Our Daily Bread (ODB) is a daily devotional produced by Radio Bible Ministries (RBC). From its modest beginnings under M.R. De Hann, RBC Ministries has expanded into a massive literature, radio, and television "ministry." RBC publishes the daily devotional booklet Our Daily Bread (circa 1956), the daily devotional for high school and college-age students Campus Journal (circa 1989), and Discovery Series booklets (circa 1938) on more than 250 topics (of the latter, 7 million are freely distributed annually). RBC's monthly newsletter, Times of Discovery (circa 1940), has a circulation of millions. RBC also owns Discovery House Publishers (circa 1987), through which it primarily publishes the works of non-RBC affiliated authors, and offers magazines (including Sports Spectrum magazine, begun in 1987 as Second Look), videotapes, audiotapes, Bible-study CDs, and music products.
RBC claims that its vision is to provide (1) devotional material (Our Daily Bread, Campus Journal) to help people feed on the Word of God, (2) Bible study materials (Discovery Series) to teach right doctrine about God, ourselves, and our circumstances, and (3) evangelism resources (Reasons to Believe brochures) "to awaken interest in a new way of life by gently and lovingly helping others to see the reasonableness and possibilities of faith in Christ" (Times of Discovery newsletter, Jan 1993).
I believe that it can be easily demonstrated that RBC substantially fails in its mission, and since RBC's materials are read by millions of people each month, it is imperative that people be warned. ODB is used as a “devotional” by many professing Christians in spite of the fact that its loaded with false doctrine, promotion of worldliness, psychoheresy and positive quotations from absolute heretics and apostates.
It astonishes me that professing Christians continue to read this shallow, unbiblical, and many-times heretical daily devotional booklet, in spite of its increasing apostasy through psychology, worldliness, contemplative mysticism, neo-evangelicalism, emerging heresy, ecumenicalism, ungodly carnality of rock music incl. CCM, etc, found in its pages. Is it any surprises there is so terrible much heresy and apostasy and worldliness everywhere present in evangelicalism and fundamentalism? It went completely heretical multi-decades ago but people continue to read it like like good Christian fodder. Where’s the discernment that always exists in saved people (1 Cor 2:14-15)? It’s certainly not good Christian fodder but dangerous heresy. It shouldn’t be read or supported in any shape or form but at best used as fire starter. No one should be supporting heresy, but that is just normal in the apostate age we live in.
Here are some reasons among truckloads why RBC should be separated from, and and ODB discarded for the heresy it is, with all support dropped and then true repentance publicly exercised for seriously disobeying the Lord and propagating dangerous error.
1. ODB is thoroughly psychology infested, but sadly not by the Bible. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Radio Bible Class (RBC), the producers of ODB, took a wilful psychological turn, incorporating the world's pop psychology into almost every area of its vast media empire. Most evident was the psychological self-love/self-esteem/self-worth teachings appearing in its daily devotional ODB including a "Christianized" form of occult visualization, which is also known as Theophostic Counselling, something I deal with here: Exposing the Inner-Healing and Theophostic "Counselling" of John Regier and George Froese - Part 1
Consider for instances an article by Mart De Haan titled "Been Thinking About . . . Counseling” (News & Comments from RBC Ministries, June 2000). While De Hann does not use the terms "clinical psychology" or "psychotherapy" in his article, it is clear he supports both. De Haan aligns himself with professionally trained "people helpers" and strongly defends the use of extra-biblical material for helping individuals experiencing problems of living. His article promotes "support groups," "professional counsellors," and "personality tests." This actually exposes the heart of an unregenerate person, for God and His Word is all sufficient for every matter of this life, something that is made evident in the life of all true believers. The Holy Spirit is called the Comforter for a reason but He is not the Comforter of an unsaved person.
A ODB devotional article from 1994 by Dennis De Haan clearly indicates his, and RBC's, continued affection for pop psychological concepts. In the article titled, "Our Image Problem," De Haan contends that people who "understand clearly their own strengths and weaknesses are better able to accept themselves as they are and accomplish more in life." The Apostle Paul is De Haan's Biblical character who supposedly exemplifies self-acceptance —
"His self-acceptance was based on God's acceptance of him in Christ [despite Paul's] "painful memory of persecuting the church."
De Haan describes what he believes to be "a mature kind of self-acceptance" — "'By the grace of God I am what I am.'" He concludes with a poem that claims
"God accepts us as we are, and we must do the same."
Read Martin & Deidre Bobgan: James Dobson's Gospel of Self-Esteem & Psychology, pp. 65-71, for a proper, Biblical analysis of so-called unconditional love and self-acceptance.
In a September 23, 1995 ODB report, M.R. De Haan II teaches that,
"Low self-esteem is a killer — a killer of potential, of courage, of relationships. ... To feel good about yourself, think of who you are in Christ."
2. ODB and other RBC publications regularly cite favourably and/or endorse such psychologists/. psychiatrists/ psychologizers heretics as Alfred Adler, Abraham Maslow, Paul Tournier, Leo Buscaglia, Victor Frankl, Larry Crabb, Dan Allender, Kevin Huggins, Henry Cloud, John Townsend, David Wyrtzen, Bob George, John White, Josh McDowell, R.C. Sproul, Billy Graham, James Dobson, Chuck Swindoll, Irwin Lutzer, Karen Mains, Jill Briscoe, Joni Eareckson Tada, William Backus ("self-talk" therapy), Henri Nouwen (ecumenical New Age Roman Catholic mystic and universalist), Max Lucado, Chuck Colson, David Yonggi Cho, the 12-Step programs of the Rapha and Minirth Meier New Life Clinics, and the ecumenical, psychological, charismatic Promise Keepers movement (even once calling God, the "Divine Promise Keeper"). (ODB has even quoted favourably from neo-orthodox heretical theologians Soren Kierkegaard and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer was a rank apostate who denied or questioned nearly every major doctrine of the historic Christian faith! He was also one of the fathers of the "Death of God" theology. Click here for further info on Bonhoeffer).
3. Typical of the watered-down, false gospel, psychologized "God can't save without our worldly helps" thinking of RBC's leadership is the SPOT radio:
“Through the use of multiple voices, drama, music, and sound effects, the message of the Bible is translated into the language of our times. SPOT RADIO doesn't preach.”
Well that's pretty sad, considering we are commanded to "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." (2 Tim 4:2).
4. A good example of just how far RBC has come in its acceptance of the psychological gospel would be an RBC Discovery Series booklet written by Tim Jackson, a licensed psychologist in Michigan — "When Help Is Needed: A Biblical View of Counselling." (Jackson is also listed as the senior counsellor for RBC's Biblical correspondence department). This man is a secular apostate yet invited to teach on how to understand behaviour. RBC has also been operating a telephone/mail psychology-oriented counselling department, that utterly denies the Bible and the sufficiency of God’s Word. Besides the fact that this "counselling" is heavily psychology-based, God's Word nowhere authorizes long-distance counselling outside of the local church. One error, leaven, begets another.
5. ODB frequently makes reference to Roman Catholics in a positive light (a religious cult who have never changed and are guilty of murdering millions of professing Christians), which is beyond comprehension. RBC's ecumenical fellowship with Catholicism is no secret. In a 1990 Discovery Series booklet titled, "Is Doctrine Keeping Us Apart?" RBC' editor Herbert Vander Lugt classifies Catholicism as a Christian denomination, and asks the question of all "Christian" denominations, "Would God want His people to part company over doctrinal differences?" In a 5/90 response to an Australian pastor who wrote protesting the classification of Catholics as "God's people," Vander Lugt conceded that "Roman Catholic teaching about Mary contains serious error," but Catholics "do not portray her as co-redeemer with Christ. ... I can't honestly accuse [Catholics] of making Mary equal to Jesus, a co-redeemer between God and man." The following two quotes are from the book, Ten Series of Meditations on the Mystery of the Rosary, which was given the Nihil Obstat and the Imprimatur, an official statement by the Roman Catholic Church that the book "is free of doctrinal or moral error"; i.e., official Roman Catholic doctrine: (1) "She [Mary] is co-Redemptrix of the human race"; and (2) "The church and the saints greet her thus: 'You, O Mary, together with Jesus Christ, redeemed us.'" Obviously, Mr. Vander Lugt is either being deceptive or he is ignorant of the truth concerning Roman Catholic doctrine.
In a 9/91 letter to the same Australian pastor, Vander Lugt rationalizes RBC's refusal to expose the false teachings of Roman Catholicism:
"We teach biblical truth. We also have the attention of hundreds of thousands of Roman Catholic people who read RBC literature and listen to RBC broadcasts. And we see no wisdom in taking an openly belligerent posture towards their church and thus alienating them before we have the opportunity to reach them."
Thus, it appears that RBC officials are saying, "It's okay to do evil (not expose the false gospel of Roman Catholicism) so that we have the opportunity to do good (reach them with the truth)." (Or could it be, "We do evil so that we can continue to reap their financial support"?)
RBC has been a participant with the heretical and highly ecumenical National Day of Prayer.
The 45th consecutive observance of the highly ecumenical National Day of Prayer (NDP) was scheduled for May 2, 1996, with ecumenical gatherings around America. The chairwoman (again) for the event was the heretic Dr. James Dobson's wife, Shirley. RBC was a participant in the event, urging its readers to "consider joining the many volunteers who will coordinate prayer services at churches, workplaces, and homes . . . The observance crosses racial, political, and denominational boundaries to bring together all Americans" (Times of Discovery, March 1996, p. 3).
Go here to read about the opposition of Roman Catholicism to the Bible: Biblical Christianity vs Roman Catholicism.
6. ODB heresy is even of the charismatic flavour. They believe in “signs and wonders” and apostolic gifts, as the lead article in the June 1997 Times of Discovery reveals, written by Martin DeHaan II:
"The Lord of history has not stopped giving gifts. He has not forgotten how to enable His people to speak in real languages they have not learned. . . . I believe in a God who can enable His servants to walk on water, heal the sick, and raise the dead. . . . I believe in a God who can use apostolic gifts in regions of the world where the gospel message needs authentication.”
The late John Wimber, a "signs and wonders" guru and founder of the Vineyard, could not have said it better!
Apostolic gifts and signs ended with the apostles (1 Cor 13:8).
7. RBC’s Discovery House Publishers has published and promoted three of Luis Palau's books. Palau has honoured Soviet atheistic churchmen, endorsed the blasphemous and evil Living Bible, spoken at the apostate Oral Roberts University and Moody Bible Institute, and his ecumenical evangelism campaigns have involved Roman Catholics, charismatics, liberals, and neo-evangelicals. His messages are also full of Scripture misuse and abuse, and heavily diluted with pop psychology, easy-believism, and Keswick/ higher life heresy. That doesn’t stop RBC from publishing this heretics books or from vast majority of neo-evangelicals from quoting him from positively from the pulpit, such as those, for instance, in the EBMC denomination.
8. ODB promotes practically every form of error and heresy imaginable, including Catholic/New Age Spiritual Formation and are actively helping form the one world church of the Antichrist. Evangelicalism is thoroughly metastasized with psychology and all sorts of heresies and RBC is a big pusher of this, their directors entrenched with the world and psychology and all forms of apostasy.
9. This para-church ministry promotes modern “Bible” perversions (which is evil, Rev 22:18-19) and stands for nothing, which is typical of “evangelicalism” today. They do love something though and that is money, like most other “evangelical” organizations today, and this truly reveals the condition of their heart (see 1 Tim 6:10 and Rom 16:17-18). These are “enemies of the cross of Christ” and belly servers but NOT Christ servers (Rom 16:18; Phil 3:18-19).
10. RBC is also into contemplative mysticism, noted with the June 6, 2006 entry for ODB built around the book “The Return of the Prodigal Son” by the late Roman Catholic Henri Nouwen. Nouwen was obviously a lost heretical RC priest, not only for the Catholic reason, which is loaded with heresies and apostasies (see here) but also because he believed that men could be saved apart from Jesus Christ.
11. RBC denies hell. It has become fashionable in our day for neo-evangelicals to deny or question the doctrine of a literal fire in hell. John Stott, F.F. Bruce, Philip Hughes, Clark Pinnock, and Billy Graham are but a few that expose RBC's apostasy. These men appeal for support to utter heretics like J.I. Packer, Schaefer, and C.S. Lewis, who have serious question marks over their lives regarding true Biblical Christianity. In 1991, in a Discovery Series booklet written by RBC's Herb Vander Lugt who served as Senior Research Editor for RBC Ministries (he was with the ministry from 1966 to 2006 and became the third author to contribute to ODB, and wrote numerous Discovery Series booklets, and reviewed all study and devotional materials), under "What Does the Bible Say About Hell? reveals another denial, i.e., the fire is only "symbolic" and "Unscriptural and repulsive overstatements about hell have turned some people away from the gospel." Some other tidbits of erroneous doctrine in this booklet:
"We must be careful that we do not go beyond the Scriptures and portray hell as a place where all the lost will scream in pain forever and forever" (p. 24);
It is perhaps wise for us to avoid excessive speculation about the suffering of hell" (p. 25);
"Some who never hear the gospel become conscious of their sinfulness, abandon all efforts to earn God's favor, and cry out for forgiveness" ('respected evangelical,' Sir Norman Anderson, p. 27 -- Anderson equates them with the Jew of the Old Testament and argues both are saved without hearing of Christ);
"So should we portray hell as a literal furnace of fire where all the lost will scream in pain throughout all eternity? The church Fathers, Luther, Calvin, all the classical theologians, and present day leaders like Francis Schaefer and J.I. Packer say an emphatic 'no'" (pp. 28-29).
“A hell in which all burn in a literal fire does not allow for significant degrees of punishment. . . . It’s important to remember that the Bible often uses fire as a symbol”
Over the past few decades, the tendency among the so-called "evangelical" crowd has been to play down the awful reality of what the Bible says about hell. This is heresy and evil, causing people to undermine the seriousness of eternal hell fire.
12. ODB’s devotional from Oct 21, 2021 positively referred to the new ager Quaker and utterly apostate Richard Foster. That’s bad. The guy is absolutely loaded with heresy including new age heresy, and a blatant wolf in sheep’s clothing, obvious even to the unsaved. Read here on the utterly horrible heresies of Foster.
This is just barely the tip of the ice berg. There is so much heresy and false teachings in this organization and daily devotionals, it would take a volume large enough to fill the back of a rock truck to expose it all. And that is no exaggeration. It’s not just the quotes and recommendations and ecumenicalism that makes this devotional dangerously heretical but the actual unbiblical garbage they write, which is mostly based upon psychology, humanism and relativism, and not the clear truths of Scripture. The horrible shallowness, watering down of truth, compromise and immaturity, intermixed with worldliness, is nauseating to the core.
If you support this evil, shame on you. You will be held accountable one day for the destruction and dangers it produces. No true Bible believing Christian should be making it through even one of these devotional booklets before discarding it in the trash bin.
If you are truly saved, actually born again according to God’s Word, the Spirit of God will convict you of the unBiblical, worldly and shallow dangerous garbage you are reading, and spiritual discernment would reveal that its worldly, and heretical and then love for God and His truth would cause you to throw it away. That is Biblical. The only Biblical response. That is how God the Spirit works, and not by appeasing you in your sin, error and self-love. If you enjoy reading these and have no consideration of changing, you need to be born again and you can read by clicking this link on how the new birth comes about.
Books like the first epistle of John and James expose you to be unsaved. You don’t have fruit of the Spirit or the evidence of salvation. John for instance tells us that saved people do not believe a lie and they know the truth (1 Jn 2:20-21). You are believing a lie and don’t know the truth. You also fulfill passages such as Pr. 17:15,
“He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.”
Heed the warning of God the Son:
“I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” (Lk 13:3, 5)