VOL. 20, NO. 3 JULY-SEPTEMBER2000 EDITOR: KEITH A. …

1 VOL. 20, NO. 3 july -SEPTEMBER 2000 editor : KEITH A. MORSEbyG. Richard FisherWhyPeopleAreDupedandHowNottoBe Will you walk into my parlor? said a spider to a fly; Tis theprettiest little parlor that youever did spy (Mary Howitt).The inspired Apostle Paul warnedus: Let no one deceive you (2 Thessalonians 2:3). It is apparent thatwe are vulnerable to deception andwe must not forget it. We must be onguard and protect ourselves against is deception everywhere in thereligious world. Wemustbe can only deceive if itlooks somewhat like the real Craig Hawkins explains: We must realize that the way todeceive people with counterfeitsis to imitate the genuine article asclosely as possible.

2 For example,if counterfeiters want to pass offfake one-hundred-dollar bills,they do not print Donald Duck spicture on purple paper. Insteadthey attempt to duplicate a truebill. Similarly, despicable personswho try to deceive others attemptto appear genuine and do not walk up to you andinform you that they are there todeceive and defraud you. The farmore effective method is fakingfriendship and fidelity. 1 Goethe taught that we are neverdeceived but that we deceive our-selves. It is true that religious huck-sters are believed because peoplewant to believe them.

3 People want theclaims to be true. One of MartinLuther s favorite sayings was mun-dus vult decipi the world wants tobe a person has invested blood,sweat, tears andmoneyinto religiousdeception, he may be too embarrassedor too stubborn to admit he has beentaken. Our hearts are where ourtreasure has gone. Our vested interesthelps us keep the blinders on. Weoften only see what we want to Bible presents a complex picturein regard to deception and assures usthat God holds both the deceiver andthe deceived the first chapter of the book ofZephaniah, the Lord charges andconvicts both the people and thecorrupt leaders they followed.

4 Lamen-tations 2:14 indicates the same:(continues on page 13)Inside this Issue:The Woman at theWell ..Page 2 Four Die at Hinn s Page 3 Gregory Boyd s Infinitely Intelligent ChessPlayer .. Page 42 The Quarterly JournalJuly-September 2000 James , OHJoan C. , PAG. Richard , NJPersonal Freedom OutreachMissouriNew Box Box 514 Route 3 - Box Box 11512 Saint Louis, MO 63136 Bricktown, NJ 08723 Kunkletown, PA 18058 Glendale, AZ 85312(314) 921-9800(732) 477-6577(610) 381-3661(623) 825-3150 Stephen F. , AZPhilip C. , NJM. Kurt , MOBoard of Directors:Board of Reference:2000 PFO. All rights reserved. These articles may not be stored on BBS or Internet sites without permission.

5 ISSN: the newsletter publication of PFO. Published by Personal Freedom Outreach, Box 26062, Saint Louis, MO 63136. PFO sJournalfiles may alsobe obtained on floppy diskette for IBM-compatible computers by subscription from PFO-Missouri. Visit PFO s Web Site at: THE WOMANAT THE WELLN early two thousand years ago, when Jesus walkedfrom Judea up through Samaria, he encountered awoman at Jacob s well near the city of Sychar. Thatancient well is still there today as a monument to thislife-changing teaching that Jesus presented to the woman ispreserved in Scripture in John s Gospel (John 4).

6 DuringHis conversation, He revealed to the woman that He wasthe Messiah and the very source of living water and eternal life. There s also a more recent narrative of another womanat a well. However, this one is not a chronicle or recordof historical facts as is John s account, but rather is amodern-day parable. It is an illustration I have oftenused to demonstrate the plight of those caught within thedangerous and unhealthy web of cultic and aberrationaldoctrine and how escape can be made from thedegenerating effects of such teaching and teachers. Thestory unfolds in this way:There once was a woman who lived in the day, some friends and neighbors began telling herabout a newly discovered well which they said was asource of water which contained great medicinal , they claimed, had healing properties which farexceeded anything she could obtain from her own affliction and unrest still seemed apparent in thelives of her friends and neighbors, their exuberance asthey drank from the well soon overwhelmed her.

7 She toofound herself committed to this alluring source of , in time she began to realize that what sheexperienced was not excitement as a result of drinkingfrom the new-found well. It seemed to be moreexternally generated, not really from within because ofthe water itself. In fact, she sensed just the opposite that she was weak, sick and apathetic. In time, hercondition grew worse, and despite the disapproval of herfriends, she went to her doctor and described hersymptoms, hoping for a listening carefully to the woman, running severaltests and gathering personal data, the physician wiselydetermined that the well water she was drinking wascontaminated.

8 He told her to drink water from another,more healthy, source. He also prescribed a strongmedication to clear up the many toxins which hadentered in her system as a result of the polluted weeks passed and she returned to the doctorfor a follow up visit. Her complaints of feeling weak, sickand spiritless persisted. Puzzled by lack of any small signof improvement in her condition, Just keep drinkingwater from a healthy source and stay on the medicationto clear up the toxins, the doctor emphasized to few more weeks passed and yet another visit to thephysician revealed the same symptoms continuing to(continues on page 20) KEITH A.

9 , CODr. Jay E. , SCDr. Edmond C. , CADr. Norman L. , NCDr. John P. , CAJuly-September 2000 The Quarterly Journal 3 PFO NAMESTWO NEW DIRECTORSP ersonal Freedom Outreach recently added two newmembers to its staff. In April, Dr. James Bjornstad andMr. Philip Cetnar were appointed to PFO s Board Bjornstad is professor of philosophy at Cedar-ville College in Cedarville, Ohio. He is a recognizedscholar and author in the field of cults, the occult andapologetics. Bjornstad has spent nearly 40 years inreligious research. In addition to his proficiency in thefield of alternate religions, he has been a pastor, anacademic dean and college president.

10 He has been onPFO s Board of Reference for the past 10 named to PFO s Board is Philip Cetnar. He is thedirector of PFO s Philadelphia area office and the son ofdirectors Joan and the late Bill Cetnar. He co-founded alocal training and witnessing counter-cult ministry and isresponsible for maintaining PFO s web site. Cetnar, hiswife, Priscilla, and two children live in Mount Laurel, in April, PFO accepted and announced theresignation of Edgar L. Havaich from its Board. Havaichresigned as director because of time constraints. Hefaithfully served on PFO s Board since his appointmentin 1989.