Category: The Church Today

Will there be gentlemen?

teacuppamela.pngI wonder this. I ponder this question: Will there be gentlemen? Will there be gentlemen who guard their behaviour, guard their conversations and the words they choose to use in mixed company or not, men who will refrain from crude or vulgar speech or innuendo?

Not much time for blogging as we’ve been covered up with things to do and errands to run lately. Phone talks & letters with Timothy in Ghana, Kathryn in Uganda… comings and goings… a husband to love, children to teach, meals to prepare, a home to keep… ah, a life – nowhere better!

Not much time for blogging, either, when I’ve spent my ‘computer time’ reading about and listening to more from Marks Hill (typo intended). I mulled over each talk and each time was left with an uneasy – okay, sometimes disgusted, feeling. Now, you know I’d be the first to say: whoa, watch that – you cannot trust ‘feelings’ about things – you need to have some reality on which to base your thoughts or your convictions or whatever. And so I pondered that a bit. What is it about his talks, his sermons, his shows? What is it. Did I click on the videos of sermons hoping to (he is a ‘pastor’ after all) find a studied theologian? Did I assume I would hear the words of a wise and faithful scholar? Of course I did. I wouldn’t waste my time otherwise. Not usually.

So my uneasiness turned to regret and disappointment when I watched a few more Mars Hill… or Marks Hill videos… saw or heard some crude innuendo and lack of exegetical or expositional teaching. So, I thought, hmmm; is that the problem? Is the problem that I am not seeing the teaching of sound doctrine? No… no, that wasn’t the heart of the matter. The matter was that there was another teaching going on – yes, some with the words, but more, a general teaching… the general teaching that one can be a pastor, teacher, elder – whatever – in the church and as such, it’s okay to be glib about the scriptures, it’s okay to mock people who don’t fit his particular paradigm, to make fun of people groups, to handle Biblical truths lightly and to be crude and irreverent in the process. I know the Word says this will be so:

quotebegin.gifPreach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. — 2 Timothy 4.2-5

So I wonder, the young impressionable men of ‘his’ congregation, receiving weekly (or more often) teaching and modeling are, in fact, being conformed into an image… the new pastor persona, the brash, sometimes irreverent, cool preacher who seems unconcerned with social graces. So, I wonder, in the pulpits in churches here and abroad… will there be gentlemen?

Ironically, I hadn’t taken any time to read Steve Camp’s blog for the last several months and did so this evening and I was amazed that the matter, among other related things, was the topic of recent blogs – and at Tim Challies, too. Interesting how this so often goes. So that I don’t have to link the material here ( I think the last video a few days ago was plenty ) I decided to just post a couple of links and you can see for yourself – or not. But I must say, I grieve for the church. Until recently, I thought I was really just grieving all the seductive, emergent, seeker, purpose, I wanna-have-it-my-way, new age infiltration and proliferation. I thought that was the great threat to the church. And it is. They are. But the loss of reverence, the loss of respect, manners, decency and decorum… I didn’t see all this coming as a ripple effect from those who reject the old paths. But here it is.

Who will take a stand against the superfluity of naughtiness? Will there be gentlemen?

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More on Mars Hill

I thought it appropriate to clarify something in regard to my previous entry: Birthcontrol at Mars Hill.  First, I’d be remiss if I didn’t quickly say that I think Mark Driscoll is a good teacher and sound in doctrine.   I think he handles societal issues well — though differently than I might.  But so what.  I don’t live in Seattle anymore.  Near, but not in.

I also want to clarify that my entry was in regards only to that particular sermon on birthcontrol and his personal views and teaching on that particular matter (though I tend to believe that his teaching and personal application are not necessarily exactly the same).  I believe he must, as a compassionate teacher, feel the need to be lenient – or compassionate to reach those for whom there are no easy answers.  And… I’ll give him that – bcz, face it, we’re all lenient at times regardless of what we think we resolutely believe or think we’d say or do in a given situation.  Faced with it, we might not necessarily do what we resolutely say we would do.   So — given more time to mull over what he said, I understand why he takes the broader lane of the narrow path.  Okay… so… Mars Hill.  In my previous blog entry, I was just alluding to some of his comments on birthcontrol and the biblical rational or mandate regarding its use or practice or prohibition.  Those are some things I might question.  But as for the general teaching and theology of Mars Hill.  Fine; just fine.  I think what one might glean by listening to his teaching would be profitable and insightful.  So, yeah — hope that doesn’t make things clear a mud.

And, by the way,  the Seattle Mars Hill Church is in no way affiliated with Rob Bell’s Mars Hill in Michigan.

Birthcontrol at Mars Hill

In our area lots of folks are drawn to the Mars Hill church in Seattle and ‘tens of thousands’ more who listen on line. I began to watch this lengthy video – it is a sermon, after all, and listened to his take on birth control and what the Bible says about  marriage, procreation and principles of birth control. So after listening for awhile I realized that he, as we all do I suppose, interprets according to his conviction or his interpretations or reactions to what he’s read, heard or seen. I notice this throughout life, when we like someone or want to like someone, then we tend to accept what they say or teach – but if not, and especially when it comes to ‘religious’ people with views counter to our own, we tend to discount, exaggerate or mock what they say, do or think. We might even dare to call them legalists or legalistic. That label used to be bandied about by people outside the church, but now it’s increasingly common within the church to divide from legalists. Interestingly, though, legalism has been redefined to include much more than it ever did before recent times. Now, legalism is anything that holds to what’s considered a ‘narrow view’ of the Word of God and moral absolutes. Before the paradigm shift of much of the modern church, what’s now called legalism was simply adherence to high morals based on what’s clearly defined and taught in the Word.

When Mark Driscoll started his sermon, I thought… hmmm… I think he just might have something here. But the longer I listened, the more I realized he had an agenda (again, as most of us do when talking about things we’re passionate about) and his preconceived notions or his biases were evident. If you like (follow, subscribe to, admire, agree with, etc., etc.) Christian teachers such as Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Nancy Campbell, Doug Phillips and/or Mary Pride, then his comments and interpretations of their teachings, Biblical understanding or positions will likely cause a reaction. And it won’t be cheerful. Well, that’s what I thought, anyway. But I always react pretty strongly when people trot out the Andrea Yates argument and start dumping conservative homeschooling, homebirthing, yada, yada, yada mothers into her bathtub.

Further, you’ll likely have some strong reactions if you’re attempting to live in accordance with God’s Word and are asking His blessing on your marriage and especially if you understand that to mean: one, some, none, many or however many children “blessing” means. And if, with that mindset, you are “quiverful minded” and/or are a homeschooling mom in a dress with a wide collar (snipe, snipe) or if you take the verse, “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it…,” to mean what it says and you don’t reinterpret it to fit your agenda, then you will likely react to Mark Driscoll’s condescending remarks.
But… if you’ve been taught to believe otherwise, then… you’ll find his sermon and his assumptions — well, just what you want to hear. Bcz whatever you think is what’s best.

Be not many teachers

Hmmmmm.
Omy.  What an opportunity.
Missed.

Stephen Colbert interviews Rick Warren

(This is show biz — I know that  — the host of the show *is* in show biz… However, thinking minds have to be pondering: is the other man really representing the church in the world?  How would his (pre)occupation be described?

Surely the Scripture is true… judgment has begun at the house of God. The inclusion of this clip is absolutely not an endorsement of or encouragement to view programming of Comedy Central and etc. )

In the inbox this morning…

teacuppamela.pngEvery now and then I receive an email that strikes a chord with me… perhaps punctuates a thought or confirms another study. Well, that’s how this one was for me this morning. As with all the other distractions to what’s going on in our family this week, I see this distraction as a welcome one – for it actually confirms the “why” behind what we believe what we believe and why we do what we do. When we take stands for the Word or when we take stands against the trends in the church today, it’s not that we are seeking only to preserve and promote an ‘old way’ but we seeking to shine a light on the atrocities of the ‘new ways’ of the church. Mostly, as one often encouraged and inspired by Spurgeon and as one who takes a stand against the false gospel of the so called post-modern ‘church,’ I share the following mail.

So, here’s from my inbox this morning:

quotebegin.gifGodThoughts Wired!

There is a ‘Different Gospel’ in Town: Part 2
Brad Reiches

Monday, January 7, 2008

GodThoughtsWired!

 

“There is a ‘Different Gospel’ in Town”
PART 2

Consider the following statement made by a man known as “The Prince of Preachers:”

 

“It is absolutely necessary to the preaching of the gospel of Christ
that men be warned as to what will happen if they continue in their sins…
You are too delicate to tell the man that he is ill! You hope to heal
the sick without their knowing it. You therefore flatter them;
and what happens? They laugh at you; they dance upon their
own graves. At last they die! Your delicacy is cruelty; your flatteries
are poisons; you are a murderer. Shall we keep men in a fool’s paradise?
Shall we lull them into soft slumbers from which they will awake in Hell?”
C.H. Spurgeon, bold mine

When the “gospel” is presented without a clear presentation of the law, sin, judgment, and hell, the requisite repentance necessary for true conversion is rarely present. The result then, are “false converts” who think they are saved, but are not (see Matthew 7:21-23).

One concerned GodThoughtsWired! subscriber questioned the validity of my concern. Perhaps clicking on the following advertisement might help:

Mars Hill Church Sponsors New Year’s Eve Booze ‘n Dance Club

I’m pretty confident that once the crowd gets “liquored up” for free, they’ll be pretty receptive to anything else the “preacher” has to offer. I can just picture it:

“Happy New Year everybody. Praise God!
Before our designated drivers escort you home,
I’d like to make sure that you’re going to Heaven.
How many of you want to go to Heaven when you die?
If so…just raise your hand right now…
I’ll say a little prayer for ya’…AND YOU’RE IN!
See you all at next year’s party. Please be sure and pick up a flyer
on your way out that tells you about our weekly gathering…
WATERIN’ HOLE WEDNESDAYS!”

When false prophets and false teachers give a false witness based on a false testimony and false signs & wonders; the result, more times than not…are false converts…

EVEN WHEN EVERYONE INVOLVED IS SINCERE!quoteend.gif

 

Later on I’ll share a bit of family happenings in our home this week as we prepare for Timothy’s departure to Africa where he will begin life as a missionary in Ghana, West Africa.  —-pamela

II Timothy 3.1-17

teacuppamela.pngToday in my reading in chapter 3, I found great encouragement when seen in light of the previous day’s reading in 2Timothy and then, what I consider to be, atrocities in the ‘church’ today as i wrote in the previous blog entry.  So, Chapter 2, in summary: “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus… the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also… Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things… If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful: He cannot deny Himself… Of these things put them in remembrance…” (2T2.1-2, 7, 13, 14)

It was then here in 2Timothy 3 (and I’ll post the chapter in its entirety for edification and inspiration) that I gleaned great encouragement personally and for our home and for other believers in these ‘perilous’ times. And these are perilous times. When leaders of nations are corrupt, when teachers of the Word become corrupt and misleading – by worldly methods and means of self promotion and propagation of foolishness and false teachings in the name of ‘Christianity’ literally blasphemeing the Word of God;  when many fathers disregard high morals /will not protect and lead their homes, provide for the care and nurture of their children and when many women turn aside to silly fables, disregard the teachings of the Word, many mothers turn away from guiding the home and loving and training up their children and many children rebel against the teachings and admonitions of their parents; when marriage, home and family are not esteemed highly and when forwardness is lauded and modesty is mocked, when impropriety, foolishness and vulgarity are lauded and righteousness, honour and purity are disparaged; when these and so much more are so prevalent….  these. are. perilous. times.

But God.

2 Timothy 3.1-17

1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with diverse lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.
10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,
11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.
12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

I know this is simply a ladies blog… and I’m not attempting to direct courses here… but I do implore brothers and sisters in Christ to study the Scriptures. I pray that we would seek wisdom and the work of the Holy Spirit… that we would be wise as serpents and harmless as doves (Matthew 10.16).

And, again, may we be not silly women laden with sins, led away with diverse lusts, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

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Watch.

teacuppamela.png How will these things be, Lord? How will the end times be? I have often wondered. How will the church be deceived and what will come of the church in the last days?

So then, I read with… interest(?) no, sadness: this article on A Common Word Between Us and You and I was grieved with the truthiness of the letter, the error and the misrepresentation and twisting of Truth. The Lord God – is not a universal or common god of each religion as is claimed. It is at once untrue and impossible. And, further, the first two Commandments are not the same in the two different religions as the article states – neither can they be. The letter says that “God’s goodness is infinite and not bound by anything…” — I would say that God’s goodness is bound by Truth – God is not a man that He could lie.

But, while the article itself was grievous and all the subtle nuances surrounding it, the deeper regret is at least one of the signatories whose name is toward the end of the alphabet near the bottom of the page. Actually, I’m not really at all surprised by Hybels and Schuller… but that last one?

As I was saying yesterday… the lack of moral character, knowledge and reverence for the Word of God and faith in the only True and Living God through Jesus Christ our Lord, is evidenced more and more – this article is more proof of that.

“Everything must change.” that’s the new lie mantra… and you’ve got to wonder: Is it not grievous that the Truth is being exchanged for a lie? Where does the Bible fit in all of this and where is the Lord (of the shifters) in all of this?

“Shifts: Rediscovering Spiritual Formation: From Monastic Communities to the emergent church, spiritual formation continues to shift and change a whole new generation of Christians.”

And then there’s: Center for Action and Contemplation

And then there’s Summerhill…

And if that wasn’t enough, my friend sent me this article… for the mix of today’s tossed salad of news in the contemporary ‘church’ today.

wow.

\o/
/^\

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Let us be not silly women

teacuppamela.pngThese verses continue to weigh heavily on my mind in the last couple of years and particularly in recent months as leaders of great multitudes wander from the Truth of the Scripture and the deity and supremacy of the Lord Jesus and of the Word of God. I meditate on verses of promise and trust that the Lord is not slack concerning His promises. As we live and move about in these days, I pray that none will be deceived by the foolishness that is called truth.

As we read in Ephesians 4.14 “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;”

So much that is being taught sounds lofty and true… sounds like the Scriptures might sound. This is a very clever tool of the enemy… ever seeming like the truth. This is why we must know the Word of God… we must study the Word and be so familiar with it that we will be swift to spot counterfeits. We must watch the signs of the times, we must be as Bereans – with readiness of mind, search the scriptures daily to see whether things be as they are being taught or to compare what we see and hear with the Scriptures — if they are being (mis)represented. We mustn’t be as silly women and I do fear that the internet is a potentially great snare for women to be silly — to be tossed to and fro — to be led astray by all the many enticing tales. We mustn’t give attention to things that are counter to the Word and counter to the Truth.

When we see ministry out of sync with the Word or distorting the Truth of the Word, and the entertaining, lofty endeavors contrary to the Gospel, then we must be watchful that we not be led to discount the Word of God in favour of a personality — or be pragmatic concerning things that are contrary to faith. When emerging personalities smoothly entice us with mystical ways, interesting purposes and high sounding ideas, we must be very careful what’s set before us and measure our steps wisely… when heads of organizations or denominations make unholy alliances or indirectly infer that all roads lead to heaven: be not silly and be not tossed to and fro. There is but One. There is but one Way.

Stand. “…And having done all to stand. Stand therefore…” Take hold of it, know it, guard it, trust in it. Stand on the Truth. And be not silly.

 

2 Timothy 3.1-7
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

1 Peter 1.2-9

“…Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”

 

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