Great Awakening or Great Falling Away?
By Brannon S. Howse
On July 28, 2012, Beck hosted his “Restoring Love Rally” in Dallas, Texas in cowboy stadium. Beck has become the Joel Osteen of political activism. I watched Beck’s speech before a packed house that included people sitting on the football field. I believe Beck’s mixed message of New Age philosophies, Mormon theology, and self-help has ticked the ears of many as described in 2 Timothy 4:3-4:
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
With a live orchestra playing behind him Beck shouted In his speech:
“Witness the Third Great Awakening! It’s here; it’s here.
On the Monday after his “Restoring Love Rally” Beck, on his radio program, declared:
As a guy who has been bringing you the bad news for I don’t know how long now, let me bring you the good news: That is true. And if you don’t know what the Third Great Awakening means, look it up. Look it up. People have been praying for it since before Martin Luther King was born. People have been praying for it, and it’s here. It’s here. It’s why we have, I really believe we ‑‑ don’t you feel it? Don’t you feel that there’s been a turning point in the country?”
If you know anything about the first Two Great Awakenings; they were not movements of political activism. They were not sparked by “all faiths uniting” to “look to one God.” They were not sparked by evangelical leaders compromising the Word of God in ecumenical and spiritually pagan enterprises. The Two Great Awakenings were the result of the proclamation of a Biblical gospel and men and women repenting of their sins and placing their faith and trust in the Jesus depicted in God’s Word.
What Beck calls a “Great Awakening” would be more accurately called “A Great Falling Away.” The Bible calls it apostasy; a falling away from traditionally held Biblical truths. Indeed there is a spiritual awakening as an October 2010 report revealed that 72% of young people between the ages of 18-29 now refer to themselves more spiritual than religious.
Paul warns us in 1 Timothy 4:1, that in the period between the first coming of Jesus Christ and His Second Coming; there would be an increase in apostasy. Paul warns that “in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and the doctrines of demons.” I believe through Glenn Beck many have been introduced to the doctrines of demons. In fact, Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, testified that he received his special revelation from the Angel Maroni. Despite the claims by Smith and the Mormon Church; if Smith did receive such a visit and such revelation, it was not from a messenger of God but from a demon or Satan himself. Ed Decker and Ron Carlson explain Smith’s occult background.
Michael Quinn, onetime professor of history at Brigham Young University, wrote a book entitled Early Mormonism in the Magic World View. It clearly documents the fact that Joseph Smith was heavily involved in the occult before he ever began to receive revelations from his messengers of light. Mr. Quinn is no longer with BYU or the LDS church. While the LDS church cannot refute his scholarship, they have nevertheless repudiated him personally.
Today, “evangelical” leaders and pastors are giving credibility to Mormon Glenn Beck and assisting in the increase in apostasy; an apostasy that Jesus Himself spoke of in Mathew 24 as a major sign of His approaching Second Coming.
Copyright 2012 ©Brannon Howse. This content is for Situation Room members and is not to be duplicated in any form or uploaded to other websites without the express written permission of Brannon Howse or his legally authorized representative.
