I Was A False Teacher

This was one of the most difficult blog posts I have written, but it is something I need to

I Was A False Teacher

address. For many of you who have known me my whole life, this may be a shock. For those of you who have gotten to know me since my conversion, this will not be a shock to you. Back in 2020, amidst all the lockdowns, I had a stark realization. I had been a false convert for most of my life. How is this possible? I know some of you are asking this question who have known me my entire life. I always called myself a Christian, and my grandparents took me to church. I loved going to church growing up, as it was my escape from a very dysfunctional home environment.

At the age of eight, I walked down the aisle at VBS and said the infamous “Sinner’s Prayer.” A.W. Tozer said, “It is my opinion that tens of thousands, if not millions, have been brought into some kind of religious experience by accepting Christ and they have not been saved.” Unfortunately, I agree with this.

As an adult, I went to church, I went to Bible study, I was in the choir, and even served in the local church in leadership next to my husband and taught a women’s Sunday School and children’s Sunday school class. The question then becomes, how could I have been doing all these things and NOT be a Christian? That’s a good question! I like to consult the Bible for these things now.

I think the best example of a false convert we have in the Bible is Simon in Acts 8:9-25. In fact, verse ten says that the crowd said Simon was of the “great power of God…” If we keep reading in verse eleven, we see that he bewitched the crowds with his sorceries. He was baptized into the early church and followed Philip everywhere (vs. thirteen.)

Later, when the apostles Peter and John had arrived, the Holy Spirit came upon that group of believers (notice they did not call upon or “activate” the Holy Spirit.) This then revealed Simon’s true heart, and he offered Peter and John money to give him the gift of laying on of hands. (vs. 18,19) This may be a scary thought to you, but I believe there are many in the church today who are like I was.

I prayed that prayer at the age of eight as a “Get out of Jail” free card, for lack of better words. I did not pray that prayer because I was convicted of my sin and the fact that I realized I was a sinner who had broken God’s law in need of repentance.

This brought me to another realization a couple of years later, and I do not take this lightly. I was a false teacher. After going around the past two and a half years pointing out how all these teachers/preachers are solidly wrong for what they are teaching, it is very humbling to have to admit that I was one of these people.

Albeit, I did not have the platform most of them do. After studying them so much, I also believe many of these preachers know they are not legitimate. However, that does not mean I am any less accountable. In preparing for this, I went back through a few of my old lessons. Here is just one example of something that is often taken out of context that I twisted in a lesson.

I was teaching on the power of prayer in your life. That’s a fantastic thing to teach about if you are teaching Scripture in context. Here is what I taught: Start your prayer with “God, Your Word says all things – including this (name the situation) – “work together for good.”

This is supposed to be based on Romans 8:28. If you caught the problem with that statement, good for you. If you did not, read it again! That’s NOT where Romans 8:28 ends! It matters because all those years, I was following a different god. I was not following the God of the Bible. I was following a god that never offended anyone and that was inclusive.

I was following a Jesus that had died, gone to hell, and “fought” for the keys to heaven, and was tormented by demons before coming back to life three days later. I refused to allow others to educate me on Biblical truth. Most of all, I should have allowed the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to educate me. Instead of being teachable, I was prideful in this area.

I also laid hands on many people for whom I prayed. That may seem innocent. When you come out of the world I was in, you realize that spiritual abuse is a real thing. For those I may have hurt, I am sincerely sorry. There are many whom I have seen come out of what I did as atheists, and even some anti-theists due to the intense abuse in this movement. I am thankful I still found God.

When I stepped away from this movement, looking back after all of my research, I realized what I was participating in was a combination of Gnosticism and witchcraft. This is nothing new dear ones. One of the first places I was led to study after my conversion was 1 John 4. Testing the spirits according to the Word of God was a completely foreign concept to me. The entire reason 1 John was written was to combat Gnosticism, so it was very important for me to gain an understanding of what it means to use Scripture as the final authority for everything I see and hear, and who God truly is. 1st John 4:8 says God is love.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.

1 John 4:18-19

I realized that contemporary Christian music was my gospel, not Jesus Christ. I was constantly looking for the hidden meaning in God’s Word instead of reading what was plainly recorded for us already. This is key because I could not understand a lot of what I was reading in the Word of God. I was great at regurgitating what I had been told. I must be honest about this because I did not have my “spiritual eyes” yet, for a lack of better terms.

Though I had heard the Gospel all my life, I did not UNDERSTAND the Gospel. I did, however, understand signs, healings, and “miracles.” I was one of the people Matthew 7:21-23 was referring to: (21)”Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven, (22) Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? (23) And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Let’s go back to the witchcraft because that is rampant in our churches right now. What is witchcraft?

According to the Merriam-Webster, there are two definitions that apply:

1. the use of sorcery or magic

2. communication with the devil or a familiar (ie, a familiar spirit)

What then, is sorcery? Let’s look at the 1828 Webster’s dictionary. It means “Magic; enchantment; witchcraft; divination be the assistance of evil spirits, or the power of commanding evil spirits.”

Let’s look at this LAST phrase…”commanding of evil spirits.” That was a big one for me. I can’t tell you how much rebuking and binding (…commanding of evil spirits) I did, only to find out that this is not a biblical concept. I also did this by just “taking up my authority” and telling them to leave or casting them out.

Not only is commanding evil spirits unbiblical, but it’s also FORBIDDEN by God. In fact, witchcraft was an offense punishable by death under the Mosaic Law (Exodus 22:18 and Leviticus 20:27). Even Jesus did not “rebuke” or “bind” the devil. He always asked God to deliver Him. I quickly found that asking God to deliver me from all spiritual attacks yielded much better results. This also immediately closed all of the unwanted open spiritual doors that demonic entities were coming in through in my life. 

I finally understood what the Bible meant in James 4:7, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” When we are living our lives submitted to God, the Light within us (Jesus Christ) will shine, and the darkness (anything of the enemy) will flee! Submission includes giving HIM control over everything, including our spiritual battles.

The other element of witchcraft I participated in heavily was manifesting, better known as the Law of Attraction. These preachers are so clever about the way they use Scripture to justify teaching that we are supposed to all be healthy and wealthy. Not only is it witchcraft, but this idea is completely the opposite of what Scripture teaches. God and the Holy Spirit are not forces that we manipulate or “activate.” In fact, Scripture actually teaches we are to OBEY the Holy Spirit (John 16:13, Galatians 5:18). The Word of God also says that the Holy Spirit leads us (Galatians 5:16-25) and even has a will of His own (1 Corinthians 12:11).

Unfortunately, I was more worried about being gifted the ability to speak in tongues and people being healed than where they were going when they died. That’s something I have had to repent of.  Physical healing does no good once you’re dead. Something else I did was rely on my dreams and interpreted other people’s dreams. I had to repent for putting words in God’s mouth. I cannot speak for God like many of the people in this movement, and some of the mainstream churches, do. That’s a very serious issue going on within the body of Christ.  

I think one of the things that was focused on just as much as signs and gifts was “finding my identity in Christ” instead of conforming my identity TO Christ. There is a HUGE difference! One depends on extrabiblical revelation, whereas conforming to Christ depends solely on the Word of God and imitating Him. (Ephesians 5:1-2) However, focusing on one’s self identity is not what the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is about.

This kind of behavior not only hurts the person engaged in it, but those around them. To those I laid hands on, taught, or influenced in any way, I am truly sorry. I thought I was doing right by God. My intentions were pure, but I was wrong. I am so thankful to have been gifted the FULL gospel. It hasn’t been an easy walk, but I am so grateful He chose to save a wretched sinner like me. I want to encourage you to get into the Word of God. Study your Bibles so that you can spot the counterfeit!

If you are in this movement and you think it’s biblical, I’m not writing this for you (though I pray your eyes will be opened.) If you are on the fence, this is for you as well. My prayer is that something I say will shed light on what you are involved in, and you will get out of it. Your soul could be on the line because mine was.

My hope lies in my inheritance with the Lord. Knowing that Jesus has already fought and won the war for my eternal salvation gives me a peace I never understood before. He has conquered death by His resurrection.

1 Peter 1:3-5 has been such a comfort for me the past two years:

(3)”Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (4) to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, (5) Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Knowing that I will be forever accepted by God the Father, based on His acceptance of me, is a daily reassurance. Now, I just want to point everyone else to the same Jesus because the truth will make you free indeed! (John 8:32,36)