Keepin’ it real…
Itchy Ears
Category Archives: Grace Movement
Two Recent Blogs Worth Reading
I’m recovering from a heart operation, so I’m taking it slow right now.
In the meantime, here are two blogs with timely insight on two very different but important issues – but both with broader implications:
Depreciating Humanity: The Importance of Being Best at Being Right, by Thad Norvell
Despite multiple witnesses who’ve confirm a history of sex abuse and exploitation within Sovereign Grace Ministries under C.J. Mahaney, several of his friends and national leaders came out supporting him.
By way of disclosure, Nathan’s Voice (a ministry of our fellowships) – and Marianne and I – know and have been involved in helping some of the victims of leadership abuse at SGM, so we’ve seen the carnage up close and personal.
In his blog about the SGM scandal, Norvell says:
I fear those public statements [of support for C.J. Mahaney] reflect the private thoughts of men who, whether by will or ignorance, are clustering around the spoils of the proud when their calling is to be of a lowly spirit with the poor and oppressed. Even if Mahaney is a victim of some false accusations, his rush back to the platform and the efforts of his friends to protect his place at the head table ought to prompt some deep, Gospel-driven questions about how insulated some of these men seem to be from the thousands of sincere, Gospel-loving followers of Jesus they lead, formally and informally.
As our own fellowships have confronted the history of sex abuse by Frank Viola in the organic church community, and watched the desperate efforts by those who are “clustering around the spoils of the proud” by defending him to protect their “movement” and their own status, we see the same thing happening.
I wept as I read Norvell’s blog. Change the names, but the story’s the same. I’ve seen it time and time again.
When will we ever learn?
It’s sad. Very, very sad…
Why do Word of Faith Christians Become Jaded?, by Eric Hyde
“After years of involvement with [Word of Faith] thinking this is often what the believer is left with – a unidirectional love affair with God where God does all the active-loving (i.e. ‘works’) and the believer does all the receiving. The trouble, of course, is this simply doesn’t work (and, it’s incredibly boring). God is not in the unidirectional love business.”
Ditto, it seems to me, with the faddish hyper-grace movement.
~ Jim
Real Grace
Facebook seems to be a hot bed for the new distorted view of “grace”.
The other day someone posted that through grace, God finds our sin acceptable. He thus no longer “deals” with sin in our lives – and we are free of sin – because it no long exists.
According to their “logic”, sin ceases to an issue in our lives because it ceases to be considered sin by God.
That neat theological sleight of hand was followed by lots of “likes” and “amens”.
To deny the reality of sin and its bondage – and to say God doesn’t deal with sin in our lives or that we are free of sin – is an abuse of grace.
Is the Holy Spirit a Liar? (Part 1)
On April 1st, I posted a statement on Facebook (what a wild and wooly place!) in opposition to some postings by Christopher Kirk in his blog, notesfromthebridge.
Is Scripture God’s Written Word?
In his blog, Chris creates a dichotomy between scripture and “living by the Spirit” – as though what the Holy Spirit says in the Bible can’t be trusted, or lacks validity, absent some additional deeper, personal revelation.
In his blogs, he also claims the right to personal revelation and inspiration which contradicts and is more authoritative than the Bible.
Along those lines, his blogs suggest that we cut out significant parts of the Bible because he disagrees with their content (including most of Paul’s epistles); say that the Bible is not the Word of God; and repeatedly attack the plenary authority of scripture (“plenary” means we must submit our own contrary opinions to the authority of scripture).
As Christopher Kirk confirms below in his own words, “the bible is NOT the Word of God” (it’s interesting that those who hold this position never seem to esteem the Bible enough to capitalize it) and “God can tell you to go directly against scripture“.
A Timely Warning by Steve Hill
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:
- Overemphasis of Prosperity
- Exaggerated View of Grace
- Antinomianism
- Deification of Man (or, as I put it, creating Jesus in our own image)
- Challenging the Authority of the Word
- Rejecting Hell
- 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
Beyond Scripture? (Part 3)
The low view of God in the Old Testament, found among those touting a so-called “Christocentric hermeneutic”, comes from too high a view of themselves.
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
They often take personal offense at how God dealt with humanity in the Old Testament – including His sometimes fierce display of holiness and punishment of sin and rebellion.
So they make God in the Old Testament an aberration. They substitute their own perceptions of Christ – rooted in their post-modern sensibilities – for the totality of Scripture, and make their resulting “Christology” higher revelation than God’s own external Word of Scripture.
They have joined Adam and Eve in choosing the moral autonomy of deciding for themselves what is right and wrong, and have the further hubris of then imposing it on God Himself.
When “Intimacy with the Lord” Goes Bad
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!
Deeper Life?
There are those who promote an insular “deeper life”, which never seems to go anywhere. Have an adventure! Seek Christ’s authentic life instead.
https://crossroadjunction.com/2012/07/20/religion-3/
Hyper Grace – Part 1
Many Christians have lost their way by embracing “hyper grace”, which is really half grace – it robs them of the power to become mature disciples and the confidence needed to go forth as ambassador’s of God’s full grace.
The Problem with “All”
Nearly every move of God gets sidetracked when its main leaders fall into the trap of thinking that their own measure of Christ is the full measure of Christ – and thus start promoting their own perspectives and motivations as normative for all.
Truth Out of Balance is Always Precarious
No one person can ever reflect or express the full measure of Christ. Never – even if they started out truly grasping some essential, needed element of His nature, their ministry initially bore much fruit, and they even once transformed the Christian landscape.
Tragically, it often seems that such leaders slowly and subtly shift from sharing their own measure of Christ, to eventually acting as though it is now the full measure of Christ.
Crossroad Junction 