The Perils of “Open But Cautious” Cessationism: A Call for Doctrinal Clarity - by Virgil Walker

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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The author will refer to the sufficiency of Scripture nearly a dozen times, as well as adding modifiers to the word "apostolic" (-gifts, -era, -age, -authority), and the danger of how contemporary prophecy would re-lay church's foundation. But he never explains any of this.

He does this over and over again. It's as if he seeks to establish his assertions as true by sheer repetition. 

As we read we were left wondering if he has some sort of secret knowledge about something that he's not telling us. 

So the author never tells us how he knows what he knows. He does not tell us why believing in healing is a danger to the Bible or the church. He doesn't tell us why an undefined emotionalism is antithetical to Bible truth. We never find out how prophecy dilutes Bible doctrine.

The author does quote some Scripture, but most of those quotes are not about documenting his assertions. A couple of his Bible quotes do speak to his points, but he either misinterprets them or misrepresents them.

This is truly Bad Bible Teaching.

--------------------------

Are There Two Levels of Prophecy? - by Scott Aniol

Found here. Our comments in bold.
-------------------------

This is not a Bible teaching, it is a refutation of Wayne Grudem's opinion.

The author will repeatedly appeal to the closed canon, almost a dozen times, but will never explain why contemporary prophecy is at odds with it. So that the reader will understand, there is an unstated premise: Cessationists believe that all prophecy is the pure, inerrant, authoritative words of God, and it must be written down and added to Scripture. Thus the cessationist assumes that prophecy = Scripture. 

The author never tells us this premise.

In fact, it is a problematic assumption. This is because there is no requirement that prophetic expression be included in the Bible. We can find no Bible verse that suggests such a thing. It's just not there.

This is crucial: The Bible does not tell us that contemporary prophecy needs to be added to the Bible.

To the contrary, we see all sorts of prophecy, miracles, and other supernatural events that didn't make the cut, as it were. For example, some of the great exploits of King Solomon were not deemed worthy of inclusion in the Holy Writ. Readers are directed to the "annals of Solomon," something we do not have today:

1Kg. 11:41 As for the other events of Solomon’s reign — all he did and the wisdom he displayed — are they not written in the book of the annals of Solomon?

King Saul prophesied to the extent that the people wondered if he was included among the prophets. However, we don't have any of those prophecies:

1Sa. 10:10-11 When they arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying. 11 When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?

We don't even have the prophecies from this procession of prophets.

Agabus was a N.T. prophet worthy of special note. It is interesting that only one of his prophecies was quoted, (and a summary of another), while any other prophecies he might have spoken were omitted:

Ac. 21:10 After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

Agabus' famine prophecy is only a summary, not the actual prophecy:

Ac. 11:27-28 During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world.

There are a number of prophets identified by name in the NT, yet we don't have any prophecies from them. Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, and Manaen:

Ac. 13:1-2 In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Notice there came forth a prophecy, but the narrative doesn't even mention who spoke it. 

We also do not have any prophecies from Judas or Silas, even though they said much:

Ac. 15:32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers.

And these twelve men prophesied, but we don't have any record of their prophecies:

Ac. 19:6-7 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

Philip's daughters prophesied, but that all we know:

Ac. 21:8-9 Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

Even Jesus, as critically important are His words and deeds, was subject to editing by the Holy Spirit:

Jn. 21:25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

Why would the author insist that contemporary prophecy violates the canon when so much of the prophetic mentioned in the Bible did not? Why do cessationists assume prophecy must be added to the Bible? Conclusion: It's an unbiblical assumption.

Lastly, in 1749 words the author does manage to quote some Scripture, but nothing he quotes bolsters his case. For these reasons, we must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.

------------------------------

Christ’s Blood and the Atonement - by Mike Ratliff

Found here. Our comments in bold.

-----------------

Mr. Ratliff has made several appearances in our blog, with increasing frequency. It's almost to the point where we're tempted to create his very own tag, but we will delay this decision for a while.

Today's article has him opening with a passage from Ephesians chapter one, which he doesn't discuss or even mention again. 

What he really wants to talk about is Penal Atonement, the Reformist doctrine that the Father punished Jesus for our sin. Amazingly, he asserts that not believing this vile doctrine means one is fleshly and not orthodox. That is the essence of his case, the bare assertion.

So we will respond with our own bare assertions. The doctrine is vile first because first, the Bible does not teach it; second, because there's no reason to punish the Son for our sins if His blood is sufficient; and third, Jesus did not substitute Himself for us.

We discuss this in detail here, here, and here.

Later in his article the author alternately gets atonement right and wrong, depending on whether he is appealing to Scripture or his doctrine. It's a shame he is unable to see this, probably due to his Reformist/Calvinistic predisposition.

We must regard this as Bad Bible Teaching.

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1967 Pontiac Lemans #2 - budget build - episode two, disassembly and assessment

October 5th, 2024:



October 6th, 2024:



Episode one here.

--------------

Now that the car is safely ensconced in my shop I'm dying to know if I bought a lemon or a Lemans. The first order of business is to empty out the car and clean out the debris. After that, remove the front clip to access the engine for disassembly.

I grabbed a light and crawled under. Having had a previous rusty Lemans, I knew exactly where to look and what I was looking at. I found an absolutely beautiful frame, aside from a bent rear crossmember. And the floorboards were beautiful. Aside from a coat of dust, it looked like factory. The front and rear suspension looked like it could just be left as is, with the exception of the sway bar links. This is actually when I discovered it had factory discs. But no power booster, a somewhat unusual combination. 

The underside of the engine and transmission were covered with black secretions and the power steering box had a bolt stuck in its return line port. Must have been a bear to steer. The exhaust had been cut away and the parking brake cables were missing. But as far as I could tell, I would have very little work to do under here.

Back up top. The car had a variety of loose parts inside, including two alternators, three starters, two OEM air cleaners, the guts for the passenger door, some chrome trim pieces, and miscellaneous other parts. 

The headliner is gone so its insulation pad was disintegrating, having joined all sorts of other rubble on the floor. The debris filled a five gallon pail, but what I found underneath it gladdened my heart:

The Great Myths 15: What about “the Dark Ages?” - by Tim O'Neill

Found here. This guy is doing a service to humanity by beating down these myths.

-------------------------

The concept of “the Dark Ages” is central to several key elements in much anti-religious polemic. One of the primary myths most beloved by many anti-theists is the one whereby Christianity violently suppressed ancient Greco-Roman learning, destroyed an ancient intellectual culture based on pure reason and retarded a nascent scientific and technological revolution, thus plunging Europe into a one thousand year “dark age” which was only relieved by the glorious dawn of “the Renaissance”. But when this “Dark Age” supposedly was, what made it “dark” and what all this had to do with religion are usually left unsaid and – on critical examination – are usually hard to pin down. Like its twin concept – “the Renaissance” – this “Dark Age” is something everyone seems to know about, but few can actually delineate. This is because both the concept and the term have very serious historiographical problems.


The idea that religion ruled Europe in the Middle Ages and they were “the Dark Ages” as a result is so well-understood and generally accepted that it is regularly presented online in memes like the one above and variants like it. There is no attempt to detail when exactly this was, how precisely religion “ruled” or how this caused these ages to be “dark”. Like a lot of anti-theist historiography, this kind of meme is heavy on assumed understandings and light on details. Certainly some of the variants appear rather confused about the whole thing. Take this one from Twitter, for example:


This is, presumably, supposed to illustrate these “Dark Ages”. But the picture is a painting by the Flemish masters, Dieric Bouts and Hugo van der Goes, dated to c. 1468 and it depicts the story of the matyrdom of Saint Hippolytus of Rome, said to have been torn apart or dragged to death by horses. Using a fine work of late medieval Flemish art depicting the legend of a second century Christian who lived circa 170-235 AD and was, allegedly, executed by pagan Romans seems an odd choice as demonstration of these Christian “Dark Ages”.

Why does God allow pastors to fall? - by Jesse Johnson

Found here. Our comments in bold.

---------------

The obvious question the author never considers is, why does God allow ANYONE to fall? Or perhaps, does God allow people to fall, or does He cause them to fall? Or even, God might not do either. Maybe it was simply the outcome of their own choices. Sinful people do sinful things. 

But the author seems to want to blame God.

That aside, the author predicates his entire presentation on the idea that pastors are special. He places them at the top of the church pyramid. Thus for him it's always a particular tragedy when the Big Cheese stumbles.

Worse, the author manages to cite scriptures about elders as if they are about pastors, like

He. 13:7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

However, there's nothing at all in the Bible that tells us pastors are leaders. None. Rather, elders are the leaders of the local church:

1Pe. 5:1-2 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow-elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers...

He then stretches this verse to be about pastors:

Ga. 6:6 Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.

Biblically speaking, pastors aren't necessarily teachers. Pastors care for the flock. That's their job. They might lead the church, but might not. They might preach, but they might not. They might administer, but they might not. 

He also misapplies this passage to pastors when it's clearly about elders:

1Ti. 5:19 Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. 20 Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning.

This may be why the author quotes only rare snippets of Scriptures, because the Bible clearly doesn't support his view of pastors as the heads of churches.

Lastly, we note the author's four reasons God might "allow" a pastor to fail are essentially the same reason rephrased. And while he references Scripture at each point, none of the cited Scriptures actually tell us what the author says.

----------------------------

We Need to Talk about “The Jesus Film” - by Drew Reynolds

Found here. Our comments in bold.
--------------------

The author has unfocused worries about an evangelistic film made more than forty years ago. He thinks it is inadequate based solely on his theological tradition. We say this because the author makes a zero biblical case for his assertions. He barely even quotes it.

In fact, he never tells us the biblical way to evangelize. He has a lot to say about what amounts to discipleship, but very little about evangelism itself. Generally speaking, he confuses the two.

So, what is solution? Well, he doesn't have one. Over 3,000 words, with no solutions and no Bible in sight. 

Astounding.

We should say we are not here to defend the movie. We shall devote ourselves to examining the author's presentation. At least, for as long as we can stand it.

-----------------------------

1967 Pontiac Lemans #2 - budget build - episode one

October 5th, 2024:



October 6th, 2024:

Episode two.

--------------------------

For a solid year I cut and welded and sanded on a derelict 1967 Pontiac Lemans and chronicled it in this blog over 14 episodes. I sold that car 6 months ago and the shop space was empty (first picture). I thought I was done with rusty hulks. But for reasons I don't understand, even after swearing off involved and difficult car restoration projects, I bought another. Another, as in another 1967 Pontiac Lemans (second picture).

What have I done?

This is the disease, the infection, the affliction, and once caught, one can never be cured of it. I have this disease, yet despite the pitfalls I'm actually glad I have it.

Here is the new acquisition:

Rich's proverbs, book six -updated 10/14/24

Book five here.

Book  four here.

Book three here.

Book two here.

Book one here.

This is a continuation of my practice to take notes on what I prayed.

Chapter One

1. I just heard that the man who taught me how to pray has passed. Father, thank you for putting this man into my life. Thank you for his passion to know you and to pray, which he passed to me.

The legacy of prayer. With Jim Tharp gone, who will take up the cause? Where are the mentors who teach and model prevailing prayer? Where are the 20s, 30s, and 40s who burn with prayer?

2. This church has been around since 2011. What will its legacy be? What will be its impact be for the sake of the kingdom? Is there anyone in our church who is working with the long haul in mind?

3. We use words without knowing what they mean.

• ​Blessing is the good stuff father gives us.
• ​Grace is his desire to be near us.
• ​Mercy is his lifting of condemnation and death from us.

4. Here I am, after decades of being a Christian, still learning fundamentals. Or maybe, re-learning. Like forgiveness. Prayer. Encouragement. Worship. Father, remind me to be edifying. Remind me to spend time with you. Remind me to keep my thoughts in order.

Misunderstanding Cessationism - by Josh Buice

Found here. Our comments in bold.

----------------------------

This is nearly 2100 words (minus quoted material) and the author quotes not a single Bible verse. Not one.

There is and should be a robust (and respectful) debate about doctrine and matters of faith. But the author isn't interested in that. He goes on and on about his justifiable skepticism about the miraculous, and then spend an inordinate amount of time being offended at the possibility he might be a "hyper-cessationist."

This article is not only bad teaching, it is also bad writing.

------------------------------

Is God speaking to you? Part 2 - By Elizabeth Prata

Found here. Our comments in bold.

-------------------------

Ms. Prata makes another attempt to explain why God doesn't speak to Christians, and it's really just a regurgitation of cessationist talking points, done on a rather superficial level. 

Her chief verse for God's silence is

All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

She makes some other claims as well, which we will examine as they come up.

------------------------

Chosen Before the Foundation of the World - By Mike Ratliff - comments exchanged

Excerpted from here. Our comments in bold.

------------------------

This frustrating and unenlightening conversation with Mr. Ratliff reveals a few things.

• He smokescreens behind elaborate explanations and an irrelevant story
• He appeals to his credentials
• He essentially denies that the quoted verses mean what they say, because of his superior (and secret) knowledge of the Greek

On top of all this, he makes assertions and assumptions that ultimately do not answer the questions posed to him.

--------------------------

Trump’s Bonkers Economic Plan - by Robert Reich

Found here. Our comments in bold.

------------------------------

"Bonkers." Dr. Reich is given to hyperbole when comes his political adversaries. Things are never just incorrect, mistaken, improper, or out of order. No, they are always bonkers, bizarre, incoherent, and crazy. 

Further, the complete ignorance on display in this article is breathtaking. Dr. Reich has no clue about the economy, business practice, or the problems government causes. Or more likely, he does understand but is devoted to telling The Narrative in service to The Agenda.

But worst of all, Dr. Reich denies reality. He warns about Trump and his policies and how damaging they will be. But it's like he doesn't know that we've already had Trump as president. We know what he did. We have experience and evidence. We can be assured none of the things Dr. Reich warns us will happen. Because they didn't happen. 

It's what leftists are required to do. They must believe every talking point, every assertion, and every factoid promulgated by Central Command, no matter how ridiculous, fake, or absurd. And they must do it often, everywhere, and with a straight face.

It must be difficult to live life as a leftist.

---------------------------

Pumpkin Prophecy: Beware of Lowercase “r” Revelation - by Josh Buice

Found here. Our comments in bold.

-----------------------------

This article weighs in at an astonishing 2274 words, minus quoted material. But the author can only manage to quote two Scriptures (we redacted that section). Neither of these Scriptures come to bear on the case he is making. He also references and summarizes some other verses, but does not quote them. He does manage to quote theologians and contemporary teachers, sometimes extensively.

But the Bible is nearly absent. We must deem it Bad Bible Teaching.

-------------------------

Interrogating the Man of God Phenomenon in Africa - by Lawrence Musunte

Found here. Our comments in bold.

------------------------

This is an interesting explanation, partly because we don't know much about practices in Africa, but also because we see parallels in the American church. The American church also puts a singular man at the top of the local church pyramid. The pastor as CEO gets all the attention, all the accolades, and all the devotion.

We aren't just talking about megachurch celebrity pastors. This is not only about hyper-charismatics. Whether Reformed, charismatic, or evangelical, the pastor in nearly every church occupies the limelight. This fatal flaw leads to the very same kind of abuse, error, and destruction as the author describes regarding the "man of God."

The biblical leadership model is not a pastor at the top of the pyramid:

1Pe. 5:1-2 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow-elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers...

If local churches were to be governed biblically by a council of elders, we would likely see a lot less burnout, a lot less immorality, and a lot less abuse by leadership.

-------------------------

The Apostles healed everyone, but the gift was fading?

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.

------------------

Bad worship songs - Echo Holy, by Mia Fieldes, Ran Jackson, Jake Espy, Kory Miller

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 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 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
• Lyrics that do not create uncertainty or cause confusion
• A certain amount of profundity
• A singable, interesting melody
• Allusions to Scripture
• Doctrinal soundness
• Not excessively metaphorical
• Not excessively repetitive
• Jesus is not 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 this song, Echo Holy.

---------------------

Totally depraved, or totally powerless?

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.

Bad worship songs: Rooftops - (Jesus Culture) by Jonathan Berlin, Lindsey Sweet, and Ben Williams

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 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 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
• Lyrics that do not create uncertainty or cause confusion
• A certain amount of profundity
• A singable, interesting melody
• Allusions to Scripture
• Doctrinal soundness
• Not excessively metaphorical
• Not excessively repetitive
• Jesus is not 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 this song, Rooftops.

Rich's proverbs, book five, updated 9/27/24

Book  four here.

Book three here.

Book two here.

Book one here.

This is a continuation of my practice to take notes on what I prayed.

---------------

Chapter One

1. Some Christians look for a good church to attend, while others look for a church they can help build into a good church.

2. The purpose of worship is not to prepare for the sermon.

3. Fear is not "reverent awe," it's fear. I haven't yet found the balance between being a son and the fear of the Lord.

4. Even as I'm burdened with desperate, weak prayers, you bring assurance, which gives me strength to keep praying.

5. If other Christians think you're a little on the fringe, that might be a good thing.