Christian, Stop Sharing Anna McCarthy’s Articles (Examining the Blog “Just a Jesus Follower”)

Here we have yet another example of a professing Christian who claims that God speaks directly to her in her mind instead of through the Bible.  According to Gabriel Hughes, the voice and creator of the video series When We Understand the Text, Anna McCarthy “seldom references his words in the Scriptures, but she will quote what she feels like he’s saying in her mind.”  Moreover, McCarthy “Does not attempt to teach you anything about what Jesus said, and therefore can’t teach you anything about what it means to follow him.”

Pastor Hughes offers plenty of reasons to flee from this wolf…

Wolf - Little Red Ridding Hood

Who’s Anna McCarthy, I wondered. I’ve seen her articles bouncing around Facebook and Twitter. The most famous up to this point was entitled When He Became a She, about a time she encountered a former church friend who’s now a different sex. Her most recent article, about a ministry in a strip club, drove me to do a little research.

Her blog is called Just a Jesus Follower. I’ve looked through her material. For claiming to follow Jesus, she doesn’t share many of his words. I scrolled through three articles before I finally found her first reference. She said, “Funny thing is, Jesus said if we followed Him, living in Jesus would be easy — light even. (Matt 11:30)”

I’d be curious to know how she thinks denying yourself and taking up a cross daily is supposed to be easy (Luke 9:23). Jesus clearly said that following him was the difficult road. The easy road is the one that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). In the same passage she quoted, Jesus said the only people who know God are the ones Jesus chose to reveal the Father to (Matthew 11:27). It’s not easy to follow Jesus. It’s downright impossible.

In Matthew 11:30, Jesus was talking about the burden of false teaching. The Pharisees and other teachers were making the people believe they had to keep the law to be saved. But that isn’t possible. Thankfully, Jesus fulfilled all the law and the prophets. For those who know Christ, their load is light indeed, no longer weighed down by guilt and legalism. We can rest forever in Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath (which Jesus went on to talk about in the next chapter).

My friends, these few paragraphs should be enough to inform you that at the very least, this woman who’s “just a Jesus follower” is not following close enough to be teaching about him.James 3:1 says that not everyone should aspire to be a teacher because they will be judged more strictly. Anyone can use his name, but do they know his words? Every teacher needs to be tested — yes, even me.

Whenever I see articles by someone new starting to pop up, I want to know who that person is. One of my jobs as a pastor is to teach sound doctrine and to rebuke those who contradict it (Titus 1:9). This is in loving guidance and careful attention for the flock of Jesus Christ that I examine this person’s teaching.  Continue reading

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3 Responses to Christian, Stop Sharing Anna McCarthy’s Articles (Examining the Blog “Just a Jesus Follower”)

  1. Edwitness May 22, 2016 at 11:40 am #

    It is important to establish what we believe on the scripture. When we hear from God we need to make very sure what we believe God has told us is supported in the Bible. This woman is clearly mistaken if she is not doing this.

    But, in your post Marsha, you said “In Matthew 11:30, Jesus was talking about the burden of false teaching. The Pharisees and other teachers were making the people believe they had to keep the law to be saved. But that isn’t possible. (Huh? What about Job, Zachariah and Elisabeth, and Paul to name a few?) Thankfully, Jesus fulfilled all the law and the prophets. For those who know Christ, their load is light indeed, no longer weighed down by guilt and legalism. We can rest forever in Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath (which Jesus went on to talk about in the next chapter).”

    The law Jesus kept was the same law that all of Israel was expected to keep. And most of them did. The problem with the law is not that men can’t keep it. The problem is that the law was never meant to bring anyone to Christ or the life that he has made available to us through His death and resurrection. Gal.3:21.

    When we believe that it could it creates another problem. That is, that when we believe Jesus kept the law perfectly in order to measure up to a standard of perfection we couldn’t and that God required, we are saying that we are in some way saved by the keeping of the law. This is also legalism and will lead a person to believe some things about God that are not biblical. And leads to a salvation that is by the works of the law.

    Paul makes it clear that no one will be saved by that means. Eph.2:8,9

    Was Jesus the only perfect man because He kept the law perfectly? This is not what the scripture says made Jesus the only perfect man. He was perfect because he never ever trusted in any other than the Father. John 5:19, 5:30 and 12:49. This is something no other man has ever been able to claim about himself. First, because we are born spiritually dead. Separated from God. Second, because this death leads us to worship something that is not God. Which is idolatry, the sin of the world the Holy Spirit was sent to reprove the world of (John 16:9) and is also something Jeusus never ever did. Jesus always trusted the father.

    And trust in the true God is what makes men “perfect”. Not keeping the law blamelessly as those I named earlier did, according to the scriptures. That is why Paul called his ability to keep the law “blameless”, both “loss” and “dung” compared to the knowledge of Christ. Phil.3:2-ff.

    Can one be saved and believe that the works of the law brought them that salvation? Whether those works were performed by themselves or someone else? Here is the answer. “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin”. Rom.3:20. This includes Jesus who had a body of flesh and blood and lived as a man in every way. Heb.2:14. Otherwise His death and resurrection would be meaningless to us.

    Blessings:-}

  2. Manny1962 May 22, 2016 at 11:59 am #

    Great article, it came across as if this Mrs. McCarthy is basing her “ministry” on fleshy feelings and suppositions. And yes, Jesus Christ would not put His Holiness aside to enter a building full of naked women. Add her to the growing list of blogosphere heretics, appealing to the undiscerning weak Christians, not much different than Oprah touting her mystical Jesus, but without the media power and the billions. Red flag!

  3. Sheila Beers May 23, 2016 at 12:49 am #

    I agree with Manny1962! I cannot state the reference, but somewhere in the New Testament it says, “Avoid all appearance of evil,” and that includes going into a strip club to “witness” to people.

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