The Case for Caste
Is the American church a religious caste system? Consider: seminary students do not teach what they learn in seminary to congregants. In fact, those who do are ridiculed for doing so. Secondly, why are American parishioners so dumbed down theologically? Are the first two questions answered in regard to a higher knowledge that only pastors can understand? In Reformed circles, elders state openly that they are gifted to understand things that parishioners are unable to. Point in case: New Calvinist Dr. Devon Berry: Elder Preaching is Infallible .
Academic degrees have become the primary qualification for a pastor in our culture. Who would deny that? In pulpit committees, any resume that states less than a Masters degree gets file 13 immediately. But yet, academic qualifications are nowhere listed in the biblical qualifications for an elder. Also consider: how can the laity obtain degrees while supporting a family, serving their local church, and working full time? While 90% of all doctrinal error is coming from seminaries, the laity is deemed less qualified. The salaries being paid to heretical sheep abusers is 80,000 per year on the low side. And I might mention that what I have learned in the past five years through independent study would have never been taught to me in a seminary, No way. Not even close. Seminaries are maintaining the status quo.
Parishioners are living from a steady diet of materials published by the academics and not their own Bibles. Who would deny this? Why? Because they are supposedly critical to understanding the higher knowledge that the laity cannot understand. They interpret for us. What is more obvious?
Why do well-known leaders turn a blind eye to the abused laity? Why is John MacArthur Jr. completely indifferent to what his pal CJ Mahaney has done to people? Simple, the value of the laity and where they are in the caste system strata.
Why is getting justice for the sexually abused ABWE missionary children like pulling teeth from a leopard? Easy, Donn Ketcham is high on the strata; the missionary children are low, and of less value to the organization. The caste system protects the organization that cannot be destroyed over justice for the lowly. Besides, the lowly are expendable for the pleasures of the upper crust. Absurd notion? Then why do GARB churches continue to support ABWE en masse? Where is the outcry for justice? Why does the money continue to pour in?
Though the Bible instructs the church to publically rebuke elders that sin, this is NEVER done. Pastors get a pass while parishioners are disciplined and excommunicated routinely. Again, value is the issue.
The New Testament is replete with examples of Christ and the apostles contending against religious caste systems—formal and informal.
Following is my pictorial thesis:
The Reformed Agenda: Finish the Job Started by the First Gospel Wave; Destroy Justice
“It is no surprise then that the world which unknowingly has the law of God written on their hearts, will be greater lovers of justice than believers who think that justice is just another story about the gospel.”
For those of us left who would dare partake in the dangerous stunt of studying the Bible on our own at home—do a word search on “justice.” If your local Reformed elder finds out, simply diffuse the situation by telling him that you were looking for Jesus in every verse. Make it the truth by doing so, but look for additional information like, what does the word “justice” mean? And is it important to God? And should an understanding of it incite us to think differently and act differently?
However, a warning: this is “leaping from reason to action” instead of contemplating the works of Jesus in every verse that will result in a “mere natural flow” of the manifested active obedience of Christ. The sharing of this dangerous behavior with others should be done with much discretion.
Let’s do a state of the word “justice” in the Church assessment as an introduction. Like many biblical words, it has been replaced with, “gospel.” Where is the emphasis on justice that is in the word of God? It is a massive theme throughout Scripture by use of the specific word, not including the same concept expressed in different words with the same meaning. So, where is the same emphasis in teaching and action within the church? And has this lack of emphasis yielded any fruit?
An emphasis on justice disrupts the easy believism gospel wave of circa 1950-1970, and the second gospel wave of the authentic Reformed gospel wave of 1970-present. Both movements are heavily predicated on the idea that elite groups lead the incompetent masses:
1. The gospel must be kept simple. Attempting to understand more than, “Jesus died for our sins” could keep many of the ignorant masses from entering the kingdom.
2. The sheep, are well, sheep, and we all know about sheep: they have to be led to water and grass or they will starve to death (they have no survival instinct at all); they are not created with any defense anatomy (like horns etc.)—they have to be protected; they are skittish—sudden loud noises can cause them to fall dead of a heart attack; if they fall over, they can’t get up on their own. In a word: helpless.
3. God has appointed special men (and sometimes women) to lead the hapless sheep safely home to heaven. They are the ones “called to the ministry.”
4. All of God’s enlightened are not saved because the unsaved ignorant masses need an elite group to guide them as well (or else the world would be in chaos)—otherwise known as “government.” But as far as the full spectrum of life, the unsaved enlightened ones have enlightenment that can help Christians because “all truth is God’s truth.” Therefore, the Bible doesn’t have all of the answers for life’s deepest problems, it is a mere continual feeding for the hapless sheep—the water and grass of “Christ died for our sins.” The full revelation of God to the saints contained in the Bible doesn’t add up in the philosophy of incompetence.
5. On the church side, the enlightenment that comes to the ones “called to the ministry” and distributed to the sheep as the authoritative word is referred to as “orthodoxy.” The form in which it is then distributed to the dumb sheep in a way that they can understand it is referred to as, “creeds and confessions.” On the secular side, it is called “psychology.” On the secular side, psychology is the priesthood of enlightenment, and government enforces the truth that prevents chaos. On the church side, the truth is orthodoxy presented in creedal form, and enforced by “church polity.”
6. This explains why very little evangelism takes place outside of the church—the dumb sheep must bring the other dumb sheep to the temple where the enlightened ones dwell and know how to present the gospel in wiser ways. It also explains why the vast, vast, majority of Christians are unable to help each other with the word of God. And besides, dumb sheep can’t change anyway. Hence, the enlightened ones, being few, must depend on the lesser enlightened ones to help with the sheep; ie, the secular priesthood of psychology.
The biblical concept of justice throws a monkey wrench into this concept—big time. First, the concept of biblical judgment infers value. That poses a huge problem for both gospel waves.
In the first gospel wave, while “high self-esteem” was heavily touted, it was framed in context of why Christ died to save us: we are valuable to God because He created us, and God doesn’t “create junk.” But on the other hand, “what amazing grace that God would love SINNERS like us!” We are still, “sinners saved by grace.” The first gospel wave, though a proponent of high self-esteem, was nevertheless predicated on the incompetence of the saints who are still “sinners,” making no distinction between sinning as a life style verses sin that manifests itself in our war against it.
This translated into the whole, “We are all in the same boat named Sinners, so who are we to judge?” “We should forgive the way we were forgiven; ie, ‘forgive and forget.’” “If you don’t forgive others, God will not forgive you.” “Your willingness to forgive and forget shows that you understand God’s grace.” And if you don’t understand God’s grace—you don’t understand the gospel, and if you don’t understand the gospel, well, you do the math.
Justice doesn’t get invited to this party. To seek justice is to supposedly reveal the fact that you don’t understand grace, and assumes that you are a lesser sinner than someone else. We should rather all be like the Apostle Paul who wrote, “I am the chief of all sinners.” To seek justice is to be the unmerciful servant that Jesus spoke of who executed judgment on a fellow servant after being forgiven of the same thing by his master.
The trend that always follows this philosophy is tyranny which is the antithesis of justice. We have all heard of the “awesome testimonies” of parents who were able to forgive the serial killer who threw their daughter away like a piece of trash after torturing her. These testimonies are often heralded as “awesome displays of God’s grace” when really, they say more about the value of human life and the lack of God’s righteous indignation within the image bearer. This same philosophy has always resulted in the ruling elite viewing the masses in a demeaning way. In some cases, less than human. The Inquisition, The Jewish Holocaust, and many other historical events come to mind.
The second gospel wave’s twist on all of this is total depravity. Look, I was Reformed for twenty years—they laugh at the idea of righteous indignation. “You want justice? Are you sure about that? If God gave you justice, you would be going to hell!” Anger, Justice’s kissing cousin, is said to be indicative of our heart’s sinful notion that we deserve something other than hell. This type of thinking is exemplified in the often used parable about the Puritan who worked all day, and was then served nothing but a nickel sized piece of meat by his wife; he, without hesitation, exuberantly exclaimed, “What! Christ, and this also!”
Sounds honorable, but what is discussed little is the kind of behavior and indifference towards human life that this philosophy spawned among the Reformers and their Puritan children. When the Bible is gospel narrative only, and not a guide for life and godliness in the hands of capable Chrsitians—superstation and many other things will fill the void. The 300 years of European witch hunting should serve as an apt example among many others on this point.
If you go to Bible Gateway .com, select “Whole Bible,” and do a word search on “justice,” you will see hordes of Scriptures that point to a moral responsibility before God to execute fair judgment as morally competent people. The Bible is also fraught with warnings from God that He will execute judgment on those who refuse to do so. Biblical justice has innumerable spiritual ramifications as well as practical necessity.
What are the fruits of both gospel waves that refuse to agree with God’s heart on this issue? Well, just look at the ABWE/GARB Bangladesh missionary children nightmare. In that whole twenty-year ordeal, getting any kind of justice has been like pulling teeth that don’t need pulling. In fact, in like situations where justice is called for, persecution of the ones calling for justice soon follows.
It is no surprise then that the world which unknowingly has the law of God written on their hearts, will be greater lovers of justice than believers who think that justice is just another story about the gospel. “It’s about Jesus, not us. He was God, but quietly endured the injustice of the cross for us. But you want justice for merely being raped? How dare you!”
This is the problem with interpreting the whole Bible through a Reformed gospel prism that isn’t even a complete gospel. “Christ died for our sins” is not the complete gospel. It’s a glorious part, but by itself—it’s a half gospel that excludes our enablement to repent and glorify God in many, many ways which includes the execution of what is right and just. In contrast, the narrow Reformed gospel narrows everything the Scriptures state about justice to justification alone.
This isn’t the Bible, it’s orthodoxy. And it will not endear the world to Christ when they are better informed about God from the works of His law written on their hearts and what they plainly see in the world.
paul
New Finding: Truth the Root Cause of the Isolation Plague
“So, 2, 600 words into this post, I will now share what prompted it.”
Unfortunately, the Noah thing isn’t just a bedtime story; it really happened. Noah was a victim of the Isolation Plague. He was a righteous man upon the Earth, and if any of his family members had spiritual elevators that went near the top floor, the Holy Spirit makes little mention of it.
We now join the Noah family as they sit down for dinner before the deluge event:
Son: “Mr. Grumpbucket will be in as soon as he finishes fitting the last piece of gopher board on the lower deck. He said we could start without him.”
Other son: “Oh, I’m surprised he found a board that was good enough!”
Daughter-in-law in a sarcastic tone: “Would starting without him be theologically correct?”
Mrs. Noah: “Ask him during the family devotions tonight; surely, as the only righteous man on earth, he would know!”
Whole family: “LOL!”
Truth. It’s such a troublemaker that nobody wants to be its friend. Yet, for some reason, It has such a good reputation that people will readily claim to be its friend, but actually hanging out with Truth is way, way too hard. Everybody “loves” Truth, but if you invite it to any kind of party, everything will be ruined. And it always ruins your credibility with others and wreaks havoc on your life. Examples:
Hi, my name is Noah, I’m the only righteous man on Earth. Ya, that one will endear you to a bunch of folks.
Hi, my name is Mary, I’m pregnant, but have never been with a man. Suuuuure Mary, whatever you say.
Hi, my name is Jesus, I’m God. That went over in Judea like a lead balloon.
Hi, my name is the Apostle Paul, “have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?” Uh, Paul, ya think?
Remember Rodney King’s famous question? “Can’t we all just get along?” NO, not with Truth being around. So, the best thing to do is invite Truth to the party because of his wonderful reputation (“Look, Truth is here, this clearly demonstrates who we are because Truth is willing to fellowship with us”), and proceed to totally ignore him. Engaging Truth in any kind of conversation will ruin everything. Hanging around with Truth leads to being isolated. It’s kind of like a sports team mascot. It symbolizes a desired strength of the team, but if you bring an alligator, bear, leopard, or bird to the party you would most certainly cage it or put it on a leash. “Hey, relationships are important, but you have to set boundaries.” Amen. And not setting boundaries on Truth can wreak havoc on our comfort zone via the Isolation Plague.
Church is just one big party today, and the party is hot. I mean, smokin’! We have the coffee shop in the lobby, the hip décor, hip teachers, hip people, big screen TV, hip music, and a bookstore full of glossy writings from spiritual giants who seem to be in abundance. In our area, mega-churches with awe inspiring buildings and multimedia production are everywhere. And when stinking Truth shows up, and starts running his big mouth, the party might have to be stopped in order to think about something. God forbid!
You hear Truth’s latest complaint? The vast majority of churches in our day have bought into progressive justification. It denies the new birth, and has Gnosticism for its application. And by the way, it’s the exact same thing that the Reformers believed. So what? Well, other than the fact that it is a false gospel, it teaches that we have no righteousness of our own for sanctification, and that Christ’s righteousness is an alien righteousness that remains completely outside of us.
So what? Well, the so what? is the fact that at some point, this doctrine will ruin your marriage, and basically ruin the lives of your children. You do the math—what eventually happens when people buy into the idea that they have NO righteousness in themselves? And per the contention that I received at a Baptist church that Susan and I visited this morning (which is going through a classic New Calvinist takeover):
“Are you saying that as Christians we still don’t need grace, and that the gospel is not the power of our sanctification?” ‘That’s exactly what I am saying. The gospel is not the source of our sanctification—regeneration is. You are teaching progressive justification.’ “No, we are not.” ‘Excuse me, how is The same gospel that saved us also sanctifies us not progressive justification? Not to mention the whole We must preach the gospel to ourselves every day. It is clearly progressive justification.’”
There is only one place you can go with this doctrine; Gnosticism, and hence, the morning worship service message was full of it. For someone like me who has studied Gnosticism, it wasn’t even ambiguous. And here is the crux: the idea that we have no righteousness that is ours will always, and has always, led to spiritual abuse and cultish groups. This present-day party, complete with all of the aforementioned party favors, is the New Calvinist movement. The present zenith it enjoys has a contemporary birth of 1970. Truth, the big mouth, has been asking (as usual) a very troubling question of late: “Where has this gospel been all of our lives.” Here is the answer to Truth’s interpretive question: because of its underlying presupposition of all righteousness being completely outside of us, the ensuing cultism causes the movement to die a social death. When it makes a comeback because of its strong initial appeal, the presupposition eventually yields the deadly results all over again. However, the movement has a lot of staying power because of the following Gnostic tenet: This is the way to “the good,” and the good we experience has been predetermined by the spirit realm. Therefore, practical results cannot pass judgment on the process.
In now what is yesterday, as I resume my work on this article, the guy preaching in the morning service said as much. He strongly insinuated that “worldly wisdom” was a pragmatic endeavor that seeks positive results for selfish reasons. Instead, Christians should seek spiritual wisdom through praise and worship and trust God’s preordained results for whatever they are. Conspicuously missing in the sermon were elements that connect “worldly wisdom” to spiritual wisdom such as, common sense, and the works of the law written on the hearts of every person born into the world. The criteria that separated the two realms in his message was clearly pragmatism verses praise and worship, and he cited James to proof text. However, James’ criteria that separates worldly wisdom from spiritual wisdom is not pragmatism verses trusting preordained results of praise and worship, but rather disobedience to God’s full philosophical statement pertaining to life and godliness contained in the Scriptures. Hear me well, this is the very core of Gnosticism: a strict dualism between the spiritual and the material with the purest form of good connecting directly with the spiritual (in this case, through praise and worship).
And it answers the questions as to why these churches are experiencing the growth that they are:
1. It’s easy and fun. Come to the party, enjoy the hip music and fun people. Have your senses stimulated by the high dollar multimedia production, and Jesus will do the rest.
2. Bring people here because the power of the gospel is in people seeing God glorified/praised corporately. Then the pastor will share a gospel story about Jesus that will further His fame. Then, we keep doing the gospel until God fully redeems the Earth and us. It is just a big party till he returns.
3. CONTROL. Once they get them there, control kicks in. For anybody who is on top of this issue, yesterday’s morning message at said church was the epitome of brainwashing for the purpose of controlling people. This is not rocket science—if we have no goodness within ourselves, we can’t trust our own judgment about anything. We must entrust ourselves to the philosopher kings.
Accordingly, this doctrine is everywhere. They have a formula that works, and works well. And frankly, I am beginning to feel pressure to join a church that is the least of the evil, and just bear up in regard to the rest. It puts me in a position, like many other husbands/fathers, where I have to tell my family that there is nothing out there. Most families don’t want to believe that or hear it which is understandable. Truly, I cannot even imagine what it was like for Noah. Yet, this is exactly how Christ and the Apostles said it would be in the last days. Paul made it clear to Timothy that professing Christians would not “endure” or “tolerate” sound doctrine in the last days. Christ even said, “As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.” This simply does not match up with mega-churches being on every corner. And as far as just getting along and finding the lesser New Calvinist error and tolerating the rest—honorable, but trust me, it can cost you your family. I have a choice: choose isolation or expose my family to an environment where it is constantly drubbed into their minds that they have no righteousness or worth. This is poison to the soul.
This is the temptation, to relieve some of the isolation. Everyone is doing that also. Ministries that understand the issue and stand against it; nevertheless, relieve some of the isolation by fellowshipping and colaboring with New Calvinism Light. But in the book that is God’s full philosophical statement on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and politics for “life and godliness,” and not simply a gospel narrative, we are told that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump.” And there you have it; we wouldn’t know that truth for wisdom to be applied to life if the Bible is merely a gospel narrative. And this is the New Calvinist ziggurat—to separate us from the mind of Christ that we are to seek with all of OUR heart, mind and soul, and replace it with the New Calvinist temple of gospel contemplationism. To refuse to do that is hard, and we will often be afflicted with the pain of isolation accordingly. So we set boundaries on our relationship with Truth:
“Hey Truth guy! I hear you are really hip—let’s hang. I want you to be my bro.” ‘Fine with me, but a lot of folks don’t think the way I do; therefore, I have no place to live, don’t know where the next paycheck is coming from, and the most powerful men in this country are conspiring to kill me.’ “Wooooooeeeeeee there bro-daddy! My relationships have boundaries—I can’t go for that.”
First, we are wired for fellowship; second, we don’t like to fight alone. Thirdly, standing for truth can, and often does, cause us to be misunderstood. Fellowshipping with Truth while being its true friend, and not a fair-weather friend, is not for the weak hearted. But those who don’t believe that WE can do ALL things through Him who strengthens us on this wise flirt with a denial of the very Lord that bought us. Listen to what the Apostle Paul said on this wise:
The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
In regard to your relationship with Truth, how deep is your love? Note in Paul’s statement that salvation is part and parcel with truth; yet, a premium on truth in our day has never been lower while coinciding with massive mega-churches with 500,000 dollar budgets within every square mile of America.
In our efforts to not fight alone, fellowship alone, or just plain be alone, we feed the beast that will destroy our lives and deprive ourselves of “blessedness.” Or, we merely deprive ourselves of the full counsel of God that is so vital to our sanctification; ie., a narrow concept and reductionist gospel as opposed to the full philosophical statement of God for life and godliness. In yesterday’s aforementioned sermon, the pastor offered the beatitudes as a picture of those who gain spiritual wisdom through praise and worship:
1. Humble: ie., you constantly endeavor to realize how worthless you are.
2. Poor in spirit: ie., the way New Calvinist elders like their mutton; docile, and easy to manage.
3. Peacemakers: ie., you don’t ask questions given to you by that troublemaker, Truth, who is not the same as Worship who always accepts God’s sovereign will while having fun to boot. And remember, sometimes it’s God’s will that the elders abuse people make mistakes.
In contrast, the beatitudes are plainly a picture of those who are battered because of their love for the truth, but are exhorted by God to know that this struggle is really the doorway to happiness regardless of how it looks or feels. The whole sermon was a bastardization of God’s truth from start to finish. And in my estimation, though that church’s hostile takeover is not fully consummated, it is already a New Calvinist cult. Per the usual, said teacher pontificated the idea that worship always leads to unity in contrast to biblical truth which plainly states that truth is what leads to unity. In fact, disunity in the Bible is always framed in context of error or false doctrine. This is the biblical articulation of a “cult” or in biblical terminology, “sect, “ or “sectarian.” In the New Testament, the word is synonymous with “fractious.” A “fractious man” in Scripture is one who causes divisions with false teaching. In the false prescript of yesterday’s message, “worship” =’s unity as opposed to the “worldly” concept of objective data that leads to practical goals which are always for selfish gain. And by the way, what we have here is the mind of Christ regarding the reality of disunity and what makes it tick.
You who frequent new Calvinist churches: how often do you hear these principles taught if somebody happens to take a break from teaching about the same gospel that saved us? You don’t. Knowing this kind of “worldly” knowledge (or misuse of the Bible for practical living and thinking) makes it impossible to control you. A church polity (government) goes along with this that proclaims, “If we are in control, there will be peace and unity.” This is the same catcry as New Calvinism’s kissing cousins of spiritual despotism. They are preordained by God to lead the saints in peace and unity through love and corporate worship, but if needed, the gallows slumber not. Restrained by the American government’s worldly wisdom for enlightened selfish purposes, New Calvinist elders substitute with dividing marriages, bogus church discipline, slander, break sessions posing as biblical counsel, false incrimination, bogus excommunication, and Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” They are nothing but the embodiment of Freddy Krueger dressed in the demeanor of Mr. Rogers.
All and All on this point, the ability of Christians to think with the mind of Christ is being replaced with gospel contemplationism for all of the aforementioned reasons.
But, living for truth does not have to embrace isolationism. Being successful in our fight against spiritual tyranny does not have to be experienced in isolation. It’s not always the case, but most often, we can have our cake and eat it also. We can grow and experience rich fellowship while not being a fair-weather friend to Truth. So, 2, 600 words into this post, I will now share what prompted it.
On the one hand, among many, I am considered, “toxic.” Among those closest to me, “a bull in a china shop.” And after yesterday, our household is beginning to look a little like the hypothetical Noahian household presented at the beginning of this post. And in the midst of this, a warning from a reader; in essence, you’re compromising. In regard to PPT’s protocol of reposting everything Bangladesh Missionary Kids, I reposted a post that they posted by someone who has taken up their cause. The reader pointed out that the author has strong New Calvinist ties. Rather than to finger me pointblank for compromise, the reader expressed confusion as to why I would do that when she thought I knew that New Calvinists were primarily responsible for the kind of abuse suffered by the MK’s to begin with.
I appreciate the veiled honesty with the nomenclature, “confusion,” but let’s state it as it is:
1. The post wasn’t vetted: ie., sloppy journalism.
2. It brings back to mind that I have backed off from the G.R.A.C.E. issue.
Regarding number 2, in the ABWE Bangladesh Missionary Kids holocaust case, G.R.A.C.E has been appointed to “investigate” the deplorable cover-up that is barely named among the unwise, worldly, pragmatic American citizenship that is a product of the evil Enlightenment era. Two things are very troublesome here: GARB, the primary abode of ABWE, is presently being overrun with New Calvinism from the top down, and G.R.A.C.E is of the same New Calvinist philosophical mindset—as their very name implies. If you know the facts of this atrocity, the MK’s would be better served by an organization named, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. To the contrary, this is like calling Colonial Sanders to negotiate a contract between the chickens and the food industry. While many evangelicals applaud Penn State’s handling of the same kind of crime, do New Calvinists see that model response as worldly wisdom that seeks a pragmatic solution as opposed to “showing forth the gospel”? If G.R.A.C.E were to learn anything from Penn State would that be sharing God’s glory with another?
Have we not heard New Calvinists, over and over again, say that the concept of justice from the “worldly realm” is extreme because it is a pragmatic revenge that doesn’t consider that we all deserve hell? A judge who thinks he deserves hell just as much as the criminal will certainly swing the gavel lightly. I have written many articles about my concerns on this which caused stress between me and at least one MK. I have since backed off—holding out hope once again that these New Calvinists are New Calvinism Light and there could still be a good outcome. However, I think it is time for me to drive the stake further into the ground—a little leaven leavens the whole lump, or it doesn’t—it’s “A,” or it’s “B.”
It’s time for a full embracing of truth, and doing it in a way that enables us to enjoy all of the benefits that come with the relationship. If Paul meant to say that the issue was loving the “gospel” instead of the whole counsel of God which is many faceted in its full philosophical statement for life and godliness—he would have simply said so. If Christ’s primary mandate to the church was to observe the gospel rather than “all that I have commanded,” why would He not simply say so?
So what to do? First, stop compromising. We don’t need anybody for a friend other than Truth. It won’t always be pretty when we are hanging out with Truth, but He has promised that the outcome will always be good. Second, find a fellowship of those who will not compromise. They are out there—one wrote me. Third, support those who refuse to compromise. If monetarily, it’s not the $1.00 or the $5.00, it’s something that’s worth all of the gold in Fort Knox. It is a message that even Elijah needed. It’s the message that says….
….you are not alone.
paul
The Doctrine of Centralism Will Save First Baptist Church of Hammond and IFB
In my recent post, The Doctrine of Centralism and the “Cult” Misnomer, I explain the doctrine of control, or centralism. First, Western culture is predicated on the idea that philosophers should rule over the ignorant masses. This was formulated in the first philosophical think tank and institution of higher learning located in Athens Greece circa 400BC. From there, the philosophy moved forward and made its impact on Western culture through the secular realm and the religious realm.
In the religious realm, Plato’s philosopher kings became popes and Reformation elders. That is why the Reformers and the popes both believed (and still do) in the integration of religion and state for purposes of enforcing “God’s law” on society. The state gets a unifying belief system that unites the populous in the deal, and the philosopher kings get an army to enforce discipline on the totally depraved sheep if necessary. The whole idea that the Reformation was a contention for the true gospel of grace is just really bad history—it was a fight for control of the mutton.
The founding fathers of America were contemporary observers of the results, which have never been good. The U.S. constitution was predicated on the idea of keeping the church separate from state with the latter being in complete servitude to the people. But centralism remains dominate in American religion. However, it can’t enforce its control by the stake or gallows, so it improvises through indoctrination. In years past, popes and the likes of John Calvin did not have to be good at indoctrination because the state enforced their doctrine—contemporary proponents of centralism have to craft their doctrine well in order to gain control of people.
And the Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) pastor kings are among the very best. We will now examine the art of centralism indoctrination. Keep in mind that a lot of the indoctrination is already in place via years of “preaching” by Jack Hyles and his recently fired son-in-law who had sex with a sixteen year old girl. We will focus on the centralism being used to deal with this recent scandal, and paving the way for business as usual at the First Baptist Church of Hammond and IFB churches in general.
Because of my busy schedule, I do not have time to document the actual footage I have seen in this situation that fit into the following criteria, but perhaps readers could comment and add the citations for each.
1. The philosopher king has fallen. The emphasis is on the great loss of this vital pastor king whom the totally depraved sinner-saints depend on. He will be mentioned 100 to one in comparison to the victim. “Oh my! The sheep are without a shepherd!”
2. Enlightened, but still of the earth. Remember, though pastor kings are enlightened and “called” of God to lead the totally depraved zombie sheep home through the dark maze of sanctification, they are still SINNERS. These poor souls have been called of God to vex their righteous souls among the totally depraved, and bless their hearts, sometimes they “fall.” How dare we judge them when they have forfeited their rightful place in heaven to lead us amidst this pigpen called Earth!
3. It’s the congregations’ fault. I have heard several comments by IFB big guns who have been brought in to apply the centralism protocol that implements this element, including the interim pastor king. Basically, the idea that because of the inherent selfishness of the zombie sheep, too much pressure was put on Schaap—leading to his “fall.” The kingdom of darkness targets the pastor kings specifically, and the congregation has been an unwitting accomplice with the devil. THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED!
4. Certification/reassurance by secondary pastor kings. The sub-pastor kings at FBCH reassure the totally depraved zombie sheep that Schaap is still God’s anointed pastor king. They point to his many years of faithful service as proof [this guy was fairly good, it took 11 years to catch him]. As one sub-pastor king noted, “I love this church.” Ah, and if a pastor king loves that church—you must also. Thou pastor king has spoken—let it be written. Who can forget the infamous words of daddy Jack Hyles: “Now I want you to close your Bibles and listen to me.”
5. Dualism. All that IFB does that manifests heaven is a testimony to godly unity, and proof that there is an IFB temple in heavenly Jerusalem. But when something bad happens, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the heavenly IFB. Because after all, they are “independent” of each other. You idiot, can’t you read the “independent” in “IFB”? In all of their “unity” (IFB has a cooperative network unmatched anywhere on Earth), is heaven manifested on earth, but when they fall get caught, that is a manifestation of the “independent” church’s evil matter. “You can’t just swath a big brush across all of IFB because of this!” Oh yes you can. All IFB affiliated churches run by the same playbook that is driven by the same philosophy. Hence, the results will be duplicated. Look, this prism is exact across all denominational, religious, and cultic lines. It is based a specific presupposition concerning mankind as opposed to a true emphasis on the priesthood of believers. This protocol can be seen to a “T” in the SBC, and especially SGM. Therefore, the massive network based on a given philosophy that produces the behavior is preserved.
6. Us against them. The “world” and competing philosopher kings would love to see the heavenly IFB’s representation on earth fall. Don’t let that happen! Be a team player! “Please, stick with us.”
Yes, much is at stake. IFB philosopher pastor kings could be deprived of the concubines that they so deserve—a small price for us to pay for their sacrifice for us in the evil realm of earthly matter. Fathers should feel privileged and proud as their raped daughters sign confessions for being the devil’s advocates in bringing down the great pastor kings.
And this isn’t just IFB, this is a mirror image of the SBC, SGM, LDS, GARB, etc., etc., etc., etc..
paul
The Philosopher King Wars
“The sheep are catching on. They are pushing back against being owned by anyone other the Lord who purchased us with His own Blood.”
In our day, most pastors, indeed, most, fit into two categories: the philosopher kings of the first gospel wave, and the philosopher kings of the second gospel wave. First, I will explain what a philosopher king is, and then I will explain the contemporary eras in which they function. Thirdly, I will describe some of the contemporary wars between them and the saints. Then I will explain the theory of the third gospel wave.
The contemporary reign of philosopher kings in the church began in circa 1950. The concept of the philosopher king as pastor began with St. Augustine. He got the concept from the fraternity of philosophers that has shaped Western culture; ie, Plato’s Academy, which was the first institution of philosophy and higher learning in Western culture. This philosophy was founded on four basic principles:
1. The total inability of man (Augustine projected that into Christian discipleship as well).
2. The ability of some to connect with the true, beautiful, and good (those who love knowledge).
3. Those who have striven and succeeded in knowing the true, beautiful, and good, should rule over the remainder of mankind; ie, philosopher (lovers of knowledge) kings.
4. The laws of men are necessary to restrain the ignorant, but are empirical, and not intuitive, and therefore not the most expedient in all cases for the philosopher kings.
Until the second century A.D., churches were primarily led by a group of common people. Various pressures that eventually culminated with Augustinian thought ushered in the one church—one bishop concept. In essence, a philosopher king for each congregation. Today’s seminaries have become Plato’s Academy where men go to become philosopher kings, and then go to congregations to lord it over the flock.
The First Gospel Wave
This era is from 1950 to 1970. It was primarily predicated on the inability of the saints. Just believe only and get your fire insurance. Commendable kingdom living was devalued because of a fundamental belief in inability on the part of the saints who are still “sinners saved by grace” instead of holy ones empowered by the Holy Spirit and aggressively colaboring with Him. The clarion call of the first wave philosopher kings was to get people saved in church under the auspicious of the enlightened ones. Hence, the same gospel that saved us was the predominate theme, not discipleship and kingdom living par excellent. Christians in our day are theologically illiterate because the philosopher kings of the first wave did not teach congregants the theology that they learned in seminary—deeming them unable to understand it. “Change” was just a pipe dream in the realm of theory. “You can’t fix stupid.” Pastors refused to counsel with the word of God and farmed counseling out to the secular philosophers. As one pastor told me: “I am not going to let counseling distract me from the gospel.”
The Second Gospel Wave
The second gospel wave not only devalued discipleship, it returned to pure Augustinian thought which rejected it all together. Man is so inept—even after conversion—that he can have no significant role in either salvation or discipleship. Augustine believed that biblical imperatives only exemplified God’s desires and besought Christians to pray that God would bring about His desires in the lives of Christians. He believed that goodness was manifested in a spiritual realm—not by Christians. Hence, theology only focuses on the works of Christ and our own depravity which continually magnifies the same gospel that saved us. Therefore, the primary goal of the second wave philosopher kings is Comfort Care until God comes for those whom He has predestined. This entails a constant, “showing forth of the gospel” that saved us and constantly reminding us of our total depravity.
In both waves, the survival of the philosopher king is paramount for the comfort of the sheep and the salvation of souls. Though enlightened, they are still totally depraved like the rest of humanity with expected behaviors following. Hence, some philosopher kings fall into deep sin, but must be protected for the benefit of the whole. Their fall would result in lost souls (first wave) and horrendous discomfort (second wave) among the pathetic, pitiful sheep. Those who are victims of the philosopher kings must be sacrificed for the benefit of the whole.
Eventually, the sheep begin to reject this notion. Because of this rejection, pure Augustinian theology eventually dies a social death within Christianity. Some examples are Colonial Calvinism and Confederate Calvinism. The saints begin to rise up. But after the pain and the memories of the tyranny subside, coupled with a historic shortfall of appropriate action/ education to prevent its return, the door is opened for the rebirth of the philosopher kings. This is commonly known in Reformed circles as “Gospel Recovery movements.” We are now seeing the beginning of this social death in our own day via the Philosopher King Wars. The following are examples of a few major battles, and are by no means exhaustive.
First Wave Wars
Do Right Hyles-Anderson verses Philosopher King Jack Hyles
Jack Hyles is the premier philosopher king of the first gospel wave. For years, his family members and understudies reined unfettered terror upon God’s people. Regardless of this, fellow philosopher kings in the same denomination refused to confront him, and even went as far as to name a Christian college after him. Finally, after years of crying out from victims falling on deaf ears for the betterment and comfort of the whole, the organization Do Right Hyles-Anderson has struck a powerful blow for the justice God loves. Their ministry statement reads as follows:
This group was created to be supportive to all the victims of FBC/HAC and the IFB community. This is not a group started out of hatred, resentment or bitterness. The core of our group is grace, unconditional love, and redemption. We support all the victims. We want our voice to be heard. We will hold IFB churches accountable for abuse and corruption. And we will report any and all cases of abuse that are brought to our team of victim advocates. We’re not going away…this is a life long mission and we will help the helpless.
Undoubtedly, this organization played a large role in the very recent dethroning of Hyles’ son-in-law as pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond which at one time had the largest Sunday School program in the world. His sins, though criminal, are tame compared to the past terrors of the Hyles cartel. The fact that he has been dismissed by FBCH is a gargantuan step in the opposite direction from the tolerance of the past. This is about Christ’s 1 of 100, and the Jewish proverb, “He who saves one life—saves the world,” and not Socrates’ sinful sacrifice of the few for the sake of the many.
W. Kempton
The ABWE Bangladesh Missionary Kids verses Philosopher King Donn Ketcham
For some 20 years, the abuses of GARB hero Donn Ketcham fell on deaf ears. Other ABWE/GARB philosopher kings such as Wendell Kempton covered for Ketcham in a massive and shameful cover-up. Nevertheless, Kempton is presently being honored with a multimillion dollar sports complex on a Christian college being named after him. For the most part, the GARB community has shown only token distaste for what has occurred. Again, protecting the enlightened ones is best for the community as a whole. Because of the ineptness of the great unwashed—the likes of Ketcham and Kempton must be protected due to their irreplaceable contribution to the totally depraved.
Second Wave Wars
Mahaney
SGM Survivors .com verses Philosopher King CJ Mahaney
SGM Survivors is one of many such organizations pushing back against philosopher king CJ Mahaney, who among other various travesties was taped black mailing SGM cofounder Larry Tomczak. Regardless of this, the who’s who of second wave philosopher kings are protecting Mahaney and investing in media spin on his behalf (John MacArthur, Mark Dever, Al Mohler et al). This has resulted in him being reinstated as president of SGM. However, the pushback against second wave philosopher kings is becoming more formidable by the day.
J.A. Smith
Julie Anne Smith verses Beaverton Grace Bible Church
There is perhaps nothing more representative of the revolution against second wave philosopher kings than the everyday Oregon housewife Julie Anne Smith. When big name second wave philosopher kings came to BGBC’s defense against this humble soccer mom—she didn’t even blink, calling out the likes of John MacArthur lackey Phil Johnson who has recently stopped blogging (supposedly by his own choice). MacArthur hack and executive director of his media, Fred Butler, recently published unconfirmed smut/slander concerning Smith’s daughter after she prevailed against BGBC in a 500,000 dollar lawsuit. After years of striking fear in the hearts of pastors coast to coast, the second wave philosopher king pastors are incredulous in the face of Smith’s unsinkable courage. Their fears of her are warranted as others will follow including American pastors who exemplify a spirit of spinelessness never before seen in any other generation.
The Third Gospel Wave?
The sheep are catching on. They are pushing back against being owned by anyone other the Lord who purchased us with His own Blood. He owns us, not the philosopher kings. Nor do the philosopher kings own us by proxy. We are only slaves to Christ, not cruel masters who demand our children to be their willing and unwilling concubines. We will follow those of the Lord who lead us by His example. We remember our brother Paul who exhorted us with tears to only follow him as he followed Christ. And trust me, the philosopher kings of our day are no Apostle Paul. Not only can they not even carry his water, they are the clouds without water that Jude spoke of. As clouds come and promise nourishment for the crops, they come with the same promises—but they have nothing but lies instead of rain.
Authority only resides in the full, complete, and infinite philosophical statement of the Scriptures. The only authority elders have is truth as judged by the Bereans. We are not obligated to follow delusional hypocrites because of their Reformed accreditation and name-brand clothing, but only the Chief Shepherd. We detest those who say that the very breath of God is nothing more than a narrative for mystic gospel contemplationism. The Scriptures are written for Bereans who’s hearts are set on fire by our Counselor and Helper—the blessed Holy Spirit. The Bible contains its own hermeneutic, and we do not need the arrogant to teach us how to read it or listen to it as it supposedly comes from them.
We pray for a third gospel wave that endeavors to make disciples, not “saved” mindless followers of philosopher kings. We pray for leaders who will equip us to be full of goodness, full of knowledge, and able to counsel each other (Romans 15:14).
Not those who suffer us to glory in our supposed total depravity in order to satisfy their own lust for control.
paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
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