Megachurch Pastor Perry Noble Rebuked For Perverting Scripture

I am absolutely “joy-filled” at the character,courage and integrity of the SBC leadership for  holding Perry Noble publicly accountable for perverting the 10 commandments into promises in order to make them more palatable to unbelievers in his church.

The seriousness of the SBC rebuke came with the threat of excommunication from the convention should Noble refuse to correct his heretical teachings. Bam!

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Perry Noble, pastor of a South Carolina megachurch, was rebuked by a Southern Baptist leader in South Carolina for calling the 10 Commandments “10 promises” and for other “problematic positions and statements.”

The rebuke came last week from the president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, Tommy Kelly, who said, “We as South Carolina Baptists must publicly state and remove ourselves from these positions and problematic statements and call for NewSpring to correct these positions if it chooses to say that it affiliates with South Carolina Baptist churches.”

..Hoping to bring more people to Jesus, Noble asked those at the worship service to view the 10 Commandments not as rules they have to keep in order to be Jesus followers but as promises that they can receive when they accept Christ.

He interpreted the first commandment (You shall have no other gods before me) as “Promise #1: You do not have to live in constant disappointment anymore.” The second commandment (You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything) was translated into this promise: “You can be free from rituals and religion and trust in a relationship.”

The “you shall not murder” command, he said, is actually a promise that “you do not have to live in a constant state of anger because you will be motivated by love and not hate.”

…

 

Visual Theology: “I Can See Clearly Now”

Info-graphics have returned in popularity in recent years. They have been commonly used to show data regarding the weather, route maps and graphs for statistical information. Their purpose is to integrate substantive information so that visual capacity is enhanced for absorbing multiple and diverse levels of detail in a condensed structure.

Tim Challies created his own version of  “Visual Theology” of things relating to  the Christian faith: The order of salvation, the attributes of God, the  Trinity, the Atonement, Reformed theology, the books of the Bible.

You can see the complete list here.   Either way, I have found his “Visual Theology” most helpful.

Check em out!

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Calvinist? Arminianist? Biblicist?

Whatever belief system one embraces, this poem should describe all men who represent Christ the King! 

Written by John Piper performed with the help of  Matt Chandler, R. C. Sproul, D. A. Carson, Thabiti Anyabwile, Alistair Begg, and Sinclair Ferguson.

 

Strange Chaos- John MacArthur Style

I am a firm believer in Al Mohlers Theological Triage. Simply put, there are  three levels of theological urgency.

First level doctrines are absolutes that are non-negotiable such as inspiration of scripture,  virgin birth, deity of Christ,justification by faith alone, the resurrection, and the gospel of Christ. Denial of one or all is clear denial of the Christian faith. This means we should never fellowship with,embrace, or sanction anyone who denies cardinal doctrines of the faith.

Second level beliefs are those that distinguish one church or denomination from another. These involve issues such as frequency of the Lord’s table, mode of baptism, continuationism, cessationistionism, complimentarian, egalitarian. These things may identify and distinguish but must never become grounds for close fellowship and certainly should never become the  “litmus test” for whether one is viewed as being Christian.

Third level doctrines are non-essential beliefs. What time your church service starts, multisite video campuses, eschatological beliefs regarding  pre-mid-post tribulation period, and views about  the millennium.

John MacArthur has  elevated second tier beliefs regarding charismatic gifts to first level essentials for defining who is and is not Christian. To borrow a friends term, that’s just Poppycock!

MacArthur is “off the gospel reservation” and is guilty of causing the very chaos he is supposedly  warning others about. I say this as one who has throughly enjoyed his ministry over the years and have greatly benefited by his commitment to sound exegesis.

The arrogance of MacArthur leveling charges  at all charismatic continuationist today as his  means for rejecting  us as  “christian”,  when the first century Corinthian church was guilty of the same fleshly chaos and even worse culpable behaviors and yet the Apostle Paul called them Redeemed Saints, the Temple of God, and  brothers in Christ.

With that said, here are some of the best responses to the Strange fire conference.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/adrianwarnock/2013/10/strange-fire-mark-driscoll-open-letter-to-john-macarthur/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/adrianwarnock/2013/10/strange-fire-john-macarthur-claims-no-good-has-come-out-of-the-charismatic-movement/

http://sbcvoices.com/strange-fire-john-macarthur-is-right-and-very-wrong/?

http://www.charismamag.com/blogs/fire-in-my-bones/18919-to-my-fundamentalist-brother-john-macarthur-grace-to-you-too

http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/41499-john-macarthur-cessation-theology-and-trainspotting-for-cave-dwellers

 

The Battle Over Matthew 24

In February of 2013, three biblical scholars set out to debate three separate views of Revelation in Reno, Nevada.

>Dr. Sam Waldron, academic dean of Midwest Center for Theological Studies and professor of systematic theology discussed the Idealist position.

>Gary DeMar, M. Div, Reformed Theological Seminary discussed the (partial) Preterist position.

>Dr. James Hamilton, Asst. Professor of biblical studies, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary discussed the futurist position.

What happened however turned out not to be a typical talking head debate on the book of Revelation.

Watch this clip then go download the film now.

http://store.americanvision.org/products/symposium-on-revelation

 

Do Christians Really Believe In The Return Of Christ?

Easter is one of the most important religious holidays of the year for many Christians – a time to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. According to a 2010 Pew Research Center survey, roughly half (48%) of Christians in the U.S. say they believe that Christ will definitely (27%) or probably (20%) return to earth in the next 40 years. Somewhat fewer (38%) say this definitely will not happen (10%) or probably will not happen (28%).http://www.pewforum.org/Christian/US-Christians-Views-on-the-Return-of-Christ.aspx

 

Al Mohler: “Tebow’s Big Fumble”

Wow! While most were supportive, some were angered by my inclusion of the word “compromise” in the title of the post regarding Tebow’s recent announcement that he would not follow through with his speaking engagement at First Baptist Church in Dallas.  However,  I am comforted by the insight of Dr. Al Mohler in his recent coverage of the controversy.

Did Tebow actually compromise on serious convictional issues in scripture about the  “Exclusivity of Christ” and  “homosexuality?” I am inclined to think so.

Read Mohler before you decide. He documents the kind of  pressure  applied to Tebow to withdraw from his speaking engagement as revealed in the articles extracts below.

Remember, it is always wrong to be “lovingly winsome” if it means portraying  biblical truth as “hatefully offensive”.

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“…controversy quickly shifted to secular outrage that Tebow would agree to speak to a church known for such beliefs.

Gregg Doyel of CBS Sports warned, “Tim Tebow is about to make the biggest mistake of his life” by speaking at “a hateful Baptist preacher’s church.” Doyel described Jeffress as “an evangelical cretin” guilty of serial hate speech. Of course, Doyel engaged in hateful and slanderous speech of his own by associating Jeffress with the truly hateful Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas. Jeffress “isn’t as bad as Westboro,” Doyel admitted, “But he comes close. Too close.”

Other sportswriters piled on. Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post offered his own warning to Tebow: “After a season on the sidelines, the ball’s in your hands, Timmy. Better not fumble this one.”

…Writing at The Huffington Post, Paul Brandeis Raushenbush made it clear the controversy wasn’t just a matter of Jeffress’s tone, conceding, “while Dr. Jeffress has a tendency not to sugarcoat his feelings,” he is nonetheless voicing what evangelical Christians “have been saying for a long time.” The central scandal here is the belief that Jesus is the only Savior and that homosexual behavior is sin. In terms of the larger public debate, it is the issue of homosexuality that has predominated the larger public debate… “

…Evangelical Christians are now called upon to think strategically about what it means to speak truthfully and lovingly to a society that increasingly sees us as the moral outlaws.”

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/february-web-only/tebows-big-fumble.html?utm_source=ctweekly-html&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=9682733&utm_content=157598634&utm_campaign=2013