There Is a Difference: The Key to Discernment

By Susan Seymour

In the last few years, Christians have expressed dissatisfaction with the course their church has taken. Theyve noticed shifting priorities. The trend is to rewrite and reinterpret Gods Word. In There Is a Difference, author Susan Seymour discusses this paradigm shift and communicates the need to return to the Jesus of the Bible.

Through scriptural references and a collection of outside sources, Seymour shows the importance of discernment, especially for todays youth as they face a critical future and stand on the edge of a fatal spiritual cliff. This study examines discernment, the choice between good and evil, and differences between Christianity and other religions.

There Is a Difference gives hope and assurance to parents and church leaders, teaching important differences between right and wrong in a day of uncertainty. It seeks to help Christians recognize clever but deceitful half-truths which have invaded much of todays spiritual information.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781490892511

Susan Seymour

Susan Seymour attended West Texas A&M University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in history with honors. She also earned a bachelor of theology from Christian Life School of Theology. Seymour taught eleven years in a Christian school. She lives in Amarillo, Texas.

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 Susan Seymour.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-9250-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-9252-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-9251-1 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/12/2016

Contents

Dedication

Introduction

Part 1: Contradiction

1.   The Paradigm Shift

2.   Discernment

3.   The Postmodern Twist

4.   What’s the Difference?

5.   Divided Heart

Part 2: The Difference Between Christianity and Other Religions

6.   Spiritual Eyes

7.   How the Paradigm Shifted

8.   Embracing Other Religions

9.   The Exclusiveness of Jesus

10. Impersonator

11. Indifference

12. Certainty!

Endnotes

Also by Susan Seymour

Apostasy: The Deceived Generation

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my nephews and nieces: Karol, Jill, Katie, Jimmy, Josh, Ellen, Amy, Emily, and Elise.

My prayer is that you choose the right way and refuse the wrong way, discern between good and evil, and commit your lives to walk in obedience to the only true God.

Introduction

Christianity’s current battle with nonconforming beliefs was brought to my attention in increments. I first encountered it when a surprising new curriculum was introduced in the eleventh year of my teaching at a Christian school. The process by which this new way of thinking was presented is discussed somewhat in Chapter 3. Later, I encountered the same doctrine in the teachings of the postmodern/emergent church and found them to be prominent in evangelical circles.

John MacArthur’s book, The Truth War, brings to light error found in postmodern Christianity. The new way of love does not conform with Scripture’s teaching, yet promotes itself as being the closest ever in alignment with God’s agenda.

The paradigm shift inside Christianity is an organized, systematic opposition to truth bent on rewriting and reinterpreting God’s Word. It is not led by any particular leader, but is a democratic approach which gives all opinions of truth equal endorsement. Submission to authority, especially valid authority, is its prey of choice.

Rebellion against God’s authority is nothing new and even this current crisis in the church does not shake Him. Since the Garden of Eden, Satan has tried to twist God’s words. This latest revolt, however, is very dangerous since it lays the red carpet for the Antichrist to prepare a platform for solving widespread global crises.

Rebellion within the church is currently shifting traditional church practice by first generating doubt through paradoxical twists, second, replacing fact with opinion, and third, redefining old terms with broader meanings. Its semantics urges Christianity to accommodate different perspectives and find common ground with other religions.

It promises peace and global unification. Even the elect (those you thought could never be deceived) are seduced with its rationale. Its philosophy of at-one-ment is only a physical remedy for solving human injustice. As it loves, cures, and mends, it is leaving a spiritual crisis in its wake.

Everyone agrees the world’s teens (even Christian teens) are facing a critical future. This generation is on the edge of a fatal spiritual cliff. The battle line is centered inside the church as Satan mobilizes his troops to attack from within. His systematic propaganda has grayed lines between truth and lies resulting in vast uncertainty. Discernment has been the casualty. When a generation does not know the difference between right and wrong, and thus does not recognize the ambiguity between the true Messiah versus a usurper, it is the generation duped into voting in its own demise.

As a con artist wants to deceive people into buying a fake product, he banks on his victim not knowing the difference between his product and the real thing. In the same sense, Satan peddles an untrue interpretation of God’s Word (inside Christianity) hoping many will buy into it without realizing its fakery.

Generous orthodoxy is a church of all religions with enticing and loving slants that promote any road as the way to heaven. It reshapes God’s love into a love that embraces evil. It promotes inclusiveness as a doctrine which includes even error. Cleverly devised and implemented, this new rebellion is conditioning a generation to accept anything as truth.

This latest revolt is the big one. It’s wrapped in all the right terminology. It’s the coup d’etat that will establish the very base of ideology needed to usher in the Antichrist as he emerges onto the scene. It’s an insurrection that is so subversive and extreme it won’t be topped by future uprisings. It is an intentional opposition to truth targeting Christianity and its only valid offer of salvation. It is relocating church practice from the rock to the sand.

Rather than preaching from the perspective that Christian underpinnings must be repaired, the progressive/pragmatic church tells us that fundamental principles have only held us back and must be discarded. While the church has half-heartedly watched outside her walls for danger, this hazardous threat has sprung up and taken root right under her nose. Children raised in Christian churches over the last twenty years are the ones leading the revolt.

This wavering generation has been marked by Satan to lead his assault. He has blurred the lines between right and wrong for decades in order to erase discernment, conditioning society for his dictator. He wants zero resistance for his ultimate solution. Resistance is very low because he has cleverly packaged his philosophy in love and tolerance. It is directed at a generation groomed to swallow it. When a generation does not know what to tolerate and what to reject, it is the generation ready for domination and subjection. This generation is ripe to accept a beautiful package sporting a shiny red bow of love, but ignorant of the surprisingly devastating contents.

The arrows are specifically centered on truth exclusive only to Christianity. More than ever, Christians should be ready to defend the faith of the first church. As athletes go back to the basics after they face faltering results, we too, must go back to the basics of the Bible rather than seek a skewed new slant on love and peace. Uncertainty facing the world’s youth has resulted from rampant disregard for truth and seeking to please culture rather than God. We must determine to resist the onslaught lest the souls of this generation perish with our complacency.

Strong deception has elevated because the return of Jesus is imminent. Truth must be taken seriously or this generation will perish in their cooperation with fatal new revelations of Scripture. Avoiding compromise requires learning key differences between the physical and spiritual realm and between false and true statements. It also requires discerning true content for its validity rather than its persuasive presentation, loving demeanor, or appearance of authority.

Current mutiny inside Christianity is no cause to panic. Even this current crisis does not change God’s immutability. They are but signs of the times. As we see the fulfillment of Scripture, we are to be looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).

My hope is that this book will encourage Christians to stand against the Enemy’s strategy. It was written to help Christians recognize the clever, but deceitful, half-truths which have invaded practically every source of information available. (It is a half-truth that shifts a person from truth to lie.) Recognition of obscure shifts in teaching comes from exercising our senses to discern both good and evil (Heb. 5:14).

May the faithful be encouraged to contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints and is currently available to us in our Bibles (Jude 3). By reading the Bible cover to cover we become confident in what we defend. My prayer is that this book will aid in saving as many souls from deception as possible and may those who follow false religions turn to the true Christ as revealed in the scriptures of Christianity.

Part 1

Contradiction

Chapter 1

The Paradigm Shift

According to a popular Christian magazine, something is brewing and stirring in this generation and something new and dynamic is taking place in the church. The activism is a compassion-driven roll call for acts of social justice directed not only at mankind, but also planet Earth, as 90% of evangelicals support green environmentalism.¹

The world is calling for all nations and all people to come together and share in the Earth’s glorious natural resources, weaving together all faiths and ideologies. This interaction is said to ultimately usher in a heavenly kingdom on Earth. The call is so loud and persuasive that the churches are turning their ears to listen and lining up with other nations and creeds to participate in the great paradigm shift.

A paradigm is a system, a pattern, or simply put, a way of doing things. Christians have used the Bible as their pattern since it was written. The laws and commandments of God have long been our guide for how we do things. Nobody can easily persuade Christianity to abandon these truths and embrace another paradigm over night. But if given a decade, many in church can be motivated and influenced to slowly shift away from the foundation. The goal of those striving to dissolve foundational truth is to eventually bring Christianity into a completely different way of doing things.

Paradigm shift indicates a slow turning from one premise to another. It takes place through trends, practice, and repetition rather than one-time incidents. Lately, long-standing truth has been supplanted with true-sounding fabrications that use Scripture quite cleverly and even humbly. No longer is mankind’s answer for salvation through the blood of Jesus (of the Bible), but a wider scope of salvation is now presented to include all of humanity.

Since I wrote my first book, Apostasy: The Deceived Generation, I have had several people express dissatisfaction with the course their church has taken. They’ve noticed the shift in priorities away from God and toward human-centered doctrine. They see the application of Paul’s words to Timothy: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine: but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables"(2 Tim. 4:3-4).

Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter, blogs and other social networks invite us to listen to someone else’s story. Mass media shifts our Christian paradigm from one of separation to one of connection. The harmless act of just listening to other people has opened the door to other perspectives. As a result, Christianity has begun to accommodate various views. One prime time news program had a segment entitled, Everyone Has a Story stating, No matter where you are from, we are all really just alike. Christians now listen without discretion. We have easily swallowed the new global mentality that we are all connected, ignoring the principle of differences, based not on color but on creed.

First, Christians became fascinated with stories in movies, even teaching lessons from movie plots in church. Now, the subtle shift has grown into a more intimate interest for stories from people from all backgrounds. Specially formulated stories point out similarities and ignore differences. In the world this method is not necessarily dangerous since they deal only with the physical realm and since people are alike on that level. But in the church, when we address the spiritual realm, we find vital differences in people’s stories around the world.

When we listen to testimonies in church, there is common ground and connection in Christ as the stories/testimonies focus on the work of Christ in our lives. But this can be taken too far if the story of God as written in His Word is no longer our focus. Stories can divert our attention from the Bible and onto ourselves. The culminating result of fables dominating our time over the past twenty years is a prevalent lack of knowledge of Scripture (and its Christ) and therefore a lack of discernment.

39062.png

Since even the elect are deceived in the end times, we have to see another perspective. Even as we have become focused on people, there is also a new fervor for the story of Jesus in particular. However, in many cases (not all), the information about Him is misrepresented because the emphasis does not always represent the Christ of the Bible.

It seems anything of interest from movie plots to secular song lyrics to viral videos can be called a parable in church. Just because a teacher calls something a parable or even uses a real parable from the Bible does not mean he applies it correctly. Proverbs 26:7 informs us, The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.

Young people who have not been taught foundational truths of the Bible, but rather stories from television and movies, are embracing skewed slants on Scripture. They complain the Bible is irrelevant because its stories are unfit for our current culture. Distaste for the narrow field of information from the Bible is growing. A new hunger for a gospel that preaches truth from any story and from any source (even other religions) is gaining ground.

In these last days, the attack on Christianity (truth) is like never before. We shouldn’t be surprised since God warned us in 2 Thessalonians 2:11 there would be strong delusion in the last days and in 2 Peter 2:2, the way of truth shall evil spoken of. The attack is coming under the disguise of a new and better Christianity which is one reason why it’s so deceiving. This coalition for a new Christianity prefers other names that are broader and less defining.

The new rebellion’s books agree more with each other than they do with Christianity. The new emergent doctrine claims to be the result of previous stages of history, consisting of prehistoric, ancient, medieval, modern, and now postmodern, each having built itself upon the previous concepts as new thought evolves.² The proponents do not believe truth was true from the beginning and therefore never changes. New Christian books clearly advocate non-Christian principles where evolution is credible, support for Israel is questioned, and authors are sensitive to the plight of the Palestinians.³ They are sympathetic to liberal agendas such as environmentalism, facts of science, women in leadership, and treating homosexual and transgender persons with compassion… leaving out any mention of abortion. Wouldn’t you think a Christian book with a chapter on politics would talk about abortion?

39062.png

In order for the Antichrist to gain world dominance, he must eliminate true Christianity and any loyal adherents. He attacks from within, a proven strategy, as we see traitor preachers praising the death of Christianity in America. Even though Satan has always attacked truth, the Bible tells us, Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived (2 Tim. 3:13). We are living in a time when there are more transgressors than ever before (Dan. 8:23). The church is now captivated by wolves in sheep’s clothing. She is allured, not even considering Satan’s weapon of mass destruction (appearing as an angel of light). Strangers are now leading the church away from the safety of the true shepherd.

In the Faith section of a local newspaper, an article entitled, Dueling beliefs? Group sees vastly differing religions as complementary opens the reader’s mind to how other religions strengthen their own faith, highlighting the similarities while making the differences a little less foreign.⁴ Another article called, Two faiths join for a meal, praised when Muslims and Christians prayed together in peace and respect ignoring the difference that only one group actually prayed to God.⁵ God’s Word is not silent on the subject, Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers (Isa. 1:7).

If the local newspaper of a conservative, Christian region in America opens its doors to broader perspectives allowing truth in all religions, we can conclude the influence is far-reaching. Sadly, the effects of this fervent activism is even infiltrating faithful churches. The movement is subtle with an ability to fly under the radar as it humbly coaxes participation without any indication of its impending trap. A false notion of safety and the belief, I would never participate in Satan’s deception has led a lot of Christians astray. Satan winks and assuredly pats us on the back when we feel invincible. (See 1 Cor. 10:12.)

Today’s average Christian is passive for truth. The Bible tells us God sends strong delusion whenever we do not receive the love of the truth (2 Thess. 2:10). We must love truth and hold fast to sound doctrine like never before (Titus 1:9). Apathy is costing a generation their souls. We must be the salt preservative for this generation and refuse the spirit of the age. (The spirit of the age is what everyone does without question.) Who would question listening to another story, another prayer, or another view? It seems harmless enough just to listen, right?

As we lovingly embrace a more tolerant version of Christianity and allow flexibility into our definition of truth, we then welcome an infected virus into our camp. Given time, it will spread until there is no cure. What is currently being preached as real Christianity yet open-minded Christianity, is not the real thing. Even though parts are real, it is the falsity that makes the whole corrupt. The new gospel is so flexible and compatible that it fits everyone’s view of truth. Its new christ presented as the real, more loving interpretation of the Bible quickly leads its followers into a deathtrap.

For the last twenty years, the church has followed culture and popularity. As a result, we have shifted from the rock (truth) to the sand (lies). Satan had the church in his sights for two decades. Now he is pulling the trigger as a message of peace and justice sweeps the church of America and Europe. When there is no foundation of truth, people do not know the difference when a lie is presented as truth. Physical signs of departure from truth are passive leaders, lack of teaching, worldliness mixed with godliness, a seared conscience, and hype in our churches. Now we see the devastating spiritual effects of our complacency. In my first book I addressed these physical signs. When I wrote it, I was concerned with Christianity’s flirtation with the world. Now in my second book, I see Christianity in a full-blown affair with false doctrine.

In the first book, shepherds were still God’s men, but were passive about protecting their sheep. In this book, shepherds are not God’s men, but are wolves twisting Scripture to fit their own agenda. Satan has patiently calculated how to get Christians to live passively. He has convinced them they are protected by the Holy Spirit and cannot be deceived even though their daily lives are not lived separately unto God. In 2 Peter 3:17, Paul warns, Beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.

Pray for your church as the tsunami of twisted half-truths sweeps Christian thought without resistance. A half-truth is very dangerous in that we readily notice the truth part, but ignore the fatal part. Satan has groomed the world for over a decade to see only good, connections, and relationships. I will admit some things are definitely connected, but we lack training and discernment in seeing differences. Knowing differences is vital when Scripture has been violated with other beliefs.

Saying something does not agree with Scripture and is therefore wrong, has been labeled judgmental. Propaganda applies the judge not commandment to every circumstance. But there is a difference when biblical instruction warns against judging others when we ourselves are guilty of the same and in favor of Christians judging right from wrong, maintaining righteousness in a culture. Inside the walls of our non-judgmental churches, Satan has been able to destroy discernment, breaking down any walls of defense. He now easily presents his agenda without friction since it is judgment that would stop him in his tracks if we would only implement it as the Bible instructs. (See Jer. 5:1; 8:7; 22:3; 1 Cor. 5:11-13; 6:1-4.)

Many urge Christianity to join with other beliefs. They are very rational in their interpretation of Scripture as they "by good words and fair speeches deceive the