Why The Slandering of My Character Gives Me So Much Joy
Really, I have much to do this morning but another correspondence came in, one of many this week (and the week is yet young), that goes something like this: “I was talking to someone who is warning me about you. What really happened at Clearcreek Chapel? Why did they bring you up on church discipline? Did you commit adultery or something like that? It’s alright if you did, just tell me so I will be ready when people discuss you.”
This is the game played by the Protestant Resurgent Church. Many of the congregants are not fully boiled yet so they can’t be told the elders have God’s very authority and can excommunicate someone for anything deemed sin by them—the cardinal one being; questioning their authority. So, they just excommunicate someone publically for say, not loving his wife like Christ loves the church, whisper: the standard is the perfection of the law, not love.
Therefore, EVERYONE under the condemnation of the law (see, “Protestant”) is guilty of everything under the law all of the time. This is why Mark Dever et al say that you are technically in the discipline batter’s box the day you join the church. You are fodder for discipline at all times, so keep your mouth shut and put your temple tax in the plate. Verily, ahhhhmen.
Hence, this actually makes the elders look gracious as the parishioners are left to their assumptions that the husband did something not even named among the Gentiles. Pretty slick: they look above the fray of gossip while avoiding the truth about the authority they claim and leaving the congregation to their own imaginations resulting in the ultimate character assassination. That’s a lot of heavy work accomplished in one sitting. Perhaps we should complement their efficiency.
But this is all good news for me, and I write this post full of joy. Please, if you have heard something bad about me, do share. I know that it goes on a lot behind closed doors, but how is one to be encouraged if you only talk of him secretly? Look, I know that your bundle of encouragement probably pales to what is out there, viz, I tried to murder the Clearcreek elders, I committed adultery, I moved to Indiana to hide from the IRS (this accusation was presented by an elder that owed the IRS over $100,000 and had his assets frozen), I am a drunkard, I abandoned my family, presumably with my mistress and left no forwarding address or money to live on, etc., etc., etc., but do tell anyway. Just ask the guy who shared last week by telephone how hard I was laughing.
The Bible states plainly that laughter is good for the bones. Why deprive me of such joy? When I began this ministry, it was founded on my first morsel of truth obtained as a recovering Protestant: the Spirit only uses truth, and eventually, the hammer of truth will start making a dent. Seek truth, truth, truth, and leave the results to the Spirit. This is what kept me going when only 20 people were coming to my blog per day. The standard was one, so 20 was pretty good to me. Since then, views range from 150 to 800, and we have hit 2000 on at least one day. We still haven’t figured out what the trends are, but the higher numbers used to be event-driven, but that is no longer the case. BUT…NOTHING spells e-f-f-e-c-t-i-v-e-n-e-s-s like slander. I will take the slander over numbers any day.
Nevertheless, let me make the vetting of these various and sundry accusations very simple. Several formidable evangelicals who know the Clearcreek Chapel elders personally not only fellowshipped with me after the fact, but invited me to participate in their ministries. Why? They know the discipline was totally bogus. One of these men, a former associate pastor at Clearcreek Chapel, even tried to get Peacemaker Ministries involved in the situation. In addition, and again, after the fact, some of these ministries shared very sensitive inside information with me concerning ACBC (Association of Certified Biblical Counselors) that would be gut-wrenching if made public. That clearly speaks to trust.
So obviously, it doesn’t add up. But, I can go public with this stuff at any given time. However, again, this wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying as the slander.
Slander is confirmation that truth is a big problem for them. Nothing is more satisfying than to see the wild animals of falsehood cornered with the truth and lashing out in desperation.
paul
Is The Baptist Tithe Nothing More or Less Than a Catholic Indulgence?
“Christians” need to understand church isn’t what it used to be. It was ok for about a 100 years due to a mixture of Scriptural truth and Protestant orthodoxy, but once again, the church is r…
Source: Is The Baptist Tithe Nothing More or Less Than a Catholic Indulgence?
Romans 12:11-13; Tithing?
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Source: Romans 12:11-13; Tithing?
Choice and Evangelism
Freewill is a major metaphysical pillar of God’s creation. We like to talk about the “attributes of God,” but we must also be careful that God is not erroneously limited by our own definitions of H…
Source: Choice and Evangelism
Isaiah and The Known; That’s The Life Value
As some of you know, my second grandson was stillborn. I was privileged to be at the hospital when he was delivered and saw him. At the funeral, “Precious Feet” necklaces and pins were placed on close relatives by mom and dad. My wife Susan remarked, “I bet these little feet are the same size of Isaiah’s when he was born.” Indeed, that is a fact which makes my pin very special.
We know that God brings good out of every tragedy. That is how God is in control. Death and evil are allowed to have their day and their say because freewill means that everything that happens is not God’s will. But yet, God will have the final say. Blessings will occur in the milieu of life, and God will determine the end of man’s history.
Even in tragedy, even in their weakest moments, the known of God may speak powerfully to our lives and often do. Their very existence teaches us if we will listen because they speak for God. Even when death and evil unleashes its darkest victories, the victories for God’s people are profound.
Don’t get me wrong, I would literally give anything for Isaiah to be here, but yet an awaited lesson was delivered by him.
I work as a nursing aide for the severely handicapped; physically and mentally. Serving these people gives me a tremendous degree of satisfaction. I believe this trade to be on God’s Top Ten list. That’s the feeling, but lately, I began asking myself, “why?”
Of course, it’s the “purpose” question. What purpose do these people serve for the rest of society or even their own families save being a burden? Yes, I know that every day I put these scrubs on I go to a job that supports and defends life, but life for the sake of life? And sure, these lives do preach to us; they tell us that we have nothing to complain about; they tell us to be thankful. When one considers the world’s penchant for being unthankful, perhaps that is all that needs to be said if the world would be even more unthankful without these people. Perhaps then, in some way they contribute to the world not being in utter despair.
I will not speak to the why on the following question, but walking through the process of honoring Isaiah reminded me of how much this society honors life. On the way to the cemetery with Isaiah’s little casket, oncoming traffic pulled over and waited for the procession to pass. That’s not Ohio traffic law, that’s honoring the memory of someone’s life. Living in such a culture should give us some comfort if you know anything about history and cultures that only value life that has “purpose.”
However, with all of this said, when the point of this post is fully considered, it is about a grandson that never lived outside of the womb that has impacted my life forever and will always be with me in my new career in helping others. When I read my eulogy to Isaiah at his final resting place from Psalm 139, God explained to me why Isaiah and his “purposeless” horde are precious in his sight; they are known by God. That is, they are known according to His intimate benevolence and Fatherly love.
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.
Yes, I sensed it among those that I shared with last week though they did not say it outright: Why all of the fuss over a “fetus?” That is but one step removed from what many would ask about my clients who cannot perform any activities of daily living on their own.
But God tells us why. He was with Isaiah every moment. He formed and knitted Isaiah together in his mother’s womb. He held Isaiah with His right hand every moment. His eyes gazed upon Isaiah, and he wrote every one of Isaiah’s members in His book of life. He is known of God, and when Isaiah awoke, God was there with him as the angels rejoiced.
This is why. These are the known of God. These are His precious possessions, and Isaiah reminds me that God has placed me over their care. As I am inspired by Isaiah to be the best aide I can be, the Isaiah that never walked this earth will minister to many by making me a better aide. His encouragement will carry me through nursing school and the serving of many more people.
How fitting also that such a one who encourages me is named “Isaiah Paul Ingram” after my own given name. And throughout my career, I will wear his little pin because indeed…
…those little feet are written in God’s book.
paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
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