Lotz-a-palooza: God Circle-Prayed The Creation?

For those who haven’t heard the news, Anne Graham Lotz was chosen to succeed Shirley Dobson as the Chairman of the National Day of Prayer.  To make it official something called a “prayer mantle of leadership” was bestowed on Mrs. Lotz.   You may remember that Glenn Beck recently received a “new mantle for the future” from NAR “prophet” Chuck Pierce.  And let’s not forget that Donald Trump received a “mantle of government” from a group of Christian luminaries that joined together to pray for The Donald in his Trump Tower office.  It would appear that receiving a mantle has become a really BIG deal for some evangelical celebs.

Bud Ahlheim of Pulpit & Pen exposed Ann Graham Lotz’s decidedly unbiblical teaching on prayer in LOTZ … Of Nonsense.  In a recent blog post (below), he cautions: “Lotz would do well to repent of the heretical techniques she employs and teaches, and return to a doctrinally-sound study of the Word, with obedience to it.”  One wonders why a woman who has been called on the carpet for her failure to teach sound doctrine (see links below) was chosen to chair the National Day of Prayer.

Now to Ahlheim’s piece:

A woman who embraces the heresy of circle praying, itself borne out of Wiccan witchcraft, will be taking the helm of the National Day Of Prayer Task Force.

Pandering to the discernment-free and Scripture-disregarding, ecumenical efforts of the modern evangelical church, the false teacher Anne Graham Lotz will presumably be drawing circles around the entire nation as she mystically leads it to pray for “repentance, revival, and a recommitment to serious prayer.”

As reported throughout the religious news media, Lotz remarked on her blog that “I was not surprised to receive a call from Shirley Dobson asking me to succeed her … “  Lotz was not surprised, you see, because “God has called me to be a messenger.”  (Uh-huh. Sure, God’s gonna pick someone who uses pagan prayer practices.  Umm, no, prolly not.)

Angel praying

Messenger is not an ecclesiastic office noted in the New Testament. “We are ambassadors of Christ.”

Anyone familiar with Lotz’s less-than-orthodox practices (She gives “prophetic” words, too, FYI) may herein recognize yet further departure from God’s Word by the larger “evangelical” church.  As we know, the enemy may disguise himself as an “angel of light,” this time perhaps via Lotz’s self-monikered, anagrammatic AnGel Ministries.

“God has called me to be a messenger. I have used my initials, AGL, to name my non-profit ministry AnGeL Ministries because in Scripture angels are God’s messengers.”

While correctly identifying the divine use of angels as messengers, Lotz did not point out the important retention of her evangelically-hallowed middle name.  Were it not for that, it seems likely that this particular faith-threatening femme fatale might have a substantially more muted voice.  And that would be a good thing, since her handling of Scripture and her promotion of patently unbiblical teachings are spiritual poison.

No, God did not “call” Lotz to “be a messenger.”  God does not “call” anyone to be a messenger in the same way that He calls a prophet, or a pastor, or someone to any other established, Biblical office.  Instead, God “saves” us to be messengers. Messenger is not an ecclesiastic office noted in the New Testament.   “We are ambassadors of Christ,” remember?  So, in the sense of Him saving us, we are all called to be messengers.

Every believer is charged with the Great Commission.  Saints – all saints – do the work of ministry.  Lotz shoulders no unique, divinely appointed “messenger mantle.”

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” Ephesians 4:11-12

Lotz’s “messenger-ship” office, though, is imbued with an overly spiritualized, ethereal mysticism when she compares it to the ministry of angels.  Did Lotz – whom her father called, according to Dobson in the Charisma news article, “the greatest preacher in the family” – just narcigete herself as an angel? 

(That the elder Graham would call his daughter a “preacher” is a rather curious statement considering the gender-specific, apostolic teaching, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.”  1 Timothy 2:12)

Lotz’s next comment highlights another huge problem.  She makes things up.  She makes things up not only by implying she’s some sort of angelic messenger appointed by God, she also makes up things about His Word and what it means.

“It’s interesting to note that at the beginning of all things, in Genesis 1, God used prayer—the preparation of the Spirit hovering over the waters of a formless, empty planet, and the proclamation of His Word—and God said—to transform our world physically.”

Actually, no, that’s not “interesting to note.”  What’s interesting to note is that Lotz mystically, and wrongly, spiritualizes Genesis to accommodate her own preferences.

(Important Scripture interpretation safety tip from John MacArthur: “Do not spiritualize the passage.  Interpret and understand the passage in its normal, literal, historical, grammatical sense, just like you would understand any other piece of literature you were reading today.”)

Instead of a logical and literal interpretation, Lotz suggests an esoteric meaning.  She is stating that prayer was God’s mechanism for the creation of the world.  HUH?  Did God draw a circle around nothingness and ask for the world to be made?  Is she claiming that God prayed to God for the creation of the world and that God answered God by doing it? (Here, friends, is an example of eisegetical violence being done to Scripture.)

The proper, orthodox interpretation of the creation story yields an introductory, fundamental, and staggering presentation of the sovereignty of God. (that’s a doctrine, by the way, though you may not hear about it in church these days)  Scripture teaches that God, in the fullness of all His divine attributes, SPOKE, and the visible creation that we see was formed “ex nihilo” – out of nothing.  Look it up.

No sound theologian, scholar, pastor, teacher or Scripturally-literate “messenger” will suggest that God was praying for the world to be created.  He spoke; it happened.  Continue reading

Related:

Video:

Anne Graham Lotz appeared on Word of Faith false teacher James Robison’s program. Robison was one of several word-faith teachers who met with Pope Francis at the Vatican.  “Robison has led several conferences with evangelicals and Catholics working toward an ecumenical understanding.” (Watch the Robison/Lotz interview)

Quote:

“Another thing I do is to meet with God in prayer and Bible reading. Just like you need to strengthen your core physically with exercise, you also need to strength your core spiritually,” says Graham Lotz, 65, the daughter of evangelist Billy Graham and author of more than a dozen books including her latest, Fixing My Eyes on Jesus.

“I call it ‘centering down.‘  If I can center down and strengthen the core of who I am, and the core of who I am is my relationship with God, then that helps me maintain peace deep down. If I can maintain a healthy spiritual core, I think that’s enormous for helping the stress.” (Source)

What she’s describing is contemplative/centering prayer.

 

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5 Responses to Lotz-a-palooza: God Circle-Prayed The Creation?

  1. Manny1962 May 12, 2016 at 10:32 pm #

    He who can’t see the great apostasy happening before our eyes is deceived.

  2. Paul, The Marketplace Minister May 13, 2016 at 7:13 am #

    I think attacking the circle idea is a reach, I am 59 years old and have prayed in a circle of believers and we never conjured the Almighty to do anything.
    Whether faithful believers submit ourselves to God, in a circle, a square, or collectively on our knees, or standing with hands raised is really not the point. I believe the enemy likes to imitate and twist the truth, so he uses a circle, he didn’t originate that! What is the greatest heresy is the fact that Lotz says, in essence, I demand God obey ME and bless everyone in the circle before WE let him go. (the “h” in “him” is small, for I say such a position treats the Almighty as just another god to manipulate) As Bereans, we search scripture and what I found is that we yield ourselves to God: submit ourselves, humble ourselves, serve HIM, not demand. Demand, to me, is sin and selfishness. Romans 6:13-19ff. He empowers us to do HIS will not ours. We align ourselves to do HIS will, not my own. I would rather follow His command, not vice versa.

    • Darrel May 13, 2016 at 10:51 am #

      It doesn’t matter how much prayer you have offered from within a “circle”, the words spoken or the perceived sincerity of the heart. The real question is: “Is it Biblical?” There are no commands to pray in a circle, but to “pray without ceasing”; no examples of ‘circle prayer’ anywhere to be found. No biblical principle of circle prayer or ‘circle’ anything else. The only time the word “circle” is used in Scripture is Isa. 40:22. The same Hebrew word is used as circuit (once) and compass (once). Since you know that circle prayer’s origin is not Biblical but Wiccan, why do you still practice it? defend it? exalt it? Very dangerous ground you so glibly tread. Now that you know better what will you do with this knowledge?

    • Marsha West May 14, 2016 at 7:51 pm #

      Sadly, Anne doesn’t understand the sovereignty of God…. nor does her father. So – why are our Christian leaders silent on her abominable teaching? She’s been in the spotlight for many years and influences a large number of women. Interesting that some high-profile Christians have no problem going after her nephew Tullian (and rightly so), but they leave Anne alone. Why? She’s teaching witchcraft, for Pete’s sake!

      Grace & peace,
      Marsha

      • Darrel May 14, 2016 at 8:14 pm #

        “She’s teaching witchcraft, for Pete’s sake.”

        Indeed she is along with her sisters in heresy Beth Moore, et al, in fact ALL the women that think they are God’s spokeswoman when they stand before a crowd to “preach” but deliver their version of the occult practice de jour.

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