The Protestant Culture of Death and the Folly of Discernment Blogging
“So, anti-spiritual abuse blogs are confronting a religion that they remain a part of while that religion looks to suffering as a means of properly understand reality itself. Good luck with that.”
“This should also be instructive for discernment bloggers; even if you succeed in making the Calvinist abusers feel guilty what is going to be the result? A return to the foot of the cross and nothing else.”
When Protestants started rediscovering their real roots in 1970, many “gospel recovery movements” started a “quiet revolution” to take the church back from modern-day “legalistic Pharisees.” Few knew anything was going on until 2006, and even then it was the realization that something was going on, but nobody knew exactly what it was. In 2009 discernment blogs exploded in response to the spiritual abuse tsunami sweeping across the evangelical church.
2014 has ushered in the realization that discernment blogs are pointless because they confront Protestantism and Calvinism in particular about its bad behavior while remaining in the institutional church, and in many cases, Calvinism itself.
The cat is out of the bag. The rabbit is out of the hat. The elephant is out of the barn. However you want to state it, spiritual abuse is happening in the church; and if not abuse, rampant sin, and if not sin; boredom, because Protestantism is the same old ancient doctrine of death ideology as Islam or anything else. There is only one historical difference between Protestantism and Islam in regard to degree of abuse: American rule of law, and the separation of force and faith. Calvinists in our day state plainly that they would “go Old Testament” on dissenters if they were allowed. What is our first clue that something isn’t right? Presently, they are limited to character assignation and having your name removed from the book of life. Openly, they bemoan the loss of days gone by when burning stakes were as common as road signs while the average pew sitter makes no correlation between history and ideology whatsoever. Calvinists like Wade Burleson can actually brag about being a modern-day Puritan while at the same time claiming to be an advocate for the spiritually abused. The disconnect in logic is stunning.
It is extremely important to make a distinction between doctrine and ideology. The same ideology can take on many different expressions of doctrine; biblical or secular. Doctrine is the stated ethic of the ideology which usually comes from what we believe about the state of being. A lot of the debate noise on the internet, if not most of it, is from people with the same ideology either aware or unaware, debating doctrine. They think they have relevant differences because they disagree on doctrine. No, doctrine is the tentacles of the ideological octopus.
Epistemology is the “how” we know the state of being (what is), and perhaps why it is. For original Protestantism, reality is perceived through suffering. Christ came to die on the cross so man could obtain life. That’s true in respect to salvation, but Luther (following the lead of Augustine) made that an ongoing need for understanding reality and experiencing the wellbeing of the invisible. This led to the false doctrine of progressive justification and made understanding reality part and parcel with salvation. This drives a lot of the mentality behind the evangelical homeschool movement. The public schools are evil because unbelieving teachers do not have a proper grasp of reality.
So, anti-spiritual abuse blogs are confronting a religion that they remain part of while that religion looks to suffering as a means of properly understand reality itself. Good luck with that. They have been blogging their guts out for five years now, and where are the results? You are dealing with people who will never be appalled at suffering because it is key to understanding reality.
Let’s look at an example:
The ugly reality of crucifixion looms over the lives of Christ’s followers today, as it did Peter’s life. In the gospel, we are confronted with the unvarnished horror of ourselves—damned and cursed and exiled. We find ourselves ensnared in the curse itself—in Jesus, writhing in torture on a stake (John 3:14).
Gathering each week, we reenact the horror of Jesus’ sacrificial death. In baptism, we see the flood of God’s judgment against sin (1 Pet. 3:20-21). At the Lord’s Table, we swallow and digest the sign of our Lord’s torn skin and spattered blood (Justin Taylor: The Gospel Coalition .org blog; The Gospel at Ground Zero | Sept. 9, 2011).
So, when you go to church every week, for all practical purposes, it is really a celebration of death. And what to do when your conscience bothers you?
And whenever our consciences accuse, the gospel takes us away from denial or preoccupation and right back to Ground Zero—to the Cross (Ibid).
This should also be instructive for discernment bloggers; even if you succeed in making the Calvinist abusers feel guilty what is going to be the result? A return to the foot of the cross and nothing else. One does not keep a clear conscience before God through obedience, that would be, “trying to be the gospel rather than preaching the gospel.” Hence, the often espoused, “I have no problem with Christ, it’s His followers I disdain” has unfortunate merit. Classic Protestantism is unabashed in promoting a talk instead of a walk—a walk is works salvation—we must let Jesus do the walking for us. “It’s not about what we do—it’s about what Jesus has done.” This mindset is unsalvageable—come out from among them. Unfortunately, once someone experiences a way of life that answers every question with the fatalistic easy-button while vanquishing real responsibly for the sum and substance of their own life, repentance is extremely unlikely unless God intervenes.
What’s the solution? Abandon the institutional church and return to church as it was meant to be. Believers at large are the priesthood, not Protestant academia. There needs to be an exodus to explore the real truth marred by 500 years of the traditions of men.
Why are we begging the institutional church to do what’s right? Why have we been begging since 2009, and to no avail? Why are toothless tigers like Boz Tchividjian heroes for merely crying foul on behalf of victims? Have you noticed how discernment bloggers are constantly clamoring at the doors of the institutional church with bated breath for some notable evangelical to throw them a verbal breadcrumb? It goes viral because some stuffed shirt orthodox lackey states something along the lines of God’s displeasure with pedophilia. It’s pathetic.
Victims need to understand that their suffering is a Protestant epistemology that is deemed not only a necessary evil, but the only gateway to spiritual wellbeing. Hold out your begging cup named justice till the second coming if you must, but you have been doing so since 2009, and you will continue to do so with the same results. Stop suing them and being sued by them, stop begging them, and for crying out loud, stop giving them your money!
Come out from among them and be separate. Only truth sanctifies. Be honest; what is your real goal in life? Retool and start blogging about the solution; that’s the new spiritual frontier. Stop being enslaved to a spiritual caste system, Christ came to set you free.
paul
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@BozT Read http://buff.ly/1jYvLH5 Calvinism and righteous indignation are mutually exclusive. Suffering is Reformed epistemology=NO results.
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A person who does not completely disavow Calvinism and all of its tenets cannot help the spiritually abused.
The Pitiless Mean Streets of American Christianity
“Beware of any verbiage that implies that healing comes forth by ignoring the blood that cries out from the ground. This verbiage comes from the heart of the tyrant himself, or those who carry water for him.”
“Yes, we live in a day when the American church separates justice from love, and accepts the bribe of fellowship in exchange for justice. In the same way that we offer prayer in place of supplying need, we offer condolences in place of justice. And we side with the many in our silence.”
Here in Dayton, Ohio one roams the inner-city streets at their own risk. It’s a risk that you accept if you want to go there for some reason. Likewise, people still want to go to the institutional American church for some reason, and do so at their own risk. But there is one difference: if you get mugged downtown, you might get justice, it’s a consolation prize.
Per the usual, something in my life provokes a post like this, and this post is no different. I don’t get into conspiratorial topics in my writings for two reasons: it’s hard enough getting Christians to believe the obvious and we should at least start there, and why talk about UFOs when identifiable fiendish opulence is dancing in the aisles and on the altars?
Nevertheless, if you do the research that I do, one thing becomes apparent: the New Calvinist movement that is crossing denominational lines and taking over the American church is not about the gospel, it’s about power, money, and politics. Frankly, the global aspirations of Al Mohler and many other Southern Baptist leaders are not unapparent, especially if you are well versed in Plato’s Republic. Yesterday, I was searching through information sent to me by others that a friend requested, and found myself in dark contemplation.
I keep a picture of the Jonestown aftermath in my office, the one where two adult women are embracing a toddler as they died the foretold “painless” death by spiked Kool-Aid. It’s an apt reminder for my sluggish heart that gravitates towards thinking well of those who look good and speak well. Yes, it was a protest because the US was going to take away their right to live in a socialist utopia because Jim Jones murdered a US Senator. While searching for the information, I also stumbled upon a clip about Chinese public executions that are commonplace in that culture. The story was good news that the “Peoples Supreme Court” is going to start reviewing the executions and the present rate of about ten executions a day may slow down.
Don’t you know, it’s always about the “people.” Jim Jones’ “People’s Temple” and the Chinese “People’s Supreme Court,” and by the way, your local Reformed elder “wuvs you.” Bad results are always beside the point because people are stubborn and constantly want to think for themselves. If everyone would just obey for a change, all would see that elitists know what they are talking about in regard to the “collective good.” You see, all of the slaughter is for you, you are wuved. And John Calvin wuved you. He wuved you soooo much that he wrote a weally big letter to the king of France called the Calvin Institutes calling for the execution of all who disagreed with him, because like all Platonists, he knows about the “collective good.” Yes, no wonder John Piper went to Geneva and announced his world vision for Calvin’s “Post Tenebras Lux.” Piper calls it a “wonder.” Yes indeed. You are wuved.
And in the midst of all this, I received an email from someone of my past who still wuvs me soooo much. He is concerned because I am, yawn, and here we go again, “bitter.” And why am I bitter? Well, that’s just too rich, but let me do a little prerequisite. In regard to the elitists that want to rule the world, premise is out and authority is in. Little brats that ask mommy why are the best picture: “Why?” ‘Because I said so.’” In this picture, you’re the brat and John Calvin is the mommy. It’s about the collective good; it’s about things you can’t comprehend.
The person who contacted me summarily dismissed seven years of research and informed me of my reality. He understands none of it, but this he does understand: we can’t understand, and my “glory story” is not in touch with Luther’s “cross story.” Now listen up, this is the tie that binds the American church with every murdering tyrant that ever breathed air on the earth:
“I am truly very sorry for the difficult things that have happened in your life. This is why it is difficult to offer correction. We will always be disappointed with people in the end, but thank God, if we keep our focus on Him, he is a faithful anchor of peace for our souls. What happens to us is not nearly as important as how we respond to it. I fear your response is not healing, but rather further hurtful to you and others around you. Again, I speak in gentleness, but if you place me in a position to have to speak uncomfortable truths to you, please do not assume I am answering you in a hateful tone.”
Yes, we will always be “disappointed” with the Calvinesque of the world. Calvin probably did not have to slaughter nearly as many as he did for our sake. Luther could have hated the Jews a little less, and Zwingli could have drowned fewer Anabaptists. The execution mode mocked their audacity to refute Luther and Calvin’s position on water baptism. And we are “disappointed” with Reformed elders in this country who merely improvise in their persecutions, but we must remember that it is all for us.
Beware of any verbiage that accuses Christ of not being concerned with justice in the here and now. Beware of any verbiage that implies that Christ does not hold us accountable for justice. Beware of any verbiage that implies that healing comes forth by ignoring the blood that cries out from the ground. This verbiage comes from the heart of the tyrant himself, or those who carry water for him.
And the words of a heartless tyrant ALWAYS come dressed in the garb of “love,” and in the political realm, it is always the “people’s” guillotine. The one built for them, and for their sake, adorned with the finest and sharpest blade available—only the finest for the people.
Exodus 22:15-17
You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice,
Exodus 23:6
“You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit.
Deuteronomy 10:18
He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.
Deuteronomy 16:18
“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
Deuteronomy 16:19
You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous.
Deuteronomy 27:19
“‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
Yes, we live in a day when the American church separates justice from love, and accepts the bribe of fellowship in exchange for justice. In the same way that we offer prayer in place of supplying need, we offer condolences in place of justice. And we side with the many in our silence.
As I looked for the data, and perused the many pictures of beautiful Chinese damsels who had half their heads blown off with an AK-47 for some trivial offence, I wondered why God ever allowed sin to come into the world. I plunged into a dark pit of doubt and darkness. I found myself in utter despair and began to attempt to climb my way out with my thoughts. I prayed to the God I doubted to save me with reason. As I clawed desperately for hope, I reasoned that perhaps I do not even understand the basic premises of metaphysics that I assume. As I looked at those pictures, I knew that at times trust can be a bitch. And then the thought came…
For whatever reason God allowed sin to come into the world, He gave His only Son to heal it. And when He was on earth, His devotion to the Father never wavered. The Father listened as His Son cried out to Him in the passion. Christ Himself wept over Jerusalem. These thoughts brought light into my mind and the dark spirit fled—my prayers were answered. God despises sin more than I ever have or will, and has given more than anyone because of it. In allowing sin into the world, His solution was a burden that only God Himself could bear. So, I still do not know why, but the only way of hope is clear.
But this I do know: God cares just as much about what happens to us as our response. The silent lamb will return as a roaring Lion who will shake the earth. It is our duty to do all we can for justice in the here and now to obtain justice for the wronged. We are to be like Christ in the here and now. Be sure of this: justice, either now or future is a down payment for healing. Let those who separate justice from love be accursed. The repentance of our persecutors is the most efficacious to the healing process, and this is also being denied victims wholesale in the American church. The victims are offended, no one is held accountable, and justice is withheld, but the gospel has much to say about repentance and justice, and it is said to EVERYONE including those who think they speak for God.
It all comes from the same anti-Christ logic. It is the collective good over the one in 99. Today’s Reformed “shepherd” doesn’t understand that one life has already been given for the collective good, and their ignorance is predicated on the fact that they do not know Christ or anything of His justice. This is their kinship with the worst of any murdering mystic depot, and the very reason that they adore John Calvin.
To those who have joined hands with TANC, find a good picture of the Chinese damsels and put it in your wallet or purse with the pictures of your loved ones. It is a reminder that we must never stop fighting against tyranny in the church. It is a reminder that we must cry out in the wilderness if we have to. Tyranny in the church is the same logic that pulls the trigger on an AK-47.
paul
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