Open Letter to D.A. Carson & Tim Keller

Dear Dr. Carson & Dr. Keller --

As I begin to write this, I do so with a personal sense of indebtedness to both of you.  I am not merely grateful for your books and lectures and sermons which have taught me so much: I am grateful for the spirit with which you have done it all.  That is to say: while I am well-known through a reputation of being quite a pill for the sake of the Gospel, you both are known as fatherly men who have a graciousness I am certain I lack, and it is that spirit from which I learn much all the time.

Recently, you have both penned a detailed statement about the nature of the Gospel Coalition, and about its duties or relationship to its readers and also its council members.  I found this essay instructive, and useful, and clarifying in the context it was coming from, but in my view, it misses the point of the concerns of almost all the critics of the dust-up over the Elephant Room.  I wanted to offer to you an outsider's perspective on what just happened and why it is not enough merely to say what you have said so far.    Keep Reading >>>

Contemplative Prayer - Subtle Promotion

In this article, we want to look at contemplative spirituality’s subtle promotion. In other words, we will examine how this error creeps in and takes minds captive unawares. To illustrate the point, we will use the document found at the Alabama Baptist Convention website.

In the very first paragraph, the document quotes Contemplative Mystic, Richard Foster:

“Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem.”

That’s actually a pretty good observation. I would agree with its fundamental premise but I would disagree with the statement as a whole (but more on my disagreement a little later). Most ministers, even most confessing Christians, might look around and say, “Hey, he sure nailed that one.” This basic agreement on a major observation automatically lends validity and credibility to its spokesman. A powerful sentence draws us in, and the following sentence illuminates more specifically the severity of the problem. The unsuspecting, undiscerning Christian will read on willingly because, after all, “It’s about time someone uttered the very same thoughts I was thinking with regard to the Christian religion as we know it today.” Those who are completely unfamiliar with Richard Foster will buy into a whole lot more than the snake oil he’s selling because Mr. Foster is one that has mastered quite readily, manipulation by and through his words. In his form and format, he typically uses only one or two power sentences (two in the case above), and then slithers beside the slippery slope in order to catch the undiscerning in a fall. We will see that in a moment because the specifics he mentioned in the second sentence to reinforce the first, will be lost by the third or fourth sentence. The hook was powerful enough to grab its reader, so once apprehended, he can virtually say anything he wants.   Keep Reading...

Contemplative Prayer - Sinful Practice

Contemplative Prayer - Sullied Perspectives

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When Love Divorces Doctrine and Unity Rejects Truth: A Response to End-Time Ecumenism

It is evident that leading neo-evangelicals believe that our main goal is to eliminate doctrinal distinctives and to emphasize unity among those claiming to be believers.

One of the basic ideas of today’s philosophy of ecumenical evangelism is that love is more important than doctrine. Ecumenical evangelists say that doctrine divides, whereas love unifies. What does the Bible say? Is it true that in the New Testament love is more important than doctrine, or truth?

In the so-called “love chapter,” we are told: “Now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love [agape]” (NKJV, 1 Cor. 13:13). Some say—“That settles it: love is supreme!” But when we examine this chapter more carefully, we discover that truth is also mentioned. In v. 6 we are told that love “rejoices in the truth.” In other words, faith, hope and love are virtues, but truth has an altogether different status. It is the frame of reference, the foundation, the atmosphere without which virtues such as love cannot exist at all.

Love “rejoices in the truth.” Why? Because without truth to define, interpret, protect, guide and channel it, love can become a total disaster. We dare not place truth on the same level as virtues. Virtues would shrivel up and die if it were not for truth.

Here is an example from the natural world. We cannot imagine life on this planet without water. Water is absolutely essential for life—as long as it stays within proper channels, such as canals, aqueduct and pipes. But when water gets out of control, it is the second greatest catastrophe that can happen to this planet—second only to fire. On the one hand, it is an absolute blessing, but on the other hand it can be a total disaster. So it is with love.   Keep Reading...

Top 50 Doctrines of Demons

Over the past month I have made a series of videos on what I see as the Top 50 demonic doctrines that have infiltrated the professing church that is Mystery Babylon.  The Scriptures tell us Babylon the apostate church would be a dwelling place of demons with said prophecy having come true already for those given the eyes to see this by the Lord.   People become deceived when they eat false words or false doctrines and take them to their heart.  These lies become stumbling blocks that prevent one from seeing the truth of the gospel and the whole purpose of Jesus coming and overcoming the world and the enemy and showing us the way to eternal life.  To be succesful in ensnaring the multitudes,  Satan’s demons bring doctrines that seem godly and very religious on the outside but the leaven, the spiritual poison is hidden in this meal that people have eaten and taken to heart. Keep Reading...

WE MUST SPEAK THE TRUTH

Jesus Christ defeated Satan already on the Cross, and in the glory of the Resurrection. He is risen from the dead and is Son of God with power by resurrection from among the corpses. He has said, “All power belongs to Me, in heaven and in earth.” He has said, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel.”

He has breathed on us the power of the Holy Spirit! We are not to turn around in the face of the enemy; or in the face of false doctrine, we are to arm ourselves with the whole armor of God and march right into it!

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Amen. It’s about time [circa 1985] we did a little more resisting. It’s about time we were prepared. Finally, I began in the Gospel of Matthew, I want to end there. Matthew, chapter 10, beginning at verse 34. “Do not think that I have come to send peace on the earth. I did not come to send peace, but a sword! I have come to set a man at variance with his father; the daughter against her mother, the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law. A man’s foes shall be those of his own household. He that loves father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me. “He that loves son or daughter more than Me, is not worthy of Me.” Keep Reading>>>

The Cart Before the Horse

I have sought to argue that the gospel of moralism is really no gospel at all – it is simply not good news! The legal hearts of man more readily assume a need to perform certain deeds and tasks before God than to live freely in the overflow of His grace. In other words, it’s far easier to understand that we should do something as opposed to relying on the fact that, in Jesus, everything has already been done. This, of course, is no new problem – it’s as old as the Judaizers. But, perhaps what’s most dangerous about moralism is what is so often the case in false teaching, namely that a little bit of truth is mixed with error, thus making it sound correct.

Certainly if one has listened to much evangelical preaching in the west, they have heard a (un)healthy dose of moralism. Now I am no antinomian – I love the Law of God (cf. Psalm 119:97). But the Law of God (and in moralism, it’s often mixed with the laws of man) understood apart from the gospel of God is devastatingly crippling and offers no sure foundation. Simply stated, moralism gets the cart before the horse when it comes to justification and sanctification. Keep Reading>>>

Focusing On Truth

“I’m always amazed by the people who, despite God’s clear and emphatic commands through the Apostle Paul, say things like, “Ah, we need to forget about the differences in our doctrines, and we just need to love one another.” as though those two are consistent goals. Surely they haven’t come to realize that the only way we can love right is to live right, and the only way we can live right is to believe right.”~ Mark Kielar

“As the apostle says to Timothy, so also he says to everyone, ‘Give yourself to reading.’ He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains (inspired by the Holy Spirit) proves that he has no brains of his own. You need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature, but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritanic writers and expositions of the Bible. The best way for you to spend your leisure is to be either reading or praying.”~C. H. Spurgeon

“We should aim to speak as in the sight of God. We are to ask ourselves not, ‘what did the people think of me?’, but, ‘what was I in the sight of God?’”~J. C. Ryle

“There are many today who regard truth and error as matters of small consequence; if a man lives rightly, they say, it matters not much what his beliefs and opinions are. Such statements do not surprise us. Night and day are all one to a blind man. Truth and error are all one to an ignorant man.”~ Martyn Lloyd Jones

“The promotion of unity at the expense of truth is satanic; it is demonic; it is not true unity. It is not the unity of the Holy Spirit for He is the Spirit of Truth. The Scriptural command which we have in Ephesians to promote the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace is given to those who have a common foundation of truth. Truth by its very nature divides.Where you have appeal to unity at the expense of truth all you can produce is uniformity.”~William Webster

“Do you imagine that the Gospel is magnified or God glorified by going to worldlings and telling them that they “may be saved at this moment by simply accepting Christ as their personal Savior” while they are wedded to their idols and their hearts are still in love with sin? If I do so, I tell them a lie, pervert the Gospel, insult Christ, and turn the grace of God into lasciviousness.”~A.W. Pink

Handling Error in the Church

Error in Doctrine Leads to Error in Practice

On Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

As described by Smith and his team, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism consists of beliefs like these:

1. “A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.”

2. “God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.”

3. “The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.”

4. “God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.”

5. “Good people go to heaven when they die.”

That, in sum, is the creed to which much adolescent faith can be reduced. After conducting more than 3,000 interviews with American adolescents, the researchers reported that, when it came to the most crucial questions of faith and beliefs, many adolescents responded with a shrug and “whatever.” Read the rest HERE

I Walk the Line - A Balanced Plea for Balance

Why We Should Care About Doctrine (And Error)

How Should We Handle Error In the Church?

Confronting Error With Condemnation By John MacArthur - Part 2

HT: Truth Matters

For the Love of the Truth

Confronting Error With Condemnation By John MacArthur - Part 1

HT: Truth Matters

Risking the Truth: Handling Error in the Church

Sinclair Ferguson: Foreword for "Risking The Truth

Chapter 2 - Sin in High Places (Carl Trueman)

Error Intolerant - John MacArthur

Fighting Error in The Church