F4F | John Gray Godspeed Manipulation

The Problem of False Promises in Dire Circumstances

Welcome to another installment of Fighting for the Faith. My name is Chris Rosebro and I am your servant in Jesus Christ and this is the channel that compares what people are saying in the name of God to the Word of God.

So let me ask you a question, you know, just straight up. Have you ever been in a dire circumstance? You know, things are not going well in your life, maybe it's your marriage or relationship, you've lost your job, you've failed an exam in college, you know, things of this nature and as a result of it you have found yourself in dire need.

By the way, this happens to pretty much all of this. If something like this hasn't happened to you yet, just give it time and it will happen. All of that being said, note here that these are like, you know, if you were the big consequences of the cursed creation and this is a result of man's fall into sin and our, well, siding with the devil and as a result of it the current creation we live in, cursed.

We're under a curse. We die. Things go bad in our lives. We seem to be on a downward slide into the grave. This is all normal. This is how it's been since the beginning because of humanity's rebellion against God.

But all that being said, when you find yourself in a situation like this or when people in general find themselves in situations like this, it's not uncommon for them to seek a solution from God. Yeah, that happens.

People, for real, seek for solutions from God and this is what makes false teachers so dangerous is that it's as if the devil knows that it's just a matter of time before we find ourselves in dire need and so somebody is in trouble and they go to church in order to seek the face of God, to seek his favor, to seek his help, to seek whatever.

You get the idea. But rather than being taught the truth or being told the truth, they instead have their ears scratched and tingled so that what is told to them in the moment makes them feel better. But the problem is this, is that the promises that these false teachers make for God are not at all promises that God has made.

And as a result of it, they have been sold a bill of wood and nickels that they can't cash anywhere, and God is not only not beholden to answer the false promises that the false teacher has made for him or to somehow honor them.

In fact, God is almost kind of beholden to not honor them, if you know what I mean. So with all of that, that's our setup today. What we're gonna be doing is we're gonna be heading to Relentless Church.

Now, I know that John Gray and Relentless Church, they continue to be in the news and apparently there's a pending lawsuit from Ron Carpenter. They've been given an eviction notice. We're not gonna talk about any of that.

The only reason why we're gonna be looking at John Gray is because, number one, he's a false teacher. I am not interested in the fight that he's having with Ron Carpenter and the legal battle that they find themselves in, although it's interesting to some.

Instead, what I'm gonna do is kind of hold John Gray up as a type of false teacher. And one of the requests that we get all the time here at Fighting for the Faith is for us to review particular pastors and preachers.

Somebody is in a church and they think something's wrong in their church, and so what they want me to do is to review a sermon from their church. Now, we do that from time to time. In fact, there may be segments coming up in the future where we'll have a viewer-slash-listener chosen sermon that we're gonna be listening to and evaluating.

But what I generally try to do is go with people that are a little bit higher profile—not always, but higher profile—because what ends up happening is that the same false teaching or the same manipulation that they engage in, others down the food chain that are less known follow suit and do the same thing.

So what we do is we're gonna hold John Gray up kind of as an archetype, a typological false teacher, and he is. He manipulates like you wouldn't believe. And sadly, what we're gonna see here in this sermon that we're gonna be previewing and spending some time in, and the name of the sermon is God's Speed, and what we're gonna see happening here is that John Gray will be praying on, making promises for God, and praying on people who, for real, look like the reason why they're there at that church is because they need God to come through for them.

But unfortunately, what they're being taught is false doctrine, and what John Gray does here is typical. It's just so predictable. So let's head over to Relentless Church. Let me get my desktop up here, and I'm experimenting with a different camera angle for this installment of Fighting for the Faith, and we're gonna listen to a bit of this.

And so you'll note that my eyes are over here because that's where I can actually see the sermon, but you're over here, so if I'm over here, I'm looking at the sermon. If I'm doing it, I'm talking to you.

I hope this works. Always trying to, you know, twist and change things up and hopefully make them better, but let's check in with John Gray and a sermon titled God's Speed, and we'll note how he twists the scripture along the way, but we're gonna be specifically trying to look at how he is manipulating people.

Manipulation Techniques and the Opening Text in Hebrews 12

If you'll do me a favor, elder, if you'll do me a favor, and everybody stand if you have the ability to stand. I feel the presence of God. All right, so you're, okay,.

Manipulation technique numero uno. This is what we'll call the glow-in-the-dark Christian. So, I mean, have you ever been in a church like this where the guy says, oh, I can feel the Holy Spirit here, and you're going, I don't feel nothing.

What's wrong with me? And so, this is a manipulation technique. Oh, I feel the Holy Spirit here, and God's telling me to do this, or God's, I'm feeling this and feeling that, and you're going, well, I don't feel nothing.

That's because you're not close enough to God, but he is, and so as a result of it, this is what we'll call the glow-in-the-dark Christian manipulation. There are no glow-in-the-dark Christians, and when somebody tells you they feel the Holy Spirit somewhere, yeah, this isn't good.

This is not good at all. I say again, I.

Feel the presence of God. Hebrews chapter 12. Y 'all forgive me if tears start flowing, but I needed to get free because it's been a very heavy season. I'm exactly where God wants me to be, and I'm grateful that he called me here.

Now, this.

Is John Gray basically signaling to his followers that despite the eviction notice, the pending lawsuit, he's where God wants him to be, and so he's.

Standing defiantly. You know, the Bible says, James, that he makes you to lie down.

In green pastures. And that's a manipulation technique, too, where he kind of starts a sentence, pauses, and then just, you know, Furtick does that. T .D. Jakes does that. It's a manipulation technique.

He leads you beside the Reedy.

River, still waters, and it's there that he restores you. Manipulation. Oh, there's.

He there. He restores you. Manipulation. This is all emotional manipulation. Wait till we get into the biblical text, because he'll actually say something.

That is factually wrong. Hebrews chapter 12, starting at the first verse, the Reedy River. Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight. Everybody say every weight.

Now, by the way, don't.

Have a problem with him starting with a biblical text. This is how you should start a sermon. You either read it before the sermon or at the beginning of the sermon. Both are considered acceptable. So, apparently, this is a sermon based on.

Hebrews 12. Okay. Every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance. Say run. Yeah, this is not a job. Yeah, say run. Manipulation technique.

And the purpose of that particular manipulation technique is actually quite psychological. The idea behind this one is that when somebody gives you a command, an order, and you obey it, what that does is lower your body's and your brain's natural defense mechanisms.

The idea here is that, well, if this guy isn't on the level, then why am I obeying him? By obeying him, you lower your ability to think rationally and critically during the sermon. So, I mean, we're a minute 17 into this sermon, and the manipulation techniques are already.

Quite numerous, but it continues. This is a run. It's gonna elevate your heart rate. You're gonna sweat a little bit, but it's good. It's time to run. But what kind of running? Run with endurance, the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.

There's that word again. I'm so uncomfortable with the word endure because endure means there's gonna be some pressure. Endure means there's going to be challenge. Endure means I'm gonna have to walk through something that feels uncomfortable, but I must endure it.

And Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12 verse 1, right? But then let me keep going. I need to keep going. For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. Now you've gone through some stuff, but you have not, you ain't lost your life. Ask somebody, did you, but did you die? Have some fun this morning.

Look at somebody else say, excuse me, did you die? Then one of the deep saints is like, well, my heart did stop three years ago. Then they brought me back.

Together. Okay. Notice again, turn to this neighbor and say this, but did you die?

Still the same manipulation technique. Run your race. Race has a rate of speed.

Okay, now this is interesting, what he does here next. So exegesis. And so we're gonna talk about two ways of approaching a biblical text. One is correct, the other is pure manipulation. Exegesis is going to be reading out from the biblical text what is there.

When somebody exegetes a biblical text, God himself is in control of its meaning. Why? Because all the words of Scripture are theanoustas, God breathed. And so the one who had these texts written down by human beings, there was a meaning and an intent in something that he was trying to communicate in each of these texts.

So when you exegete, God is the one in charge of the message. What he's doing is called eisegesis, and that's spelled E-I-S-G-E-S-I-S. Eisegesis. It means to read into the biblical text things that you want to be there.

So when somebody is engaging in eisegesis, they're the ones in charge of the message, not God. And that's what makes this so dangerous. And so he'll note, run with endurance the race, right? So racing and endurance, these are concepts that we're familiar with.

But the issue is this, is that the text itself, although it uses the metaphor of running a race, doesn't talk about speed. He has inserted speed into this text, and people are not able to detect the eisegesis, because usually races and speed go hand in hand in our minds.

But speed is not a factor in this text, just the race. So let me see if I can back this up and just listen a little bit again.

Run your race. Race has a rate of speed. Run your race. Look at somebody, tell them.

Run your race. Okay, there we go again. Tell somebody run your race. Again,.

Manipulation techniques. I'm preaching from the subject heading. Godspeed.

All right, Godspeed. Okay. Godspeed. Godspeed has nothing to do with Hebrews 12. This is eisegesis. This is a message that John Gray is inserting into the.

Biblical text. Godspeed. Godspeed. You may be seated. Speed is the rate at which someone or something is able to move and operate. Speed is the rate at which someone or something is able to move and operate.

We know who God is, the eternal, all-knowing, omniscient, omnipotent one, the living God, the creator God, the God of the universe, the God who spoke and the word is still expanding, filling all of space and time.

This is the God that we serve. Speed is the rate at which someone or something is able to move or operate. There are people who play for that basketball team that can jump higher than me and run faster than me, but that's because that's what they have been trained to do.

I have not been trained to do that, and I am not in the physical space to do what they do. It does not mean that I don't have value. It just means I haven't been trained there.

Now, this is the manipulation technique known as pseudo-profound bovine scatology. Yeah, he just said nothing, but delivered it in a pseudo-profound kind of ironic way. Again,.

A manipulation technique. One of the great challenges with running your race is that we often equate success and the metric of success based on someone else's achievements,.

But it's your race, and they have their race. Yeah, you're overcooking the metaphor here,.

And by doing so, you're isageating. And so, this idea of speed cannot be the only measurement of success when running because some people can run faster,.

But that's because they have a different calling. Calling, yeah. Yeah, he just delivered that with, yeah. Yeah, this is kind of a pseudo-profound mic drop, but again, this is bovine scatology.

He's not really exaggerating the text at this point. Tell somebody, stay in your lane.

Do any of these things that he's saying have anything to do with Hebrews 12? No.

I grew up watching the Olympics. I remember the 1984 Olympics. Yeah, I do too. I actually.

Attended them. A lot of days I spent at the Olympics in Los Angeles. Grew up there.

Carl Lewis. Anybody remember Carl Lewis? He was running the 100, the 4x1. I think they were doing the 4x2. He was an unbelievable athlete. Then Edwin Moses. I don't know if anybody remembers Edwin Moses, but the way he would take strides.

It was just graceful. It was phenomenal, and they were winning gold medals. They got the prize, but there were other people in the race, but one of the things that commentators would say then all the way up to now is that when you're running in a race like that, the last thing you need to do is look to the left or to the right or look back.

Again, this has nothing to do with Hebrews 12. Nothing. Nothing. This is all eisegesis. He's trying to be pseudo profound. What he's trying to do here, you'll see it, is provide comfort and assurance for people who are in dire need.

All that does is it causes more drag. It's a drag on your ability to maintain your forward motion. God wants us to understand that speed and distance and timing are colliding to allow you to walk into a season of your life that you have only prayed about but have yet to experience.

There it is. He set the hook right there. He's fishing for victims at this point, and he just set the hook there quite skillfully too. God wants us to something. Let me back this.

Up just a little bit. I want you to hear what he said. God wants us to understand.

So God wants us to understand. All right. If God wants us to understand something, he's going to want us to understand that message as found in the biblical text rightly exegeted. And is what's going to happen next, what he's going to say next, a valid inference, valid understanding, valid exegetical point from Hebrews 12?

That speed and distance and timing are colliding. Speed, distance, and timing are special.

Oh, they're colliding. Yeah. What does that mean?

Speed, distance, and timing are colliding to allow you to walk into a season of your life that you have only prayed about but have yet to experience.

So yeah, you've only prayed about something, but you haven't yet experienced because speed and distance and timing are special. They're colliding. Yeah. I'm pretty sure Hebrews 12 has nothing to do with that.

Hang on a second here. I'm going to close up my NASB, which I had opened earlier. Let's duplicate that tab and let's go to Hebrews 12 and consider the context here. And Hebrews 11 provides us the context itself.

Hebrews 11 is the great hall of faith passage, and he talks about how the patriarchs of the Old Testament accomplished the things that they did by faith, by faith Abraham, by faith Noah, by faith Israel, by faith Jacob.

You get the idea. And then the author of Hebrews goes on at the end of this to say, and so what more shall I say for time would fail me to tell of Gideon, of Barak, of Samson, of Jephthah, of David, and Samuel, and the prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms and forced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, and were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war.

And everyone going, yeah, yeah, that's what I want to be, mighty in war. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured. The turn happens really fast in Hebrews 11.

Some were tortured. Yeah. Think about the Christians in the first century in an illegal religion, and martyrdom was a real possibility. In fact, a high probability. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release so that they might rise again to a better life.

Others suffered mocking and flogging, even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were killed with a sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth.

All of these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. There's your context.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder, you could say the author, and the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throat of God.

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or faint-hearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted the point of shedding your blood, and have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, chastises every son whom he receives. So, nothing here in Hebrews 12 about timing and speed and other things colliding for a season for you, and the reason is simple, is that John Gray is eisegeting, putting something into the text that isn't there, and he's making a promise for God that God has not made.

And again, the issue here is that many times people find themselves in dire need, and they go to church seeking the face of God in answer to their prayer, in help for their need, and then they're giving promises like these promises, which are not promises made by God at all.

So, let me back this up again. Listen to.

This false promise. And timing are colliding to allow you to walk into a season of your life that you have only prayed about but have yet to experience. This is the year of eye hasn't seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man.

False Prophecy and the Misuse of 1 Corinthians 2

Oh, this is the year of eye hasn't.

Seen, ear hasn't heard. Really? Is this the year that Jesus returns? You know, I have to ask the question, because if you understand the referent here, you'll see what I'm saying. So, we'll take a look at 1 Corinthians chapter 2.

1 Corinthians chapter 2, Paul talking about preaching the foolishness of Christ and him crucified for our sins. He says to the church at Corinth, when I came to you brothers, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom, for I decided to know nothing among you except for Jesus Christ and him crucified.

And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling. My speech and the message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and power, so that your faith may not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age, or the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.

None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.

These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. Yeah, so you're going to note here, in the one sense you can say that no eye has seen, or ear heard, nor imagined what God has prepared for those who love him in the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, but this is also used in a context of we have yet to see what's coming, and that's going to be revealed at the end of time.

So what John Gray is saying, this is the year of what no eye has seen, or ear heard. Wow! That's just, again, complete and utter manipulation. And now by twisting this text, not exegeting, but twisting it, he again is making promises for God that God has never made, and that God is not bound to keep.

We continue.

I'm going to prophesy to those who have the faith to receive it. This is the year of eye hasn't seen.

So now he's prophesying. Now this is a false prophecy.

Neither has ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those who love him. Tell somebody Godspeed. Godspeed. The termination or the terminology Godspeed is an expression of good wishes to a person starting a journey.

When I would look at some of the archive footage of space launches, the people from the space center would say, good luck astronauts and Godspeed. It was them saying, God be with you. I know we're in a PC country now, you're not allowed to say God in context of anything.

They want God off of everything. And that's fine. You can take God off of all of that. You can't take him out of my heart. You can't take him out of my mouth.

Apparently this is his brave stand against the politically correct country that we live in. This coming from a fellow who had a reality TV show on Oprah's network.

The term Godspeed for our purposes is me helping you to understand that God has a speed at which your life is about to start moving.

Helping me understand that there's a speed at which my life is about to start moving. Again, another promise for God. This is pure manipulation.

That is going to defy conventional wisdom. It's going to defy natural understanding, and it's going to defy all of the things that you thought you knew about God and yourself, because God is about to expand your borders.

I don't want my borders expanded. It's so hard to lose weight. So hard.

He's about to expand your capacity.

Again, these are promises that God has not made. And the people there are eating this up. And before this is all done, they're going to be giving him a standing.

He's also about to expand your influence. So you need to write down borders, capacity, and influence.

Borders, capacity, and influence. God hasn't promised to expand any of those in my life, especially in Hebrews 12.

God is expanding your borders. He's expanding your capacity, and he's expanding your influence. Everybody say it out loud. Borders. Capacity. Influence.

It sounds like the only thing expanding there is heresy.

Say it again like you mean it. Borders. Capacity. Influence. There is a scripture that's been in my heart since the beginning of the year, and I've shared it, but I've got to say it again. And I asked the Holy Ghost, I said, do you want me to keep harping on it?

He said, keep speaking until it breaks.

So I asked the Holy Ghost. This is, again, the glow-in-the-dark Christian manipulation. See, he and the Holy Ghost, they are on speaking terms. But I would note this. Normally, when people are hearing voices in their head, that's a bad thing.

Usually, they need to go and visit a facility with white rooms and those jackets that make it so you can't move your arms and things like that. But this is a manipulation technique. Again, he hears directly from God.

So now, if you're putting your thinking cap on and going, you know, some of the things he's saying don't square with scripture. This doesn't sound right. Hebrews 12 doesn't promise me that timing and speed and other things are colliding or that I'm going to have an acceleration of things in my life or anything.

That's not what Hebrews 12 says. So you're thinking, you know, maybe I just need to have a conversation with him and say, Pastor Gray, I think you're twisting God's word. But then what happens is you get a check, and the check goes something like this.

But yeah, but I mean, God talks, the Holy Spirit talks directly to him. Don't you think that if he were manipulating the Bible, the Holy Spirit would say, hey, knock that out, John. You need to rightly handle the word.

And since the Holy Spirit never seems to say that to him, who am I to tell him he's wrong? Because if I tell him he's wrong, I'm not saying he's wrong. I'm actually saying, God, the Holy Spirit's wrong.

And see, it's this manipulation on top of manipulation on top of manipulation. John Gray does not glow in the dark. And no, the Holy Spirit does not speak conversationally to him. Just flat out, that's not happening.

Why? How do you know? Because he twists God's word, makes promises for God, doesn't preach Christ to him crucified for our sins. He scratches itching ears. And he fits all of the hallmark symptoms and signs of a false prophet and false teacher.

He's not hearing from the Holy Spirit at all. And if the Holy Spirit had anything to say to him,.

It would be to repent. But we continue. So I'm going to speak it again, this story of Elijah.

And Jezebel. Now, this is interesting. He's going to factually get this wrong. Watch how he does.

In 1 Kings 18, then into the 19th chapter, after the prophets of Baal were killed, Elijah gets a note from Jezebel saying, I'm going to kill you by this time tomorrow. And the Bible says he takes off running a day's journey.

He's in the wilderness. Elijah sits under a broom tree and he says this, it's enough. Take my life for I am no better than my father's. And he falls asleep. I want to ask you in this race, have you ever been so weary?

You had no strength. You just had to fall asleep. You can't even, you don't even have the strength.

To get up. You just got to. Now, this is Narcissus, the reading of yourself into the biblical text.

Lay down. You got to take a nap. You got to rest. Has anybody ever been so weary.

That your sleep is troubled? It's hard to. Yes, I have. And you'll note here, that's who he's seeking to reach with this message. And those are the people whom he is manipulating.

It's hard to let your heart rest. I want to talk to some people that have been stressed,.

Whether it's a job. So that's his target audience, the people who are stressed, who are in need,.

Who need the help of God or a family challenge or a personal challenge or a personal place of struggle or a place of addiction or a place of personal shame that you don't feel comfortable talking to anyone about.

And you've asked God about it and you thought that you were hearing from God and it still did not turn in your favor at the time that you thought it would. Have you ever been so discouraged? God, I just I'm tired.

I don't have anything left. I'm ready to give up. Just come on and take me home. I want you to know, if you're hearing me, it was God's love and his commitment to you and his development of you that he didn't answer that prayer.

God didn't answer the prayer because you can't die yet. Oh yeah, actually, I could. I could die any moment. And so could you. God didn't answer the prayer because you can't give up now. God didn't answer that prayer because you still have too much to do.

The purpose on your life is so significant that God is not going to allow you to die thinking that the enemy gets the last.

Word. All right, so let's take a look at First Kings chapter 19, shall we? Let's see where I put that. First Kings 19. So in First Kings 18, we have the showdown at Mount Carmel between Elijah and the prophets of Baal.

They've slaughtered animals and the showdown is the God who answers by fire is the real true God. And wouldn't you know, Baal didn't answer, but Yahweh did. And so 19 now tells us what happens in the aftermath of this.

Do you think Jezebel and Ahab repent? Not on your life. In fact, Jezebel is going to be really upset that all of her favorite prophets of Baal have been slaughtered by Elijah, and she's going to threaten to take Elijah's life as well.

And that's our context here. And let's see what God does in answer to Elijah's complaint in Elijah's prayer. So Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.

Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, so may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow, then he was afraid and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah and left his servant there.

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, came and sat down under a broom tree and he asked that he might die saying, it is enough now, oh Yahweh, take my life for I am no better than my father's.

And he laid down and slept under a broom tree and behold, an angel touched him and said, arise and eat. And he looked and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and laid down again.

And the angel of Yahweh came a second time and touched him and said, arise and eat for the journey is too great for you. And he rose and ate and drank. And he went in the strength of that food 40 days, 40 nights to Horeb, the mountain of God, which is Mount Sinai.