Lots of wolves today!
Well, the Church of England continues on its downward spiral of apostasy. They have now published their plan to consecrate female bishops. I guess it doesn’t matter to them what Paul said about women not being leaders in the assembly.
I was directed by Mind Renewers to read an interesting article about “The Problem with Praise Teams.” I agree with the major thrust of the article, that the whole idea of such praise teams is more entertainment than it is helping worship. If it isn’t entertainment, then why do they receive applause from the audience? (As I have personally observed.)
In my last “Random” post, I reported on the Pope’s statement which seemed to be teaching universalism. You’ll be happy to know that the Vatican has clarified the Pope’s statement, and that they still teach that salvation is only found only in the Catholic Church. But then they say there are Christians who are not part of the RCC. Confusing to me, too. My experience is that salvation within the RCC is found in spite of the RCC.
A video of Andy Stanley making some bad teaching comments went viral until it was pulled due to the controversy. However, you can find it here, if you want to see the entire context.
The main point is that Stanley denigrates the Scripture. There are many reports about the issue, but I found one which I think encapsulates the story over at Do Not Be Surprised...,
Stanley has previously been examined for his statements which seem to certainly to give some affirmation to homosexuality, and has called Christians “judgmental, homophobic, moralists.” He has also given President Obama the title “Pastor in Chief” - even though Obama is antagonistic towards Christian morality. Now he has a new book which is more bad teaching, as examined by Carl Trueman.
With so much muddle-headedness, I certainly can’t recommend Stanley as anyone to seek as a teacher.
Ali has a succinct article demonstrating some of the false teachings of the Word of Faith hucksters.
I found a new (to me) blog exposing the teachings of Mormonism. The article I found explains the LDS idea about the atonement of Christ vs the Biblical idea. Short and sweet.
The ELCA denomination has continued their descent into total apostasy and heresy as they have now elected their first openly homosexual bishop. What God calls an abomination, the ELCA celebrates. [link gone by 1/4/16]
One of the problems I have seen over the decades is that the men of the church are not rising to the occasion of protecting it from false teachings, and allowing emotionalism and “Jesus is my boyfriend” theology to infiltrate. The Church as a whole is getting more and more feminized as women are put into leadership positions. I think this article by Luke Hamilton, posted on “Clashdaily” has some good insight.
Part of the problem is the “sissified” Jesus so often presented nowadays. That doesn’t mean we have to go all Mark Driscoll and make Jesus into a tattooed he-man, but we certainly shouldn’t be imagining a Jesus from a Breck hair commercial. Take a look at “The metrosexual Jesus” for a good argument for doing away with the liberal version of Jesus.
Rick Warren has again demonstrated why he is a false teacher. He has a list of 100 pastors which he encourages people to follow. [link gone by 1/4/16] Among these “pastors” are heretics Joel Osteen and T.D. Jakes! And there are many other names in his list which I have exposed as false teachers in the past, including emergent leaders. Does he have some good teachers in his list? Yes, but that doesn’t absolve him of steering people to goatherds and wolves.
One of those goatherds Warren recommends is none other than Steven Furtick, who has been a subject of many of my “Random” posts. Take a look at a recent “tweet” by Furtick in which he claims God can “redeem your potential.” My what? God redeems people’s potential? Can anyone show me that from Scripture?
8 comments:
I'm with you on the applause thing. I like most things about our church, but the praise band isn't one of them. They say the right things, but after songs the leader will say, "Give God a hand." Uh, sure . . . you just got through singing, and now we're clapping . . . seems like I'm clapping for you. He may mean well but I don't care for it.
Andy Stanley sounds bad. Sounds like he is one of those like Rob Bell who will continue to reveal what he is about.
The RCC always seems a bit schizophrenic about salvation. They cast a big net at times, even for those who are explicitly not Christian, yet when it comes down to details they don't even think Protestants are saved.
Thanks for the link!
Your recent post reaffirmed to me the very sad state of the church in America.
The remnant appears to be growing smaller and far too quiet as the mega power churches and their 'pastors' grow stronger and more vocal.
"Stanley denigrates the Scripture."
Actually, he does not. At no point is he putting down Scripture, he is elevating Christ.
I do not worship Scripture, I worship God, through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Scripture is not its own point, Jesus is the point.
A testament is something that gives witness to something else.
Scripture teaches the virgin birth of Christ. I totally believe the virgin birth of Christ. When I was saved, I did not. I did not even know what a virgin was!
Nobody sat down with me to say, "In order to be saved you have to repent, trust in the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary, ask Him into your heart, commit to Him and believe in the virgin birth."
The Scripture is true from cover to cover, from "In the Beginning" to "Amen." And it is ALL about Jesus...every bit of it.
Not all people come to it with a developed theology, and many see parts of it as myth. But it is not about whether it is or contains myth (which I believe it does not), but it is about God's character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption in Christ.
I don't listen to Andy much, and even less to his father, but I did not see denigration of the Scripture in the video.
I think the point is that without the Scripture, we could not know who Christ is. Yet Stanley says he doesn't believe in Christ because of the Bible. Without the Bible, how could we believe in Christ? The foundation of our faith has to be in the infallibility of the Bible, because without that, we have no idea who Christ is. And if we can't trust it to be infallible, then how can we trust it to tell us about Christ?
Joe: The problem with your logic is the Scripture is the book written by God. It claims to be absolutely true and it was endorsed by Jesus Christ Himself. If it is not absolutely true, then either He was a liar or simply wrong; His reliability and very character is raised or denigrated by whether or not the Bible is true.
Whether or not one wants to say Andy Stanley denigrates scripture, he certainly obfuscate it. I just recently saw a video where he correctly makes a point that a passage has a specific context and application and then teaches the point as if it is applicable across the board, when it obviously is not.
In spite of the errors he remains popular because he is a good communicator.
072591: "It claims to be absolutely true and it was endorsed by Jesus Christ Himself."
I absolutely, totally agree.
I also agree that it's where we find our first and complete knowledge of Christ.
Many converts, though, are brought to Christ first, then introduced to Scripture. Or at least their involvement with Scripture is minimal until after they are saved.
I first trusted in Christ then learned the great doctrines in Scripture. That's the experience of many.
You can't know who Christ is, even to evangelize, if you don't use the Bible. WIthout that "simply a collection of ancient documents" (as Stanley calls the Bible - denigrating it) we have no idea who Christ is. To tell someone about Christ, you have to tell them about sin and God, and you have to have a reference for it. The Bible is that reference.
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