Watchout For WOLVES: Keys To Discerning Authentic Ministries & Evaluating Doctrinal Trends

Chapter 3 The Food and Fuel of False Ministries To this point we have seen Jesus’ warning about the potential for serious deception that will increase the closer we get to His Second Coming. We have seen that this deception will come through a variety of counterfeit ministries who can potentially come from both outside of the local church or inside of the local church. These ministries will include false apostles, false prophets, false pastors and false teachers. These ministries can carry a false anointing that makes it difficult to distinguish the true from the false. One of the main reasons for writing this book is to make us aware of these ministries and to put tools in our hands to help us discern ministries and teachings that do not ring true when tested. In this chapter, I would like to talk about the food and the fuel of false ministry. When I say food or fuel, I am referring to what false ministries feed on or, should I say, who false ministries feed on or take advantage of.

The FOOD of False Ministries

We understand that for anyone to stay alive, they must eat. That means they have to be able to find food to sustain life. Food can be defined as “that which is eaten, diet or fodder. ” When we put this in the context of false ministries, the food of f alse ministries is sheep or God’s people. Peter warned of such ministries in his second letter (See: 2 Pet. 2:2-3).

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