gospel. You do not want truth about sanctification, sin, or the reality that suffering is common to all mankind, both saved and unsaved.

You do not want to be confronted. You want flattery baptized in spiritual language.

Ladies, we naturally gravitate toward this garbage. And not only that, we love it. But the Holy Spirit never leads anyone there. Not once. Not ever. If the Spirit of God dwells in us, He draws us away from that mess and toward truth. And that truth is sufficient.

Not everything in your life is happening because you are exceptional and Satan is terrified of you. Why is it that the worst theology produces the most self talk and the most obsession with the devil?

Often, Satan does not need to interfere at all. Those writing these books and blogs have already concluded that Scripture is insufficient and they are leading countless women to adore the god of self.

This is not pleasant to hear. But it is true.

And if the shoe fits, repent.

Grace and peace, y’all.
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Grace works quietly and supernaturally in the heart, and yet its effects cannot be hidden.

Today, many believe that if God is truly present and at work, there must be visible signs, miracles, and wonders, and that these should be normative. The ordinary work of God is deemed insufficient, while the extraordinary is demanded as proof of His presence, His Power, His love.

What is remarkable is that proponents of such doctrines often fail to recognize the continual work of God in the world, in His people, and through His sovereign providence. God is actively working all things according to His intended end, yet many miss this reality while chasing what He has not promised, and in doing so, overlook what He is doing and has promised to do.

God’s grace truly is amazing. Many say as much, yet their hearts are so fixed on what they believe God must do, things He has never promised, that they miss what He is faithfully accomplishing. They miss it entirely.

The irony does not escape me. Often, they insist that others simply do not know what they are missing, pointing to euphoric experiences and dramatic manifestations that they falsely attribute to the Holy Spirit. In truth, it is better to miss those things. Better still to flee them intentionally.

Grace is not a means to secure breakthroughs, miracles, blessings, or prosperity. It is not a tool for self-advancement.

Many have turned grace into a means of selfish gain. In doing so, they demonstrate that they do not truly know grace. And yet, even so, they still experience it without realizing it. There is a restraining grace, a common grace, that all men experience but rarely acknowledge. But they do not know the saving grace that works in the heart, drawing sinners to God, granting repentance and faith, and continuing its work so that the glory and power of God are displayed in transformed lives.

Grace is not merely a first step. It is not a pathway to our own desired ends. It is the beginning, continuation, and completion of the Christian life.

Those who are quiet, meditative on scripture, and worship God without spectacle are often accused of quenching the Spirit or missing out. I speak here as one who once danced, shouted, was “slain in the spirit,” participated in false manifestations, experienced euphoric highs, and wrongly attributed to the Holy Spirit what was not of Him. We were the ones missing out. Our doctrine was shallow, aberrant, and when the emotional high faded, we had no sure ground on which to stand.

But those precious saints we once dismissed as dead, dry, religious, or pharisaical, those who sit under doctrinally sound preaching, who worship reverently, perhaps with one hand raised or both hands at their sides, not disorderly but attentive to the Word, they experience, yes experience, the true work of God’s grace and power in their hearts.

The evidence of God’s work is both heard and seen in their lives. The true display of God’s power and grace is not found in falling backward, shouting down a sanctuary, or running the aisles. It is found in the continual, faithful work of God through His ordinary means of grace, quietly and in order, producing holiness, endurance, humility, and love.

And though this work is often quiet, it cannot be hidden.

Grace and peace, y’all.
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Heresy and aberrant teaching thrive wherever Scripture is no longer regarded as the sole, final, and sufficient authority. When the Word of God is displaced, even subtly, error does not merely creep in. It takes root, grows, and eventually defines the system itself.

False teachers, unregenerate men, wolves masquerading as shepherds, draw multitudes by means of false teaching. While their immoral lives may remain hidden for a time, we were never without the ability to know them for what they are. Scripture has always provided the standard by which doctrine is tested. The failure has never been a lack of revelation, but a refusal to submit to it.

Many do not test doctrine at all. Instead, they believe whatever these wolves teach because those teachings promise what sinful hearts already desire. Truth is not rejected because it is unclear, but because it is costly. Error is embraced because it affirms, flatters, and reassures rather than confronts and exposes.

Some assume that if a teacher’s immoral life is uncovered, it will bring an end to his ministry. That assumption ignores a far more sobering reality. Many who follow these men are false converts themselves, unregenerate, undiscerning, and unmoved by truth. Exposure does not dismantle movements built on doctrinal error. More often, it deepens loyalty, reinforces deception, and hardens resistance to correction.

There is currently a concerted effort to expose patterns of cover up and egregious immorality within the charismatic movement. While such exposure is necessary, it ultimately fails to address the underlying problem. The issue is not a few false prophets, a handful of bad actors, or sincere brothers who merely need correction. Nor is this a case of a doctrinally sound church in which a wolf has arisen from within and must be removed.

The problem is far more fundamental.

False teachers are not anomalies within the movement. They are its natural product. Bad trees bear bad fruit. When a system consistently produces men and women who misrepresent God, redefine Scripture, and elevate subjective experience to a position of authority, the outcome should not surprise us. What we are witnessing is not a deviation from the movement’s trajectory, but its inevitable result.

The charismatic movement now finds itself in a difficult position. It must either submit fully to the authority of Scripture and repent of its false doctrines and practices, or it must continue to provide an environment in which wolves are able to thrive. There is no neutral ground.

The movement cannot objectively call these men out on doctrinal grounds without indicting itself. To do so would be to admit that what produced them is not an unfortunate accident, but a theological framework that has abandoned the sufficiency of Scripture. That is why doctrinal exposure is avoided. Instead, the movement waits.

For what?

For immorality.

Moral failure becomes the acceptable line of demarcation because it allows the problem to be isolated to the individual rather than traced back to the theology that formed him. Immorality distracts from the teaching. It shifts the focus from false doctrine to personal sin, allowing the system itself to remain intact and unquestioned. The wolf is condemned only after his life collapses, not while his doctrine devours the flock.

Many are discussing Mike Winger’s extensive video concerning Shawn Bolz. I did not watch it in full, not because of its length, but because it was not worth the time. I have spent many hours engaging long form content when it is substantive and faithful. This was not. Watching portions of the video, along with the concluding segment, was sufficient.

Winger fails to identify the root problem. He remains convinced that the movement can be reformed. He does not recognize that it is producing exactly what it is designed to produce. His analysis treats the fruit while leaving the root untouched.

I came out of that movement myself. For a time, Winger was among those I listened to, and in some ways he was helpful. Over time, however, significant deficiencies became clear. His theology lacks the conviction necessary to identify wolves as Scripture identifies them. His continued refusal to call false teachers what they are, choosing instead to refer to them as brothers, has contributed to misplaced trust and prolonged deception.

This is not a matter of tone or temperament. It is theological. Because biblical terms have been redefined, clarity has been lost. Words such as prophecy, revelation, apostle, discernment, and even the voice of God have been emptied of their biblical meaning and refilled with subjective experience. When experience is allowed to interpret Scripture, Scripture no longer functions as the supreme authority, regardless of how frequently it is quoted.

This distortion is not benign. It misrepresents God, undermines the sufficiency of Scripture, and collapses the unique and unrepeatable role of the Apostles and Prophets into a continuing expectation. The result is doctrinal instability, confusion, and a steady production of false teachers.

If we do not stand where Scripture stands, there are consequences. These consequences do not appear overnight. They unfold gradually, normalize error, and eventually shape generations who are unable to distinguish truth from counterfeit.

The call is not to adjust the system, but to return to sound doctrine, grounded in the Word of God, governed by Christ alone, and guarded by the truth He has already spoken.

Grace and peace, y’all.
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

A cup of coffee, an old book, a crackling fireplace, and a fluffy friend. Comfort.

Many want comfort and peace and are willing to maintain them at all costs. But what they convince themselves is peace that pleases God is often peace in opposition to God.

They are comforted with shallow, self-centered words spoken gently, wrapped in spiritual language, and delivered in soothing tones that quiet the ache of guilt, fear, or shame. The message reassures them: it is not your fault. You are special. You are anointed. Anyone who threatens your peace is too small to walk with you into what God has for you.

And so the accusing thoughts are silenced. The heart ache subsides. But this is not peace, at least not peace from God.

These words do not deal with sin. They baptize it. They take real-life situations and spiritualize them in a way that makes the woman the hero and everyone else an enemy of her destiny, her calling, her anointing. They tell her that God is waiting on her, that He sees her potential and will move once she is ready.

This creates an impotent god. A god who cannot act until she does, whose plans are stalled until she cooperates, who is dependent, needy, and limited. That is not the God of Scripture.

Yet this is the god many women now worship. A god formed from the ashes of their broken lives, shaped by motivational speech and divorced from sound doctrine. They do not know the God who reveals Himself in Scripture. They know a god fashioned in the image of their own desires.

The cost could not be higher: souls, families, relationships, and the truth itself.

Because this god bears the name of the God of Scripture, he is worshiped, trusted, and served. He always knows what to say to make her feel better, reminding her how special she is, how anointed she is, how the enemy is threatened by her, and how those who confront her simply cannot go where she is going.

It is arrogant. It is proud. And it is profoundly deceptive.

Much of what passes for theology in women’s groups, studies, and conferences is not merely shallow. It is divisive and evil. It exploits pain and brokenness, speaks to the flesh, and cloaks anti-Christian ideas in Christian language, producing what can only be called beautiful monsters.

Yes, these women often rise with confidence and renewed purpose, but not from the Gospel. Not from truth. Not from sound doctrine.

They will do whatever it takes to protect their peace, their calling, their anointing.

They are not called to see themselves rightly before a holy God. They are not shaped by doctrine as the Spirit conforms them to the image of Christ. Instead, their mess becomes the message. Their test becomes the testimony. And everything that threatens their comfort becomes proof that they are important.

Think about that.

We already have a perfect message, one that exposes us honestly before God, saves sinners, humbles the proud, and transforms hearts. When her story replaces His, Christ is no longer central.

She looks for meaning in everything except Christ, His Word, His work, His sufficiency.

It is all about her: her power, her peace, her gifting, her praise.

And when hardship comes, it is still about her. When truth confronts her, it is labeled an attack. Her peace was never in Christ, but in a distorted version of Him.

She has a Jesus, a gospel, a spirit, and a word, but it is not the God of Scripture.

Dear sister, not everything that sounds gentle, confident, and affirming is good. Some counterfeits are beautiful and full of death.

Grace and peace, y’all.
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

We read passages of Scripture and observe the responses of those recorded within them. Some respond to the commands of God and the circumstances they face in ways we admire and wish to emulate. Others respond in ways so dark and sinful that we distance ourselves from them entirely, not allowing the text to expose our own hearts. We stand far removed within our place in redemptive history, not allowing the living reality of the Word to shine light into our own hearts, and we say, “I could never.”

We see those who responded admirably and assume that is who we are. We see those who responded wickedly and reassure ourselves that we are nothing like them. But in doing so, we miss the point entirely. It is not that there is something special about us that would keep us from responding in such wickedness. Rather, we think more highly of ourselves than we ought.

The text exposes us all. It humbles us all. It reveals who we truly are apart from the work of grace in our hearts. Perhaps we would not respond in the exact same way as others, but does that make us righteous? Does that prepare us to stand in the presence of holiness, utter and complete otherness, stripped of all pretense?

The Word of God exposes us now for who we are before God. If we are not undone, if we do not cry out against our own hearts, if grace has not truly worked in us to change us and continues to work in us to sanctify us, then we will one day stand before God having rejected His gracious work. We will have refused to be exposed by the law for what we truly are, refused to trust in Him alone for salvation, refused to walk according to grace, and refused to abide in His Word that exposes, sanctifies, and encourages by revealing the beauty and glory of God.

Many look to Christ and desire His power and His authority, those things that set Him apart from other men and reveal His deity, rather than bowing before Him as Lord. They want to be god.

Many recoil from such holiness. They do not behold His deity with fear and trembling. They are not undone by it. Instead, they search the Scriptures seeking what might elevate them, what might grant them authority or power, rather than submitting to the authority of God Himself.

We all read the Bible. But not every man comes under its examination and authority. Not every man finds true peace and comfort in the Gospel. Many read the Scriptures without ever seeing themselves for who they truly are, failing to recognize that the Word speaks of them, of the condemnation that has long awaited them, a condemnation that is not idle.

Many men read Scripture and weep because they are moved by what speaks to their brokenness, yet they are never broken or undone by seeing who they truly are before a holy God. For many, the day will come when they stand before God in surprise, convinced that He knew them, only to hear the most terrifying words of all, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.”

Many know this verse. It frightens them. Yet they remain unchanged. Their hearts are falsely assured that because of “experiences,”“encounters,” or the belief that God speaks to them personally, they must be right with God. They assume that because they are uniquely “anointed,” they must be approved.

They do not know Him. Worse still, He does not know them.

Pray that God would help us see ourselves rightly. Pray that our hearts and minds would be changed for His glory. Pray that our lives would reveal the glory of God as we are being conformed to the image of His Son. And pray that we would be discerning, for the day demands it of us for many false teachers and false prophets have gone out and many are deceived and being deceived. And many love it.

Grace and peace, y’all.
Soli Deo Gloria

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Christ loves His bride. He loves her and gave Himself for her. He chose her, redeemed her, atoned for her, effectually draws her, sanctifies her, has prepared a place for her, and will return for her.

Christ loves His bride. That truth is comfort to her and ought to strike terror in the hearts of those who claim to speak for Him, yet use her for their own sinful and wicked purposes.

Many have entered among her who seek to turn her heart away, to corrupt her beauty, to conform her into an image of their own making. They claim to hear from God and to know what He wants for her. They lead her by a different way, a different word, a different message. They take what is holy and desecrate it. They distort what is beautiful, for unregenerate men cannot stand in the midst of such beauty that reveals the glory of God. She exposes them for what they are.

So they take up the language of her Lord. They ascend to the pulpit, Bible in hand, claiming to hear from God, speaking words that exploit her love and aim to lead as many as will follow away from Him. They work from within with feigned humility, sometimes even sincere, because they are deceived themselves. That does not make them victims. Wolves are not victims. They destroy, devour, divide, and corrupt the church from within. They set hearts against those who warn that he is a wolf, that his teaching is false, that he is leading people away from Christ and after a different Christ, a different spirit, another gospel.

Christ loves His bride.

The wolf has no fear of God. He may have moments of fear when his conscience accuses him, but he silences it. He goes from bad to worse. He gains the loyalty of the gullible, and from the inside he reshapes the church.

Those who truly belong to Christ, having their minds opened to the truth and informed by the truth, begin to see him for what he is. Though they may not yet name him a wolf or false teacher, they recognize that he is in serious error and seek to turn his heart by way of the truth. They meet with him. By the time they leave, he has made them feel divisive and in need of repentance. Ashamed, they try to set their concerns aside, convincing themselves those thoughts are sinful or unloving. But they cannot.

For the Lord loves His bride.

The more they read Scripture and pray, the more clearly they see the contrast between the Word and what is preached from the pulpit. This time, they do not revisit the matter. They begin to see that among those called the church, the ekklesia, the called out ones, there are few who truly belong to Christ and many who are deceived. Not all are among the true ekklesia. The wolf has invited the goats, and now false converts and unregenerate men lead that local gathering astray by a way falsely called straight.

Christ loves His bride.

With grief and sorrow, many of Christ’s own are pushed out and labeled troublemakers. They must go and seek another local body. But now their eyes are open. No longer gullible, no longer ignorant of the reality that wolves, false teachers, and false prophets are not merely historical or distant, but present, just as Christ said they would be.

Perhaps the reason so many cannot rightly mark a wolf is that their own hearts are troubled to do so. They do not understand and have never been taught the truth of man’s sinful condition. They think man needs mere help or improvement, and so they sacrifice Christ’s bride rather than protect her from wolves. They seek to restore the wolf rather than mark and avoid him. They cannot bear to confront firm conviction under the weight of Scripture, for it feels unloving.

Many of them have never truly heard or understood the reality of human depravity, or the depth of God’s grace. They lack conviction because it feels harsh. Many are working in opposition to Christ yet are most deceived, thinking themselves to be doing great and mighty things for God, imagining that He needs them, that He cannot act unless they partner with Him. They do not know Him. They cannot warn of wolves because they do not recognize them as wolves. They think highly of them, rely on them to tell them what God is saying, and believe they themselves are special, unlike others who do not hear from God. They are deceived. They are helping the wolf devour, deceive, divide, and destroy.

And yet, perhaps in God’s grace, they may see the truth. When they see themselves rightly before Him, it will be terrifying and painful. But His grace will meet them in a way they never knew before. They will understand what it truly means to be washed, to be cleansed by another, to know grace so undeserving. They will see how He loves His bride and that He will bring His own out.

She knows she does not deserve it. The things she said and did in His name, which she thought honored Him, made mockery of His grace as she defended wolves and spoke against those who warned of them. She walked not as one worthy of the effectual calling. She has been undone. She has lost much. But it was all worth it. He has saved her, and she is amazed by His grace.

Now she is more careful with her loyalty, her trust, and her faithfulness. She will not give them to those who lead her away from her Lord. She will be faithful, but not to men who exploit faithfulness. She will be loyal, but to her Lord alone. Her devotion belongs to Him alone, and that devotion will bring division.

And not all division is that which God hates. Some division is good. The true from the false.

And when she is set among His people, His bride, the difference is so overwhelming that she wonders how she could not see it for so long, knowing that for a time she too was deceived.

But Christ loves His bride, and He is faithful.

Written by: April J. Buchanan

He came into the world to save sinners.

We hardly grasp the thought. We can imagine someone entering our lives, seeing our brokenness, rescuing us from ourselves and from the wounds inflicted by others. But we have not beheld such glory, such holiness, as arrests the heart and shatters every lofty thought, even those clothed in self-pity. We have not been struck with that terrifying fear whereby holiness breaks forth and exposes the wretched man we are.

Oh, what terrifying holiness.

The attributes of God have been romanticized and stripped of their divine glory. Men now ascribe to themselves the worth deserving of such love, such grace, such mercy. It is folly even to speak this way. These words become bankrupt of divine meaning when God Himself is not rightly known.

They love faith, faith emptied of biblical meaning and filled instead with man’s imagined revelations. Faith becomes a tool for selfish gain. Faith becomes a power man possesses to accomplish great things for God and to extract from God what he desires.

Man is far more wicked than he gives himself credit for. He does not know how evil he truly is, nor does he recognize the grace that restrains him from becoming as evil as he is fully capable of being.

Wicked is the man who lies, cheats, steals, and lives according to his fallen nature. But far more wicked is the man who takes upon himself the name child of God and teaches falsehood in God’s name, who uses the holy Word of God to proclaim his own imaginations, who encourages egregious practices falsely attributed to the Holy Spirit.

No, he does not fear God.

How can one who claims the indwelling Spirit continue to prophesy lies, pervert the Word of grace, attribute to the Holy Spirit what is not of Him, restore heretics to churches, and still claim regeneration?

Such men are exposed and rejected by those who obey God and love truth. They are embraced by those who love falsehood and have no fear of God. For if they did, such blasphemies would strike holy terror in their hearts, and they would fall on their faces in repentance, not on their backs in false manifestations.

God is holy. He will not be mocked. Every man will stand before Him.

There are those who boast in all they have done in His name, blind to the reality that what they have done in His name is blasphemous. They are the very ones He warned His bride about. They do not fear now. They boast.

In their folly they speak, act, participate, and encourage some of the most blood-curdling blasphemies, teaching heresies while convincing themselves they will hear, “Well done.” Instead they will hear, “Get away from Me; I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness.”

They do not fear now, nor do those who love the lies spoken in God’s name. These words are horrifying even to write. For unless they truly repent and their faith proves genuine, they are not storing up treasures in heaven. They will not hear “well done.” They will face the holy, righteous, terrifying judgment of God for every word spoken, every deed done in His name, and every wicked work they called good.

What they believed was good is evil, for they do not know God. Worse still, He does not know them savingly, relationally.

Some know exactly what they are doing and have no fear of God. Others are deceived, yet the judgment they imagine reserved for others awaits them as well. They will stand before the God in whose name they prophesied lies, to whom they attributed false manifestations, whose Word they perverted, and with whom they led many to hell.

Repent.