Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine

April 19, 2013 By in Church, Doctrine 4 Comments

Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine. By Greg Allison

This is a GREAT book. I’ve often used it as a reference when researching some of the crazy claims you see on the Internet – like the doctrine of the plenary authority of scripture originated with the Constantine church or the Protestant reformers. Wrong! It goes back to the earliest writings of the church, including pre-Constantine.

I highly recommend this book for those interested in understanding that the essentials of the faith have been consistently affirmed throughout the entire history of the church. We need sound scholarship to refute popular but unsubstantiated claims to the contrary, which are frequently touted on the Internet.

For the next several days, it is on sale for only $5.99 (it’s normally many times that price, and worth it!).

Gregg Allison is Professor of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is a recognized expert on historical theology.

How to Become a Cult (Part 3)

April 19, 2013 By in Cult, Frank Viola 11 Comments

cult_image

Create a fractured Jesus. Tell folks “Christ is All”, but make “all” your own existential perception of Christ to the exclusion of “all” He’s authoritatively revealed about Himself – including His scriptural imperatives, external commands, propositional truths and moral precepts. This allows you to create Jesus in your own image, so that your own sensibilities, objectives and idiosyncrasies then become normative for all.

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How to Become a Cult (Part 2)

April 18, 2013 By in Cult, Frank Viola 9 Comments

cult_imageCreate fractured people. Tell them the “soul” (including our mind, will and emotions) is inherently bad and only our renewed “spirit” (as you conveniently get to define it) is good. Rather than becoming integrated, whole and healthy people, subordinate their minds, will and emotions to your fractured, “deeper life” revelation about their “spirit.” As you then invalidate individual thought, action and feelings, you ensure dependence on your own ministry and vision.

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How to Become A Cult (Part 1)

April 17, 2013 By in Cult, Frank Viola 22 Comments

cult_imageTo insure that a “group think” mentality takes hold around your deeper-life revelation, and to avoid accountability, attract and validate wounded people by telling them that they (along with you) literally are the Body of Christ. Destroy all metaphor. As their beloved “apostle”, “worker” or whatever you want to call yourself, you and your revelation then become untouchable – and no one can question you – because that would be like challenging Christ Himself.

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Voices from Jail

April 16, 2013 By in Grace, Jail, Life, Redemption, Struggles 4 Comments

A rap/poem by a brother in fellowship in the local jail, who is learning to become the man God created him to be.

A Brother in Jail

A Brother in Jail

Perfect Wisdom

When I reached out
You took me in
When there wasn’t a soul in sight
And all I saw was you
You took me in
Dusted me off
Cleaned me up
Asked me if I’d yet had enough?
Knew about my past
Had been there through the struggles
Said you’d carry my burdens
If I’d give you my troubles

I grabbed to my shirt
Expressed a cold smirk
Yeah I’d heard that before
Seems never to work

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Crossroad Nugget

April 14, 2013 By in Faith Tags: 2 Comments

You may be Calvinist or Arminian, pre-trib or post-trib, charismatic or cessationist, dispensational or covenantal, or whatever. But absent a vibrant relationship with the Living Word, in submission to the authority and discipline of His written Word, on what other foundation do you expect to build together?

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.

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Pastoral Counseling

April 12, 2013 By in Confession, Counseling, Forgiveness, Healing, Repentance 2 Comments

Several ministries are offering a free class in Pastoral Counseling on Wednesday evenings in Prince William County, Virginia, beginning April 17, 2013, from 7:00 to 9:30 pm.

The class is open to all members of the Body of Christ from local churches (not just “pastors”!), and likely will run about twelve weeks.

To give some idea of the type of counseling we will be teaching others to do, I’ve reprinted below a blog about one session I had with a deeply troubled man last year.

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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.

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Is the Holy Spirit a Liar? (Part 1)

April 9, 2013 By in Authority, Bible, Emergent, Frank Viola, Grace Movement, Organic Church, Truth 3 Comments

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.

Word_of_God

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“.

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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

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Sexuality and the Church

April 5, 2013 By in Church, Grace, Homosexuality, Predatory Leaders, Sex Abuse 8 Comments

I often have people send me links to articles and blogs, and here are several that deal with different aspects of sexuality in the Church.

Being Gay at Jerry Falwell’s University, by Brandon Ambrosino

A very candid personal story of a man who struggled over his homosexuality, yet found friendship as the Christian community at a leading conservative university expressed love and grace while remaining faithful to their Biblical convictions.

You Cannot Heal What You Cannot Talk About, by Survivor Girl

Survivor Girl is a frequent commenter here, and this is her very personal story about sexual predation in the church. Please, read this. When a leader uses his position and spiritual gifts to prey on women in the church, it is not an affair, it is sexual abuse. This article will help you understand how sexual predators groom their victims, and also provides links to good resources for dealing with these issues.

Predators in the Pulpit, by Susan McKenzie

Another first person account of sexual predation and grooming in our churches. This too provides good background on how this happens, so we can be on guard and protect others.

Sexual Sin is a Corporate Affair, by Harry Schaumburg

“When we take the gospel seriously we not only correctly understand the nature of sexual immorality, we must become proactive in taking corporate responsibility for the sexual maturity and sexual problems within our local church.”

~ Jim

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Predatory Grooming in Our Churches

April 1, 2013 By in Impropriety, Predatory Leaders, Sex Abuse, Warnings! 33 Comments

I have been involved in dealing with a number of cases involving sexual predation and exploitation by church leaders – in all kinds of churches (including “organic” or “simple” churches which naively think they are immune from this kind of abuse).

liesMy wife and I have also done pastoral counseling, over the years, with literally hundreds of sex abuse survivors – as well as many abusers who seek help after truly confessing and openly repenting.

One thing I see over and over – especially by predatory church leaders – is the same kind of initial “grooming” behavior. It is amazing how sexually exploitive men in “ministry” all seem to use the same methods.

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Resurrection Sunday

March 31, 2013 By in Conversion, Faith, Postmodern, Sovereignty 8 Comments

Forty-eight years young in the Lord!

On Resurrection Sunday in 1965, when only eight years old, I had a deep, deep conversion experience as I totally surrendered to the Lord.

It was in an old-line Pentecostal church that met in the pastor’s home.

I’m told that my tears of repentance on that worn wooden floor made permanent stains.

grace

Wow, how time has passed.

My years of service to Jesus have been – and continue to be – a wonderful adventure. Even during some tough times, I never once regretted belonging to Christ – my King and my Redeemer.

Through it all, I’ve always felt His hand on my life. He blessed me with a solid foundation from Godly parents and mature teachers, which has served me well over the years.

In an age of cheap grace, crazy doctrines, postmodern spiritual angst and “deconstruction,” that foundation yet stands firm.

For those willing to surrender their sensibilities to the Living Word, in submission to His written Word, He offers the same assurance.

Really, it’s just not that complicated.

But it does mean letting go of your own foolishness and impulse to define Jesus – and what ultimately is right, real and true – on your own terms.

My life is a living testimony to His sovereign Lordship, and His passion is my very life.

I invite you to also surrender …

And find life.

~ Jim Wright

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Self-Control

March 30, 2013 By in Faith, Fruit, Grace, Love 4 Comments

The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Gal 5:22-23 NIV

Self-control is the last fruit of the spirit. In life no one wants to be last. Somehow last implies that you don’t measure up, didn’t try hard enough or couldn’t quite do it. However, I don’t think being at the end of the list of fruit puts self-control in that same category.
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I think self-control is like the parenthesis in math. For example, with (3+2) x (8+2) the math inside the parenthesis has to be completed first. You would get a totally different answer if the parentheses were missing from the equation.

In a sense love and self-control are like the parenthesis. They help group the other fruit. 1 Corinthians 13, the front parenthesis, reminds us that without love we can do nothing. Self-control comprises the back parenthesis.

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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!

Storing Up Riches?

March 25, 2013 By in Faith, Grace, Gratitude, Life, Peace 7 Comments

walking_with_JesusYesterday, as some folks in our fellowship prayed for me, I had one of those rare times when I heard the Lord very directly speak to my inner man.

He said I had laid up many treasures in heaven from a life spend serving Him and His people.

He let me know I could begin a new season of life, in transition toward my life to come, with the settled peace of His pleasure and honor.

Then He asked, however, if I was willing to spend those treasures, over whatever remaining time He chooses to give me, by investing them in others?

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