Below is an amazing article by Daniel Gorter, critiquing Phil Pringle’s Connect Notes this year (20/03/2001). This is another article exposing how Phil Pringle grooms his congregation with his Connect Notes, twisting every single scripture for his own gain. Read the original article by Dan Gorter: Connect Note Critique: “Get Ready for God!” – Phil Pringle (20 March 2011).

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Connect Note Critique: “Get Ready for God!” – Phil Pringle (20 March 2011)

(This article was originally posted on Facebook on 22 March 2011)

The purpose of this article will be to critically examine the Connect Notes for 20 March 2011, entitled:

Get Ready for God! – Ps Phil Pringle

Every year around the time leading up to the Presence conference, Phil Pringle starts preaching heavily on topics like ‘Getting ready for God’. They are designed specifically to attract registrations for the conference in April, and this years round of conference hype is becoming especially pathetic. Maybe its not; maybe its just me that’s getting more and more sick of it. But either way, after reading this weeks Connect Notes, I felt compelled to put together a response to this blatant error.

I am not ‘religious spirited’, ‘unloving’ or a ‘cynic’. On the contrary, I am motivated by love to share the truth with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I am tired of seeing people get hurt and deceived by the teachings of C3. Most of all, I am tired of seeing the Biblical text (God’s very own words!!) continually mangled and twisted for unjust gain, week in, week out.

My main focus as I move through these Connect Notes will be to address the Bible verses Phil has quoted in order to examine if he has dealt honestly with the Scriptures. I hope to demonstrate with evidence that Phil Pringle does NOT properly handle the text, instead he persistently twists Scripture at every turn of the page.

Lets begin by considering the notes in full:

Isaiah 40:3-5 (MSG) “Thunder in the desert! “Prepare for God’s arrival! Make the road straight and smooth, a highway fit for our God. Fill in the valleys, level off the hills, Smooth out the ruts, clear out the rocks. Then God’s bright glory will shine and everyone will see it. Yes. Just as God has said.” 

Positioning ourselves ready for God. God’s ways are very different to our natural, human ways. That is why we have trouble understanding the way God does some things. That is the time we need to trust! 

Making a highway for our God includes:  

• Decreasing so that Christ might increase: Just as Jesus released his disciples, Pastors and leaders in churches have to constantly release their members to move on with Christ to do other things.
• Doing what God does, not just watching what God does (Ps 103:7).
• Making our hearts a highway for Jesus (Hos 10:3): Remove the piles of rocks and dip pits. Get rid of the bad attitudes and hard heartedness. Make place in your heart for Jesus to move and for others to see Jesus inside of you.

How do we position ourselves to receive God: 

1.  Be in the right place: Place yourself in the things of God
2.  Being obedient: Jesus told some 500 followers to go to Jerusalem and wait there. But when the Holy Spirit came there were only 100 waiting (Acts 2:1). You have to be there!
3. Faith positions you: You must trust and believe (John 20:24-29). When Jesus came to the disciples to commission them, Thomas was not there. He would not believe unless he saw Jesus for himself. We must trust and believe to position our hearts to receive God’s fullness for our lives.
4. Serving God’s people: Having a servant’s heart will both position you to receive the fullness of God (Exo 33:11).

TALK ABOUT 

• What things in your life make it a highway for Christ?
• What things in your life make God’s way less than a smooth run?
• How can you position yourself better to receive all that God has for you?

Phil begins by quoting Isaiah 40, which reads more clearly:

Isaiah 40:3-5 (NIV)

A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the LORD;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

We see elsewhere in Scripture that Verse 3 was fulfilled by John the Baptist:

John 1:19-23 (NIV – emphasis mine)

Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I AM THE VOICE OF ONE CALLING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY FOR THE LORD.’”

As we can clearly see, Isaiah 40:3-5 is a MESSIANIC passage referring to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ 2000 years ago. With Presence conference fast approaching, Phil is trying to encourage people to register by likening the conference to “positioning ourselves ready for God”. Isaiah 40:3-5 would have been the perfect platform on which to preach the gospel of Christ crucified for our sins, but Phil has replaced Christ with the Presence conference, twisting the Scripture into an unmistakable plug for his upcoming event.

Phil continues by making a passing reference to Isaiah 55:8-9….

Positioning ourselves ready for God. God’s ways are very different to our natural, human ways. That is why we have trouble understanding the way God does some things. That is the time we need to trust!

Lets examine the text:

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts…”

Considering the timing of these notes, Phil wants us to think that it is ‘God’s way’ for us to attend Presence conference, loosely using Isaiah 55 as a proof-text. We continue by reading that this is “why we have trouble understanding the way God does some things”, and that this “is the time we need to trust!” Now, there is a grain of truth here in that we do need to trust in God, but considering the context of Phil’s notes, its clear that he is likening our trust in God with our attendance at Presence conference. He knows that there are people out there like me who will try and discourage you from going to Presence, and so he is preempting the critics by persuading you to ‘trust God’.

But is Phil being honest with the Scripture? Is He handling it correctly? What is Isaiah 55 really talking about? Lets look at the two previous verses:

Isaiah 55:6-7 (NIV)

Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

Even the most basic examination of context shows that this passage has nothing to do with positioning yourself ready for God (by registering for Presence). Instead, its about repentance and the forgiveness of sins. That is, the way of God is perfect righteousness, but the way of the the wicked is sin and unrighteousness. Thus, the wicked need to forsake their ways and turn to the LORD (for His ways are not their ways), in order that He may have mercy on them.

Phil continues his mishandling of Isaiah 40 by encouraging us to make a ‘highway’ for God. Instead of acknowledging the literal fulfillment of the passage, Phil takes an unwarranted allegorical approach on how you can make a highway for God in your heart. Essentially, he is taking the words on the page (which have defined meanings) and giving them new allegorical meanings, in order to make the text say whatever he wants it to say:

Making a highway for our God includes: 

• Decreasing so that Christ might increase: Just as Jesus released his disciples, Pastors and leaders in churches have to constantly release their members to move on with Christ to do other things.

Again, Phil makes a passing reference to a Scripture relating to John the Baptist. That is, “decreasing so that Christ might increase”. Lets examine the text:

John 3:25-30 (NIV)

An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man [Jesus] who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”
John the Baptist was “sent ahead” of the Messiah. He was, “the voice of the one calling in the wilderness, ‘make straight the way for the Lord’”. Now that the Lord had arrived on the scene, John was simply taking a back seat. Hence, “He must become greater; I must become less”.

Instead of acknowledging the clear reading of this passage, Phil twists the text to say that “pastors and leaders in churches have to constantly release their members to move on with Christ to do other things.” Who knows what this means. If I had to speculate, its most probable that Phil is referring to churches outside of the C3 movement, encouraging the leaders of these churches to allow their members to attend Presence. Either way, Phil is once again mishandling God’s Word.

Phil continues by making reference to Psalm 103.

Making a highway for our God includes: 

• Doing what God does, not just watching what God does (Ps 103:7).

The text says:

Psalm 103:7 (NIV)

He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel

This is such a gross mishandling of Scripture that I initially thought it must have been a typo. However, after reading Phil’s blog I saw that it was no typo (see http://philpringle.com/_blog/Phil_Pringle_Blog/post/The_ways_of_God/).

There is just no rational way to interpret Psalm 103:7 to mean, “doing what God does, not just watching what God does”. All this verse is pointing out is that God made known his ways to Moses (gave the Law), and his deeds to the people of Israel (Egyptian plagues, parting of the Red Sea, etc.).

Nevertheless, Phil is once again twisting the Scripture to make it say something that it does not say. He knows that there are plenty of C3 members who treat the Presence conference as a casual event, often waiting till the last minute to decide whether or not they are going to attend. If this is indeed the case, then Phil is trying to get people committed and enthusiastic about the conference. After all, making a highway for our God includes DOING what God does, not just sitting on the sideline and watching what God does. You’ve got to register NOW! Tickets are selling FAST! Seats are RUNNING OUT! (Even though there are always plenty of empty seats come conference time).

Just as a side note while I think of it. About a year or two ago, the Change/Loveis office was getting ready for one of their Awakening conferences. In order to encourage registrations, they were tweeting that tickets were selling fast. I was volunteering in the office at the time and asked if this was in fact true. Their response was that they hadn’t had a single registration in quite some time. And no surprise, the auditorium was barely half full for the entire conference.

These are just typical marketing tactics used by C3 to get you to register for their conferences. Its got nothing to do with “making a highway for our God” (which is Biblically unattainable).

Anyway, back to the Connect Notes. Phil continues by making reference to Hosea 10:3…

Making a highway for our God includes: 

• Making our hearts a highway for Jesus (Hos 10:3): Remove the piles of rocks and dip pits. Get rid of the bad attitudes and hard heartedness. Make place in your heart for Jesus to move and for others to see Jesus inside of you.

The text says:

Hosea 10:3 (NIV)

Then they will say, “We have no king
because we did not revere the LORD.
But even if we had a king,
what could he do for us?”

Again, I struggle to see the point that Phil is making here; his point bears no real resemblance to the text whatsoever.

Whatever Phil’s point is, this Scripture is simply referring to God’s judgment of Israel because of their unfaithfulness and idol worship (read the whole chapter).

Either way, Phil is twisting Scripture YET AGAIN. Instead of dealing honestly with the intended meaning of the God-breathed text, he is using it to say things it simply does not say.

Its automatically implied that if you have a problem with attending Presence conference, then you need to, “remove the piles of rocks and dip pits. Get rid of the bad attitudes and hard heartedness. Make place in your heart for Jesus to move and for others to see Jesus inside of you.” Its implied that Jesus is going to move at Presence, and so you need to make room in your heart for Him by attending the conference, thereby allowing others to see Jesus inside you. Make no mistake, this ‘jesus’ that Phil is referring to does NOT exist. He is not the Jesus of Nazareth who walked the earth 2000 years ago, neither is he the Christ that was crucified for our sins and who rose again on the third day. He is a figment of Phil’s own depraved imagination.

Next, Phil continues the Connect Notes by giving us four ways on how to position ourselves to receive God:

How do we position ourselves to receive God: 

1.  Be in the right place: Place yourself in the things of God
2.  Being obedient: Jesus told some 500 followers to go to Jerusalem and wait there. But when the Holy Spirit came there were only 100 waiting (Acts 2:1). You have to be there!
3. Faith positions you: You must trust and believe (John 20:24-29). When Jesus came to the disciples to commission them, Thomas was not there. He would not believe unless he saw Jesus for himself. We must trust and believe to position our hearts to receive God’s fullness for our lives.
4. Serving God’s people: Having a servant’s heart will both position you to receive the fullness of God (Exo 33:11).

The first problem here is that you do not ‘position’ yourself to receive God. Phil is giving us a list of self-righteous WORKS that we can perform in order to earn God’s favor and attract his attention. It will make you think, “what do I have to DO to make God notice ME”. Instead, the Scripture teaches the complete opposite: we receive God FREELY by GRACE through FAITH:

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

Moving on, Phil begins his list of ways to position yourself with being in the right place:

1.   Be in the right place: Place yourself in the things of God

This is scripturally unjustifiable. Phil is again implying that the upcoming Presence conference is the ‘right place’, and that by attending you will be ‘placing yourself in the things of God’.

But what does the Scripture say?

Ephesians 2:1-5 (NIV)

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Romans 5:6 (NIV)

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

The Scripture clearly teaches that while we were helpless in our sin, Christ came TO US. HE saved us by HIS grace. Its not up to you to ‘be in the right place’.

Next on the list is obedience:

2.   Being obedient: Jesus told some 500 followers to go to Jerusalem and wait there. But when the Holy Spirit came there were only 100 waiting (Acts 2:1). You have to be there!

The text says:

Acts 2:1 (NIV)

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

This is simply an historic fact recounted by Luke, yet once again Phil has twisted it to fit his own paradigm. He is implying that Jesus is telling you to attend Presence and that you must obey Jesus. After all, “you have to be there!”

Phil continues the list by claiming that faith positions you:

3.   Faith positions you: You must trust and believe (John 20:24-29). When Jesus came to the disciples to commission them, Thomas was not there. He would not believe unless he saw Jesus for himself. We must trust and believe to position our hearts to receive God’s fullness for our lives.

The text says:

John 20:24-29 (NIV)

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

First of all, faith is a gift from God. Saying that, “faith positions you”, turns faith into a self-righteous WORK, which is no longer faith. Remember that we don’t position ourselves before God, but HE positions us in Him. Remember that while we were helpless in our sin, Christ died for us. HE CAME TO US. HE positions us. HE is the Author and Finisher of our faith.

Furthermore, The very text Phil cites to prove his point fails abysmally to do so. In fact it demonstrates the exact opposite. Thomas’ initial unbelief NEVER put him out of position to receive from Jesus. In fact, Jesus CAME TO HIM saying, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

It was a complete act of grace by which Jesus revealed Himself to Thomas. His initial unbelief did not disqualify him from receiving from Jesus. Don’t get me wrong, I am not downplaying the necessity of faith in the Christian life; faith is essential. I am just asking us to remember that Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith, not us. God is in charge, HE is the one who positions us in Christ to receive from Him.

Also notice that Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” He did not say, “Cursed are you because you have seen and believed,” yet for some reason we always make a big deal out of ‘doubting Thomas’.

The point is that Phil is trying to equate faith with registering for the Presence conference. If you attend, then you will be positioning yourself in faith. You will be trusting and believing, positioning your heart to be able to ‘receive God’s fullness’. Once again, Phil has twisted the Scripture in order to make it say things it simply does NOT say.

Far from showing that “we must trust and believe to position our hearts to receive God’s fullness for our lives”, John 20 demonstrates the grace and faithfulness of Christ Himself.

Finally, Phil rounds out the list with serving:

4.   Serving God’s people: Having a servant’s heart will both position you to receive the fullness of God (Exo 33:11).

The text says:

Exodus 33:11 (NIV)

The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

The implication here is that if you attend Presence, then you will have a servant’s heart. Perhaps this is directed more specifically at C3 College students (and others) who will be volunteering to serve at the conference. The implication is that this work of serving will “position you to receive the fullness of God”. But as we have already discussed, this is a WORK done in self-righteousness, not faith. We know that we do not do good works to position ourselves to be accepted by God, we do good works because we are ALREADY accepted and favored by God.

Even after considering all of this, Exodus 33:11 says nothing about “a servant’s heart [positioning] you to receive the fullness of God”. This is once again an outright misuse of Scripture.

Finally, there is a discussion section at the end the Connect Notes:

TALK ABOUT 

• What things in your life make it a highway for Christ?
• What things in your life make God’s way less than a smooth run?
• How can you position yourself better to receive all that God has for you?

These sound awfully like loaded questions designed to manipulate the way we think. Appropriate responses might include, “Presence conference will make my life a highway for Christ”, “Not going to Presence will make  God’s way less than a smooth run in my life”, “by attending Presence I can position myself better to receive all that God has for me”, etc etc. These suggestive questions are designed to keep people focused on the conference (rather than a crucified and risen savior).

Conclusion

After considering the Connect Notes in full, we can see that Phil Pringle mishandled EVERY SINGLE verse he cited. Every single verse! Not once did he properly handle God’s word. What’s really sad is that people just accept these Connect Notes without testing them, even though they are full of Biblically unjustifiable material.

Please think critically. Ask yourself: is Phil Pringle’s interpretation of the Scripture consistent with what the Holy Spirit originally intended to mean when He breathed the Scripture? If not, then by what Godly authority does Phil Pringle change the meaning of Scripture to make it say something different to what the Holy Spirit intended it to say? A genuine preacher and teacher of God’s Word would not mishandle Scripture like this, he would value and respect the text by being careful to preserve its original meaning in context.

If you disagree with me, then say so. I am open to correction. However, please argue based on proper handling of the Scriptures.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far!

**Addendum**

In response to anyone who believes my critique merely drew a connection to Presence Conference that didn’t actually exist, here is a quote from the corresponding Sunday Sermon on which the Connect Notes themselves were based. Phil openly declares that to position yourself in the right place, you need to be in Presence Conference:

Phil Pringle, “Get Ready For God”, 20 March 2011, Sunday 6pm Service, Oxford Falls Campus, (emphasis mine)

Now here’s the thing, without wind that boat is going nowhere. A boat is just a boat going nowhere until its got wind in it; a Christian is just a Christian on earth doing nothing until the wind hits you. To get that wind, you gotta POSITION YOURSELF in the RIGHT PLACE. And you know exactly what I’m gonna say: I mean, BE IN PRESENCE, amen! IF YOU’RE THERE, it’ll happen! The touch of God can come on your life. Mark out all the other stuff, nothing is more important than you getting fresh wind in your life as a believer! And getting yourself carried by the greatest wave that you can ever have in your life! So suddenly you become effective and you’re doing things that you never did before.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far!

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(Source: http://myc3churchreview.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/connect-note-critique-get-ready-for-god-%E2%80%93-phil-pringle-20-march-2011/#more-31)

Screen grab of Pringle’s blog article: http://philpringle.com/_blog/Phil_Pringle_Blog/post/The_ways_of_God/

NOTE: ALL SCREEN GRABS WERE TAKEN BEFORE THE 26/10/2011.