The Laughing Ministry (God Is Not Laughing) — Carter Conlon

A Pastor’s Fall Into Confusion and Mockery

I saw a video yesterday that so stirred me, so caused me to tremble. I watched this movement in its inception and where it found its birthplace. And I watched a pastor who has embraced this movement. I watched him stand up after the thing has gone on for several months.

And he's preaching the gospel. And the sad thing is, this man knew the Lord. And you can tell he's got roots of holiness. You can tell that within him there was at one time a holy cry for God. And it's so sad.

I sat there and I just shook inside. I said, my covenant God, what happened to this man? And while he's preaching, there's this eerie, tell us laughter going on all around him. He stands up and tries to preach the gospel.

And all you can hear is this laughter. It's so loud that it's the most incredible thing. I called somebody last night. I said, I watched this video. And I said, it's like watching somebody prepare something out of a nightmare.

Standing up and trying to talk about righteousness and trying to talk about holiness. And there's this eerie, tell us laughter going on the whole time. So loud that nobody can understand what he's saying.

And I thought, my God. My God, that's what it's going to be like in heaven, in hell, for preachers who die without Christ. Going to stand there in the blackness preaching the gospel for eternity. Listening to this eerie, tell us laughter all around him.

Mocking spirits, mocking the Word of God. Doesn't scripture itself teach us that God is not the author of confusion? Where is discernment in this generation? Folks, you don't even have to have discernment anymore to see it.

The streets of New York, working with a jackhammer, would turn it off and watch this and know it's out of order. Even nature itself tells you that when a man speaks, you listen. God, how is it possible?

How is it possible? And they make a big display of the fact that there are psychologists and doctors and lawyers in the church that have embraced this thing. But I was in Guyana, South America, three years ago.

And I want to remind you that psychologists and doctors and lawyers drank poison. Where is the discernment? I said, God, you don't have to have discernment to see this. I would have known this was out of order before I got saved.

Where is the discernment? Can you imagine somebody coming into this church? And I'm preaching the way I am now, and all you hear is this eerie laughter. It's not even holy. I was sharing with somebody this morning, you go into a restaurant sometimes for a meal, and there's people at a table that have just told a dirty joke, and there's a certain type of laughter that comes up.

It's an unholy laughter. You can hear it. And then there's another type of laughter when somebody has perhaps just talked about their son or their daughter doing something funny, and everybody laughs.

And you haven't heard the story, but by the laughter you know that it's a nice little story, and people are just laughing. But when I listened to this video, I heard this unholy laughter, like a dirty joke had just been told.

It's so ungodly. It's so incredibly foolish that the only thing you can say is, My God, it's an absolute delusion. It's like a blanket of blindness is falling over all of these people. I asked myself as this man preached, I said, God, what blinded him?

The Love of Money and Spiritual Blindness

Lord, what blinded this man? Was it the love of money? What was it? It was so sad watching this man who once loved the Lord, stand there making a virtual fool of himself. Look at the book of 1 Timothy, please, chapter 6.

Oh God, was it the love of money? What is it that causes this blindness? 1 Timothy chapter 6, beginning at verse 5. Listen to these ominous words. Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness, from such withdraw thyself.

That's where it all began. It began with that gospel that said godliness is a means to financial gain. But godliness, verse 6, with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

And having food and raiment and clothing, let us be there with contentment. Verse 9 says, but they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.

For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from what? From the faith. It's not that they've erred from being a heathen, or they've erred from the halls of government.

They have erred from the faith. They have erred from following Christ. The love of money has brought a blindness on them. And they have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, verse 11, O men of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

Fight the good fight. Lay hold of faith. Lay hold on eternal life. For unto thou art also called and has professed a good profession before many witnesses. God, was it the love of money? And I looked at him in absolute shock and horror and disbelief.

Bitterness and the Refusal to Forgive

I said, Lord, was it bitterness? What turned this man? You had to have seen this thing to understand the absolute horror of the tenant standing trying to preach the gospel and can't preach it because of the mocking laughter.

Was it bitterness? The scripture warns us that we're to look within ourselves and make sure that nobody allows a root of bitterness to grow within them and thereby many be defiled. Was it unforgiveness?

Did somebody hurt this man? Was he harmed by leadership over him? Did somebody do something and he harbored it within himself and refused to forgive them? Because Jesus said, if you will not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses.

Did unforgiveness cut him off from the grace of God? What blinded this man? Was it rebellion? Was it the sin of Saul? Was he just a good idea man? Was he a man who thought his own ways would produce better results than simple obedience to God?

Saul’s Rebellion Against Simple Obedience

That's what Saul was and that's why it cost him the kingdom. When Samuel came to Saul, Saul said, I have obeyed the commandment of the Lord. He wasn't even aware he had disobeyed God. He wasn't even aware he was cut off.

He just had a good idea. God said, kill them all. I'll deceive the best and sacrifice them to the Lord. The Lord requires simple obedience of us. He doesn't want good idea people in his house. He wants us to obey his word.

He wants us to find his will and walk in his will. There will be those that hear this message and they'll tell you that this is just the voice of another critical spirited preacher out in the wilderness, crying repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.

A Gospel of Judgment on Self-Exalting Ministry

They will tell you that their gospel will go on in spite of the cry and warning of those voices that are warning the nation about it. And you know the sad thing is that they're absolutely right. Their gospel will go on.

It's a gospel of slaughter. It's been sent by God to judge the carnality of a self-seeking, cross-hating, self-exalting ministry and all of their followers.