Most Evangelicals can’t name the ten commandments. Most CAN quote “Knowledge puffs up,” “God is love,” and “Judge not that you be not judged.”
And not much else.
Night before last I saw a Bible college student I'd met some time ago. He is a young man who is outwardly humble, quiet, and seems to be very concerned about his relationship to God. Yet, Dan is currently going to a “Christian” college that uses a text book that is in favor of homosexual marriage. I was shocked and angry. I reminded him that, as Christians, we aren’t to have anything to do with someone who calls himself a brother, yet knowlingly brings false teaching into the assembly. He didn’t know that. He squinted, furrowed his brow and slowly said, “There IS that verse that says we're to treat them as unbelievers,” thinking extra hard to remember anything at all.
That's all he knew about a central theme of Scripture?
Yep.
That's all he's got. And in a matter of months he may be your pastor or youth pastor. Does that scare you?
Several weeks ago, I read an article by Zac Poonen. Poonen is a Christian celebrity, a pastor, and author. Thousands read him and listen to him. He’s an authority. In his article he said that the first time believers were filled with the Holy Spirit was Acts 2, obviously oblivious to the fillings in the Old Testament and the filling of John the Baptist. When I corrected this, complete with biblical references, his defenders came out of the woodwork. They didn’t even MENTION the biblical mistakes Poonen made--let alone defend them. But they WERE mad at me.
Poonen's in sin. And so are his defenders. He isn’t doing the job of an elder while publicly holding the position. He isn’t studying the Scripture. Else, he’d remember John the Baptist and Bezalel and would know better than to say Acts 2 was the first time.
I could go on with example after example, from “Christian” nobodies to “Christian” celebrities. These folks hate the biblical Jesus, too. After all, the Jesus of Scripture kept saying “…have you not read…” and “…it is written…” Unlike today's Evangelicals, Jesus seemed to think that Scripture ought to settle any argument. And religious folks hated Him then, too.
Ironically, Poonen ended his article with “He who has ears to hear, let him hear," quoting the Jesus he ignores.
"Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear." Deuteronomy 29:4.
In Christ,
Phil Perkins.
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Following The Good Shepherd Into Winter
3 months ago
5 comments:
In your introduction you said 'Call me stupid, crazy, or a heretic if you have a cogent argument' Jesus said "But anyone who says, `You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell" [MT 5:22].I don't doubt you are aware that the Greek for 'fool' is moros which can also mean stupid.I believe you are a sincere man who is trying to convey the truth to the world but I think you will get best results if you practice what you preach.
Anon,
Have you not read, "The fool says in his heart there is no God"?
Yes, Jesus said what you say He did, but He did so in a particular context. Look at the first word of v. 22. What is it? To what does it connect? That will give you the immediate context.
Then you have the context of the passage in general. What is the subject in verses 17-48?
Finally, put it into the context of the rest of the Bible. In Proverbs we find that the writer calls all sorts of men "fool". NT writers often call men worse. How do you explain that in light of the ethic you claim is what Jesus was teaching?
Finally, look at the word "anyone" in v. 22. Find the meaning in different contexts. Does it always mean "all" or does it often mean "all of a certain class" or "a representative of several classes" or "all as a group in general, though some individuals may not be included in the generalization"?
There. I've given you some homework to do. I won't give you the answers, except to say that you need to find these answers before you decide what Christ was actually saying in Mt. 5:22.
As of now you don't understand the passage.
In Christ,
Phil Perkins.
you and your know all theology !!.
I know exactly what Jesus meant here because I know the Lord. Let me put it it this way : The Lord is saying 'do not call Phil Perkins a fool or anybody else for that matter!'
When the Bible calls people 'fools' in the NT, it never refers to an individual nor is it meant to insult or hurt a person's feeling. I will go even further-
What Jesus is teaching here is not to think too highly of yourself, not to think you know more than others, to disparage other's knowledge of scripture and try shutting them up just because you think you know more. He can Put knowledge in a person beyond what your limited sense of self seeking intelligence can even imagine possible.
Remember God has no use for boastful self-conscious people. He uses the humble at heart.
Use whatever you know of the scripture to test yourself and lead you to obedience and not form your own ideas from a 'context'.
I have met Men of God who don't even understand Greek or Hebrew but who interpret the Bible and know a whole lot more than you do. DO YOU THINK THAT IS POSSIBLE ?
I suggest you humble yourself and admit to yourself how little you REALLY know and stop asking people questions in a boastful manner like You wrote the scriptures yourself. Ask the questions to a person who has a lot to learn yet does not realize it .. and thats you brother !
I didn't write this to insult you nor am I being respectful.I did it in a hope that you would repent and obey the Lord his way not yours[you can consider this a warning also because we are told to warn those falling away].
You have posted some hard hitting blogs so I assumed you could take a few yourself.
If you don't understand what I'm saying, say so.. I will explain again.
You said [As of now you don't understand the passage], well the message in regard to the passage was 'DO NOT CALL ANYONE A FOOL OR STUPID [i.e YOU,ME,HIM,HER,JOHN.JOY,JOAN,JOYCE
anybody]. Yet you who claim to understand the scripture alot more than others is telling people to call you stupid !!
I suppose in your theology you could call anyone, lets say Benny Hinn ,stupid, if you have a good reason.
Nope, good reason or not you cannot if you follow Christ. Even if he strikes you, the rule is offer the other cheek. If you dont agree with this, dont ever call yourself a christian again.
Case in point.
Dear Anon.,
What is your name? Anyway I now have time for a more complete answer.
First of all, cool the anger. It's inappropriate. Matthew 5:22. (Ironic, huh?)
Second, you disparage me for knowing something ("you and your know all theology"), but ask others not "to disparage other's knowledge of scripture". So not knowing is sacred, but one who has been a workman that needs not be ashamed is to be disparaged, in severe contradiction of Scripture. And that's not an intellectual issue, but an issue of disobedience.
Third, you wrote, "When the Bible calls people 'fools' in the NT, it never refers to an individual nor is it meant to insult or hurt a person's feeling." This is wrong in so many ways I won't have the time to deal with it all. 1. It's factually wrong. The NT calls individuals fools in Luke 12:20 where JESUS quoted the Father calling an individual a fool and I Cor. 15:36 whete Paul used the term in the singular. 2. Even if it was true that the NT used "fool" only in the plural, what about the OT? 3. Even if it was true that the NT used "fool" only in the plural, if it's sin to call an individual "fool", is it not greater sin to put that label on more than one, like a group? In other words, sin once and that's bad, sin many times over and that's not sin?
How does THAT work?
Fourth, you wrote, "I didn't write this to insult you..." That's a lie. Your first sentence was an exclamamtion against me because I know too much and that makes you angry--again a violation of Matthew 5:22.
Fifth, you wrote, "I have met Men of God who...know a whole lot more than you do."
WOW! They must REALLY be bad, huh?
Sixth, no I wouldn't call Benny Hinn stupid. He's smart. He's a liar and a crook who steals from the silly and the desparate. So I call him a liar and a crook who bilks the dull and the desparate.
Seventh, you wrote, "Nope, good reason or not you cannot (call a man a fool) if you follow Christ."
But Christ said, "You fool! This very night your soul is required of you..."
So, was Christ not following Christ?
Better go make a comment on His blog and straighten him out immediately, Anon.
In Christ,
Phil Perkins. PS--My next post is called "American Evangelicalism is a Mental Ghetto". It may be helpful to you since it deals with many of these passages. It may not be finished until Monday, though.
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