Found to be misrepresenting God?

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culture, deception, false teaching, leadership, Paul, psalms, repentance, Romans, sin, teaching, temptation, Thomas Brooks

To get this book from Amazon, click on the book cover.

Thomas Brooks’ book Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices talks about various ways the Christian is dissuaded from the life Christ wants him or her to live. One such idea is to present God as made up entirely of mercy, to the exclusion of other things which can be said about him.

One way the Christian can fight the urge of our time to view God this way is to consider that the people of God who have gone before didn’t consider God’s mercy as an excuse to sin. The psalmist wrote,

³ For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in your faithfulness.

⁴ I do not sit with men of falsehood,
nor do I consort with hypocrites.
⁵ I hate the assembly of evildoers,
and I will not sit with the wicked.

–Psalm 26:3-5, ESV

Savagery

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Dan Savage, false teaching, homosexuality, politics, repentance, Scripture

Savagery, \ˈsa-vij-rē\, noun.  An act of cruelty or violence.

Dan Savage made some comments recently which posted to YouTube. Certainly, as an American, he has the right to say whatever he pleases under the first amendment. He has issued what may be considered by many to be an apology subsequent to the public outcry against his posture to religion and adherents thereof.

Abusive Churches and Pastors

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church discipline, experience, false teaching

I have had an extremely bad experience in the Church. I’ve discussed it previously here and here. In another article by Trevin Wax, a list is offered. I’d like to share it here.

How do you recognize abusive leadership? Paul requires two witnesses for a charge to be leveled against an elder (1 Tim. 5:19), probably because he knows that leaders will be charged with infelicities more than others, often unfairly. That said, abusive churches and Christian leaders characteristically

1. Make dogmatic prescriptions in places where Scripture is silent.
2. Rely on intelligence, humor, charm, guilt, emotions, or threats rather than on God’s Word and prayer (see Acts 6:4).
3. Play favorites.
4. Punish those who disagree.
5. Employ extreme forms of communication (tempers, silent treatment).
6. Recommend courses of action that always, somehow, improve the leader’s own situation, even at the expense of others.
7. Speak often and quickly.
8. Seldom do good deeds in secret.
9. Seldom encourage.
10. Seldom give the benefit of the doubt.
11. Emphasize outward conformity, rather than repentance of heart.
12. Preach, counsel, disciple, and oversee the church with lips that fail to ground everything in what Christ has done in the gospel and to give glory to God.

Injustices and Uniforms

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false teaching, Gospel, homosexuality, leadership, parenting, repentance, sex ed, temptation, theology

From the time I was a small child, I’ve worn a uniform. Not a school uniform, not a uniform on a sports team. Ok, so I *did* wear a physical uniform all ten (yes, ten) years of marching band–four in high school for Hazelwood East HS in St. Louis and six during my undergrad at Missouri State (formerly Southwest Missouri State).

The uniform I’ve worn is that of a conservative Christian. It’s not as nice-looking as it once was. It’s worn in the knees and I think the shirt is a bit tattered. It’s still recognizable, though. I made it well past the age of 21 before I got drunk or kissed anyone. (I have yet to do both at the same time.)

I’ve never dated.

I made it well past 25 before I even *tried* to smoke. (I don’t care for it…except for hookah. Hookah is amazing.)

I’ve carried a Bible to school since the fourth grade and to church since I was too young to recall.

And I’ve believed that God, through the words of Scripture, has the final say on what I do with my body in my spare time. I’ve spent a great deal of time on telling others through this blog about the good news of Christ and the importance of repentance and the forgiveness of sins in Christ.

However, for some, this is not enough.

A Plea for Men’s Souls

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C. H. Spurgeon, Emergent Church, false teaching, prayer, preaching, repentance

From Spurgeon:

Charles H. Spurgeon

When men change [their opinions about the truth] often they generally need to be changed in the most emphatic sense. Our “modern thought” gentry are doing incalculable mischief to the souls of men, and resemble Nero fiddling on top of a tower with Rome burning at his feet.

Souls are being damned, and yet these men are spinning theories. Hell gapes wide, and with her open jaws swallows up myriads, and those who should spread the tidings of salvation are “pursuing fresh lines of thought.” Highly cultured soul-murderers will find their boasted “culture” to be no excuse in the day of judgment.

from Lecture #15.

Let’s pray for those who seem to fall into this category in our day and age. Perhaps God might grant them (and me) repentance. Them, for their fresh lines of thought–and me, for failing to pray for them previously.

Canon Closed

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C. H. Spurgeon, false teaching, Scripture, theology

“I have heard many fanatical persons say the Holy Spirit revealed this and that to them.  Now that is very generally revealed nonsense.  The Holy Ghost does not reveal anything fresh now.  He brings old things to our remembrance.  ‘He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have told you,’ [John 14:26].  The canon of revelation is closed; there is no more to be added.  God does not give a fresh revelation, but he rivets the old one.  When it has been forgotten, and laid in the dusty chamber of our memory, he fetches it out and cleans the picture, but does not paint a new one.  There are no new doctrines, but the old ones are often revived.  It is not, I say, by any new revelation that the Spirit comforts.  He does so by telling us old things over again; he brings a fresh lamp to manifest the treasures hidden in Scripture; he unlocks the strong chests in which the truth had long lain, and he points to secret chambers filled with untold riches; but he coins no more, for enough is done.

Start with the Text, Not with the Commentary

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Bryan Chapell, false teaching, Gospel, Jay Sklar, preaching, Scripture

Jay Sklar, a professor at Covenant Theological Seminary, has a little ritual in his classes.  In his class greeting, he and the class say,

Sklar: Shalom, class.

Class: Shalom, Jay.

Start with the Text…

…not with the commentary.

Context…

…is king.

I once sat in a church where, at the beginning of the sermon, the pastor told his congregation that he’d consulted 20 different commentaries, 13 of which validated his interpretation of the text.  Aside from that being only slightly extreme, I think this pastor missed the point entirely of using commentaries.  He seemed to have started with his own presupposition first and then ran a tally count of people who agreed with him, going to the text last.

Bryan Chapell, Pres. of CTS

Bryan Chapell, in his book, Christ-Centered Preaching, pg. 74, makes the following assertion:

You must think through what Scripture says in order to be able to expound adequately and apply meaningfully what commentators say.  No commentator has room to write down all the implications, insights and truths given in a text.  no distant educator or long-dead scholar knows your situation or your congregation’s concerns.  It is not wise habitually to run to commentaries as the first step of sermon preparation, lest your thoughts start running in a groove carved by one not in touch with what you need to address.

The Holy Spirit Spoke to Me!!

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Calvinism, false teaching, fanatics, Gospel, Holy Spirit, preaching, rant, Reformed Theology, Scripture, theology

The Holy Spirit said *what* to him??

Lately, some folks have been totally taken over by frenzy.  They put down their Bibles and want to reach out to God in another way.  These guys criticize others who preach from the Bible, saying that we’re “just following the dead letter of the law.”  Here’s what I want to ask them: where do they get this Spirit that shows so much contempt for biblical teaching as being so low and childish?  If they want to tell me that it’s the Spirit of Christ, I’d tell them they’re being ridiculous!

None of the apostles or early church-goers were ever taught to hold the Bible in such contempt…not by the Holy Spirit.  Instead, they had great respect for it…dare I even use the very old-fashioned word ‘reverence’?  The Holy Spirit taught of His ruling over His people when he spoke through Isaiah, after all:  ”My Spirit is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring…forevermore” (59:21).  This is the way the Church is happy: by being ruled over by the Spirit of God in his Word!

An interesting interaction

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books, C. F. W. Walther, Calvinism, discussion, false teaching, friendship, Gospel, Law, Lutheranism, Oneness Pentecostalism, Reformed Theology, Scripture, seminary, theology, witnessing, work

Last night, I was working at the store and a Oneness Pentecostal guy came in.  I told him I had relatives that had gone to ABI (Apostolic Bridal Bible Institute) and instantly he wanted to talk, which was cool.

It was a fascinating discussion.  We talked about imputed righteousness, eschatology, holy living, the marks of a true Christian…all in the space of one hour.  I was in it more to hear how he heard my questions and how I might ask them better of someone I’m trying to share the gospel with, so it was a fruitful time.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him, however, that not only was I not baptized “in Jesus’ Name,” but that I’ve never spoken in tongues.  He did get to the point however, where he would refer to himself and me in terms I’d relate to “the invisible Church.” He put a high premium on inspiration (his own) through sermon prep and even at one point claimed to have seen the backside of God in a dream.

Another interesting post from Haydn

Tags

experience, false teaching, Scripture, theology

Original post available here.

Quoting from the Fjords of Zion blog:

I’m dangerous

08/13/2010 by Haydn

Wow…  I never thought I was dangerous until this week.  I threaten Christendom itself and the heart of Biblical interpretation.  I was told this yesterday by someone commenting on a comment that I made this week about the Bible.  My comment was that it isn’t necessary for people to read the Scriptures in order to be close to God; reading Scripture is a good thing, but it isn’t necessary for people loving God more or understanding His love better.  The person responding to me said:

So Scripture is a box. Now we ask, is this how Paul or Peter talks about Scripture?