Do we need The Prayer of Jabez or the Secrets of the Vine or the prayer rituals of Neil Anderson and Mark Bubeck? Do we ultimately need all the subjective and sensational books of Beth Moore or the mystical reflections and ramblings of Henry Blackaby? Some will tell us that the answer is the prophecies of C. Peter Wagner and his coterie of prophets in the New Apostolic Revival despite their often off-the-mark prophecies. Perhaps another will argue the ultimate secret is a Benny Hinn Miracle Crusade or the insanity of a John Crowder or Todd Bentley meeting. Then again it just may be the spiritualist meanderings and automatic writing of the perennial classic God Calling book. Who has that “something more” and where to find it reminds one of the old carnival wheels - spin and win - maybe, but probably not. Disgraced Family Radio leader Harold Camping thought he had it and so do other modern false prophets and date setters. Christianity is becoming like a carnival sideshow complete with barkers and ringmasters. ...
Either the whole Bible is enough for life and godliness or it is not. It is God’s gift for our growth or it is not. We need to follow “the apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 2:42). If the Bible is not sufficient for life and godliness, we should simply throw up our hands in despair over the confusing deluge of claimed revelations, contradictory visions, extrabiblical books, and cult heresies and admit we have no definitive answers. No one would know where the truth really is. We would have to conclude that there is no road map or guidebook. There is no lamp for our feet or light for our path and that there is no fixed truth or guiding plumb line. We would be on our own - lost and sailing adrift upon a sea of subjectivism and mysticism. It is the Bible or nothing. Nothing else makes any sense. The Apostle Paul charged that we are “not to think beyond what is written” (1 Corinthians 4:6). Thus, we affirm that the Bible is enough. And enough is enough!
G.Richard Fisher, The Continuing Battle for the Bible, in Personal Freedom Outreach’s The Quarterly Journal, January-March 2012.
AMEN! He nails it, doesn't he? I recently received my copy of TQJ and look forward to reading it during our holiday to visit family next week!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this bit, Glenn.
~Yvonne
Hi Yvonne!
ReplyDeleteYes, and it is in a great article. Dick Fisher always has good stuff, and he is really a good teacher to listen to. You ought to get to the PFO conference some time.
How could you leave out that unparalleled source of all wisdom about the very nature of God - The Shack? After all, it explains the Trinity in a way neither the Bible nor God Himself could. I just wonder why it was not included in the canon of Scripture.
ReplyDeleteRon, you are such a funny guy!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI ordered on of his teachings from PFO a couple of years ago. He coined a phrase 'invested in deception' or something like that. He was speaking about folks who have believed a certain way all their lives; invested their finances, prayers, time in false teaching. Having to admit they'd been wrong or deceived was too risky for what they had invested.
ReplyDeleteExcellent analysis!
Would love to attend the conference! Maybe Judy and I will get over there one year. It would be fun to meet you and Jill.
"Deception by investment." I think it is the perfect description!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it would be fun to meet. Ya never know when something like that can happen!
Thank you! As I've been meeting with LDS missionaries over the past several weeks (they keep coming back!) this is a timely reminder for me, and something I've tried to impress on them. Not sure how I ended up finding you here, but I'm grateful I did. God Bless!
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteIf you look at my labels, go down to "Mormonism" and you might find some things to use. Also, if you need help with anything, I used to be a Mormon so I can get you lots of good info for working with them.