We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum. A.W. Tozer
Therefore let God-inspired Scripture decide between us; and on whichever side be found doctrines in harmony with the word of God, in favor of that side will be cast the vote of truth. --Basil of Caesarea
Once you learn to discern, there's no going back. You will begin to spot the lie everywhere it appears.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service. 1 Timothy 1:12

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Random Aberrations, Apostasies, and Heresies

My first two items today are with a hat tip to Erin Benziger for alerting us to them on her blog.

Andy Stanley is becoming more and more dangerous in his teachings.  He’s taking a road which should not be taken.

Then we have more information about Rob Bell’s interview with Oprah and his promotion of homosexuality.  For all his claims, there is nothing about Bell’s ideology or teaching which can be called “Christian.”  He’s a heretic, plain and simple.

In regards to homosexuality, the PCUSA denomination is continuing its downward spiral into total apostasy.

Elizabeth Prata has a good blog which I follow.  I know, she’s hard-core when it comes to Calvinism, but I just tiptoe around her TULIPs and read for the good stuff.  However, she has twice within the past week made proclamations which I think are mighty presumptuous.  First, she said “Copts are not Christians.”  Then she said, “Catholics are not Christians.”  I argue that while these organizations are corrupt versions of the Christian faith and are not Christian as organizations, we cannot know the individuals’ stance before God.  There is enough of the truth among the teachings of these organizations (and Eastern Orthodoxy) that people have come to be true Christians in spite of their teachings.  I’ve known many Catholics who are true Christians, and I’m suggesting the same would be the case for Copts.  Call the organization non-Christian, but don’t judge the individuals.  These organizations are not like cults who have no true teachings about Christ, such as the LDS and JW, whose members can never be Christians as long as they remain with those beliefs.

Now that I’ve broached the subject of Catholicism, it seems they have some real problems among their ranks.   Many Catholic schools and institutions are accepting the legitimacy of same-sex unions!!!!  As long as the Church leadership does not excommunicate or somehow exercise discipline and rebuke them, these actions will continue to spread.

Then we have an assembly, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, which has a female “lay minister” which performed a same-sex fake “marriage,” and the SBC “may” expel them.  Why “may”?  The deed was done and needs discipline.  The very fact that they had a woman lay minister should be warrant enough for their expulsion.  I’m going to assume that the “may” will end up being “did.”

I agree with those who think that homosexuality will be a great falling away from God for the Church in general.  The denominations are falling like dominoes, and individual assemblies even more so.  (HT to Lindsay)

Watch out for the “IF” gathering.  It is a hotbed of false teachers.

Hip and Thigh has a good article refuting the claims of liberals, and KJV Onlyists about the inerrancy of Scripture.  He follows up with a response to their challenges.

And yet another article about Beth Moore, except this one is more about the un-discerning church which propagates Moore’s teachings.

As if Roma Downey has mainstreamed enough false teachings with her series, “The Bible,” and “Son of God,” she is now about to release a new series titled, “A.D.”, which “reenacts key events in the New Testament.”  We can certainly expect revisionist, liberalized telling of such “key events.”

An interesting way of approaching Jehovah’s Witnesses is provided by Don Veinot of Midwest Christian Outreach apologetics ministry.

Lastly, watch out for Peter Enns.  He tends to get a lot of press time from liberal Christians.  He’s a former Senior Fellow with the BioLogos group which denounces Creationism in favor of evolutionism.  As this article demonstrates, for being an acclaimed theologian, he is nothing less than heretical in his teachings.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glen,
What evidence do we have that catholicism IS Christian?

And what will happen to those of us who choose not to bow to Rome as they gain power, control, and continue to gain vasts amounts of money for their financial gain?

Beware of those who follow another Jesus, for many of us have come out of false religious systems who bear the marks (occult symbols and teachings" of the beast.

You are correct, we all must be very careful with our labels, especially those who do not understand the abuses of such a "church (?)" system. Catholicism worships another jesus, Glen.

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Anonymous,

I think if you will read the article again, you will see that I said Roman Catholicism is a corrupt system. I have posted many articles, including a whole series, on the Roman Catholic system to demonstrate as an organization it is not Christian.

HOWEVER, my point is that it originated in the true Christian faith, and still holds to some fundamental Christian doctrines, albeit that they're buried under RCC dogma, and because there truth CAN be found there, many people have become Christians in spite of the false and cult like teachings of Rome. Therefore, we cannot make a blanket charge of "Catholics are not Christians." While it is plain that the majority are not, there are many testimonies available by those who left the RCC as they became true believers and slowly learned more and more errors to the point that they had to leave.

Anonymous said...

Hi Glenn,

I follow exactly what you are saying regarding RCism. Officially, RCism is not Biblical Christianity, neither is EO or Coptic... or most of mainline Protestantism, for that matter. Those faiths all teach an erroneous salvation message of meritorious works, relying on something other than Christ's finished work.

However, you are right, we do need to be careful with presumptions about individual salvation of people within those churches. I think this article by Got Questions is very helpful. It is entitled "Are Catholics Saved", and it addresses the issue just as you do:

http://www.gotquestions.org/catholicism.html

As the GotQs.org article points out, not all Baptists are saved, even though many Baptist churches properly proclaim the Gospel. There are always people in the pews who have not turned to Christ in repentance and faith. The same is true for Reformed/Calvinist churches and Pentecostal churches... any church that proclaims the Gospel will still have those who are unsaved sitting amongst them.

As for Roma Downey, I'm assuming churches are going to fall all over themselves to get her next mini-series-based "study" to bring to their congregations.

-Carolyn

Anonymous said...

PS: The Bil Muehlenberg article and the one of Moore were good.

-Carolyn

Anonymous said...

From Anonymous 7:40,

I respect your response to my question as well as respecting your blog.

Thank-You for all of your hard work. God bless you and yours.