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

For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Acts 20:29-31

The New Living Translation says, “ Even some of you will distort the truth in order to draw a following. ”

There are some people who are not motivated by money, fame or worldly pleasures but who are extremely motivated with the potential to have a following, even if only a very few people follow them. Often they create a unique and very, disciplined message to create a band of radical disciples who will follow them anywhere…even to death.

Summary

It should be quite apparent that the issue of false ministry was taken very seriously by the New Testament writers. Not all such ministry is easy to identify and many such ministries may not even realize that they fall into this category. We now know that we are all vulnerable both as victims and perpetrators of false ministry. God is very jealous over His people. He loves the sheep of His pasture and He is very troubled when He sees them taken advantage of. He is particularly troubled when He sees the newborn babes, the weak in the faith, the wounded and other hurting sheep abused. In the next chapter we will be looking at the face of false ministry. False ministry does not present itself as false ministry.

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