America's real moral crisis: Not private morality but public morality -Robert Reich

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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Dr. Reich is always good for a headscratch. His doctrinaire leftist screeds often defy logic. 

It no longer bothers us that this Rhodes Scholar never puts together a logical, reasonable presentation. This is because it is quite evident that Dr. Reich does not intend to explain things. His intent is agitprop, to throw up clouds of dust, to divert, confuse, and avoid.

The reader who is armed with this information will be better able to understand his writing.

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What Are the Five Solas? - by Ryan McGraw

Excerpted from here. Our comments in bold.
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Reformation Day is celebrated every year by those who hold to reformation theology. So there has been a blizzard of commemorations on various reformationist websites. 

The below excerpt explains, or tries to explain, Sola Scriptura. Leaving aside the stark irony of celebrating the uniqueness of Scripture while simultaneously managing to quote only a snippet of a single Scripture, The author jumps to a conclusion not warranted by what he previously wrote. 

He writes, if Scripture is sufficient to make us wise for faith and life in Christ, then Scripture alone can be our guide to walking with God. This is a non-sequitur. The author's further claim, Scripture alone can be our guide, is patently false and unbiblical. The Bible tells us that we have several helps and guides for our walk of faith:

• The ministry of the Body [1Co. 12:12-31]
• Teachers [1Co. 12:28, Ep. 4:11]
• The Holy Spirit [1Jn. 2:27, 1Co. 2:10-12]
• The gift of prophecy [1Co. 12:10, 1Co. 14:1, 1Co. 14:26]

Further, we also have the resources written by learned men, like commentaries, concordances, and books of theology. If only Scripture alone can be our guide, then the author is engaging in a substantial irony by writing this extra-biblical article. We must judge the author by his own words, everything else is both useless and superfluous.

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Faith Minus Reason Equals Irrational Unbelief - by John MacArthur

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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It is mystifying to us how Dr. MacArthur can be viewed as a notable Bible teacher. Now perhaps he does some things well, but nearly everything we have read from him is logically deficient and nothing more than a series of undocumented assertions.

Today's article is exactly that. They key issue he wants to address, irrational faith, he does not document. In fact, he doesn't quote a single Bible verse on faith. He doesn't explain what faith is, or how rational faith works itself out. 

He completely avoids the subject at hand, and simply substitutes "sound doctrine." This is strange.

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Steven Furtick Says God Doesn’t Make You into a New Creation - Staff Writer

Found here. And Reformation Charlotte chimes in. Our comments in bold.

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The Doctrinal Police are raising their hysterical voices in concert once again. The Undynamic Duo agree that Steve Furtick's statement is beyond the pale. But their track records as Defenders of Doctrine are pretty spotty. 

We should note that we are not here to defend Furtick, who has said some problematic things in the past. We intend to examine the statements of the Undynamic Duo.

Both of them, hyperventilating and unhinged, find themselves blinded by their obsession regarding any deviation from doctrinal purity, no matter how slight. But the glaringly obvious problem with their claim: Furtick was not talking about salvation or the new creation. 

Here's what he said in the video: "The process of discipleship is not God changing you into something else, it's him revealing..."

The embarrassing little detail, obviously missed by the Undynamic Duo, is that Furtick is talking about sanctification, not salvation. That is, we as Christians are ALREADY new creations, so the process of discipleship reveals who we are in Christ. Our identity has already been changed at salvation, so discipleship unveils this.

Furtick's statement is hardly controversial in context.

Unfortunately, we find this kind of thing quite often with these folks. One would think that organizations that presents themselves as Defenders of the True Faith would take the time to get things right. Alas, this too rarely is the case.

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Bad worship songs: "Heaven Come" - Scott Ross Ligertwood, Brooke Ligertwood, Jenn Johnson

From time to to we examine the lyrics of worship songs. Our desire is not to mock or humiliate, but rather to honestly examine content with a view to calling forth a better worship expression.

With the great volume and variety of worship music available, none of us should have to settle for bad worship songs. We should be able to select hundreds or even thousands of top notch songs very easily.

What makes a song a good worship song? Is it enough to contain words like God or holy? How about vaguely spiritual sounding phrases? Should Jesus be mentioned? We think an excellent worship song should contain as many as possible of the following elements:

• A direct expression of adoration (God, you are...)
• A progression of ideas that culminates in a coherent story
• A focus on God, not us
• A certain amount of profundity
• A singable, interesting melody
• Scripture quotes or allusions to Scripture
• Doctrinal soundness

Further, a worship song should not:

1. contain lyrics that create uncertainty or cause confusion
2. be excessively metaphorical
3. be excessively repetitive
4. imply that Jesus is your boyfriend 

It's worth noting the most worship songs contain at least something good. That is, there might be a musical idea or a lyric that has merit. Such is the case with today's song, "Heaven Come." (Youtube video.) It is a well-crafted song, but it has problems.

Who saw the resurrected Christ?

Recently we've been reconsidering many of the things we thought we understood regarding doctrine and faith. We have begun to question certain beliefs, church structures, and practices of the western church. Too often we have discovered unbiblical doctrines and activities. This causes us concern. We have deemed this our “Rethink.”

Our questions include, how did we arrive at our doctrines? Does the Bible really teach what we think it teaches? Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched?

It's easy to be spoon fed the conventional wisdom, but it's an entirely separate thing to search these things out for one's self. In the past we have read the Bible with these unexamined understandings and interpreted what we read through those lenses. We were lazy about our Bible study, assuming that pastors and theologians were telling us the truth, but we rarely checked it out for ourselves.
Therefore, these Rethinks are our attempt to remedy the situation.

We should note that we are not Bible scholars, but we believe that one doesn't need to be in order to understand the Word of God.

Verse of the Day: Acts 18:24-26 WHAT ABOUT PRISCILLA? - by ROBIN SELF

Found here. Our comments in bold. At the end is the conversation we exchanged on her webpage.

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Here we have another person trying to explain the role of women in churches. We think she fails.

Like Michelle Lesley, Ms. Self has developed a list of micro-doctrines, provisos, and derivations the grows ever larger as she parses 1 Timothy 2:12. We have written extensively on the role of women in leadership, so we will try to not repeat ourselves.

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An estate auction - what you leave behind

There was an estate auction last weekend, and I bought the contents of the deceased's workbench. It was dozens of drawers, cabinets, shelves, and cubbies, each filled to the brim. A lot of stuff. A lot. Filled my pickup. I carted it all home, unloaded it, and started picking through my new treasure.

As I sorted it through I found a lot of good stuff. A lot. I also found pieces of broken tools, worn out saw blades, half finished little projects. I began to realize that I had purchased an important part of someone's life. I was looking at the bits and pieces of this man's passions. It was sobering, almost like I was invading his privacy. The things that he saved in little jars and empty tuna cans were like his secrets.

Every single cessationist false argument in one handy guide

We have assembled the false teaching of cessationists into one place, and we have provided links to our detailed explanations. We also refer the reader to our post, 12 Scriptures cessationists misinterpret, which deals with the most popular cessationist proof texts, and also to our Cessationism Series.

Lastly, our complete body of commentary regarding cessationism is found here.

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1) Using Invented, Pejorative, Contradictory Terminology That Assumes the Premise

• "Sign gifts" (Healing, prophecy, speaking in tongues, for validating the apostles. Discussed here.) 
• "Authenticating signs" (For validating the apostles.)
• "Apostolic sign gifts" (For validating the apostles.)
• "Special authenticating signs" (Healings and wonders.)
• "Revelatory gifts" (Visions, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, and prophecy.) 
• "Sign and wonder gifts" (the "supernatural gifts" which have passed away.)
• "Service gifts" (Non-miraculous gifts for the average Christian today.)
• "New special revelation" (Prophecy. Discussed here.)
• "Additional revelation" (Prophecy.)
• "Private revelation" (Prophecy.)
• "Extra-biblical revelation" (Prophecy.)
• "Direct revelation" (Prophecy.)
• "Continuous revelation" (Prophecy.)
• "Unidentified promptings" (Prophecy.)
• "Supplementary revelation" (Prophecy.)
• "Charismaniac" (Someone who believes in all the spiritual gifts.)
• "Mindless utterance" (Tongues.)
• "irrational babble." (Tongues.)
• "irrational tongues" (Tongues.)
• "Sola Scriptura" (discussed here.)
  

Debunking Dominionist Arguments Regarding Critical Race Theory - By Rev. Anthony Wade

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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The incendiary and hyperbolic Rev. Wade often exceeds our ability to intelligently respond. He is beholden to the Leftist Narrative, and seems only able to parrot word-for-word leftist talking points.

As typical for the Doctrinal Police, Rev. Wade is unable to see his own foibles. And also in typical fashion, Rev. Wade will barely quote or teach the Bible. 

The purpose of his article is not a "devotional," it is a political hit piece. Indeed, the word "dominionist," featured in his title, appears only once in his screed, and that to brand Mr. Hyatt. He doesn't even bother to show that Mr. Hyatt is a dominionist or how Mr. Hyatt's opinion is dominionist.

In actual fact, the accusation of "dominionist" is simply an excuse to try to debunk critics of CRT, nothing else.

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Bad worship songs: Extravagant - Bethel Music - Randy Matthew Jackson, Sean Feucht, Steffany Gretzinger, Amanda Cook

From time to to we examine the lyrics of worship songs. Our desire is not to mock or humiliate, but rather to honestly examine content with a view to calling forth a better worship expression.

With the great volume and variety of worship music available, none of us should have to settle for bad worship songs. We should be able to select hundreds or even thousands of top notch songs very easily.

What makes a song a good worship song? Is it enough to contain words like God or holy? How about vaguely spiritual sounding phrases? Should Jesus be mentioned? We think an excellent worship song should contain as many as possible of the following elements:

• A direct expression of adoration (God, you are...)
• A progression of ideas that culminates in a coherent story
• A focus on God, not us
• A certain amount of profundity
• A singable, interesting melody
• Scripture quotes or allusions to Scripture
• Doctrinal soundness

Further, a worship song should not:

1. contain lyrics that create uncertainty or cause confusion
2. be excessively metaphorical
3. be excessively repetitive
4. imply that Jesus is your boyfriend 

It's worth noting the most worship songs contain at least something good. That is, there might be a musical idea or a lyric that has merit. Such is the case with today's song, "Extravagant." (Youtube video.) It is a well-crafted song, but it has many problems.

Jesus became sin, and Todd White says...

Found here and here. Our comments in bold.

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Protestia and Reformation Charlotte both hyperventilate over Todd White's explanation of 2 Corinthians 5:21:

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

It should go without saying that the nuances of what Paul was writing here have been explained and debated for centuries. Despite the glib rejoinders offered by Protestia and RC, the scholarship is not quite so clear.

We should note we are not here to defend Todd White, we intend to examine the responses of Protestia and RC.

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Bad worship songs - Another in the fire - Chris Davenport, Joel Houston

From time to to we examine the lyrics of worship songs. Our desire is not to mock or humiliate, but rather to honestly examine content with a view to calling forth a better worship expression.

With the great volume and variety of worship music available, none of us should have to settle for bad worship songs. We should be able to select hundreds or even thousands of top notch songs very easily.

What makes a song a good worship song? Is it enough to contain words like God or holy? How about vaguely spiritual sounding phrases? Should Jesus be mentioned? We think an excellent worship song should contain as many as possible of the following elements:

• A direct expression of adoration (God, you are...)
• A progression of ideas that culminates in a coherent story
• A focus on God, not us
• A certain amount of profundity
• A singable, interesting melody
• Scripture quotes or allusions to Scripture
• Doctrinal soundness

Further, a worship song should not:

1. contain lyrics that create uncertainty or cause confusion
2. be excessively metaphorical
3. be excessively repetitive
4. imply that Jesus is your boyfriend 

It's worth noting the most worship songs contain at least something good. That is, there might be a musical idea or a lyric that has merit. Such is the case with today's song "Another in the fire" (Youtube video). 

To be clear, the the song has a lot going for it. As is typical for Joel Houston songs, there is some depth and creative ways of expressing ideas. In fact, there are no egregiously offensive aspects at all. It's only the use of a single word that raises our ire: Reckoning. This word violates rule #1 above by creating uncertainty and confusion. It's not a commonly used word these days, and the colloquial use of the word is typically equated with guessing, or perhaps a educated estimation of a direction to take. The dictionary definition is

count; computation; calculation.

the settlement of accounts, as between two companies.

a statement of an amount due; bill.

an accounting, as for things received or done.

an appraisal or judgment.

Navigation. dead reckoning.

From these definitions it seems that an appraisal or judgment most closely fits what the songwriters were trying to say. From this would think that the intent is to convey a comparison between a former state as compared to evaluating the present status.

So, our point is that one should not be forced to consult a dictionary to try to discover what the songwriter was communicating. This is a congregational worship song, not a program piece. The former is an expression to God, the latter is a matter for contemplation.

Ok, Let's quote the lyrics:

Awash in holy moments - by Rob Mazza

Friends,

It’s been a slow, dry season for me to get free to write. It happens. The bulk of the year has been tied into teaching seven week modules on prophecy, creativity and deliverance. We are building in our local church for things now and to come. The joy has been to teach with two or three on the latter two. Last weekend we hosted Streams Creative House members and Tabernacle Diadem. Its purpose was to foster a beautiful space within and without to explore with God. The word beauty is now firmly implanted in my spirit as a vital attribute of God. More necessary today in such a graceless age. I spoke at the Creative Process and the Power of Words workshop. I thought I’d share the text with you in hopes your spirit would feel the movement.

How Did God Speak To You? - DEBBIELYNNE KESPERT

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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One thing cessationists frequently do is recycle old talking points. There is nothing new in the below article, nor is it even particularly insightful. Though we shall address a couple of things here and there, our main reason for posting it is that Ms. Kespert is remarkably gentle and kind. She doesn't attack or belittle like a lot of the Doctrinal Police do.

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‘First Nations Version’ Bible Translation Released: Is It The Worst Ever? A Review - Staff Writer

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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"Staff Writer" seems to believe that Natives should think, talk, and act like European/Western whites. Or at least this is the implication. The fact that a Native Christian pastor would write a translation of the Bible that speaks to Native ways of understanding, uses Native concepts and language, and communicates ideas in the way that Natives understand and think, well, that's just beyond the pale.

And that's the crux of the issue. "Staff Writer" doesn't like Indian phraseology or Indian concepts. He thinks that accuracy must mean a highly literal translation of each word; more specifically, a literal translation in the exact same way these words have been translated in the past.

Ironically, the culture and ways of understanding of the ancient Jews don't always translate to our western culture. We undertake to educate ourselves in order to understand these expressions and ways of thinking, then make our best attempt to integrate them into our cultural context. That is, we have for centuries been doing the same thing "Staff Writer" is accusing Pastor Wildman of doing: Conforming the text to our culture. 

Unfortunately, "Staff Writer" doesn't want Natives to possess this privilege. They are not allowed to take Jewish concepts and adapt them to their culture. They have to do it the way white men do it.

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Prayer ministry problems

Something that has increased in importance for me over the last number of years is how important prayer is. The more I pray the more I realize that what I am doing has great effect. This is not because of any merit I might have, but rather, I believe God honors the ones who persevere in prayer. It was what Jesus wanted:

Lk. 18:1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 

False Teacher Teacher of the Day #41: Lisa Bevere - By REFORMATION CHARLOTTE

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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Perhaps Ms. Bevere is a false teacher. Perhaps she is the great evil Reformation Charlotte says she is. But if this is true, there ought to be many examples of this evil that can be documented.  After all, it justified the writing of an article, right?

But what does RC do? They nit-pick points of doctrine, and relatively minor ones at that. The level charges and make claims. The problem is, the standard for being deemed a false teacher is a high one. False teachers are egregious and public sinners, they are not people with whom you happen to disagree.

Astonishingly, RC can't even manage single Scripture quote. How does one refute a "false teacher" without quoting the Bible?

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Joel Osteen’s evil gospel - By Elizabeth Prata

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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This is our second article in a row regarding Osteen. It's not like Joel Osteen is not problematic. There are legitimate gripes about what he teaches. But Ms. Prata never quotes him, she merely quotes some other source that quotes him. She throws around accusations like mashed potatoes in a food fight. This reads like a hit piece, not an instruction in the ways of holiness, not an edifying explanation, not something that builds faith or increases understanding of salvation, God's character, or how to lead a life more pleasing to God. 

And that's too often the problem with the Doctrinal Police. They're more concerned with attacks and blasting supposed false teachers than they are interested in Kingdom matters. Sad.

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Joel Osteen Claims Jacob Slept with Wrong Woman Because He Was Drunk - Staff Writer

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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Hyperventilating Protestia goes catawampus on Joel Osteen for not saying what they thought he said. This is our continuing complaint about the Doctrinal Police. Looking diligently under every rock for perceived heresy, they go ballistic over the slightest deviation from what they consider pure doctrine.

We should say that there are many things Osteen has said that are problematic. But we are not here to defend him. Rather, we intend to examine Protestia's statements.

Protestia claims Osteen was "molesting" this Scripture, which is a hyperbolic characterization. Osteen is quoted as saying, "I can imagine Jacob went to bed that night with a little too much to drink." 

Now, even a casual reader can see that Osteen was speculating. "I can imagine..." is not the same as saying, "Jacob was drunk..." But more to the point, is Osteen introducing an egregiously offensive concept into the narrative? Well, no. Jewish wedding parties were big, prolonged affairs, lasting for days. They were boisterous, there was lots of drinking and dancing.

Protestia seems to have forgotten Jesus' first recorded miracle. Jn. 2:1-9 

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” 

4 “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 

6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.

Notice that the wedding had already been going on long enough to run out of wine. Jesus makes at least 120 gallons of wine. So this was a big wedding party. And Jesus made it possible for the party to continue. 

This means that Osteen's speculation is quite possible.

And really, have we become so inoculated to the details of Jacob's story as to not be amazed anymore? This man is to be given his wife, he spends the night with Leah and finds out the next morning that he slept with the wrong woman. How does such a thing happen? This is very unusual, and it simply doesn't follow that a man of Jacob's intelligence could have been fooled into sleeping with a different woman. Unless of course we consider the possibility that he was impaired. 

Further, we must consider that Jacob was a very flawed man. He tricked his brother into selling his birthright (Ge. 25:29). He participated in tricking his father Isaac in order to steal Esau's blessing (Ge. 27:8). He slept with Rachel's servant repeatedly (Ge. 30:2, Ge. 30:7). He made enemies of his brothers in law (Ge. 31:1) and his father in law (Ge. 31:49). He lied to Esau after reconciling with him (Ge. 33:17). 

So Jacob could well have been drunk. It is not so far-fetched as Protestia would like us to believe.

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