Category Archives: Existentialism

Simple Organic Church and the Existential Fringe

January 1, 2016 By in Existentialism, Felicity Dale, Frank Viola, House Church, Organic Church, Simple Church 7 Comments

Haven’t the repeated failures by the existential fringe of the “organic” church movement – with authors like Felicity Dale, Frank Viola, Milt Rodriguez, Jon Zens, Keith Giles and their buddies – made it abundantly clear?

Without the plenary authority of Scripture, simple participatory churches don’t succeed.

Snake Oil SalesmenThese fringe authors dismiss the plenary authority and discipline of Scripture – and in some cases even deny that the Bible is His written word – to peddle a Jesus of their own perception.

Their false Christ – who is little more than a projection of their own “deeper life” angst, post-modern sensibilities and trans-Biblical agendas – inevitably leads to dysfunctional, insular and anemic “communities”.

Continue reading →

Non Sequiturs of a Postmodern Jesus

August 5, 2015 By in Bible, Existentialism, Postmodern, Sovereignty, Truth 2 Comments

Non sequiturs¹ Jesus never said …

(But are implicit among those who jettison scripture to create a postmodern² Jesus of their own perception):

Non Sequitur

Non Sequitur

“It’s about relationship …

So forget obedience.”

“All scripture points to me …

So your own perceptions of me trump any scripture that offends you.”

“I am the living word …

So you no longer need to submit to the authority and discipline of my written word.”

“‘Be holy as I am holy’…

Now means ‘I am postmodern as you are postmodern’.”

Continue reading →

Presuppositions

January 11, 2015 By in Absolutes, Existentialism, Relativism, Truth Tags: Leave a comment

Getting down to basics…

Without external revelation on what is truly true, really real and rightly right – by one with the authority to define all because He created all – you are trapped in the meaningless absurdity of circular logic and self-referential perception.

Some ask if God has validity apart from their own logic and perceptions. The more relevant question, however, is if logic and perceptions can ever have validity apart from God? This is the question existentialists and atheists cannont answer. ~ www.CrossroadJunction.com

The Great Divide: Biblical Absolutes and Relativism
http://www.crossroadjunction.com/2010/11/12/the-great-divide/

Legalistic Goodism

November 30, 2014 By in Discernment, Existentialism, Legalism, Pietism 4 Comments

doing_goodThe old legalism of “be good” (God is all about me being moral) …

Was followed by the current legalism of “do good” (God is all about me doing good, like helping the poor) …

Which rapidly is being replaced by the new legalism of “feel good” (the existential fad that God is all about affirming me, filtered through my own hurts, needs and sensibilities) – as its devotees now diss anyone or anything that doesn’t feed their need.

Continue reading →

It’s All About A Relationship …

September 11, 2014 By in Discernment, Existentialism, Obedience, Postmodern 1 Comment

The Existential Jesus

The biggest lies involve half-truths, like the current fad of saying that “it’s all about a relationship with Jesus.”

But that begs the question: A relationship on whose terms?

Yes, Jesus wants a relationship and for us to feel His presence – as our Lord, on His terms, as we obey Him by doing the will of His Father.

Any other “relationship” is a lie and the day eventually will come when He declares: “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matt. 7:21-23)

Jesus: He’s more than a feeling.

~ Jim Wright

Subscribe

Pendulums and Plumblines

July 20, 2013 By in Authority, Catholicism, Existentialism, Organic Church, Truth 8 Comments

the_pendulumThe Christian Pundit published an interesting article, Young Evangelicals Are Getting High.

It claims that the trend among young people now is towards “high church”, including Catholicism and Anglicanism, where they can find “a holy Father who demands reverence, a Saviour who requires careful worship, and a Spirit who must be obeyed. They are looking for true, deep, intellectually robust spirituality…”

This a clear reaction against the recent fad of Christian existentialism – in all its many forms.

Continue reading →

Elitist Racism

May 30, 2013 By in Existentialism, Frank Viola, Organic Church, Sex Abuse 25 Comments

Elitism and racism in the Body of Christ are very ugly things. Lately, they’ve reared their ugly heads in some very nasty ways that hit close to home.

Over the last several months, we’ve been promoting Crossroad Junction through some very limited, non-targeted ads by Facebook on Facebook.

stop_racismDuring the same period, we also have received a high percentage of new followers from the Philippines and other overseas places. Whether it’s due to those ads or not, we don’t know.

Regardless, this heightened overseas interest is not due to any directed or targeted effort on our part, and Marianne and I are thrilled to connect with other believers from across the globe.

Now, however, our increasing readership is provoking a very elitist and racist series of attacks – directed against us, our fellowships, and our new Filipino followers.

Some of our Filipino brothers and sisters have seen those attacks, and have been deeply offended.

In the face of those attacks, I want welcome to you to our blog – and offer my apologies for the ugly efforts by some of my countrymen to discredit you by questioning your motives and capacity to follow the somewhat intellectual and substantive articles found here.

Continue reading →

Honesty

April 12, 2013 By in Authority, Bible, Existentialism, Truth 13 Comments

This morning, in response to my series on “Is the Holy Spirit a Liar?”, Christopher Kirk publicly called me a liar on his blog – after telling me I am not allowed to respond on his blog.keeping_it_real

This crosses the line from a vigorous and needed debate on the important issue of scripture’s status and authority, into personal attack with no opportunity to directly respond.

More fundamentally, though, Christopher Kirk has now borne false witness – against himself.

Continue reading →

Is the Holy Spirit a Liar? (Part 2)

April 10, 2013 By in Authority, Bible, Existentialism, Frank Viola, Organic Church, Truth 22 Comments

Yesterday, I posted a debate I had on Facebook with those who claim that their personal “revelation” and “inspiration” can trump scripture, and that scripture is not the Word of God.

Existentialism

Existentialism or Scripture?

In that debate, Christopher Kirk, a longtime “organic” voice and blogger, finally made clear what he and many of the “old guard” in the organic/simple church community believe: “The bible is NOT the Word of God” and “God can tell you to go directly against scripture“.

The fellowships I’m part of are organic/simple churches. We are not big or flashy, but daily we see the transforming power of God as He works through everyone in dynamic functional community and open, participatory meetings.

Unlike the organic church “old guard”, we are growing, multiplying, and seeing folks move forth in authentic spiritual power. Many are coming to Christ, and their lives and whole communities are being transformed.

Why? Because we fully embrace a vibrant relationship with the Living Word, while submitting to the discipline and authority of His written Word.

Continue reading →

A Timely Warning by Steve Hill

April 8, 2013 By in Bible, Doctrine, Emergent, Existentialism, Grace Movement, Postmodern, Truth 5 Comments

The Seven Great Lies in the Church Today, by Steve Hill

Amen and amen. I stand shoulder to shoulder with Steve Hill on this important article.

If you’ve read Crossroad Junction for very long, you’ve seen me also tackle most of these same, out-0f-balance issues. I’m glad to see others raising identical warnings, now to a broader audience, regarding:

  1. Overemphasis of Prosperity
  2. Exaggerated View of Grace
  3. Antinomianism
  4. Deification of Man (or, as I put it, creating Jesus in our own image)
  5. Challenging the Authority of the Word
  6. Rejecting Hell
  7. Universal Reconciliation

Really, folks, it’s kind of simple: He defines what is ultimately true, real and right, not us.

He’s God. We’re not. Get over it!

~ Jim

Subscribe

The Fractured Logos

March 29, 2013 By in Bible, Existentialism, Frank Viola, Sovereignty 5 Comments

Fracturing The Logos of the Gospel:

This is another timely and important blog by Miguel Labrador.

As he points out, the “Christ is All” crowd has a fractured view of Jesus and scripture.

As I’ve discussed in my own blogs, those who follow existential authors like Frank Viola and his fellow itinerant “workers” like Milt Rodriguez, Jamal Jivanjee and Jon Zens, often create a Jesus in their own image based on their own sensibilities.

They then elevate their very postmodern Jesus over His own written word of scripture, under the mantra that “Christ is All” – such that Christ (or at least their perception of Him) trumps scripture.

As a result, they sever the Living Word from His written Word.

When called out, they make feeble assurances that they have a “high view” of scripture and think it is “inspired”, while nonetheless rejecting its plenary authority.

In fact, they follow the existential “theology” of Karl Barth, which elevates our own perceptions of Christ as higher revelation than God’s own chosen revelation of scripture. The result has been a pattern of anemic churches, introspective faith, weird doctrines and practices, manipulative and at times exploitive “leadership”, and self-referential “truth”.

In essence, they eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil – by choosing their own subjective perceptions of Christ and His Church over His sovereign authority to objectively define what, in fact, is true, real and right.

Fortunately, more and more are looking behind the curtain and seeing what’s what.

I look forward to Miguel’s new series on keeping the Messenger integrated with His message – and us in sync with both!

The Delusion of Organic Church Intensity

February 17, 2013 By in Church Planting, Existentialism, Fellowship, Frank Viola, Gifts, Great Commission, Organic Church 9 Comments

Have you ever noticed how those who heavily promote organic food and natural health with the most enthusiasm and sincerity, sometimes look the most sickly and anemic and seem to have the most health problems?

They are reacting to real problems, but have turned their idealistic and seemingly good-sounding concepts into an all consuming idol – to the exclusion of real health which comes from a balanced life.

I’ve also see this among some who are the most ardent proponents of organic church. They’ve fallen prey to unbalanced reactions and aspirations which prevent authentic life and sustainable, healthy fellowships.

Continue reading →

Christocentric Buffoonery

February 15, 2013 By in Authority, Bible, Existentialism, Frank Viola, Postmodern, Relativism 2 Comments

Those with the hutzpa to claim that their personal perceptions of Christ are more accurate than His written word of scripture deceive themselves. They have rebelled against God’s own chosen revelation, and worship at the feet of postmodernism instead. I would rather that my sensibilities shatter against the rock of God’s Word than subvert Christ to their subjective, existential angst. 
 
Here’s a little song about the dilemmas facing my existentially-consumed friends:
Beyond Scripture? (Part 2).

Finding Organic Church Health

February 14, 2013 By in Church Planting, Existentialism, Frank Viola, Fruit, Leadership, Organic Church 7 Comments

I believe a new “organic” move of God is emerging in the West, which affirms the good things about organic/simple church but rejects the crazy stuff of the past.

Stuck in a Rut

With this new move, we are finally climbing out of our ruts and catching up with our “organic” brothers and sisters in the rest of the world – who never fell prey to the crazy stuff and thus moved far beyond us.¹

We also are seeing healthy connections form between fellowships in different regions, as locally-rooted leaders use Skype and other Internet tools to build mutually helpful relationships with each other.

Continue reading →

When “Intimacy with the Lord” Goes Bad

January 22, 2013 By in Existentialism, Fruit, Grace, Grace Movement, Pietism, Works 2 Comments

When “Intimacy with the Lord” Goes Bad is a must-read blog by Steve Crosby.

In the past, I was concerned with some of Steve’s blogs because they seemed to dance right up to the line with some of the “half grace” doctrines and existential nonsense going around these days.

With this blog, however, all’s forgiven! It strikes just the right balance between “being” and “doing”, which I’ve also tried to achieve in some of my own past blogs. But unlike me, he avoids obscure, big sounding words. 😉

Plus, I love his swamp analogy – especially since I often use it myself when I teach!

The Cultural Implications of the Great Commission

November 15, 2012 By in Culture, Existentialism, Great Commission, Kingdom of God, Politics, Prophetic, Redemption, Society, Sovereignty 17 Comments
The Cultural Implications of the Great Commission

Rob Moley, in his blog Restore the Word, wrote yesterday on “The Great Commission: Discipling Individuals or Nations?”.

In it, he says this about the Great Commission:

Rather than being a command to influence nations with the principles and truths of God’s kingdom, the logic of the command in Matt. 28:19-20 is to make disciples from every nation. Then, as ambassadors of God’s kingdom, these disciples are able to influence all aspects of society, and God willing, even disciple whole nations.

His point is that the Great Commission is about transforming individuals into disciples who obey all that Christ commands, who in turn transform the world around them.

Continue reading →