|
|
An International Missionary Outreach Dedicated to Evangelizing the Lost By Sharing The Gospel According to the Scriptures
|
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
Ichabod Fulfilled in the Body of Christ
Commentary by Roger Oakland For printer friendly version,
please
click here |
|||||||||||||
|
This commentary will be short. It will also be clear
and to the point. There are three things I am compelled to share. First, I am often accused of being a Calvary Chapel basher. Not so. For those of you who have read my biography, Let There Be Light, you know I first began working with Calvary Chapel in 1989 at Chuck Smith’s personal invitation. Chuck had asked me to bring my teachings on evolutionary thinking and the New Age (and how both were affecting the world and the church) to Calvary Chapel pastors. Thus, I moved my family from our farm in Saskatchewan to Southern California. I had only been with Calvary Chapel less than a year when I began seeing serious problems within the movement. In my book, I described the situation: From 1998 on, the battle I faced in southern California . . . only intensified . . . A number of things simply did not line up with my “farming” way of seeing things. Many times I was reminded of my dad’s famous statement: “The reason I am a farmer is that I would rather deal with nature than human nature.” This became etched in my mind over and over as I saw the signs of a Christian church being run more like a corporation than a New Testament church. . . . Since I had traveled throughout America and the world in Calvary Chapel circles since 1989, giving me opportunity to make observations, I didn’t have to be a forensic scientist to see when something was wrong. [1] You can read more about my years at Calvary Chapel in Let There Be Light, but I bring this up because of being accused of only wanting to hurt Calvary Chapel. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve sometimes been asked, “Why did you stay so long at Calvary Chapel if problems began surfacing within the first year.” I explain this in my book: Well, that’s simple—I truly was convinced God had brought me to Calvary Chapel to be a blessing, to teach those at Calvary Chapel about creation versus evolution and the ramifications of believing in evolution, and to help prepare and equip Calvary Chapel against spiritual deception and a great coming apostasy. With such conviction and my love for the Calvary Chapel pastors, I never felt the freedom to just walk away from the movement, at least not until I had done all I could possibly do. My farmer heritage gave me the tenacity to not give up, while the Lord in my life helped me to persevere. [2] While I have been accused of being divisive and unloving, the fact is, to say nothing when people are in danger is the most unloving thing of all. Bottom line is, at Understand The Times, we have attempted to promote the truth, not just to Calvary Chapel but to the body of Christ at large. When light shines into the darkness, the darkness does not like the light. You will find this in the Bible where we read: The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him. (Job 18:6) Or another verse that says the same thing: Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. (Jeremiah 13:16) Second, we have been accused of being unfair to “God-loving brothers and sisters.” Apparently, our commentaries have been viewed as hard hitting and designed to use the Word of God to cause division. This, of course, is not our intention. Remember the words that Jesus used as recorded in the Bible: Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division (Luke 12:51) Or another verse that states the same thing: So there was a division among the people because of him. (John 7:43) Third, one of the things Calvary
Chapel has been known for is teaching the Bible verse by verse, line
upon line. The hope in teaching this way is that the Scriptures are not
taken out of context or pulled from various books of the Bible to
erroneously support a particular doctrine or teaching. As good of a
system as this may be, it is not a guarantee that a pastor or a teacher will not
be misled or become deceived. As the Bible is taught, there must be a
biblically prophetic understanding given. In other words, the teaching
must be able to connect the dots to what is happening in the church
today (e.g., it’s got to clearly show where deception has come in). And
the teaching must also consider the “whole counsel of God.” Ultimately,
even when it is verse by verse, a Bible teaching is only going to be
good if the teacher is being led of the Holy Spirit, whether it’s
pastors and teachers in Calvary Chapel or any church or denomination. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. (2 Timothy 2:24-26)
I recognize that many Christians have been caught in
Satan’s trap, and there is widespread deception throughout the church
today. There may even be those who claim to be Christians but don’t
realize they are not Christians at all because they do not know what
Christianity is. They’ve never responded to the true Gospel. They have
been warned, but they do not listen because of pride. Please watch the following video.* If you watch it, you will understand why we posted this video. Please pray for the people involved.
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxxf4zaa1YY&feature=youtu.be
They have been warned, and they will not listen to what the Word of God clearly states. For example:
And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. (Leviticus 26:30)
Or another verse that says the same thing:
The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen! (2 Samuel 1:19)
History only repeats itself time and again.
Postmodernism is the same as Babylonianism. Christians can be fooled by
those who are following Satan. How sad.
|
||||||||||||||
|
Understand The Times is an independent non-profit organization in
Canada and the United States.
|
||||||||||||||
