Enter the False Prophets

The one and only Reverend Ike

"For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible."--Matthew 24:24

I was contacted recently by some character who calls himself "The King." According to his narcissistic bravado, he's a self-styled prophet, or more accurately as he likes to describe himself, a psychic. Of course, that means that he claims the ability to make contact with "dead people" which the Bible condemns. Obviously, you can't call yourself a Christian prophet if you're conjuring the dead, so "The King" has to use the more general term of psychic on his business cards.

That would've been a problem for many people not that many years ago, but as they say; that was then and this is now. During the "then" days, psychics were the stuff of whack jobs and wing nuts who saw space aliens landing in their backyards and witches flying around on old broomsticks. If you had the money, the psychics sold you the honey and allowed those space aliens and witches to continue living rent free inside your head.

But "then" isn't "now" when psychics, astrologers, fortune-tellers, tarot card readers and other assorted practitioners of psychological voodoo have suddenly gained credibility within mainstream society. These creatures also exist inside churches, although unlike "The King", they carry on as "prophets." Well, what's wrong with these people? What's wrong is that their prophecies are bogus and lead gullible people astray, either to a different Jesus Christ who's some celestial sugar daddy who allegedly reveals heavenly secrets of accumulating vast wealth, or they conjure up bogus revivals that are only realized inside fertile imaginations.

During the "then" days when more Christians were literate with the Bible, characters such as the Rev. Ike, Fred K.C. Price and Benny Hinn were written off as cheap circus-act preachers who peddled spiritual snake oil. Today however, such charlatans enjoy large followings because they promise the bread and put on the circus for a growing number of biblically ignorant Christians who can't tell whether the Book of Hebrews is in the Old or New Testament.

When your audience is that dumb, you can wave your sport coat at some minimum-wage lackeys; claim the Holy Spirit's in the Pierre Cardin and watch the lackeys and the audience fall like dominoes. Works almost every time. Ask Hinn who's become a millionaire from the millions of suckers who have fallen for his act for over 30 years. Or ask your average inner-city storefront church preacher who drives a seven series BMW courtesy of the suckers who arrive in his parking lot in 20-something-year-old oil-smokers and rust-buckets. It's those same suckers who pay for the reverend's BMW.

What makes false prophets so dangerous within Christianity is their ability to convince their followers that their seminary and theology school degrees give them the ability to hear directly from God. One of the greatest counterfeit revivals is coming that will be fueled by false prophets who are claiming that the world is on the cusp of an explosion of signs, wonders and miracles. Concerning this bogus revival, the apostle Paul warned: "The coming of the lawless one (Antichrist) will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing." (2Thessalonians 2:9-10)

The way to overcome false prophets is by testing them. Unfortunately, fewer Christians today either have the ability to test alleged prophecies because they don't know the Bible, or they simply don't care. And that's tragic. Apathy leads to spiritual deception and ultimately eternal damnation. Ignorance is what pads "The King's" wallet, and he counts on his suckers not knowing what he's really all about. But ignorance and apathy are a dangerous combination within the Christian Church because that pads the devil's membership roles. The way to avoid being deceived was explained by Paul: "Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil." (1Thessalonians 5:21-22)

Especially avoid false prophets and con artists who call themselves psychics.