"It is finished." What did Jesus finish?

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?

Charity Gayle and the Self-Idolatry of Modern Worship Music - By REFORMATION CHARLOTTE

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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Oh, my. Reformation Charlotte has completely embarrassed themselves. This is what happens when someone sets themselves up as the Arbiter of Truth. 

An unfortunate woman, Charity Gayle, came into their crosshairs, and they blast away at her in a manner completely absent "charity." Why? She performed a song that Reformation Charlotte deems to be too self-referential. While we happily concede there are many songs out there that are overly self-focused, this is not one of those.

Whether or not one considers this to be a proper worship song is not the purpose of our fisk. We are here to examine Reformation Charlotte.

Here's the complete text of the song:

V1: I was lost in shame, could not get past my blame
Until He called my name, I’m so glad He changed me

V2: Darkness held me down, (but) Jesus pulled me out
I’m no longer bound, I’m so glad He changed me

Pre: See I’m, a new creation in Christ, the old has gone, there’s new life
I live by faith, not by sight

Chorus: There is a new name written down in glory 
And it’s mine, yes it’s mine
I’ve met the author of my story 
And He’s mine, yes He’s mine

V3: Sin had left me blind, but, Jesus opened my eyes
Now I see His light, I’m so glad He changed me

V4: Now I’m walking free, I’ve got the victory
(see) It’s all over me, I’m so glad He changed me

Bridge: I am who I am because the I Am tells me who I am

So why do we claim that Reformation Charlotte should be embarrassed? Well, there's a hymn by C. Austin Miles called "A New Name in Glory," written in 1910:

1 I was once a sinner, but I came, pardon to receive from my Lord.
This was freely given, and I found, that He always kept His word.

Chorus: There's a new name Written down in glory, and it's mine, 
oh yes, it's mine!
And the white-robed Angels sing the story, "a sinner has come home."
For there's a new name written down in glory, and it's mine,
oh yes, it's mine! 
With my sins forgiven I am bound for heaven, nevermore to roam.

2 I was humbly kneeling at the cross, fearing naught but God's angry frown,
When the heavens opened and I saw that my name was written down. 

3 In the Book 'tis written, "Saved by grace." Oh, the joy that came to my soul!
Now I am forgiven, and I know by the blood I am made whole. 

Clearly Ms. Gayle is singing an adaptation loosely based on the lyrics of this hymn. Why is this important? Because Reformation Charlotte opens their screed with praise for "traditional Christian hymns," completely unaware that Ms. Gayle's song is based on a "traditional Christian hymn."

Embarrassing.

In addition, Reformation Charlotte tells us that modern worship songs are bad because they are focused on self. So let's consider the lyrics of some old hymns:

* Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. 

I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind but now I see.

* And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing; Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in; 

That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin.

* At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light

And the burden of my heart rolled away

It was there by faith I received my sight

And now I am happy all the day

* When the roll is called up Yonder,

I'll be there

* Great is thy faithfulness, Great is thy faithfulness

Morning by morning new mercies I see

All I have needed thy hand hath provided

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me

* Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days, let them flow in endless praise.
Take my hands and let them move, At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be, swift and beautiful for Thee.

We would suggest that it is difficult to sing about the great things God has done apart from the idea that He done great things for us. And it certainly isn't rare that songs, both new and old, are about what God has done for us.

We should also consider the Psalms:

Ps. 3:3 But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.

Ps. 13:6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.

Ps. 16:5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.

Ps. 30:2 LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.

Ps. 49:15 But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself.

Ps. 71:14 But as for me, I shall always have hope; I will praise you more and more.

It's a good thing Reformation Charlotte doesn't have the same standard for the psalmist.

Lastly,  Ms. Gayle sings "I am who I am because the I Am tells me who I am." Reformation Charlotte takes issue: "the name 'I am' is reserved for God..." The nonsense of this should be self-evident to any person casually acquainted with the English language. 

"I am" is ἐγὼ εἰμί (egō eimi), I exist, I am. "I Am" is the specific personal identification made to Moses by Yahweh:

Ex. 3:13-15 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob — has sent me to you.’ This is my name for ever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation."

Jesus echoed this statement of eternality, which is what so offended the Pharisees:

Jn. 8:58 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (egō eimi)

The use of the word is not automatically a claim to deity. Or perhaps Paul is making a claim to deity?

Ro. 11:1 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

Ro. 11:13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry...

1Co. 7:7 I wish that all men were as I am.

1Co. 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am...

Reformation Charlotte seems to think that every use of the phrase "I am" is a statement of eternality as opposed to a statement of personal status. This is clearly not the case, and it is puerile to think otherwise.

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Should Christians ask for a sign?

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 consider those who would seek personal guidance from God. This might take the form of a "feeling," a confirming occurrence, a prophetic word, or something similar. 

Is seeking information acceptable, or does the Bible prohibit or negate extra-biblical sources of information? Is seeking information different than seeking a sign? Does God respond to those who want guidance for life decisions? 

Sermon - Revival

Scripture reading: Isaiah Chapter 61

The hardest thing for me to do is to decide what to tell you. There so much I could discuss. I want to talk about how our determined pursuit of worship will influence if we will see revival. How the way we honor people will foster revival. How the exercise of spiritual gifts will facilitate revival. How the fellowship of the brethren will spark revival. But I don’t have time to do all of this. So I’ve isolated 2 or 3 aspects of revival that I think are what Father wants me to share today.

Full disclosure: I believe the Bible teaches revival. I believe in revival. I believe Father wants a lot of people in heaven. His desire is that none would perish, and I’d like to do whatever I can to make sure that Father would get as much of His desire as possible.

When I think about revival the first thing I think about is praying for our church to know “on earth as it is in heaven.” To me, that means revival right here, in our church. That’s what I pray for, a Holy Spirit explosion on Jackrabbit lane.

Everything good that happens here is because of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Powerful worship? Holy Spirit. Anointed sermon? Holy Spirit. Great people? Holy Spirit. These good things of this church are not the result of a 5 year plan or someone sitting down and deciding that next Sunday we are going to have extended spontaneous worship and Holy Spirit will move. Doesn’t happen that way.

So we can’t dictate revival, but we can pray it in, and that’s why I pray. I know many in our church are dedicated to prayer. We can pray for the life giving, life changing ministry of the Holy Spirit. The reason I’m explaining this is because I want to fan into flame a burden to pray for revival so a great harvest would be brought in. Amen?

Say this with me: If it’s kingdom... if it’s Holy Spirit… I want it.

I want to approach revival more from a doctrinal perspective today. Not a dry intellectual pursuit, but more like I want to provide a biblical basis for revival which informs your understanding, builds your faith, and spurs you to action.

First let's define terms. I would use revival, renewal, awakening, restoration, and a "move of God" interchangeably. They do mean different things, but I’ll just use the word “revival” to describe any kind of Holy Spirit intervention into human affairs, where He transformatively moves on a scale larger than perhaps a few people. This might manifest as multiple salvations, healings, rededications, restored marriages, etc.; all these would be evidence of revival. Revival might overtake a church, a city, a region, or even an entire country (or more).

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Cessationism - Episode 17 - Could only apostles confer miraculous powers or gifts?

Our next Episode in the cessationism series.

Additional Episodes:

• Episode 1, the Perfect.
• Episode 2, the apostles.
• Episode 3, prophecy.
• Episode 4, the closed canon.
• Episode 5, extra biblical reasons.
• Episode 6, only the apostles had all truth.
• Episode 7, there were only limited periods of miracles.
• Episode 8, tongues.
• Episode 9, the work of the Holy Spirit.
• Episode 10, does God speak only through the Scriptures?
• Episode 11, what about impressions?
• Episode 12, what is discernment? 
• Episode 13, the sufficiency of Scripture.
• Episode 14, Was the purpose of miracles restricted to the authentication of the apostles?
• Episode 15, Is revival excluded because of apostasy?
• Episode 16, is prophecy subjective?
• Episode 17, Could only the apostles confer miraculous powers or gifts?
• Episode 18, are charismatics functional cessationists?
• Episode 19 - Hebrews chapter one and the cessation of the sign gifts.

Our criteria for the cessationism debate is that the argument must

1. be from the Bible
2. not appeal to contemporary expressions of charismata
3. not appeal to silence
4. not appeal to events or practices of history

That is, any defense of cessationism must be Sola Scriptura.
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The Prosperous Lifestyle of America’s Anti-Prosperity Gospel Preacher - By Julie Roys

Found here. 
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It is sad indeed to learn of a pastor who has excessively profited from his ministry. It is sadder still when such a person has been very vocal regarding the failings of other pastors in this same thing. Dr. MacArthur recently said, "The Apostle Paul described false teachers as doing...when he’s writing to Timothy...is doing what they do for money. They make merchandise of you. That’s what false teachers do. They’ve always done it. They make merchandise out of you, they turn you into a commodity to make them rich. In the words of Peter, “Don’t ever minister for filthy lucre.” The irony, in this particular case, gives us no satisfaction.

Apparently Dr. MacArthur has done very well for himself, according to the below article. Having said that, we don't know Dr. MacArthur's heart. We don't know his motivations. We only can evaluate the evidence presented, and it seems clear that Dr. MacArthur is very well paid, indeed.

After the article the reader will find a rather weak defense of Dr. MacArthur. We will provide commentary on that.

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The Kingdom of God

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?

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Living proof you should follow Beth no Moore - by Michelle Lesley

Excerpted from here. Our comments in bold.

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We have no desire to defend Beth Moore; rather, it is our intent to examine the author's erroneous and sometimes foolish assertions.

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What Christians Should Know About the Enneagram - JOE CARTER

Found here. 

Ever since hearing of the enneagram we have wondered what it was. So we are happy to have found some information on it form the Christian perspective.

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46 and Done: Why Joe Biden Should Be Our Last President - by Alexis Grenell

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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The author is a socialist, which inevitably means she wants a governmental system that centralizes power in order for her preferred agenda to get installed. This is the obsession of leftists, that the American constitution is faulty, the people have too much power, America is evil, stupid, and/or racist; therefore, revolution is needed.

She pretends to want a parliamentary system, which is simply a convenient way to overthrow our wonderful system of constitutionally-limited government, but the pretense is just an excuse for socialism. 

The author has no room for those who embrace the framers, limited government, or citizen legislatures. 

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Cessationism - Episode 16 - Is prophecy subjective?

Our next Episode in the cessationism series.

Additional Episodes:

• Episode 1, the Perfect.
• Episode 2, the apostles.
• Episode 3, prophecy.
• Episode 4, the closed canon.
• Episode 5, extra biblical reasons.
• Episode 6, only the apostles had all truth.
• Episode 7, there were only limited periods of miracles.
• Episode 8, tongues.
• Episode 9, the work of the Holy Spirit.
• Episode 10, does God speak only through the Scriptures?
• Episode 11, what about impressions?
• Episode 12, what is discernment? 
• Episode 13, the sufficiency of Scripture.
• Episode 14, Was the purpose of miracles restricted to the authentication of the apostles?
• Episode 15, Is revival excluded because of apostasy?
• Episode 16, is prophecy subjective?
• Episode 17, Could only the apostles confer miraculous powers or gifts?
• Episode 18, are charismatics functional cessationists?
• Episode 19 - Hebrews chapter one and the cessation of the sign gifts.

Our criteria for the cessationism debate is that the argument must

1. be from the Bible
2. not appeal to contemporary expressions of charismata
3. not appeal to silence
4. not appeal to events or practices of history

That is, any defense of cessationism must be Sola Scriptura.
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The Rapture will occur before the Tribulation - By Elizabeth Prata

 Found here. Our comments in bold. 

Ms. Prata and people like her are adamant that women should not teach men. It is becoming increasingly clear that she should not teach women either.

The author makes every attempt to fit the Scriptures into her doctrine. She makes several obvious mistakes.

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Does 1 Peter 3:18 teach that God punished Jesus?

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 revisit a topic we have considered before, the punishment of Jesus for our sins. The doctrine that Jesus was punished is is part of the tripartite reformist view of Jesus' sacrificial death: Penal Substitutionary Atonement. That is, according to PSA Jesus 

• was punished by the Father (P)
• died in our place, to (S)
• atone for our sins (A)

Frankly, we find the biblical defenses of these doctrines to be surprisingly weak, In fact, we would say that none of these concepts are taught in the Bible. We realize this is controversial. In fact, some consider it a dividing line between orthodoxy and heresy. Such characterizations are unfortunate, especially since we believe there is ample reason to question these doctrines. Again we refer the reader to our discussion.
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The armor of God: To stand

"Don't go after the enemy until you've gone after God." - Ray Hughes.

It is easy to become casual about Scriptures we have read over and over. So we are always delighted to study familiar Scriptures and discover new things. One such passage is Ep. 6:10-18. This is the primary "spiritual warfare" Scripture, and has been portrayed in children's church, preached from many pulpits, and even demonstrated with actual armor.

There is one part of this that never seems to get preached about, and that is what it means to stand. ...and after you have done everything, to stand. This word has remained in the back of our mind as a curiosity. What did Paul mean to get all dressed up just to stand? 

Here's the passage:

Ep. 6:10-18 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Ep. 6:11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled round your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

IS CALVINISM BIBLICAL? A BIBLICAL EXAMINATION OF CALVINISM AND ITS TEACHINGS CONCERNING SALVATION, ELECTION, AND PREDESTINATION - By Cooper P. Abrams, III

Found here. https://bible-truth.org/Election2.doc

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This is a long article, written by a person who we've examined before and found his presentation to be less than correct.

So we present this article with a grain of salt. We don't know how accurate the author is, but there is also a good deal of valuable information.

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Rock Your Role: Jill in the Pulpit (1 Timothy 2:11-12) - by Michelle Lesley

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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Ms. Lesley makes her case according to the traditional understanding of these passages, but she does not consult the Greek. Nor does she examine her assumptions or add anything original. She simply parrots the traditional line of thinking, assuming it is correct. She makes numerous undocumented assertions, all based on the misreading of a single verse, 1 Tim. 2:12.

In addition, she barely manages to quote Scripture. This is an unfortunate prevalent tendency among the Doctrinal Police.

We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.

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Basic Training: 8 Things You Need to Know about Prayer - by Michelle Lesley

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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Mixed in with an occasional good explanation is some really bad teaching. More troubling is that Ms. Lesley doesn't quote a single Scripture. Not one. She purports to instruct us on the critical issue of prayer without providing a single Bible verse.

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More thoughts from an 80 year old

 11/1/16: I am taking care of everything in your life. Leave everything in My hands... Thank you Jesus, You created me for Your purposes.

11/24/16: Serve with gratefulness and love. 

Deconstructing the Heresy of Dominion Theology - by Rev. Anthony Wade

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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It has been some time since we have had the opportunity to comment on Rev. Wade. He's back, and little has changed. He remains unable to edify or encourage the brethren. He seems unaware of any Scriptures that contradict his viewpoint. And, he hardly manages to quote or even reference the Bible as he goes on the warpath against someone named Barry Maracle. 

We do not intend to defend Mr. Maracle or dominionism, we are simply interested in Rev. Wade's presentation.

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Chris Blackeby Appears on Charisma Mag Podcast: Dude Believes He’s Jesus - by Staff Writer

Found here.  

Our comments in bold.

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We don't know this Chris Blackeby or why he might be such a danger. We certainly have no intention of defending him or his teachings. We shall, however, examine "Staff Writer's" presentation in order to determine the source of his outrage.

We need to note that the author quotes no Scripture, explains no biblical concept, nor does he mount a refutation of the the person who is the subject of his ire. Nothing.

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