Category Archives: Ecclesiology

Back to the Word of God Conference

24 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by in Church, Ecclesiology, Personal, Seeker Sensitivity

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Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” 1st Kings 19:18

the authority of the word of god0409121 Back to the Word of God ConferenceA few weeks ago I returned from Norway, where I attended the “Back to the Word of God” conference. I went expecting quite a bit of hostility, as the Gospel was going to be proclaimed to pastors who had been preaching a false gospel.

Most pastors in Norway, like many in America, have replaced the true Gospel with the false seeker driven gospel, that consists of a watered down version of the Law and a sinner’s prayer, or even worse, the command to “be a Jesus follower,” that makes no mention of the need for repentance and faith for the forgiveness of sins. As well as this seeker driven gospel there was the word-faith / dominionist gospel, which is all about making demands of God as if He is a genie who does the will of whoever can rub his lamp the right way by saying the right words, having enough faith, being audacious enough, tithing, or keeping certain laws. This false gospel is usually accompanied by manufactured miracles and false healings.

To my surprise, and I think to the surprise of the host of the conference, this isn’t what we found. Rather than a group of pastors who had never heard, let alone taught, the true Gospel, we were blessed to have a gathering of mostly true believers; pastors and lay people who knew, proclaimed, and loved the Good News of Jesus Christ who paid for the sins of His people; a remnant of the invisible true Church holding fast to the Gospel despite their very small number and the opposition of the false churches and the enemies of the Gospel urging them to compromise.

By God’s grace, a remnant from all over Norway gathered to hear the Gospel, to be encouraged by the Gospel, and to fellowship with others who believe.

For sure, the false teachings I mentioned above exist and run rampant all over Norway, but the people who preach such things didn’t show up; instead, news of the conference spread across Norway and a remnant came to hear the Truth. There were some who were influenced by such things, especially those who have heard of the false miracles Bethel Church in Redding, California claim to be performing on a regular basis, but after some reasoning from the Bible and explanation of the “gospel” Bill Johnson and Jesus Culture proclaim, I think those who were influenced by them were able to see the truth.

If at any time then we are troubled at the small number of those who believe, let us, on the other hand, call to mind, that none comprehend the mysteries of God save those to whom it is given. – Calvin. Institutes 1.7.5

One of the best things I think will come of this conference is believers meeting one another and knowing they aren’t alone. Rather than hiding in fear believers will hopefully be emboldened to proclaim the Gospel, knowing they aren’t alone, even if they are few. Along with this, there was some good instruction as to how and what to preach.

As for me personally, aside with knowing the hosts and wanting to hear solid preaching, I didn’t have a reason to go, and I wondered why God would have me there. Thankfully, God did have work for me to do there. I was able to do some teaching one on one or in small groups between sessions and I was able to enjoy the fellowship and make some new friends.

It is my prayer that God will use this conference to increase the faith of all who attended, that we may all go our way encouraged and instructed in how to share the Good News with an unbelieving world. And, that this remnant in Norway will be used to reach the elect with the Gospel.

And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD will do this.

2nd Kings 19:30-31

J.C. Ryle on the Symptoms of False Doctrine

21 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by in Church, Ecclesiology, Seeker Sensitivity

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j c ryle profile2 J.C. Ryle on the Symptoms of False DoctrineI posted these 8 points from J.C. Ryle regarding the symptoms of false doctrine, adapted for Twitter as 9 tweets. I present them here in their non-adapted, unaltered form.

Many things combine to make the present inroad of false doctrine peculiarly dangerous.

1. There is an undeniable zeal in some of the teachers of error: their “earnestness” makes many think they must be right.

2. There is a great appearance of learning and theological knowledge: many fancy that such clever and intellectual men must surely be safe guides.

3. There is a general tendency to free thought and free inquiry in these latter days: many like to prove their independence of judgment, by believing novelties.

4. There is a wide-spread desire to appear charitable and liberal-minded: many seem half ashamed of saying that anybody can be in the wrong.

5. There is a quantity of half-truth taught by the modern false teachers: they are incessantly using Scriptural terms and phrases in an unscriptural sense.

6. There is a morbid craving in the public mind for a more sensuous, ceremonial, sensational, showy worship: men are impatient of inward, invisible heart-work.

7. There is a silly readiness in every direction to believe everybody who talks cleverly, lovingly and earnestly, and a determination to forget that Satan often masquerades himself “as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).

8. There is a wide-spread “gullibility” among professing Christians: every heretic who tells his story plausibly is sure to be believed, and everybody who doubts him is called a persecutor and a narrow-minded man.

All these things are peculiar symptoms of our times. I defy any observing person to deny them. They tend to make the assaults of false doctrine in our day peculiarly dangerous. They make it more than ever needful to cry aloud, “Do not be carried away!”

~ J.C. Ryle

I, Closet Calvinist, would like to add one that isn’t directly mentioned by Mr. Ryle, that is the manipulation practiced by these false teachers. Yes, many of the above fit into that category, but I don’t think anyone in Mr. Ryle’s time had manipulated people into mass baptisms or had “glory clouds” of gold colored plastic glitter manifest themselves out of the air ducts at midnight on a Friday night after hours of hypnotic “worship.”

Warnings to the Churches, “Divers and Strange Doctrines”, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1967], 76, 77.

Content from J.C. Ryle Quotes

Spontaneous Baptism Explosion

05 Saturday Jan 2013

Posted by in Church, Ecclesiology, Seeker Sensitivity

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Spontaneous Baptisms: I came across this document a year or so ago, from a well known, very rapidly growing megachurch. It gives some insights into their practices. I shared it on Twitter last week, though I had the Google Document permissions where having a link wasn’t sufficient to be able to open the document. Given the demand for it, I thought I would give a short write-up here.

stevenfurtick 300x198 Spontaneous Baptism ExplosionBaptists love seeing new baptisms. So much so that Southern Baptist churches report them along with their annual attendance to the Southern Baptist Convention. We should all love, and celebrate baptisms, even if we don’t all agree with the Baptists as to the meaning, mode, or proper recipients. To all Christians though, a baptism shows growth in the Church, new souls entering into the Kingdom, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ going forth.

The seeker driven guys love baptisms even more than the Baptists. To many, and especially to them, it is a sign of success and many believe it to be God’s favor on the church.

A few years ago Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina amazed the world* with the number of baptisms they had in a matter of a couple of weeks. And, most of the people who were baptized decided to be spontaneously. Those attending Elevation deem this one of pastor Steven Furtick’s many accomplishments.

Other seeker driven churches were amazed at these numbers and apparently overwhelmed The Furtick with questions as to how all of this happened. So, The Furtick, or a member of his staff, put together a document explaining it. (And providing some interesting statistics.)

If one examines this document they will see that these spontaneous baptisms were spontaneous decisions by some, but I would argue they are as spontaneous as my decision to buy a candy bar is when I’m waiting in line at Wal-Mart. You know they do put the candy bars in the check-out line for a reason, right?

Give it a read for yourself and I think you’ll see what I mean. Pay close attention to the plants they used to motivate others into spontaneously being baptized.

Spontaneous Baptisms Kit (That is the original name of the document, I did not rename it.)

I hope that Elevation is the first, and only, to practice this manipulation, but I don’t think they are. I think it is a new low, but seeker driven churches using manipulative practices is far from being new.

  • One may sense a double meaning with “the world” above, yes, that is intended.
  • I am indebted to Fake Richard Dawkins for the clever use of the proper definite article when referring to The Furtick. His Twitter is hilarious, when he tweets, I would suggest following him.
  • To make it abundantly clear, I do not endorse these methodologies, I oppose them. Nor do I endorse Steven Furtick, or seeker driven churches.

Church Marketing Sucks (part three): CC’s Tips

06 Saturday Oct 2012

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church sign calvary baptist 1828 300x300 Church Marketing Sucks (part three): CCs Tips

Church Sign: Church Shopping? We’re open on Sundays

Since I argued against all the church marketing tips in parts one and two, I thought I would offer up a few church marketing tips of my own. I promise you, mine are less complex, far more cost-effective, and a bit more scary than Jeremy Harrison’s were.

First off though, I want to discuss the idea of church marketing in general.

A proper ecclesiology would help us to understand the Church is the body of believers, and the Church service is when the believers gather together to hear the proclaimed word of God, to receive the sacraments, to worship God in song and prayer, and to be equipped for ministry and good works.

That being said, most church marketing is advertising the wrong thing to the wrong people, as we saw in the previous two posts. If we market to non-believers we would have to offer them something they want. But, the bible makes it clear that they don’t want Jesus! Continue reading »

Church Marketing Sucks (part two)

05 Friday Oct 2012

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bad church signs hell1 300x240 Church Marketing Sucks (part two)

Church Sign: Do you know what hell is? Come hear our preacher

In part “Church Marketing Sucks (part one)” I addressed the first post by Jeremy Harrison on the Church Marketing Sucks blog. In his second post Harrison gives tips for better ways for churches to market themselves. I want to address those tips and in my next post I will give a few of my own.

1. Identify people groups in your community based on their passions.

Most people in your community are not thinking about going to church. But what are they thinking about? What are they passionate about? What are they excited to pour their time into when they get home from work? Get a diverse group of people in your church to brainstorm… you will quickly come up with a dozen or more groups of people.

That would be great if one were marketing a coffee shop or a recreation club. However, the Christian Church is a different animal altogether. Continue reading »