Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Swart
"I am going to shock and maybe infuriate some people here today, If so I am sorry, but I do not regret what I say.
God met me in 1992 in a charismatic church, and saved me. At that time I was not even looking for the Lord, But He being true to Himself, found me and saved me. I believe that God had saved me at this point (it is His salvation, and not mine). But being in a charismatic church at the time, the Bible (God's Word) was secondary, experience was primary. Needless to say, in the couple of years that followed, I slid back into my old ways.
God, being faithful, started putting people in the way that knew the truth. And I started to see the error I was living in.
Even though the Holy Spirit was living in me, I had no idea who He was. And when I started to read the Sciptures, and found out who He is, I yielded myself to Him. Wow the things that started to happen.
What I am trying to say, is, do not knock someone on what is perceived as a particular doctrine, God may be using that person to move one of his children to the next level of relationship to Him.
I was in a charismatic church, God being faithful showed me the error of what I was in, moved me to a non-denominational church for a while (for a growth period), to a Independant Baptist church for awhile, and now I am in a church that preaches expository from the Word of God.
The point is, do not beat on what people now know. God will bring His people to the point where they know Him and want to serve Him."
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Aloha brother Scott,
I'm not "shocked" or "infuriated". I've "been there, and done that". Back in the mid 1960's (being a fairly new Christian) I (with my wife & children) attended an Assembly of God church for a couple of years. There was a sweet older brother in Christ (brother Fukushima) who attended and who was
dying from Cancer, who took me aside and taught me about "Dispensationalism" for several months in his home (it was the first time I had ever heard of it).
Soon after he was done with his lessons he advised me to leave the church that I was attending and seek out something more "Scriptural". I left shortly thereafter, when the pastor of the church put his King James Bible on the
floor of the church building and
STOOD ON IT, and proclaimed: "
I'm STANDING on the promises of God"!
Needless to say - I "got out of Dodge pronto"!
Brother Fukushima died shortly thereafter, and I am sure that he is home with our Lord.
The point is, that we have to be careful judging someone by what church he attends. (Brother Fukushima lived behind the church building and had no means of transportation, and so,
he did what he could - something that no other pastor, assistant pastor, or deacon of the various churches that I had attended since I got saved in October, 1958 had done. He taught me HOW to "rightly divide the word of God".)
However, there are times that we
must "contend for the faith" [
Jude 1:3], because our (all Christians - not just pastors, etc.) ministry is not only made up of "Reconciliation" & "Preaching" - We must also Warn, Admonish, Reprove, and Rebuke at the appropriate time and place. This takes more than just "knowledge", it also takes "discernment", "understanding", and "wisdom".
One of the hardest parts of my Christian walk for the past 50 years is to know when and where, and to whom I should
warn, or
admonish, or
reprove, or
rebuke. These are all a part of "the whole counsel of God" that we are supposed to be defending and upholding.
I take your point seriously though. We must be careful that we don't become like the Pharisees of old;
carelessly judging, instead of "judging righteous judgment".