Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
Below is an article I found on Sermon Index regarding a topic I have been struggling with lately, and have had discussions with people regarding the gift of tongues. I think this article adequately outlines the conclusions I have come to on the subject (not that agreeing with me makes it right).
Please take some time to read it and let me know your thoughts on the writings of Zac Poonen…
The Truth About Speaking In Tongues – Zac Poonen
“Every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation (change)” (James. 1:17).
God never makes a mistake, He never changes and He gives only perfect gifts. Therefore when He gave the gift of “speaking in unknown languages” (“tongues”) to the church on the day of Pentecost, He knew exactly what He was doing. The gift of “tongues” was a perfect gift. God has not changed His mind about the gift, for He never changes.
God knew the controversies that would surround this gift in the 20th century. Yet He felt the church needed this gift to fulfill its ministry.
Even major truths such as the Trinity, the Deity of Christ, the Humanity of Christ and the Person of the Holy Spirit have been opposed and have faced controversy in the history of Christendom. So it should not surprise us if the gift of “tongues” has been controversial too.
It is always best to stick exactly to what Scripture says on all doctrinal matters. Let us look then, with an unprejudiced mind, at every single verse in the Bible on the subject of “speaking in tongues”:
(more…)
Tags: Speaking in Tongues, Zac Poonen
Friday, September 12th, 2008
In the wake of my post called “Eat the Meat, Spit out the Bones” Pastor Wendell Smith came out with a blog post called “Scandal and Restoration” regarding the Lakeland Revival and the falling of Todd Bently. The base argument of his post is to not get bitter or disillusioned by the fall of a leader.
My only response is if you don’t exalt men so high in the church (senior pastors), but exalt Jesus, when men fall they won’t leave or get bitter because Jesus will never fall. Also, don’t be so flippant and lazy on false doctrine…especially in your own church.
John Piper, on the other hand, also came out with a blog post talking about the issue. I believe his response is a good warning of the false doctrine, including the ones prevalent in the prosperity gospel and word of faith.
Read Wendell’s Blog
Read John Piper’s Blog
Tags: Pastor Wendell Smith, Prosperity Gospel, Wendell Smith
Tuesday, September 9th, 2008
Eat the Meat, Spit out the Bones has always been a statement that bothers me. It is thrown out to say we should not worry about some false teaching mixed in with the bible, but just be mature enough to “Eat the Meat, Spit out the Bones”. I have a friend who asks, would you eat a bowl of ice cream if you knew there was a little dung mixed in, even if you knew you wouldn’t taste it? Of course not, and false teaching is like dung. Below is an article that I tend to agree with:
EAT THE MEAT, SPIT OUT THE BONES
There are a lot of clever-sounding sayings that make the rounds among Christians, and one of these is “eat the meat, and spit out the bones.” Many have written to exhort me to do this, and they mean that I shouldn’t worry so much about exposing error. They wonder why I can’t just “eat the meat, and spit out the bones.”
There is a bit of truth to this saying, in that God’s people are always to exercise biblical discernment when hearing sermons or reading Christian books. We are to “prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
But the Bible also twice warns that “a little leaven leaventh the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:7; Gal. 5:9) and exhorts us to mark and avoid those who teach doctrine contrary to that which we have learned in Scripture (Rom. 16:17). There is great danger in eating the wrong spiritual meat!
What if the meat is rotten or poisoned or hasn’t been cooked or properly stored? The U.S. government regulates how restaurants must cook meat, because undercooked meat is dangerous. When I worked in a restaurant in my youth, I was taught to handle the meat very carefully and to store it properly, because it spoils easily. If you eat meat that is spoiled or poisoned or undercooked, even if you spit out the bones, you will be in trouble. The writings of men like Brian McLaren and Richard Foster and Chuck Colson and Rick Warren contain plenty of rotten meat. Those who advise God’s people to “eat the meat, and spit out the bones,” must explain to us how they know that this “meat” is safe.
Also, what if the bones have splinters or what if you get a bone stuck in your throat? When I was growing up in Florida, I went fishing often with my dad and granddad, and they were careful about which fish they kept and which they threw away, because some had too many bones to eat safely. And Mom was very careful to keep an eye on us when we were eating fish because of the ever-present danger of getting a bone stuck in our throats. This happened from time to time anyway, and it was a very unpleasant thing and, in fact, can be fatal. Likewise, very few Christians are able to wade through sermons or books by compromising preachers on their own and expertly spit out all of the “bones” of error.
And what if you don’t know the difference between meat and bones? A toddler doesn’t know the difference, and if it tries to eat meat and spit out bones, it will quickly be in trouble. Likewise, the average Christian today is far too biblically ignorant and carnal to distinguish properly between truth and cleverly presented error.
My friends, beware of clever sayings that aren’t supported by Scripture.
We live in a shallow, apostate, carnal age, and it behooves us to study the Bible diligently and to think biblically!!!!
Written by David Cloud
|Hat Tip: sermonindex.net|
Tags: false teacher, Prosperity Gospel, The City Church, Word of Faith
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