Phil Johnson once played the Word Association game with John MacArthur. When Johnson said the name “Steven Furtick,” this was MacArthur’s response:
“Unqualified.”
Oddly enough, Steven Furtick decided to publish his latest book titled “Unqualified.” It’s clear in scripture that Jesus agrees that Furtick is not qualified to be a pastor.
Furtick’s Instagram reads,
“I’ve been dying to show you this advance copy of my new book.
***
(Un)Qualified:
How God Uses Broken People
To Do Big Things
***
It’s about letting grace fill the gap between your weakness and your dreams. I wrote it for everyone who has struggled to accept your calling because
of your contradictions. Because that is the story of my life.
It releases on March 1, 2016, and I know that’s a while from now. But I’ve been working on this fella for the last 18 months and I couldn’t wait any longer to tell you about it.
Of course, I’ll tell you lots more about it in the months ahead – probably more than you ever wanted to know, but that’s the way it goes when you write a book you really believe in.
Well, if you’re still reading, how about an advance copy giveaway? Like this post and tag a friend – & we’ll pick a few winners to send 2 signed copies to – one for you, one for said friend / aunt / dance partner – your call. Just in time for Christmas.
Love,
sf (& Holly)
PS – I love this cover. So don’t tell me if you don’t. Thx. For real.”
Source: Steven Furtick, Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/p/-xdiBGs5tU/, Accessed 10/12/2015.
NOTE: SCREEN GRAB TAKEN ON THE 10/12/2015.
Categories: Elevation
Reblogged this on Truth2Freedom's Blog.
That guy is so full of himself, how do people even stomach him?
Slim Jim-
You must know Steven Furtick really well to make that statement. I guess you must be flawless.
@ Sips Tea – He’s on a lot of cult-watch radars.
http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/christian-trends/why-is-steve-furtick-acting-like-a-cult-leader.html
“You must know Steven Furtick really well to make that statement. I guess you must be flawless.”
One doesn’t have to be flawless to be able to recognize evil. You just have to read your Bible, which evidently you don’t bother to do “SipsTea”.
Slim Jim……if you have nothing nice to share…..please keep it to yourself…..sad that you are jealous…..may God bless you!
I’m not jealous of Furtick at all so its strange that you would accuse me of that. By the way, don’t you see the irony of your hypocrisy when you say “if you have nothing nice to share…..please keep it to yourself?”
Because he loves Jesus and has an insight of the scripture and life that is unlike anything that has been heard before. Yeah, he can be cocky but everybody has something wrong with them, and that doesn’t stop God from using us. It hasn’t stopped God from using Steven in my life either. I see his heart. I love his sermon Piece it Together. That’s my favorite one by him.
You see his heart? What do you see in it?
Brother Joshua thank you for your comment. I don’t want to take away what you might have benefited from him but there’s a difference between being unqualified and disqualified from ministry (per 1 Timothy 3) and being sinners. We’re all sinners, we’re not perfect but in terms of ministers the issue is whether or not there is a trajectory of being 1 Timothy 3 qualified. I hope you see my intent is driven by a desire to please the Lord and not merely attack.
Sad that Christians cut apart others and throw them to the wolves. Pastor Steven comes from a self-abased life full of doubt. He rises up leaning on God’s grace all the way and makes some mistakes along the way like us all. If you have ever even listened to any of his messages you would know he is not “full of himself”. In every message he gives all the credit to God. He grew in the Lord fighting the demons of religion. Unqualified is about all of us who ever wondered if God could use us. Steven Furtick’s messages are always ones of hope and “You can do it too!!”
And isn’t that the problem? “You can do it too” – because it’s all about YOU, or if YOU really pay close attention Furtick reads himself into every passage of scripture because it’s all about him??
https://carm.org/steven-furtick
Why is it so bad to edify the body? Jesus encouraged us with a bunch of “yous” too and so did the Apostles in their epistles. “You are strong…the word of God lives in you…you have overcome the evil one.” That’s a lot of ‘yous’ for one verse, yet no one complains about that. Seriously people wanna highlight everything a person with a huge platform does when they themselves do it. We have to find something better to do than arguing on social media all the time about who’s more and instead help each other, not point fingers. You know what Jesus said about that #PlanksForDays
How about you love Jesus, chap, by keeping his Word? How about you love His church and call out the pulpit criminals that are destroying Christians to further their own lucrative empires?
“Sad that Christians cut apart others and throw them to the wolves.”
No whats really sad is when some so called “Christian”s are actually the greedy narcissistic wolves themselves, like “Pastor” (lol pastor what a joke) Furtick.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/north-carolina-pastor-1-7-million-home-gift-god-article-1.1501934
https://efurtick.wordpress.com
How can you use this as an example? You are only making him look better. How is it bad to say that the church needs our money to love, serve, clothe, feed (spiritually & naturally) the world? People just don’t like him because he’s straightforward.
“Steven Furtick’s messages are always ones of hope and You can do it too!!”
Do what too? Deceive the Body of Christ too? Buy a $1.7M mansion too?
Steveb why do you think you need to get rich off the Body of Christ too?
Lester,
I do not understand what is so wrong about buying a mansion. Also, how do you know where he gets his money from? People always talk about well-known people, celebrities or pastors, like they know them or are their accountant or something. I feel like too many of us are just caught up in stupid crap the media says and can’t think for ourselves or discern what’s what. You’re just saying what everyone else says it seems like. No disrespect.
“I do not understand what is so wrong about buying a mansion.”
Then get understanding.
“how do you know where he gets his money from?”
Do your research and you’ll find out.
“I feel like too many of us are just caught up in stupid crap the media says”
Actually – all we do is inform people how many Christians are “caught up in stupid crap [these “pastors”] says”. Often we just quote them saying “stupid crap”.
But isn’t it about us? God gave us the Bible so we could learn from it and apply it to our own lives, did he not? I read scripture and strive to find myself and my circumstances in it. Does that mean I’m full of myself? No, it means I truly want to know what God thinks about specific things in my life.
I don’t understand why people, like Mr.McArthur, feel that God can speak to only them. Anything that doesn’t look like a cookie-cutter image of what he thinks about God’s design has to be wrong, right? That’s pompous, and I believe Jesus spent a lot of time teaching on humility in the Word.
Triciasigley:
“Scripture is not a random collection of ancient myths and aphorisms. It has a unifying message told in every genre, by every author, in every period of redemptive history. The unifying thread is not God’s plan to establish a glorious national people on the earth nor is the Bible about the reader. The Bible is about God the Son who became incarnate for us. The Son has been revealing himself to his people since the garden. It is not that God is indifferent to us. After all, we are those “upon whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Cor. 10:11), but we always remain readers of and not actors in crafted drama of redemption supervised by the same Spirit who hovered over the face of the deep (Gen. 1:2) and who hovers over the living temple of God (1 Pet. 4;14). The gospel is that the Mediator “become flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
http://www.modernreformation.org/default.php?page=articledisplay&var2=17
Tricia, to understand what John McArthur meant by “Unqualified”, whether you like J.M. or not, I’d look at it this way. If you go into any Christian bookstore, pick up his annotated KJV or NIV. Look at all the hundreds of footnotes he adds to the Bible.
In contrast, from his point of view, since Furtick can’t even produce a single teaching without bragging about himself and without botching Scripture, yes J.M. is right. Furtick is COMPLETELY unqualified to be on stage teaching about Scripture.
Thank you, LESTER, for your eloquence in actually explaining yourself in your opinion. I appreciate not being belittled by someone who doesn’t even know me. As I disagree with some of what we have discussed here, I will leave this thread alone. I’m sure “churchwatcher” will accuse me of cowardice–or some other equally ridiculous insult–as I leave. But I am confident in my salvation and feel it wrong to argue with fellow Christians where we may instead be greater witnesses. I respect you all for your hard and fast beliefs. God bless you.
triciasigley – unfortunately you used a double standard. You judged us for judging your doctrine almost every time you commented.
We are confidant of our salvation based on our trust in the finished work of Christ.
In one of your previous comments you ask the question, “But isn’t it about us? God gave us the Bible so we could learn from it and apply it to our own lives, did he not? I read scripture and strive to find myself and my circumstances in it. Does that mean I’m full of myself? No, it means I truly want to know what God thinks about specific things in my life.”
The problem with that is simply this, the bible ISN’T about you. It’s about Christ. This what happens when we make ourselves the main focus, God suddenly becomes our assistant. And what if our decisions are misguided (and quite often they are, because of our ongoing sinful nature)? By putting Christ in the passenger seat, we aren’t willing to take correction and redirection.
Luke 24:27 “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself”
John 5:39 “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; yet it is they who testify about me”
To reiterate “The Bible is the account of the work of God in history bringing to fruition His prophetic declarations concerning Jesus. Jesus was born of the Virgin, died on the cross, and paid for sins just as the Bible prophesied in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New. In short, the Bible points to Jesus, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me.”
And I think you know that, “triciasigley”. Not because of something you’ve gleaned from Steven Furtick. But because Christ Himself has revealed it to you, through His written Word.
triciasigley – A good topic for you to research, the theology of glory vs. the theology of the cross. You will find Furtick lands down heavily on the theology of glory.
http://sothl.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/The-Theology-of-the-Cross-vs-the-Theology-of-Glory.jpg
I So agree with you!!!!!!!!!!
Also, when you write things like this:
“It’s clear in scripture that Jesus agrees that Furtick is not qualified to be a pastor.”
Please at least attempt to back it up Biblically instead of just saying that it’s true based on scripture. Which ones prove he is unqualified?
Well if you knew your bible, you would know by default the articles that we are referring too. Would you feel insulted if we named them for you since you do not seem to know your bible?
I know my Bible. The point is, you were the one to claim something without bothering to give scripture references to back it up. If all you’re interested in doing is arguing with me, that’s fine. But if someone who doesn’t have a clue what you’re saying is reading these comments–and you truly want them to know the truth instead of just throwing jabs at a commentor–why would you have a problem listing a few scriptures? Way to show the love of Christ through those snarky comments.
Brother or sister, whomever you are, the way you are on here attacking everyone as if you are holier than everyone makes it look like YOU have not read your Bible. Have some love man. If you feel you are right, then share your opinions without insulting people, assuming that they don’t love Jesus.
https://carm.org/steven-furtick
I don’t understand. Does Churchwatch think it is doing the world a favour by creating a divide and being pharisaic about different people who have different approaches based on their understanding of God and His grace – whether limited or not? As if anybody fully grasps. Nobody in scripture even claims to fully grasp, but you do? And then when people disagree, the responses have no semblance of grace or mercy or kindness or anything. It’s just all negative, destructive all the time. Don’t know why I even bother clicking into your links – you seem to be the most selective scripture quoters ever!
Thanks for commenting Janlo – can you help us by pointing out where we are being selective with scriptures?
No one in the bible is qualified to do anything. Peter said he didn’t even know Jesus, Paul was a murderer, Abraham practically sold out his wife, Jacob was a deceiver, David was an adulterer and a murderer. In Luke 9:50 Jesus said if they are not against us then they are for us. God can use all sorts of people to do extraordinary things. All that matters is that people are getting saved and set free.
Vince, the problem is you are only pointing out these HEROES’ faults. They also shined at other times.
There is a difference between them and Brian Houston, he has never shined. He is NEVER A HERO, he teaches a false gospel… PERIOD. Brian Houston IS against us, causing much division. Or didn’t you notice?
Matt,
In reference to your incorrect understanding of “troll”..
“In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion, often for their own amusement.”
It’s easy to see that you’re a troll (internet slang version, not the actual definition you previously used to avoid the irrefutable fact that you are one). It is also apparent that you are fully aware of this fact, and are not only okay with that, but truly enjoy it. Everyone is entitled to being a troll I suppose, but you should know..
In no way does this website aid in furthering the kingdom of our savior. In fact, I think many would agree, that it and your constant “trolling” are quite counterproductive. Within discussions on your forum, you quote scripture very well, but you simply fail, or don’t care to, see the big picture. You squander your gifts and blessings by bickering online and driving people away from faith.
There are some silly slang words around in our world today, but to be honest, troll describes what you’ve been doing very well. You seem like an alright human being, and have done many good things, but for the sake of our savior, please stop trolling. As you have said, people in your position should be held to a higher standard. Perhaps you should focus on coming off more like a man of faith, instead of an argumentative middle schooler attempting to stir the pot. Self awareness is key.
Best of luck!
It is quite obvious that many of the people posting about this book DIDN’T ACTUALLY READ IT! They are posting just to try to be contrary and argumentative, trying to use random one liner Bible quotes pulled out of context to “prove” their point.
Why should I waste my time reading something written by someone who has already proven he does not understand the Bible or care to follow it (Furtick).
“trying to use random one liner Bible quotes pulled out of context to “prove” their point.”
So what’s wrong with using GOD’S WORD to prove your point?
Oh, that’s it, the Bible wasn’t written by Furtick so IT’S not worth reading apparently. Only Furtick’s literary trash is good enough for you. What a pity, all you care about is the “word of fruitcake.”
One of the best books I have ever read..to all the jealous and haters out there. Pastor Steven preaches and teaches straight from the Bible..He doesn’t pretend to be better than anyone else ..just because he reaches so many people doesn’t make it a cult..God wants us to reach as many people as we can to tell them about him and his son Jesus. ..so if I was to ever be in a cult it would be in Jesus’s cult..I will follow my lord always..as for Pastor Steven, keep up the great work! !!!! I am proud to be a member of Elevation. .God is proud of you too..#Unqualified
“Pastor Steven preaches and teaches straight from the Bible..He doesn’t pretend to be better than anyone else”
Seriously? What planet are you living on?
Hi Tammy, I work for John MacArthur’s ministry and have written a response to (Un)Qualified since it suggests it is a response to Dr. MacArthur’s critique. I don’t expect you to like it or even agree with it, but I do ask that you would at least biblically consider what is said. Someone has already re-posted it below or you can go to http://www.gty.org/blog/B160509
Thanks for your consideration. Cameron Buettel.
Well Mr McArthur each site has its Pastor and they look after the people who go there. I am not sure what makes you qualified to assess multi site churches if you have never been to one. God Bless you for your faith but I will leave the judgement to the Lord. You should as well.
Here’s a better explanation of what MacArthur meant when he said “unqualified”.
https://www.gty.org/#
There’s this :
“Unqualified.” by Cameron Buettel
That was John MacArthur’s one-word assessment of Steven Furtick during a Q&A session at the 2012 Shepherds’ Conference.
It’s also the title of Furtick’s latest book. Furtick credits that brief appraisal of his ministry as the inspiration for writing this:
“Unqualified.” . . . Unqualified?
That word started the wheels spinning in my head. . . . Yes, I struggle with my temper, with my focus, with my motives, with my eating habits, with my prayer life, with my state of mind. And that list doesn’t even scratch the surface.
I know my weaknesses and faults better than anyone. I don’t need to listen to an online interview to feel disqualified. Hardly a day goes by that I’m not seized by the sensation that I have no business doing what I’m doing. That I’m in over my head. That I don’t deserve any of my blessings or opportunities.
Am I unqualified? This book is the answer to that question. [1]
Furtick’s certainly asking the right question. But the answer doesn’t lie in chronicling one’s own journey of self-discovery and self-evaluation. Pastoral qualifications aren’t a mystery—they’ve been clearly and definitively spelled out in Scripture.
I was in the room during the aforementioned Q&A session. For me and the thousands of pastors, church leaders, and seminary students in attendance, John MacArthur’s answer was an obvious reference to the qualifications for “overseers” detailed in 1 Timothy 3:1–7 and Titus 1:5–9.
In those passages Paul describes the clear line of distinction between those who are qualified to be Bible teachers, and those who aren’t:
An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity . . . and not a new convert. . . . And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church. (1 Timothy 3:2–7)
A more detailed discussion of those requirements can be found here.
But such detailed analysis isn’t necessary when it comes to Unqualifed. Furtick proves MacArthur’s point by not addressing or even referring to those biblical requirements. It is frankly astounding that in a book ostensibly defending Furtick’s qualifications that Timothy and Titus are nowhere to be found!
This oversight is glaring—either Furtick doesn’t know or doesn’t care what it means to be biblically qualified.
Instead he chooses to go down the road of subjectivity: “When I started the journey that lies behind this book, I wanted to finally figure out how to respond to that question within myself” (emphasis added). [2] And true to that assertion, Furtick almost exclusively relies on his own opinions and experience to argue his case in Unqualified.
He describes a church leader as primarily “a decision maker, a risktaker [sic].” [3] But that baseless definition is as far as Furtick goes in discussing qualifications specific to church leaders. The rest of the book has a much broader application:
At one point or another, you’ve probably felt unqualified. . . . I think we all secretly fight feelings of inadequacy, insufficiency, and incompetence. We wonder whether we really measure up. We fear we are not “enough”—whatever that means in our particular situations. [4]
That quote captures Unqualified’s utter failure to answer the questions regarding Furtick’s qualification—in that sense, he sidesteps his own purpose statement.
Moreover, in that one paragraph, Furtick encapsulates the three major problems that permeate his entire book. First, subjective feelings replace Scripture as the true test of qualification (“felt,” “feelings,” “wonder,” “fear”). Second, biblical qualifications are narrowly applied to pastors and elders. But Furtick dilutes that critical point by broadening the target audience to everyone (“you’ve,” “we all,” “we”). And third, Furtick confuses the state of being unqualified with the feeling of unworthiness (“feelings of inadequacy, insufficiency, and incompetence”).
The fact is, all of us are unworthy. No true Christian is going to argue against that point. Our unworthiness isn’t revealed by our feelings—it’s spelled out in the pages of Scripture. The Bible concludes that all men are sinners (Romans 3:23) and worthy of God’s wrath (Ephesians 2:3). Our unworthiness actually magnifies God’s love (Romans 5:8) and makes His grace amazing. After all, grace is unmerited favor—if we were worthy of God’s favor then grace wouldn’t be grace at all.
Instead, Furtick seems intent on eradicating those feelings of unworthiness. He also departs from the biblical remedy of repentance and faith in favor of self-esteem therapy. When discussing God’s revelation of Himself to Moses as “I Am,” Furtick somehow finds a way to make it about us:
Perhaps God was sending Moses—and each of us—a message: don’t skip over the I am. Don’t flippantly fill in the blank of who you are. . . .
How would you complete the sentence “I am ____”? How would you fill in that blank? How would you describe yourself? It’s not as easy as it sounds.
When you go to church, usually you’re given a lot of handles on who God is. You’ll hear about his love, holiness, justice, and goodness. . . . Of course, this is of supreme importance.
But often we don’t know who we are. . . . See, it’s one thing to know who God is to you, but who are you to you? Maybe you can describe and define God, but does that sync up with how you describe and define yourself? [5]
I won’t even try to exegete that psychobabble. But it is worth noting that rather than focusing on the character and nature of God, Furtick makes those glorious truths merely the backdrop for his man-centered emphasis.
The answer to our lack of qualification, according to Unqualified, is to fill in that blank with the right “third word”—I am ____. In fact Furtick’s third words form the central theme of his book.
He even devotes several pages to an “I am” self-evaluation, complete with twelve categories of who we are. The confessional options he suggests for describing sexuality are particularly disturbing: “I am straight. I am gay. I am lesbian. I am bisexual. I am unsure . . .” [6] Furtick just leaves the possibilities of sexual identity hanging without any explanation or evaluation.
But what he does make clear is that negative perceptions of ourselves are dangerous. They can hinder our discovery of the self-esteem God desires for us. And that’s where Furtick’s journey of self-discovery also doubles as a message of gospel inversion.
“An intolerance of your weakness will make it hard to be content with the real you.” [7] Third words like “sinful” and “unworthy” are equated with “[giving] up on yourself.” [8] Readers are encouraged “to figure out who you really are and to value the real you as much as God does.” [9] And if Furtick is to be believed, God values us a lot: “God believes in you” and desires to say “I love everything there is to know about you.” [10]
Big problem. All of those quotes should be red flags for anyone with a basic understanding of the gospel. And because Furtick continually fails to distinguish between believers and unbelievers (the terms he uses to identify one’s spirituality don’t clarify anything: “I am Catholic. I am an atheist. I am agnostic. I am Christian . . .” [11]), he offers dangerous comfort to people who are bound for hell. Moreover, by never advocating confession and repentance of sin, he points those who are under conviction of sin away from the only path to forgiveness (Luke 13:1–5; Acts 17:30; 1 John 1:9).
Throughout Unqualified there is no sense of sin’s eternal penalty, man’s depravity, or the true source of man’s value in God’s eyes. We’re not all special snowflakes, inherently precious and valuable. Instead, our true value as God’s people lies only in the immense price Christ paid to purchase redemption for unworthy sinners: “Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life . . . but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18–19; cf. 1 Corinthians 7:23).
So not only does Furtick completely miss the point of John MacArthur’s critique, he is also tone deaf to the clear instruction of Scripture. In fact, his handling of Scripture in Unqualified only serves to further prove John’s point.
A pastor must be “able to teach” God’s Word (1 Timothy 3:2), laboring “in the word and doctrine” (1 Timothy 5:17 KJV), and “a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
On that point alone, Steven Furtick supplies us with ample proof that he is unqualified to stand in a pulpit and has no business shepherding the flock of God.
“Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment” (James 3:1).
http://www.gty.org/blog/B160509
Furtick is such a perfect example of a false teacher. He gives them what they want in the itching ears sort of way, he twists Scripture all over the place, and he goes WOF along with his idols, Osteen and Jakes.
Satan must be laughing at the division currently present in those who accept Jesus Christ as their savior. Divide and conquer is alive and well. Judge the fruits. Are people being led to Christ? Are people being taught to love God, and are people being taught to love their neighbor? If all three are being done, where is the reason for the attack? Is there abuse of power in the church? Absolutely! Always has been; but I personally would not like to face my creator and explain why I consistently attacked ministers who satisfy the great commission and the two greatest commandments of Christ just because I don’t like their style of worship or secondary theology.
“Judge the fruits. Are people being led to Christ?”
No. They are being led to Steve.
“Are people being taught to love God,”
No. They are taught to love Steve.
“and are people being taught to love their neighbor?”
No. They are being taught to trash their neighbour if their neighbour questions Steve.
They are idolaters. They are just like you David only your idols are in Hillsong.
Wow. have you ever actually been to a service? Have you listened to an actual message? Have you studied the Teachings of Jesus at all or are you so caught up in doctrine and the politics of the major church organizations that you have forgotten the teachings of Jesus himself. Sounds like you would prefer the days of law over grace. My personal belief is that as soon as I get the big three commandments right, I will then be equipped to judge other ministries. You must be pretty solid to judge both Furtick and myself! Impressive! While you have on your robe, give me a judgement on Ed Young Jr., Craig Groeshel, Judah Smith, Brian Houston, Andy Stanley, Carl Lentz, Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, and John Gray. But before you pass judgement, please listen to at least one entire message from each so you will be able to support your ruling with evidence.
As a new Christian I am definitely unqualified to enter this discussion so I won’t give my opinion on the subject. It just saddens me to see such contempt between fellow Christians. It’s confusing and disheartening to those of us new to the faith just trying to strengthen our faith. Should we be spending the precious time we have left on this earth critiquing people or looking in the mirror. The moment I reach perfection I’ll start judging other people.
Hi Karryn,
There is a different between a Christian and false teacher. A false prophet/teacher, according to Jesus, are not Christians. Jesus teaches that these types of people are destined to the lake of fire. (Matthew 7:15-21.)
Furtick unfortunately falls into the false teacher category. So as Christians, we are taught by Christ and His Apostles to mark, watch and avoid them. This is for our sake and for every other Christian’s sake.
Our time is precious on earth and we are evangelistic and supportive in the community and the greater body of Christ. A lot of people have been hurt from false teachers like Furtick and it’s important that new Christians like yourself avoid them and simply stick to the teachings of scripture.
If there is anything we can leave you with is to stay focused on the bible. Simply reading things in context, chapter to chapter will save you so much heartache from false teachers.
God bless.