The heart deceitfully wicked... or is it?

We have been pursuing our Doctrinal Rethink for some time now. In the process of engaging it 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.

Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched? How did we arrive at our doctrines?

Today we will examine the very common view that not only is the pagan's heart is deceitfully wicked, so is the Christian's heart.

Proof that ‘continuationists’ don’t exist.- BY CHURCHWATCH

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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We would hope to find thoughtful, considered arguments in favor of cessationism. But too often we find analyses that are sloppy, disingenuous, or plain old wrong. 

Such is the case with this quote from Chris Rosebrough, who apparently thinks he has "continuationists" dead to rights. He thinks this is a devastating argument, sealing the deal for all time. 

Let's consider this amazingly puerile argument.

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Rebuking the NAR Experiential Counterfeit Christianity and Revival Chasing - Rev. Anthony Wade

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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The incendiary ministry of Rev. Wade consists of nothing more than bomb-throwing. We have yet to read anything he has written that consists of Bible-teaching or expository truth. 

Invariably he opens his screeds with a Scripture that rarely gets mentioned again, let alone explained or applied. Typically he then embarks on a series of unsubstantiated assertions, unreferenced accusations. He then concludes with a flourish as if he has laid out a devastating case against his theological foes.

This is the nature of his "devotionals," and the below screed follows exactly the same pattern. It's truly a wonder that he is republished on various "discernment ministry" sites, since offers exactly zero discernment.
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Why Are There Fewer Miracles Today? -by Tim Chester

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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We would agree with all four points raised by the author. He ably explains the way the miraculous might work in the contexts described. 

What we find perplexing is his attitude regarding the lack of the miraculous in our Christian experience. He asserts: ...the primary purpose of miracles has been fulfilled. We certainly don’t need to worry if we’re not seeing many miracles in our lives or our churches. 

We would suggest that all four of the situations he describes are found right in our midst right now, so we should not consign ourselves to few or no miracles. We should indeed wonder why God is not moving in power in our churches.

On the "frontline mission" of U.S. culture, the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit is sorely needed. The "Bible is absent" from much of our society, and even in some of our churches. The "occult is strong" and getting stronger everywhere in our communities. And finally, so many of "believers are immature" in the American churches, so much so that one wonders where the Gospel is. 

There is nothing in the contemporary western Church that would suggest that the miraculous is not needed. Indeed, on the whole we are simply not mature, we have not attained or maintained a status of a climax Christian society. Just the opposite, in fact.

We certainly have a large network of churches. We have easy access to the Word. We have lots of strong preaching, beautiful buildings, devoted attendees, and many charitable initiatives. We have missionaries in nearly every country. 

But we do not have the fullness of the Holy Spirit (Ep. 5:18).  We are sedate, reverent, and polite. We are conciliatory, inoffensive, and reserved. At the same time, we do not have much power, and that means we are sadly ineffective, lukewarm, and ambivalent.

We should not relegate God's power to backwards societies and unreached peoples. That smacks of arrogance and self-satisfaction. Rather, we should take a long, hard, honest look at ourselves and our churches. Why should we accept the status quo? Why should we think that because we have "arrived," we no longer need the Holy Spirit? Having constructed this edifice in the name of the Lord, why should we think we can sustain it solely with human effort?

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Was J.I. Packer a Heretic? On His Sharp Turn in His Last Years - By JEFF MAPLES

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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This man just died, after adding much to Christian thought over the decades. Rather than noting his contributions or acknowledging the debt of gratitude we owe Packer, the author jumps straight Packer's supposed heresy.
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False Doctrine is like John Prine’s song Bruised Orange - By Elizabeth Prata

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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On one hand, we can understand Ms. Prata wanting to act out of concern for her friends. On the other, the Scriptures she uses to justify her actions have nothing to do with the matter she presents.

She could have addressed Bible counsel on correcting friends, like:

Pr. 27:5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

Gal. 6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

Ja. 5:19-20 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Luke 17:3-4 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Psalm 141:5 Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it. Yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds.

There's an important distinction. There are matters of church discipline, meted out by leadership, and then there is correction borne of relationships between the brethren. Ms. Prata does not make this distinction.

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Bill Johnson Offering False Hope in a False Christ for a Hopeless World - By Rev. Anthony Wade

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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We have managed to avoid Rev. Wade for a while now, since the articles he has recently posted are like a broken record. He keeps harping on the same things over and over, with little light added to the issues.

Today he spends 1606 words (this might be a record for brevity for him) explaining nothing.

We should note that we do not intend to defend Bill Johnson or Bethel church. We are examining the author's statements.
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5 Reasons to Pray Your Church Would Grow Slowly - by AARON MENIKOFF

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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The purpose of writing such an article as this is inexplicable. The author's five reasons are superficial and unbiblical.
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Thriving according the Ministry of the Holy Spirit - sermon

You have something to bring to the assembly of the saints. This means I want to ask you to participate this morning. Participate in the prayer, the ministry, the sermon, the worship, and don't be afraid to actively express yourself.

Amen?

Also, you may have noticed Gillian, Trish, Zach, Aaron, Megan, Nick, and my wife Christy circulating around. I asked them to minister to you during the service as Holy Spirit leads them. They are there to bless, to encourage, and to speak with clarity into your life. There will also be time at the
end to take advantage of them.

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Thrive

Introduction

The elders asked me to speak on “thrive.” David has done a good job addressing the aspects of our lives where we want to thrive, like in our work and in our rest. What I especially like is that these are not supernatural activities, but they do have supernatural impact. The daily grind may not be glorious manifestations of the Spirit, but thriving in these routine things can change our own attitudes, and impact the people around us.

So thriving is day to day average stuff. You can thrive in the triumphs and trials of life, but especially you can thrive in your faith, in your church, and in your relationships.

The dictionary definition of thrive:

1. to grow vigorously: FLOURISH
2. to gain in wealth or possessions: PROSPER
3. to PROGRESS toward or realize a goal despite or because of circumstances.

Would you like to flourish in doing God’s purpose? Would you like to prosper in a way that increases the Kingdom of God? Are you willing to progress toward the goal to win the prize, no matter your circumstances?

And, would you like our church to thrive in this way?

My definition of thriving would be

1. Living in the spiritual blessings of Christ.

2. Living with the continual filling of His Holy Spirit

3. Living a life of obedience, contentment, and in the peace of God.
4. Living a life pursuing the call God has placed on my life.

So, to thrive is to live according to Father’s purpose, to bear fruit, and to exhibit the evidence of God in our lives. To thrive is to lay up treasure in heaven. To thrive is to have unshakable faith in the word of God no matter the how bad or good things are going. To thrive is to be the church.
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Here's how I got unfriended

I posted this on FB:

A system is a purposeful structure, constructed and maintained by its organizers. Structures cannot continue to exist apart from intentional maintenance.

A system is not a sentient entity, so it cannot be racist. Systemic racism is not possible without racists. A system will not continue to exist without systemizers. Thus it is impossible for a system to persist without those who would feed it.

Since the current system expresses incidents of racism, then we must ask, who is in charge of the system?

As we survey the places across the nation where racism seems to be a significant problem, we note that all of these places are controlled by Democrats. In addition to Minneapolis, we find that Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Seattle are all current racism hotspots, and all of them have been governed by Democrats for decades.

If those in control of the system have not changed the system, we would surmise they are in agreement with its results.

A now-former FB friend responded:

Inside the Mind of NAR False Teacher Kris Vallotton - by Rev. Anthony Wade

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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Our verbally incontinent Reverend has returned. 1232 words later (not including the Scripture reference and the Valloton quotes), we have nothing to show for our reading. There isn't a single scriptural principle contained here. Not one.

It continually amazes us that Rev. Wade labels his screeds "devotionals." We challenge the reader to treat this article as a "devotional" and then consider how you were edified and your faith increased.
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#676 Shall We Resurrect the Conspiracy Theory? [The Resurrection] - By Dr. William Lane Craig

Found here. A thorough answer to a question that's been asked and answered many times throughout history.
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Dear Dr Craig,

I am a huge admirer of your work, and I have been for quite a few years. I will always be very grateful to you for all that you do.

For about ten years or so, I was convinced that Jesus had risen from the dead, and that his resurrection wasn't faked. I viewed his resurrection as irrefutable evidence that God does indeed exist in reality, because only God could possibly arrange a resurrection from the dead. I recently purchased and read Professor John Lennox’s book, “Gunning for God,” and I enjoyed it very much. Something extraordinary happened while I was reading the section on Jesus’ resurrection: He was discussing the theory that the disciples may have taken the body from the tomb. Formerly, I had agreed with you that that theory was pretty unlikely, because the disciples were later tortured and crucified, and I thought that it would be very unlikely for disciples who knew that the resurrection was a lie to defend that lie, up to the point of torture and crucifixion. It always seemed to me that, if it were a lie, then they would have admitted to it being a lie, in order to avoid torture and death through crucifixion.

However, in that section of Professor Lennox’s book, he pointed out the fact that grave-robbing was a capital offense in Jerusalem at that time — something that I had not known until I read it in his book. Finding that out was a total game-changer for me, regarding the issue of Jesus’ resurrection. Now, it seemed to me, it was quite possible that the disciples had removed the body from the tomb, and that they had made up the resurrection as a means to cover their crime of grave-robbing. Now, it seemed to me, the motivation to defend a resurrection lie was very strong — from their perspective, it seemed to me that they may have thought that defending that lie could prevent them from being crucified (for the crime of grave-robbing), whereas previously, I had only thought that defending that lie could have caused them to be crucified. The knowledge that grave-robbing was a capital offense in that time and place has taken away my main reason for believing the resurrection testimonies of the disciples! Avoiding crucifixion would be a very strong motive for telling a lie — even one that they knew to be a lie. In fact, it now seems very likely, to me, that the disciples could have taken the body from the tomb, and then made up the idea that Jesus had resurrected, in order to cover their crime, and thereby avoid crucifixion. If it was a lie, then it could have started with very strong motivations, as a means for frightened men to avoid a horrible, torturous death; and then, the lie could have spread for any number of reasons: People who were friends with the disciples could have repeated the same lie in order to help prevent their friends’ crucifixion, for example. Once the rumor got around a bit, then, the desire to feel like part of the special group who had supposedly seen the resurrected Jesus could have been a further motivation for others to join in the lie.

My question is this: Don’t you think that the fact that grave-robbing was a capital offense -- and that if the Roman authorities had found out that they had robbed the grave, that they would be crucified -- constitutes ample motivation for the disciples to make up a lie that Jesus had resurrected from the dead (if they had actually robbed the grave, that is)? This hypothetical turn of events seems to me much more likely to have occurred than an actual resurrection, and I’m wondering how you can reconcile all of this with the fact that grave-robbing was a capital offense. Please forgive my ignorance, and please forgive any offensiveness on my part in this regard; I do not mean to be offensive, but rather, I would really like to understand your perspective on all of this, and if there’s something that I have missed, I would very much like to find out how it is that the resurrection is a real historical event that can be rationally defended after all, as I formerly accepted it. Thank you very much for your time.

Sincerely,

Purusha

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DR. CRAIG’S RESPONSE

Is Sunday church for the saved or for the lost?

Introduction

In the process of engaging our Doctrinal Rethink series, we have begun to question certain beliefs, church structures, and practices of the western, contemporary church. Too often we have discovered unbiblical doctrines and activities. This causes us concern.

Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched? How did we arrive at our doctrines?

Frustrations Of A Christian Female Blogger (Probably Not The Frustrations You’d Expect) - by DEBBIELYNNE KESPERT

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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The author pushes her misunderstanding of doctrine to the point of ridiculousness.
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Normally, professing Christian women chafe at the idea of limiting their teaching ministry to other women and small children. (This is normal among "professing Christian women?")

They follow the world in insisting that we have a contribution to make to the whole church, and that our female perspective must be heard. As they see it, the Word of God cannot be fully represented without the female voice.

Huh?

Where does Scripture ever say such a bizarre thing? If the Word of God is breathed out by the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16), why would a female perspective be necessary? (We don't know what a "female perspective" would be, but we would want to know what basis there is to silence a female speaking the truth of God. The author herself has written extensively, with the desire to target women exclusively. Why does she write her blog? Why doesn't she simply refer her readers to male teachers? What specific role does she think she is fulfilling that men aren't doing?)

Why Pastors Should Consider Naming Heretics From the Pulpit - By ROB NELSEN

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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We have become convinced that the the idea of criticizing false teachers as practiced by "discernment ministries" is not found in the Bible.

Every example of naming and disciplining false teachers in the NT is in the local congregation. That is, those who cause division, who are immoral, or who teach false doctrines in the midst of the church are subject to scrutiny, correction, and/or avoidance.

This does not mean we cannot critique the teachings of those outside our church. We do this often here in this blog. It simply means that because those who would exercise discipline are not actually gathered with those people they criticize. Therefore, they cannot engage biblical practices (like Matthew 18 or Galatians 6:1, for example). Church discipline can only be expressed in the local body. 

It is up to the church where the false teacher is located, or denomination of which his church is a part, to engage the process of correction. It is not the job of someone not in that denomination or congregation.
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Are you Passionate about the Passion Translation? p.1 - Let us reason ministries

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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We are not here to defend the Passion Translation. In fact, we do not even own a copy. We are here to examine the author's presentation.

And that presentation is incoherent and largely undocumented. He rambles and wanders off, so much so that we have reduced the article down to a few excerpts.
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You're not wonderful - By Elizabeth Prata

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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The author appears confused. She simultaneously refutes then agrees with her premise.

She has no idea what the Scriptures say. She manages to quote a couple, but sadly it seems like she never has read them. 

This presentation saddens us.
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Did only men write the Bible?

Today's Doctrinal Rethink examines the prevalent idea that only men wrote the Bible. This assertion is typically used to bolster the idea that women in the Bible are essentially add-ins, they are not part of the formation of the faith, they are not to be leaders, and/or they are not part of God's plan for church operation.

We have previously examined the idea of women in church leadership here and here.

The Issue

Here's a representative expression of the issue:

Of 27 books of the New Testament, called “the words of Christ” in Hebrews 1:1, exactly zero were written by women. This means Jesus chose no women to recall his words or deliver them via Scripture.

As we consider this we first should note that no title of any book in the Bible identifies a woman as the author. But these titles, like the chapter and verse division, are not part of the original text, they were added later and should not be regarded as inspired.

Second, the inspired author is sometimes a matter of speculation (Ruth, Esther, and Hebrews for example). 

Third, we don't know who actually wrote down the words of Bible. The person who put pen to paper may have simply been a scribe, or may indeed have been the Holy Spirit-inspired person named in the title. We know Paul did not autograph at least some of his epistles. It is generally recognized that he dictated many of his letters via amanuenses. He writes:

Ga. 6:11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!

This clearly implies that he wanted to emphasize his point by writing these words himself.

'Systemic racism' doesn't mean 'lots of racists in the system.' - Sparkling Wine Socialist

Found on Facebook. This is a whopper, and will take a bit of effort to unpack it.




"Btw 'systemic racism' doesn't mean 'lots of racists in the system.' It means that even if there were *zero* 'racists' present, the system would still disproportionately harm people of certain races. It's baffling that lots of educated folks don't understand the his concept."
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A system is an organized structure that expresses a human desire for order. That expression can be legitimate, moral, and useful, or it can be oppressive and destructive.

A system is a purposeful structure, constructed and maintained by its organizers. Structures cannot continue to exist apart from intentional maintenance.

A system is not a sentient entity, so it cannot be racist. Systemic racism is not possible without racists. A system will not continue to exist without systemizers. Thus it is impossible for a system to persist without those who would feed it.

Therefore, a system cannot inflict harm without those humans who would use it or allow it to inflict harm.

So the author is wrong. The fact that he condescendingly asserts that educated people don't understand this does not make his assertions self-evident.
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Keys To Discernment - by Debbielynn

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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On the whole the author has a good take on things. We appreciate her recognition of the broader context of discernment, an understanding that is too often lacking in the ranks of the Doctrinal Police.

However, we have a couple of quibbles, which we will note below.
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Many Christians desire to have discernment, which is good. Many, however, maintain a narrow understanding of Biblical discernment, limiting its scope to simply calling out false teachers and/or identifying erroneous practices within the Church.

Biblical discernment most assuredly includes those activities, and we must never ignore the importance of exposing deception (Romans 16:17, Ephesians 5:11). (Let's quote the verses:

Ro. 16:17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.

Ep. 5:11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

The first verse is not about discernment per se. Here Paul counsels the Roman church to stay away from people who are divisive and teach things that don't agree with what they were taught.

The second verse is similar. Paul wants the Ephesian church to stay away from evil things.

Why are we making this distinction? Because the author will go on to mention Beth Moore and Joel Osteen. Since she is not a part of their ministries, she cannot keep away from someone who is already not associated with. 

Paul's context is the local church. This means the author should keep away from people in her church who are placing obstacles in her way and are engaging in fruitless deeds of darkness.)