Ideology Through Phrasing

There are dangerous Fundamental Philosophies and Quips that have been used from one generation to the next.  We preach certain things because they sound good, and often fall into line with the Fundamental way of thinking.  These things commonly used in hit in pulpits are not sound doctrine, and do not usually mean what we try to make them mean.

Some of these are used to allow us our own liberties in preaching on anything and anyone we want.  In fact today, much of our preaching we hear is just men talking about things that anger them, or some pet hobby horse.  

Very little edification.  We thrash the cults when they quote half verses or segments of verses for some supposed doctrinal truth, but we, like any other denomination have fallen into the same snare.  We do the same thing in the pulpits, and the streets!

You may have heard men say, “Good preaching is not always good doctrine, and good doctrine is not always good preaching.” I understand what this is meant to be, some doctrines are rough, and definitely not crowd pleasers, but our preaching should always reflect our doctrine!  You can’t truly preach truth unless you are being distinctive in your doctrine.

We have preached these things so much, that these things, sometime ideologies, are now our positions.  Then, we find the scripture to back it up after are position is already stated. The scriptures should be our position first, not phrases.  Here are just some examples;

A Convoluted Commission

The fact remains is that men have long made it a practice to use the word, and I cannot stress enough how serious I mean to say, “use the word of God” for private agendas and to further their private kingdoms.  For the common good or whatever lies they have to tell themselves these days, many just continue on, examining others, never examining themselves.  Men will privately interpret passages for private reasons.  It is a common practice displayed among decent and devious men  alike and has been in the works since the time of Christ. 

Missionaries and preachers have long claimed unfounded and loose interpretive callings for ministerial nonsense and money grabbing shakedowns by way of using the Great Commission. They have long found, as the definition of commission states, their doings, performing, perpetuating, sending, act of entrusting, duty; and it is now their proper authority and warrant for exercising certain powers, administrations, and duties in the Great Commission passages.  

These passages in the gospels have been used for centuries to solicit services and funds from among Christian bodies.  Sure their is gain, but no one ever discusses the other spectrums of disorder. To use these passages to solicit service, or even funds and offerings is unscriptural and dangerously close to adding to his word.  

In many cases now, I can only see it as defraudation or using guile and gimmicks to obtain an desired affect.  By applying a teaching or doctrine to these scriptures, then saying they are directly for the body of Christ is adding to the doctrinal position of the passage.  To do so, one must ignore the scriptural integrity of Gods book.  There is a very specific reason for men to deny that there is any disorder.

You will see variations of this in every evangelistic, Baptist church you can find. It is the big idea that is fully entrenched in well fortified Baptist traditions and preserved by some mafia like omerta! It is why there is never a real discussion or theological sit down over it.  Men will look at you like a two headed dragon just for suggesting this may be an off base position. They act this way because the great commission is the prominent “big idea” that many Fundamentalist, and Evangelical, Bible Believing Christians have in their minds for the reasons for doing much of what they do.  Who would ever dare question it right?

Genocidal Maniacs or God Called Men

Much of our talk of callings here and there is nothing more then men using God and his Book as their authority and justifications for whatever kind of orthodoxy they invent in their own minds! But sufficed to say, and without going into a full blown expose on Fundamentalism in the 19th and 20th centuries, a lot of our talk and terms are just that, talk, and terms! 

We have mixed some mysticism with all the talk of a “call of God” and have made ministries out of the blue, by distorting passages.  There is a constant barrage of pressure among Fundamentalist and Baptist circles to “be called” to something!  It’s why we create all these diverse ministries, people have to have a calling or a position to fulfill.  And they have to be fully supported as well in their endeavors, to funnel and propagate the working systems. So men just keep inventing new tactics and ways to get that support.  Hence, things like faith promise and other gimmicks.

Who needs faith anyways?  We have Bible Colleges, Bible Institutes, and Bible schools pumping out 1000 young 20-somethings every year, running everything like a business, or a corporate engine, perpetuating the machine as their teachers taught them.

Let me ask you this; concerning our calls of God that we claim, how are we different from some North African Jungle warlord who claims he had directive from God to commit his genocide?  How are we different from some Cameroon warlord who thinks God told him to perform ethnic cleansings?

The "Old Paths" for New Testament Christians?

"Ask for the old paths!"  Stop it already!!!  I realize I'm stepping on toes here, but I have thought about this for years.  Let me come right out of the gate and just say, the "old paths", whatever they are, whatever you may define them to be, whatever men in history  you may associate with it, they are not for us.  Why do men yell about the old paths so much? Men talk of the old paths, the same way men harp on the old time religion, and the ol' timers.  Some talk about how it used to be 100 years ago, as if they have some real inkling other then grand stories and romanticized nonsense.  Some focus the idea more on scriptural implications.  This ideology is so big in the Fundamentalist, hardcore, militant Independent Baptist ranks today. The glorious Old paths!  Old paths ministries, Old Paths Baptist church,  "We walk the old paths here!"  What does it all mean?

Jeremiah 6:16 says Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where [is] the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk [therein].  This is the only time it shows up in the Bible.  It's amazing how men will focus so much on what God focused so little on isn't it. "We should ask for the old paths... " is inevitably followed by what the preacher says he thinks the "old paths" are!  And it usually has the ring of all the things the preacher stands for.  And if it is a pastoral authority control freak preacher, you already have a monster on your hands.

I used to prescribe to this notion myself when i was a Fundamentalist successionist.  The old paths!  It was a neat idea.  Many preachers love that Jeremiah 6:16 is in the Bible.  It is a good springboard for rabbit trails and hobby horses.  People?  Why are we messing around in law and prophets so much?  Why are we wanting to allude to some mystical old paths, some mystical realm that only exist in the preachers minds.  Whether you preachers keep trying to get your young preacher boys to be like Hudson Taylor, George Whitfield, Sam Jones, or Lester Roloff, or you are using the prophets as good examples of public ministry, you guys need to understand what age you are in TODAY!  You are using his word too loosely.  You are no longer teaching our young men to be individuals with a book.  But you  are pushing them to follow traditions of men, claim the same callings of men, follow the same commissions of men and to practice preaching styles that are not fitted for NT men.

A New Priesthood ~ Part 2 - Vital

A Treatise Against the New Priesthood

~A kick against the fundamentalist pricks~

Every time you tell me about God doing some great work and a soul getting saved, I will tell you about the 10 families I know being displaced because of Popish pastors!  Every time you tell me about the rare soul saved on the street, I will point out to you the hundreds and thousands of seeds ripped out of good ground, for the sake of “our call to preach!” 

Every time you point out the exceptional bus conversion or VBS conversion, I will point out the hundreds of young people who are being manipulated for numbers to report, and confused from the many different presentations they get from all the varied, but yet zealous workers.  

Every time you tell me some grand missionary story or missions endeavor, I will bring up the flip side of missions, the controlling mission boards, the gambit of deputation, the separation, the division, the business side of the missions minded men, the white families living like kings with attack dogs, razor wire fences, and servants among poor natives.  I will tell you about the loss of innocence and youth of children who grow up on a mission field, the destroying of families, the ripping apart of families, the church splitting, the Westernization of other cultures, and the monetary-hedge-fund-like corruption done by those who say they are “the called” on a foreign field.  Every time you read some good prayer letter, I well tell you about hundreds of defrauders and con-men that write good prayer letters too.

Every time you tell me about the one wonderful, teacher and pastor, I will tell you about the 100 others who are pastoral authority, rage ruling lunatics.  Who control with fear, manipulation, resentment, and anger trying to pass it off as righteous indignation. Every time you cry to me about being faithful to the man off God and not forsaking the assembling, I will point out to you the thousands of good Christians who read the book, talk with the Lord, have a relationship with God, and are imprisoned in their churches in traditions, under a popish Baptist pastor!  What are they to do, be faithful to error, get out of church, start their own?  What?  You tell me oh great knowing pastors out there.  You have the answers for everything!

Every time you tell me about the 10 street preachers that do it right, I will tell you about the army of ministries that now exist solely to confront, do battle, scream, rail, yell and tell people to quit their sodomy, drinking, dancing, fornicating, adultery, idolatry, completely devoid of any gospel presentation, of his death, his burial, his resurrection, his grace and his blood.  Horribly and incomprehensibly damaging the message we are supposed the be preaching for any hearers within the sound of our voices.

A New Priesthood ~ Part 1

A Treatise Against the New Priesthood

~A kick against the fundamentalist pricks~

This is “the get it off my chest” part.  If I thought it proper, I would name names, and let the chips fall. You schemers and defrauders! I have the letters of your tall tales and your manipulation of men.  I know what was swept under the rugs, and kept from the congregations.  I know the inner money changing, and hand-shaking.  I have seen the protection of your own kind at the expense of the sheep.  I know why positions changed, and men were removed or renounced.  And what some of us have missed, God has surely seen it all! Amen! 

If I my mother didn’t teach me better manners, if that Book had not rub off on me, I would call all you suckers out by name.  Your wonderful followings, and loyal members, they have no idea what kind of men you are. But I know!  I know what kinda man you are!  

All your charades, all your little speeches, and many of you are nothing but common thieves. All your secrets, all your dirty little inner strifes and turmoils that are kept hidden with such precise calculation.  You are expert in your cloaking of your own self righteousness.  It is hard for me to understand how we claim to serve the same risen savior?  I have to love you, and hope with great faith, that somehow, God used you in his way that I cannot see, as he did with a “jackass” in the OT. 

At this point in the game, it is now apparent to me that there have always been bully zealots and fanatics, who pervert THE gospel, and implement private interpretation contrary to the scriptures.  Every true Christian body, or sincere believing society has had to deal with brutes, ogres, fools, jesters, and oafs! 

In every generation, in every reformation and awakening, in every church age there has been, they have existed. They are found quite possibly in every denomination, but are more prevalent in the fundamental ranks where they can easily blend and infect. They are the pharisee of the modern day. 

Street Preaching Boldness or Pride Puffing Flesh?

You sap headed thug street preachers out there, and people who have come in contact with them, this just has to be said! So listen up and suck it up, and go on for God! 

As thoroughly stated in previous sections on this blog, I do not disagree with street preaching, and I do not mind anyone doing so as long as it is true preaching of the gospel for the express purpose to win men and women to Christ and not vain showmanship and civil disobedience masquerading as boldness. 

If I do proclaim the word publicly, I do it out of a desire and a preference.  I don’t publicly preach to be in line with any NT mandate or the scriptures.  I don’t do it to fulfill some dead commission. I don’t stand publicly with the word of God in my hand quoting scripture for any other reason other than the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and things pertaining to that and that alone.  No pet peeves, no pet sins that are just easy targets for preachers to have there fulfilling moment of fleshly battles with the world, beating the devils horde back to the gates of hell. 

If I quote the word of the Lord, I don’t do it to prove anything to any man or to align myself with these men in practice.  I don’t do it because I have some mystical call or command from the holy spirit. I do it at  an opportune moment, like what we see in Acts, but not as a doctrinal command that I see in the word of God to follow.  

As a preacher of the word of God, I may be compelled or constrained from time to time to publicly proclaim the word of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ for the intended affect of opening dialogue to lead men to the saving knowledge of his gospel of grace and the power of his blood and resurrection.  This is expected of any preacher, to have the discernment to know when the holy spirit is working, other wise, it’s just “loud noises.”

Sunday Rant #1

Bible truth and Biblical worship has been replaced with hermeneutics, sermons, showmanship, outlines, theatrics, and the preacher, the man behind the sacred desk, the pulpit of power.  The central part of the service is no longer the unity of spirit, reasoning out of the scriptures, fellowshipping, and bonding together.  It is now, “what the preachers have to say”.  And “thank God for good preaching!” Having said that, I do not under value the true help biblical preaching and teaching provides, so understand my perspective a moment.

This dependency problem is paramount in explaining our fundamental core problems in churches today.  We say things like, “We have to have preaching!”, or we egg the preachers on like they are some athlete.  We just use different words.  Instead of “go, go!” or “rah rah!”, it’s “amen preacher!” or “preach it, preacher!”

Services are held, sermons are preached, and church is just SO good.  That’s all you hear.  We all just kinda keep lying to ourselves don’t we?  There is no real growth but only a surface growth.  How can there be growth?  How can there be? You grow from receiving milk and meat from the Word.  You grow from receiving encouragement, exhortation, teaching of his word and edification.  

Fundy Fantasy Land

Hundreds before myself have asked a pastor, “Pastor, why do we do things this way?”  They have a verse ready.  We think it is sufficient, because surely a preacher would not take something out of context.  And furthermore, they would never lie to us to keep a line of thinking or a so- called doctrine intact.  A man of God who is called of God would never  keep senseless traditions just for the sake of keeping people?  Not our pastors!  Right?

They give you scripture to have a form of godliness, some half-twisted, half-quoted, totally distorted scripture and that is it!  They love God and many of them love His book.  They just only see things in a certain light and with a certain light.  

And then we dumb milk-fed Christians go “Ohhh, thanks pastor!”  They will never sit across a table from you and let you show them anything.  They have to maintain the illusion of preeminence.  See, you are not yet learned, and they have to teach you slowly.  

They are afraid their little delusional world will come crumbling down if they allow discussion or make any changes to the machine that is running smoothly. I mean, “look at all that God is doing!”.  The fundamentalists and corrupted Christendom are just plodding along now, going through the motions like the law-keeping Jews of the NT.  They have no idea things were well off the tracks before we ever received HIM.  We just joined ranks with more people who claim to have it all down.  

Call a Spade a Spade!

“We are an independent, fundamental, Bible believing Baptist church!”  You may have seen an advertisement like that for a church on a tract, a website, or the phone book.  All the lingo and talk is used: pre-millennial, missions-minded, sin-hating, King James Bible-preaching church.  It has all the persuasion and influence that all religions use.  It’s why we are so aggressive in getting people to come.  We believe we have it, hook, line, and sinker.  We follow the fundamentals of the faith, we preach the truth.  We are not as they, we do things right.  We have order, our statements of faith and the beloved fundamentals.  Which I guess that is all fine.  Other denominations can make erroneous claims, why not the IFB?

I just want you to understand, my mindset and my view is not about starting a revolution, making everyone see my point of view, or to get all the churches to change their format and so on.  I just want others to be aware of the fact that we are no different from the other vain religions who have a great many things wrong at their core.  

It’s just being honest.  Wake up! We are not some special class of Christian that God has called in these last days to stand in the gap and show everyone else their faults and traditions.  In fact, we have many similarities to the religious that we preach against.

Who Watches the Watchmen? ~ an essay

For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth. Isaiah 21:6

“Let him declare what he seeth…”

In the comic book genre, there is a group of anti-hero, super heroes.  In other words, they fought injustices and crime, but had gross moral corruption in some cases they themselves.  This group was called the Watchmen.  They were considered to be extremist vigilantes.  There enemies, the masses and criminal minds, would graffiti a slogan. “Who watches the Watchmen” for police sympathy.

Today, our ranks are very similar.  We expect our super heroes to be full of integrity and honesty.  We assume what they give us is exactly what we need.  We assume our pastors will give us the whole truth, no matter the outcome.  But this has proven not to be so today.  

This cannot be over stated, we cannot simply trust the man of God today.  I could care less how long you have known them or all they have done for God.  I remember telling a Christian once that a pastor lied.  The immediate response to that was, “He could not!”  That was alarming.  This Christian did not respond, “He would not!”, it was “He COULD not!”

I will take this moment to put us all on the same playing field.  Though there may be positions of leadership, there is no preeminence in the body!  There is no pastor that does not sin!  There is no missionary that cannot sin!  There is not one evangelist that is sinless.  There is no pastor who is above reproach or even needful correction.  The same flesh that tempts the wicked pew warmer is the same flesh that tempts the pious preachers. 

“You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake.  You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else"

The Sunday Scare Hour

The day I dreaded arrived today, when some Sunday School staff/children’s church worker came up to me and informed me that my 7 year old son had gotten “saved”.  He then put him on the spot to describe this life changing event to me at which point he looked at me with a “dazed and confused” look.  Now to some parents, this might have been a joyous occasion to hear of their son's salvation.  But to me, it was one of my worst nightmares.  Here is why.

The arrogance in our evangelism is alarming!  Is it God’s design for Dad and Mom to instruct, read the Bible to, and discuss biblical matters with their children?  Yes.  But all of the sudden, in children’s church or Sunday school, workers get this thing in their head that the children are there for them to push for a decision on spiritual matters and eternal salvation without even discussing matters with the parent.  

As if they know the child, or have anything to do with him aside from asking him questions and prompting him to raise his hand.  They view it as “God brought them to me.”  It’s a twisted view on the providence of God.

Welcome to Silent Platform~ An Introduction

Have you ever sat in church and just looked around at the happenings and said, "Oh my God, what is going on here?" Have you listened to the words being preached and thought to yourself, “What?” Have you ever sat in church and had one of those moments where it just sounded way off coming from men preaching even out of the same beloved AV that you read?  Have you ever just had those "red flags" of caution do fly-bys in your mind when you heard men handle the word of God deceitfully and you just knew that the pendulum of balance had gone way far to one side?

Well, Silent Platform is where I talk about all of those things, and strain the things that men have made gnats! In decency and order, and with a Biblical perspective, nothing is off limits.  I will delve into any subject matter at the express purpose to in fact see what the Book says about it. Having said that, I am no authority, and I do not have it all figured out.  I respect and reverence the word, I do not have it mastered nor my doctrine foolproof!  

I just cannot maintain the ridiculous Baptist-successionist, driven dribble and the positional theology anymore.  I have seen a curve, a slant, a transition from a literal approach to the book, to sort of play on words, manufactured Christianity where many phrases are used to support supposed doctrines, that tend to private interpretations and traditions. We have gone from sound doctrine, to systematic theology now to positional theology.  We have all become very selective haven’t we?

A preacher once said to me, “If you take 50 Baptist preachers, lock them in a room for 24 hours, there would be blood coming out from under the door within 24 minutes!”  If you knew the men that I have known, which I’m sure my target audience does, then you know this is very descriptive and accurate of many Baptist societies and men today.