Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Are You Dancing? II -The Worship of Warren



I will borrow from a previous post to start off with.



An Organ Grinder was someone who traveled around town and played a tune on a portable organ for money. Oftentimes the grinder would have a monkey with him who would dance to the music and would walk around and collect money from those observing.

I bring up Organ Grinders because the church often reminds me of the monkey who dances around when the music starts playing. The question is, “Who is playing the music?”

Yes, I think the lost world is playing loud music. I also think that there are some possibly under the guise of “Christian” that are playing it; namely Rick Warren.

As a pastor I am sickened by the throng of “Christian” literature that is on the market that is meant to be a help in the ministry that I serve. We have Bible studies that are flavored with The Beverly Hillbillies, Andy Griffith and who knows what else. And then we have the plethora of Purpose Driven drivel.

Mr. Warren has international attention at his disposal at any moment. He sells truckloads of books and is considered the guru in church growth.

As a pastor the idea of church growth will get most of us to turn our heads for a second look. We want our churches to grow. We want to see the Kingdom enlarged. We want to see God honored and His people growing. But upon closer examination, the diet that we are being fed from Mr. Warren and his ilk is so watered down that I am not sure what it is supposed to resemble. Let me share a few concerns.

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“The last thing many believers need today is to go to another Bible study. They already know far more than they are putting into practice.” (Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life , 2002, pg. 231) [emphasis mine]
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I have had to read and re-read this quote many times. To me this is a lowering of the value of the Sword of the Spirit which is exactly what Satan wants for the Christian.

I must admit that I am very hesitant of something that the masses are falling in love with; especially if it is about the Lord. It seems that everything that Rick Warren says is put into print and sold at a price. Why should someone who wants to “help” pastors sell their ideas that supposedly came from God?

According to Romans 3.23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

This alone lets me know since everyone is born a sinner and separated from God that their nature will run from anything that does not glorify the flesh. It reminds me of when I was a child and I would be playing and then…there it was. The ringing bell! It was none other than the ice cream truck as he drove through the neighborhood ringing his bell. Children would scramble for change and bolt out the door to see if they could catch him.

So, ministries and bookstores tell us that our ministries are not complete or fulfilling the calling that Lord has placed on our lives until we read the latest offering of Purpose Driven nonsense.

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How to increase baptisms at your church
by Rick Warren
As pastors, we all want to see more people celebrate brand-new relationships with Christ through baptism. Nothing symbolizes life change like it. We’ve baptized more than 20,000 people in the past 26 years at Saddleback. Along the way, I’ve learned a thing or two about giving people an opportunity to make this kind of commitment. Here are some tips to help your church increase its number of baptisms.
http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/?id=267&artid=9616&expand=1 [emphasis mine]
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I suppose by the numbers stated above that I should listen to his “thing or two” about moving people to make this commitment.

I remember serving as an associate pastor in North Georgia where I served under a godly pastor who is now with the Lord. I distinctly remember him being questioned by the pastor search committee. “Can you tell us how many people you baptized in your last church?” The soon to-be pastor said, “If you will tell me how many people look like Christ in this church I will tell you how many I baptized in my last church.” They sat silent. At that moment God starting teaching me that it was His business to save and it was my business to be holy and share Him. It was not my business to bring the masses in and have membership and baptism campaigns.

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Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 1Cor. 3.5-6 [emphasis mine]
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It appears that as pastors we have been led (slight of hand?) to focus solely on numbers, comforting sinners, solving the social ills of today, and getting along with each other and all the while ignoring the holiness of God, the demands of God, the sin of man and the substitute provided by God.

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“What you win people with is what you win people to.”
-The godly pastor that I mentioned earlier
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As pastors we are to hold God and His perfect Son up for everyone to see.
It is our job as pastors to teach the church to put Jesus Christ on display. We are to reflect the image of Christ to a lost world. We are not to “draw” people in with our music, youth programs and whatever else we can muster. We have to let them know of the demands of God. We have to let them know of His holiness and their sinfulness. We have to let them know that they are separated from God and without His intervention first, they are Hell bound. This is not about scaring people; it is about the facts laid out in Holy Writ.

The only way that a sinner can be changed and reflect the image of Jesus Christ is for God’s Spirit to invade that person’s heart and change them.
We are not to make a sinner comfortable in his/her sin. To do so would be to compromise His holiness and righteousness.

Pastors, I encourage you not to abandon the Word of God for a book-study or how-to methods. Mr. Warren is not the guru in church growth. He is the guru in growing a business that he calls a church.

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So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Acts 2.46-47 [emphasis mine]
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Who is playing the music that you are dancing to?

Friday, January 12, 2007

Interesting

As I have said before, people get cranked up over my posts about Catholicism being a cult.

For those of you that are Catholic, read this post.

"The greatest obstacle to the Gospel is silence. By remaining silent and hoping that our Christian life will testify for itself we fail to keep the Lord's commandment. The commandment, "go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." means to go and speak the Word to the Catholic! The majority of Nuns and Priests and former Catholics that I know who have" ...Read more (Here)

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Offended?


It is has come to my attention that a group of folks have been in an uproar over my post about Catholicism being a cult.

It seems that I have offended some by my lack of love for those of "another denomination."

Well, here is what Webster's says about this term, denomination.
Denomination- "a religious organization whose congregations are united in their adherence to its beliefs and practices"
Can I rightly claim that Protestant churches believe this web of lies that the Catholic Church adheres to?
Please continue reading as I add some clarity to this subject.

Christ’s redemptive activity finds its apogee in the death of sacrifice on the cross. On this account it is by excellence but not exclusively the efficient cause of our redemption....No one can be just to whom the merits of Christ’s passion have not been communicated. It is a fundamental doctrine of St. Paul that salvation can be acquired only by the grace merited by Christ (Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma (Rockford: Tan, 1974), pp. 185, 190).

Are the sacraments necessary for salvation?
According to the way God has willed that we be saved the sacraments are necessary for salvation
(John Hardon, The Question and Answer Catholic Catechism (Garden City: Image, 1981), Questions # 401, 402, 461, 462, 1119).

If any one saith that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary unto salvation...and that without them, or without the desire thereof, men obtain from God, through faith alone, the grace of justification...let him be anathema (The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent. Found in Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1919), Canon IV, p. 119).

Penance is...necessary because we must expiate and make reparation for the punishment which is due our sins...We make satisfaction for our sins by every good act we perform in the state of grace but especially by prayer, penance and the practice of charity (John Hardon, The Question and Answer Catholic Catechism (Garden City: Image, 1981), Question #1320).

The Sacrifice of the altar... is no mere empty commemoration of the Passion and death of Jesus Christ, but a true and proper act of sacrifice. Christ, the eternal High Priest, in an unbloody way offers himself a most acceptable Victim to the eternal Father as He did upon the Cross...In the Mass, no less than on Calvary, Jesus really offers His life to His heavenly Father...The Mass, therefore, no less than the Cross, is expiatory for sins (emphasis mine) (John Hardon, The Question and Answer Catholic Catechism (Garden City: Image, 1981), Questions #1265, 1269, 1277).

THESE COMMENTS OFFEND ME. THEY ARE TOTALLY DEMONIC!!!!!!
I guess that I am "cursed" since I belive in Grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone.

If this is not enough to convince someone that Catholicism is a cult then I seriously question their understanding of the gospel message and salvation.
In the end. I am not worried if the truth offends you. SIN OFFENDS GOD EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY.
No, this is not self-righteousness on my part. This is me bringing to the surface what another RELIGION, not demination believes.

Monday, January 01, 2007

How To Raise a Crook

I came across this several years ago.
HOW TO RAISE A CROOK

1. Give him/her everything they want. This way they will grow up to believe that the world owes them a living.
2. Never give him spiritual training. Wait until he is twenty-one and then let him decide for himself.
3. Avoid using the word “wrong.” It might make him feel guilty and his school-work may suffer.
4. Do not make him work at home. Do his work for him, so he will learn at an early age to leave responsibility to others.
5. Let him watch anything he wants, so he can learn from television how to get along in the world.
6. Give him spending money so he won’t be frustrated by having to earn his own.
7. Do not make rules for him-you might make him angry at you.
8. When he gets bad grades, blame the teachers.
9. When he gets in trouble at school, blame the principal.
10. When he loses his job, blame the boss.
11. When he gets caught drunk driving, blame his friends.
12. Let him experiment with sex, alcohol, and drugs so he will be able to make an educated decision.
13. Buy him a car as soon as he can drive so he will have the freedom to go wherever he wants.

--from The Presbyterian Journal

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