By Dr. John DeBrine

1. Learn from the Competition

Luke 4:9-11: Satan knew the power of the scriptures and tried to tempt Jesus by using it out of context:

Jesus responded to Satan’s three temptations (including this one) three times with: "It is written" (Luke 4:4. 8, 12), which is Divine Viewpoint, the Word of God.

We are reminded in Ephesians 6:17 that one of our two pieces of offensive equipment is The Word of God (the other is Prayer).

Challenge & Application:

Whether it is a Pastor, a Church or any Para-Church ministry, the question must be asked of any worker, "What is your view of Scripture?" Remember, 2 Timothry 3:16,17:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

God’s Word: Believe it – Memorize It – Use it! You will protect yourself, your family, and your Church.

2. Example of the Wrong View of Scripture

From the Book "Unholy Devotion" by Harold Bussell p. 15-16:

"In January 1981, I met an acquaintance whom I hadn’t seen for more than ten years. He told me that his wife, raised in an Assemblies of God missionary’s home, had for a time been an active member of the People’s Temple led by the Reverend Jim Jones.

I am sure many pastors could draw from their journals similar accounts and stories. They have no doubt faced the same questions and confusions as I: Why are we prey to cults? Most available books, workshops, and seminars on cults are built around a we/they mentality that contrasts their heretical doctrines against the biblical truths on which we stand. Until recently even my own focus has been on the error and corruption of their teachings.

But are other issues involved?

In all my discussions with people allured by cults, I have talked to only one person whose attraction centered on doctrine. Because doctrine was so seldom mentioned, I was forced to reexamine my past discussions and ask whether or not Evangelicals are particularly susceptible to cults. After much thought, reflection, and discussion, I faced the evidence: Yes, as Evangelicals we are vulnerable. I looked back on my fifteen years of ministry in California, Europe, and New England, and I reconstructed my conversations with those who had come out of a cult, had family members in cults, or were attending cult groups out of curiosity. Definite and similar patterns of thought kept recurring, as steadily as a ticking metronome. Evangelicals do have some-thing in common with cults: zeal and confidence. We cherish and value similar signs of spirituality. Many of us share with them similar ideas concerning authority, loyalty, and submission.

A close examination of popular Western cults reveals that many began in an Evangelical church or under leaders who claimed Christianity—men and women from solid church backgrounds.

Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, was reared in a Presbyterian home. Jim Jones, founder of the People’s Temple, at one time attended a Nazarene church; later he pastored an interdenominational church and a Disciples of Christ congregation. Moses David (David Berg), founder of the Children of God, is the son of Evangelical parents, served as a minister in a Christian and Missionary Alliance church, and was involved for a time in a Christian television ministry. Victor Paul Wierwille, founder of The Way, came out of the Reformed Church, where he served as pastor to a number of active congregations; during the forties he served as an adjunct professor of New Testament at a leading Evangelical college.

While it is easy and comfortable for us to think in terms of "them" and "us"—being thankful that we are not one of them—the fact is that many of them used to be one with us. Might we Christians be more myopic than we realize? Might we need to expand our field of vision and note that our sense of security and offensive attacks on their doctrines are blinding us? It is time we read carefully the fine print of past decades.

Many of the white woodframe churches that dot the New England countryside are Unitarian. At one time in their history almost all these churches were Trinitarian, biblical, and parishes of Congregational, Baptist, or Episcopal denominations.

Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Christian Scientists, and Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, were both raised in markedly Christian homes and churches. In our fervor to point out errors of doctrine, we have virtually ignored our own shortcomings and vulnerabilities. Re-member, former Evangelicals died in Jonestown and currently are active in the Unification Church, The Way, the Children of God, and other heretical groups. It is easy for us, as churches and as individuals, to put on our doctrinal sunglasses and squint our eyes so as to block these issues from our sight. But in doing so, we only remove the reminder of our responsibility to face our own susceptibility to cultic deception." -- Harold Bussell

The Real Problem Started with a weak view of the Word of God!

3. Application