Christianity and Matters Such as Marxism, Capitalism, and the Poor - by Rev. Anthony Wade (leftist agitator)

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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Rev. Wade exhibits his typical bombastic, non-self-aware approach once again. He has withering criticism for Roger McKinney, whose sole misstep was to state an opinion contrary to Rev. Wade's Marxist world view. He does his best to twist, misrepresent, and infer evil intent, but fails so spectacularly that we are surprised that he published this screed.

Rev. Wade fancies himself as a Defender of Doctrine, but as a polemicist he is woefully unqualified. And, as is also typical for him, he will quote some Scripture at the beginning but never touch his Bible again.

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Kirk Franklin, Maverick City Music Sing Worship on ‘The View’ with Dancing, Christ-Hating Whoopi Goldberg - Staff Writer

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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"Staff writer" hands down a galling critique of Kirk Franklin's performance on the View. Here's the scene. Franklin is a Christian (admittedly a flawed man, which should surprise no one], a worship leader, a song writer, and a recording artist, a man who has done much to further the Gospel. Franklin led worship on TV in a "den of iniquity." Not only did he sing the gospel truth, he actually obtained the participation of the godless hostesses of the show.

Here's the entire lyrics of the song:

Lord, let Your will be done on Earth
Lord, let Your will be done on Earth
As it is in Heaven
Help us to love and see each other
The way You love and see us, come on

[Verse 1]
My heart has always longed for something more
I searched the stars to knock on Heaven's door
Creation groans for God to be revealed
Every wound we carry will be healed

[Pre-Chorus:]
My eyes on the Son
Lord, Your will be done

[Chorus:]
Thine is the Kingdom
The power, the glory
Forever and ever
He finished my story
We're singing freedom
Our testimony
We'll be singing forever, amen
We'll be singing forever and ever, amen

[Verse 2:]
Beautiful, each color that He made, yeah, yeah
Your love's the only remedy for hate
You'll return to set the prisoners free
'Til then, Your will on Earth be done in me

For the stellar achievement of breaching the walls where hate and ungodlessness are regularly is celebrated, he is rewarded with derision. He effortlessly extracted the participation of these women in a worship event. And that is worthy of condemnation.

But more to the point, "staff writer" is unable to articulate any transgression of the faith, any violation of Bible precepts, anything at all which would justify the criticism leveled at Mr. Franklin.

In fact, "staff writer" quotes no Scripture, explains no scriptural concept, nor does he even references the faith at all.

Staff writer doesn't tell us what Mr. Franklin did that was so wrong that it justified this boorish article. In fact, he sounds a lot like the Pharisees and teachers of the law:

Lk. 15:2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.”

It seems clear to us that the best place for the Gospel to appear is in the midst of the ungodly. We commend Mr. Franklin for his courage.

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The 144,000 and the "firstfruits"

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.

Will Believers Suffer Through the Tribulation? - by John MacArthur

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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In significant departure from his usual practice, Dr. MacArthur quotes and references a lot of Scripture. This gladdens our heart, because too often these "Bible teachers" do not do so.

Dr. MacArthur is a Calvinist and a reformist, which means he has particular doctrines through which he filters Scripture. In this case his intent is to explain 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 through those lenses.

Teachers like Dr. MacArthur are always on the lookout for verses that feed their doctrines. In this case, the doctrine is the pre-trib rapture, although he only manages to mention it in the last paragraph.

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What does it mean that God desires none to perish? - 2 Peter 3:9

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.

“YOUR STORY CARRIES BREAKTHROUGHS” – CHAPTER, VERSE? - by Rick Becker

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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This is a long and meandering article, where the author attempts to refute six statements from Bethel church. His presentation is stream-of-consciousness, and though at times is lucid, is too often vague and obtuse. He simply bites off too much, and could have actually better explained his views had he scaled back a bit.

In addition, the formatting is distracting with certain phrases bolded, others italicized, and paragraphs that sometimes have a break and sometimes not. We have removed much of this formatting, and attempted to break up the presentation into more obvious sections.

Further, we note that the author employs some Scripture quotes. These verses do not always demonstrate his point, but we offer kudos to him for actually opening his Bible. This is fairly rare among the "Doctrinal Police."

Also, having read this several times, we are at loss to identify the heresy that so incenses the author.

Lastly, we are not desiring to defend Bethel. We only intend to examine the author's statements.

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Champion: Another Blasphemous, Self-Idolatrous Song by Bethel Music - by Publisher

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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There are legitimately heretical things out there. Some of them are probably regarding Bethel church. If so, these things should certainly be pointed out.

The problem is, various Doctrinal Police get all worked up over minor infractions, or, get things entirely wrong. But we believe that because there are serious problems in the Church, we think the time would be better spent on the substantial heresies, rather than trivial matters like what is contained in the below article.

We should note that we do not intend to defend Bethel church, rather, we are focused on the author's presentation. 

And we note that the author is unable to quote more than a snippet of a single Scripture in over 700 words. This is a common problem among those who fancy themselves as Bible teachers.

Here are all the words for the song (with Bible references), since the author provides only a portion:

I've tried so hard to see it Took me so long to believe it
That You choose someone like me (Ep. 1:4) 

To carry Your victory (1Jn. 5:4)

Perfection could never earn it (Ep. 2:9) 

You give what we don't deserve it (Ep. 2:8)

You take the broken things (Ro. 7:5) 

And raise them to glory (Ep. 2:6)

You are my Champion (2Ti. 1:10) 

Giants fall when You stand (Ps. 68:1, Ro. 15:12)

Undefeated
Every battle You've won (Re. 19:11-16)

I am who you say I am You crown me with confidence (2Co. 3:4, Ep. 3:12, He. 4:16)
I am seated In the heavenly place (Ep. 2:6)
Undefeated (Ro. 8:37)
With the One who has conquered it all (1Co. 15:55)

Now I can finally see it (Ep. 1:18) 

You're teaching me how to receive it (2Pe. 1:4)

So let all the striving cease (Ps. 46:10)

This is my victory (1Jn. 5:4)

When I lift my voice and shout (Ps. 20:5)
Every wall comes crashing down (Jo. 6:20)
I have the authority (Mk. 13:34)
Jesus has given me (2Co. 10:4)
When I open up my mouth (1Pe. 4:11)
Miracles start breaking out
I have the authority
Jesus has given me

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