Quick Thoughts: A little discovery about Jentezen Franklin I made at a thrift shop

/ mennoknight

Thinking-Man

In my Charismatic Primer Part 6, where I looked at #21-25 on the Outreach Magazine top 100 churches in the US, #24 was the Free Chapel of Gainesville Georgia, pastored by Jentezen Franklin.  I made the point that Free Chapel appears to be a charismatic church that may actually be a prosperity gospel church, but there’s simply not enough information on their website to make a definitive judgment.  The church does openly associate with prosperity preachers and false teachers, and the other day I was in a thrift store and saw this:

Jentzen Franklin Fasting

I didn’t buy the book, but I skimmed it and the forward caught my attention most of all:

Tommey Tenney

Yup. That’s right.

Tommy “I hate the Bible” Tenney wrote the forward  (If you haven’t heard of him, you may want to check out the 3-page introduction to Tommy Tenney’s best selling book The God Chasers.  He’s not exactly subtle.)

So not only does Jentezen Franklin associate with false teachers and prosperity teachers, he also has exegetical hacks/unquestionable false teachers writing the forwards to his books.

What would Godzilla say about this?

facepalm-Godzilla

That’s right: absolutely nothing…

Nothing but a 55,000 ton lizard facepalm.

Until Next Time,

Lyndon “Is it a bad day when a fictitious lizard has more discernment than you?” Unger

***Update – October 2016*** – Seeing that it’s three years later and people are still finding this post so utterly offensive that they’re morally obligated to show up and attempt to put me in my place with incoherent arguments and other rhetorical bed-wetting, I’ve decided to shut down the comments.

If you post about Jentezen Franklin anywhere else, I’ll simply erase your comment.

Let’s move on.  I did three years ago.

49 thoughts on “Quick Thoughts: A little discovery about Jentezen Franklin I made at a thrift shop”

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  9. It’s not a bad church at all. Many good people and good things going and coming from there. As big as they have gotten, the anointing still flows and the holy spirit still attends. I do agree that Jentzen, his family, and the ministry need much, much prayer and spiritual cover. We are all vulnerable and fallible, we could all potentially stray towards the boundaries from time to time, every single one of us; but especially those making the most impact. Who would it benefit for Jentzen Franklin to fall other than Satan himself? Pray for this pastor, ladder, this brother in Christ. Strengthen this brother, cover Him daily in the blood of Christ Jesus!

    • It’s not a bad church? Sure. It may not be.

      I’m glad the Holy Spirit attends that church (whatever that means). I’m not exactly sure how Satan benefits from the fall of someone like Jentezen Franklin (does God “keep score” of something I’m unaware of?), nor am I sure how to “cover him daily in the blood of Christ Jesus” or even what that possibly means.

      I’m open to the reality that there is a bunch of positive at his church; real believers, real growth, real evangelism, etc. Given what I know of what he teaches, the positive is generally coming in spite of what’s being taught there, not because of it.

      To be clear, I’m not throwing the church under the bus. I’m suggesting that the leadership (meaning the few dozen people who run the ship and dispense the teaching) is highly questionable at best and at worst, by far the biggest problem at that church.

  12. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

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  14. You said you didn’t buy the book. You should have bought it to keep someone else from buying it and being led astray by its teaching. Whenever I am in a thrift store and find books that teach error I buy them and throw them in the trash when I get home. This guarantees that no one will be deceived by them and also contributes to whatever good cause the thrift store is supporting.

  15. You are very small minded, and critical of a man of God. What a foolish person you are. I know Jentezen personally. Never met a more sensitive pastor to the holy.spirit. Do you have any fruit in your life, probably not, YOU are on dangerous gtound. You.should spologize for your critical spirit. James

    • Thanks for your thoughts!

      I love it when people damn me for being critical by calling me “small minded,” “foolish,” and fruitless.

      Those are rich words from a man who is defending one of the wolves that Jesus warned us about.

      I’m standing on the solid ground of Christ and his word. Your buddy Jentezen Franklin (I’m sure you’re his tennis partner) is a false teacher who lies about God for a living.

      Give me a chance and I’ll prove it to you…if you’re not afraid of the Bible. Are you scared to face the word of God?

    • Is this a trick question?

      One rather glaring role comes to mind: the establishment of the church.

      There’s also the delivery of new revelation, the inscripturation of new revelation, the inclusion of this Gentiles into the church, etc.

  18. Yes. I want nothing more than to read fat books on doctrines.

    No mennoknight, if that really is your true name…

    You can be brief.

    Example:

    The church Jesus said he would be is: xyz.

  19. You don’t judge a book by it’s cover, I personally know Pastor Franklin and his heart is for moving people closer to the Kingdom of Go, he is down to earth no big I and small you, he is touchable to the common people and people from all walks of life attend just to get a fresh breath of the presence of God, over the years I have witnessed lives changed and it is a place to experience the peace of God. Hope you take the opportunity experience what is happening before yoy cast stones.

    • Wait, you know the guy?

      Well, that changes…absolutely nothing.

      I’m sure he’s a nice fellow; soft spoken, approachable, genteel, etc.

      He also preaches a word faith message that is utterly pagan.

      Whether or not you’ve seen lives change is irrelevant. Not all “life change” is good change.

      Disciples of Christ aren’t made in a religious system that systematically and damnably twists the truth of Scripture.

      Also, I didn’t judge the book by its cover; I made an educated deduction based on the Forward. That’s technically inside the book.

  20. Seems to me you are just out there TRYING to dig up dirt on pastors. May God have mercy on you! Why not INSTEAD study God’s Word with your time instead of wanting to be so judgemental??

    • Why thank you! God HAS had mercy on me!

      I ran across a book in a thrift store and, in flipping through it, noticed the introduction.

      That’s known as “random occurrence.” I didn’t set out to find anything; I stumbled across it.

      I likely spent less time flipping through that book that you did writing your comment about me wanting to be judgemental.

      Also, I’m guessing YOU weren’t studying God’s word while you were venting at me?

      I’m sure that irony misses you completely.

  22. I don’t know Jentzen, but I have been watching his sermons for years. I have never been more moved by one’s teaching. When I was going through a horrible situation, I filled out a prayer request on-line and he personally called my home. A good man does that. He had nothing to gain by his actions.

    I am certain, like all of us, he has made mistakes and has regrets. Let him decide what those are and we be the people to encourage.

    Think about what you have to gain.

    • Janet,

      The test of one’s teaching isn’t whether it moves you; the test is whether it’s true. In this post, I didn’t even critique any of his teaching.

      The test of a bible teacher isn’t whether he’s nice; the test of a bible teacher is whether he teaches in accord with the faith once delivered to the apostles. In this post, I didn’t even critique whether or not he does this.

      I only suggested that he has an uncomfortable association, to the point of seeking endorsement from, people who are demonstrable false teachers.

      If Franklin is a false teaching, and that’s an “if” that I have neither set out to prove or disprove, think about what you have to lose if you follow him.

      2 Peter 2:17-21 has some harsh words of warning for those who think false teachers “aren’t that bad.”

  23. Jesus associated with thieve,murderers,all types of. People.dont judge by any of that,but comes from the bible.i havent heard him speak anything thats not scriptual.i personally would like to meet him if i could.god bless you.lynchburg,va

    • WHAT?

      You’ve never heard him say anything unscriptural AND Jesus associated with sinners?

      Well in THAT case I’ll just ignore all the crazy claims he’s put in writing over a half dozen or so books.

      I mean, that seems like the prudent thing to do based on a single drive by comment on the internet.

  24. It strikes me that this blog’s three most popular posts, by far, in terms of comment volume, are this one, the Chris Hodges one, and the Torben Sondegaard one. Each rebukes a specific middle tier Christian figure. There have been posts going after heavier hitters, and posts that hit a number of targets, but these three have drawn the most ire, and it’s kept going and going. I have no conclusions to draw from that, I just wonder why.

    • I’ve been as surprised as anyone. I don’t know why either, but I’d possibly guess that few people have addressed the middle-tier folks and given a critique of them. Maybe that’s part of it?

      Also, I try to make objective critiques based on primary sources and direct interaction. That always generates a more passionate response, since I interact directly with the people in question. Some other blogs that have critical interactions with people often have sloppy reasoning, guilty-by-association argumentation and utilize secondary sources that are easy to dismiss.

      Just random thoughts.

  25. Why are you so angry? Who hurt you? Allow Jesus come into your heart, and you will be filled with joy and happiness.

  27. What a snippety fella that mennoknight.

    Based on your tone and rhetoric, I don’t quite get the sense that your of a loving, Christian attitude. Rather to the contrary, your tone is more spiteful. You might have difficulty co-existing in heaven, if you make it there (but who am I to judge).

    Continue on with this crusade that you are on? If that gives you joy in life, by all means. But let it be known, by no means does this “random occurence” of you finding an association of a pastor with a “false prophet” completely neutralize the decades of a successful ministry. Judging based on this random acquaintance is short sighted.

    • AH yes. The guy who has the audacity to passively damn me to hell over the “tone” of a 200 word blog post also has the hypocrisy to accuse me of making short sighted judgments.

      That’s rich…well, not really. It’s actually pitiful that you have such a blinding lack of self awareness.

      And what crusade? This is a 3 year old blog post and I haven’t mentioned Jentezen Franklin ever again. You must think eating a single potato chip is wanton gluttony.

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