The Italian Gringo

Why Most Missionaries Fail Part 25

2012-01-17T06:35:00.000-08:00

My college sent me as a missionary to Canton, Massachusetts, where I worked very hard and was blessed by God. But I didn't learn anything. That's because my college picked a church that believed and practiced exactly what my college believed and practiced. But in real life, Christian missionaries find themselves in situations they have not been trained for.

Different dress standards and music standards are only the beginning of the problems that occur when a missionary is on the field. Christians from different backgrounds have different attitudes and outlooks, and a missionary has to know how to deal with them. Unfortunately, colleges do not train their students to deal with different outlooks.

Separated Christians find themselves working with unsaved people in various ministries. People who donate large amounts of money have far too much authority in many ministries. Family members are often favored, leaders are often stressed-out, and some of the workers have no business at all being there.

A good, solid Bible college won't have those problems. Unfortunately, good solid Bible colleges can't give their students practical experience in dealing with them.

Why Most Missionaries Fail Part 24

2012-01-13T20:52:00.000-08:00

We had a teacher in our Christian school whose father was a big shot in the church. She was able to rebel against our Godly principal and get away with it. She was in charge of children's church but it was a disaster, and she never volunteered to help. One day, she announced that God had called her to the mission field. She did not go soul-winning and would not obey authority, but she started raising financial support.

So the church started helping her fake her resume. We were ordered to attend a seminar she conducted on how to teach. Several of us, including me, were angered at being forced to waste our time listening to her. With help from the church, she assembled a phoney resume that was good enough to get her to the mission field. For over a quarter of a century, I have been receiving her newsletter, and she hasn't won a single soul to Christ yet.

I've learned since then that other missionaries did a lot better on their resumes than people who knew them would believe, and it is one more reason why most missionaries fail.

Why Most Missionaries Fail Part 23

2012-01-11T14:01:00.000-08:00

Back when I was teaching Christian school, the pastor asked me to teach the adult Sunday School class, the most prestigious class in the church. God blessed, the class grew, and the pastor's son-in-law decided that he should have the class. He openly stated that he wanted people to think of him as a leader of adults; he wanted the status. He and the pastor agreed to replace me without telling the class in advance.

Okay, I played some dirty church politics. I told a few people, the class revolted, and I got to keep the class. It is unusual for the Christian with little ability to win in a situation like that, but I did. And the class continued to do well.

In those few instances I know of when a person with a little ability keeps the ministry God has given him, despite the efforts of someone who THINKS he has more ability, the ministry continues to succeed.

Why Most Missinaries Fail Part 22

2012-01-08T13:46:00.000-08:00

Newly graduated from Bible college, I was approached by my new pastor. He explained that their children's church was running about 175 kids, mostly from their successful bus ministry, and would I agree to be in charge?

Over the next several months, several of us visited heavily on the bus routes, and the children's church grew to 300. Then I was suddenly called into the pastor's office, where his enraged wife demanded that she be put in charge. A hateful, untruthful woman, she was the stereotype bad pastor's wife, seizing all the pastoral authority for herself that she could. Galatians 5:18-21 makes clear that people like this have never been born again, but I didn't know that at the time. Although she was doing nothing at all to help the bus ministry or the children's church, she demanded that she replace me.

Three years later, she had the children's church down to 10 kids, and the bus ministry had folded. Other Christian school teachers told me of similar experiences, and they all had one thing in common: whenever a person who THINKS he has a lot of ability steals a ministry from a person without a lot of ability, that ministry declines.

Why Most Missionaries Fail Part 21

2012-01-01T16:52:00.000-08:00

In ten years as a Christian school teacher I learned something: most Christian school teachers, including me, don't have a lot of ability. Most of them couldn't pastor a church if their lives depended on it. But I also saw that many of them served God diligently, and that He blessed them with success.

Occasionally, a Christian school teacher with little ability would start a successful ministry within a church. There usually was not a problem from Christians with more ability, but from Christians who THOUGHT they had more ability. A Godly and successful saint would suddenly find himself being attacked by an envious church member who demanded control of the successful ministry. Seeing the weakness of the low-ability Christian, an envious person could often rally others against him and steal the successful ministry.

Most first-time missionaries are Christians with little ability. They have rarely served in any high position in church. If they succeed on the mission field, they will have a hard time protecting themselves from envious co-workers.

Why Most Missionaries Fail Part 20

2011-12-30T21:49:00.000-08:00

Jesus explained that God gives us responsibilities according to our abilities; not necessarily according to our Godliness. In a parable, Jesus told of one servant doubling the ten talents (referring to money) he had received, while another equally faithful servant doubled the five talents he had received. That's how God wants it to work out.

But Christians with limited ability can still read the Word of God, pray, fast, work, etc., and get blessed more than Christians with more ability. And then, both groups can be struck with jealousy and envy. Conflicts between these two groups are one of the reasons that many missionaries can't get along with each other.

To be continued...

Why Missionaries Fail Part 19

2011-12-25T15:27:00.000-08:00

A major reason for the failure of most missionaries is that the normal problems in Sunday church are packed into a seven-day week. Another problem involves jealousy and envy.

The translators of the King James version got this one right, while most modern translations got it wrong. "Jealousy" refers to a person having something, but being afraid that someone else will take it away. King Saul was jealous of David, fearing that David would steal his kingdom. Jealousy is not a big deal in the Bible, however.

"Envy" refers to a person who does not have something, but he feels that it should rightfully be his. The Bible talks a lot about the problem of envy, when a person demands a position, an honor, or leadership that someone else has. We'll see how this relates to missionaries.

Why Missionaries Fail Part 18

2011-12-22T05:39:00.000-08:00

Kitchen Komedy 2

One Sunday, the four of us were happily preparing the church kitchen when a fifth person showed up. She immediately started scolding people for what they wee doing and began re-arranging things and giving orders that made no difference. After aggravating us for three weeks, she explained that a group of women had formed a committee and put her in charge of the kitchen.

Since the church had not authorized this committee (and we hadn't been allowed to vote) we ignored her. Soon we had a group of four women showing up every Sunday to pretend they were in charge, while the four of us did all the work. Both groups ignored the other, and no real harm was done.

But if we had to put up with people like that seven days a week, there would have been problems.

Why Missionaries Fail Part 17

2011-12-19T13:41:00.000-08:00

Kitchen Komedy 1

My wife and I stated showing up early at the Baptist church to get things ready. This included getting the kitchen set up for the refreshments after church. A Godly older man also started showing up. And then, the Cookie Nazi appeared.

She had earned her name by slapping people's hands if they took to many cookies after church. She angrily demanded that no one but her set out the cookies. I realized that she wanted to serve God, but due to her ill health and constant pain, arranging cookies was about all that she could do. So we let her arrange the cookies, and she did a very god job.

She thought the three of us were wonderful, and she told people how nice we were. But Folks, if we had to put up with her all week, this story might not have had a happy ending.

Why Missionaries Fail Part 16

2011-12-15T15:22:00.000-08:00

Timeout for a commercial. My friend Bob Murillo graduated from the same college as me, and he started the Independent Baptist Church of Guadalajara. Last Sunday they had 495 in attendance. Not all missionaries fail.

One reason that missionaries can't get along should be obvious. The normal stresses of life are magnified when you have to live with people seven days a week. Not all Christians obey the Biblical command to be "endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." But at least you can get away from those people after church.

Which brings up two good illustrations of Church Kitchen Komedy...

Why Missionaries Fail Part 15

2011-12-13T06:24:00.000-08:00

In 1977, Bill Gothard's Basic Youth Conflicts drew 24,000 people to hear him. He explained that less than half of all missionaries returned to the field after their first two years. He then explained that the biggest single reason they didn't return was that they couldn't get along with the other missionaries.

Gothard explained that he was going to start giving missionaries seminars on how to get along with each other. Despite his usual success, Gothard failed miserably in this endeavor. If missionaries didn't know how to get along with other Christians, how did they raise support?

So why do missionaries have so much trouble getting along with each other?

Why Missinaries Fail Part 14

2011-12-10T16:25:00.000-08:00

Folks, I've seen this here in Mexico, and I've seen it in the US. If you are a good musician, you can get away with murder. I have seen talented musicians drive people out of the church, drive off rival musicians, openly rebel, and use musical ability as a means of gaining political power within the church. It is amazing how far a musician can advance in Christian work without God. That doesn't mean that there aren't very many dedicated Christians who sacrifice their time and effort in order to serve the Lord through music. But it does mean that an immature Christian can wind up on the mission field, and without enough people to listen to his music, find himself a failure.

Most Christian musicians really do love God. But they hear enough praise and gratitude that they sometimes forget that it takes more than musical ability to succeed as a missionary.

Why Missionaries Fail Part 13

2011-12-06T05:53:00.000-08:00

Jim and his wife arrived here in the Gringo Zone, all excited about being real live missionaries who were receiving financial support from churches in the US. A good musician, Jim could keep the Mexican kids entertained with hymns they did not understand, while his wife failed miserably as an orphanage worker. They wound up at the local Baptist church, where Jim became song leader. In his first service, he felt "led of the Spirit" to go off into goofy music that caused a church split and he was fired after his first week.

Heading to the local Assemblies of God church, the two of them blamed their failure on the Baptists, caused conflict there, and returned to the US.

They failed in their original ministry, caused problems in two churches, and returned to the US--all within six months. But Jim sure was a good musician.

Why Missionaries Fail Part 12

2011-12-02T18:38:00.000-08:00

A pastor with a successful, fast-growing church was telling my college how he got his first church.

The church had a policy of interviewing several candidates and then choosing one. The fellow preached at the church, and as soon as he got done, the head deacon asked him to wait outside. Ten minutes later, they called the fellow back in and told him that the church had voted unanimously to call him as their pastor.

The new pastor thought that they must have rally been impressed by his sermon, but he found out the truth. The deacon had told the congregation that this selection process was taking to long, they needed a piano player, this guy's wife could play the piano, and so they should hire him. And they did.

Which just goes to show...

Why Missionaries Fail Part 11

2011-11-29T17:11:00.000-08:00

Folks, the next several blogs are going to be so bizarre, so contrary to what most Christians believe, that I need to explain it first.

Why do most missionaries fail? Because they're doing the wrong thing (trying to start churches).

Why do most missionaries continue to do the wrong thing, when they see that it doesn't work? Because they have a strongly-held belief that is incorrect.

Why do most missionaries hold to a strong belief, that gets them to do the wrong thing, so that they fail? Because when someone tells them the truth, it is so contrary to what they believe that they reject it.

Now Folks, I want you to be patient with me over the next few posts, because I am going to teach something that is very contrary to what most Christians believe.

Why Missionaries Fail Part 10

2011-11-26T05:23:00.000-08:00

In dealing with legal problems of sending American money outside the country, many missionaries need their supporting churches to send money to the mission board, and then the board transfers the money to the missionary. BIMI is a mission board for independent Baptists, and problems developed when some independent Baptist churches joined the Southern Baptist Convention while they still had missionaries on the field.

For years, there was no problem, and then somebody in the Convention said something that BIMI didn't like, and BIMI demanded that their missionaries repudiate the statement or BIMI would cut them off. If anyone in the world ought to believe that a mission board has no authority to rule over missionaries, it ought to be independent Baptists.

But when someone has power, and that someone controls the money, that isn't how it works out.

Why Missionaries Fail Part 9

2011-11-22T13:21:00.002-08:00

Who do missionaries actually answer to?

By definition, most missionaries start small. They have to speak in a variety of churches, and they usually get a small amount (often $50/month) from those churches that support them. Many of these churches will have a Women's Missinary Society that reads the missionaries' letters, prays for them, and even gives them extra money. And some churches have a Missions Director.

Sometimes given the job to placate him after the congregation had rejected him as a leader, the MD oversees the missionaries who are getting $50/month. He has almost absolute power to have the church drop a missionary. And so missionaries have to send this man monthly reports, answer his questions, and not do anything that he objects to. In other words, they have to obey him. Since most missionaries have to answer to several MDs, problems easily develop.

Why Missinaries Fail Part 8

2011-11-18T16:22:00.000-08:00

Who did the Apostles Peter and Paul have to give account to? They both had to explain themselves to the church at Jerusalem and Paul also had to explain himself to the church at Antioch. Why? These two churches appear to have been the largest churches in the Book of Acts. The Jerusalem church was dominated by Jewish converts, while the Antioch church was dominated by Gentile converts.

They were both large, successful churches led by soul-winners, and they made the right decision about Peter and Paul.

But that isn't who modern missionaries give account to. They often have to give account to a mission board that has no Scriptural authority to exist. And there's someone else that's even worse.

Why Missionaries Fail Part 7

2011-11-14T13:19:00.000-08:00

The Apostles Peter and Paul had a similar problem. They would win Gentiles to Christ, and then someone back home would say that they were doing the wrong thing. Eventually, the Christians had to hold a council at Jerusalem to decide the issue. But what gave the critics the authority to evaluate two men who were getting large numbers of people saved?

A major problem with missionaries today is that they have to answer to a board that has no Scriptural authority to evaluate them. Missionaries are forbidden to participate in evangelistic outreach with other groups on the field. They are also forbidden to do anything that might offend the organizations and churches that provide financial support for the board.

I'll be talking about this one for a while.

Why Missionaries Fail Part 6

2011-11-11T20:09:00.000-08:00

James 4:13-14 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow.

About three years ago, our church decided to open a children's outreach, for local kids only, to be held on Saturday, and I felt led to help. The plan was a success, even though it didn't work. Last Sunday we brought 32 Mexican children to church in the church's 18-passenger van. And our pastor, who took the church from 12 to over 100 in five years, came to Mexico as an evangelist, not a pastor.

In the book of Acts we read that various missionaries, including the Apostle Paul, didn't go where they planned to, but they were still successful. Careful, long-term planning sounds good, and it is often necessary in order for a missinary to raise support. But it isn't always the way God works.

Why Missinaries Fail Part 5

2011-11-07T07:01:00.000-08:00

John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."

Most missionaries present the same goal to their mission board: church planting. They will either start or serve in new churches. And church planting is an effective long-term means of establishing Christianity in an area. The problem is, it rarely works. Almost all new churches fail. In fact, the most successful means of starting new churches, by far, is to have a church split.

Starting a new church is extremely difficult, and the failure rate is extremely high. Different groups use different methods, and most of them don't work. In other words, God doesn't often call Christians to plant churches, but that's what missionaries try to do.

Why Missionaries Fail Part 4

2011-11-02T21:29:00.000-07:00

Since neither missionaries nor mission boards know what they're dong, unqualified people are routinely sent to the mission field. What missionaries often don't realize is that God works in certain ways, at certain times, in certain places.
Here in Mexico, I have asked missionaries to teach a children's Bible lesson for me, as I cannot learn Spanish. One missionary, who did an outstanding job, complied one time. Others have told me that God didn't call them to work with children. So those missionaries go home empty-handed, while people who are teaching children's classes are getting something done.
Children's ministries do not carry a lot of status. But if God is making a children's ministry successful, His servants will be blessed if they work in it.

Why Misionaries Fail Part 3

2011-10-30T22:39:00.000-07:00

With no Scriptural authority to exist, mission boards usually contain some experienced missionaries who can spot potential failures before they get through. But since most missionaries fail, mission boards are not eliminating enough candidates.

One fellow here in Mexico has been driving a van for years, without pay, for an orphanage. He has accomplished far more than most missionaries in the area, but no mission board would accept a candidate whose only service is to drive a van. I'm a Baptist who drives a van on Sunday for a Pentecostal church, and on a typical week-end I'll bring more Mexicans to church than most missionaries ever will. But no mission board would ever accept me.

A retired doctor and nurse have started a successful Christian orphanage here, but with no experience in the ministry, they are here on their own. And my pastor came here after being rejected by a mission board, took a church running a dozen, and five years later is running over 100.

Mission boards must be doing something wrong, but what is it?

Why Missionaries Fail Part 2

2011-10-26T15:15:00.000-07:00

It helps to understand that the word "missionary" does not appear in the Bible. It is not a church office, and God does not promise to give missionaries to the church. God's Word sets no standards for missionaries, and so there is no Scriptural regulation for this office.

I was a missionary to Massachusetts one summer while I was in college. I spent forty hours a week knocking on doors, plus I ran a bus route. We have a teenager down here now who has lived in orphanages for the past few years, working without pay. Someone else just posted a comment about how she led her first soul to Christ on a mission trip.

And others go on a working vacation, doing less work than they would on a summer job. When they report back to their church, they spread their distorted ideas of mission work to their listeners. A happy congregation is pleased that their young people had a good spiritual experience and misses the fact that they came back empty-handed.

This is one reason why most missionaries, mission boards, and churches that support missionaries don't know what they're doing.

Why Missionaries Fail

2011-10-25T15:56:00.000-07:00

When I took a Missions course in college, they presented a "nut" theory as an alternative to what we believed. The "nut" theory held that:

1) Most missionaries don't know what they're doing.
2) Most mission boards don't know what they're doing.
3) Most churches that support missionaries don't know what they're doing.

After six years in Mexico, I'm convinced that all three are true. Successful pastors down here believe they are true. Most missionaries who come down here leave little or no success behind them, and most never come back.

I'll be posting two or three times a week on "Why Missionaries Fail," and I hope you'll join in with comments and suggestions.

Stirring Up Your Courage

2011-07-13T17:28:00.000-07:00

“Laybawb” is translated “courage” in Daniel 11:25. The word literally means “heart” and refers to both emotions and understanding. Describing a future battle between the king of the north and the king of the south, Daniel tells us that the king of the north "… shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South with a great army…”

The king of the north already had courage. He needed to stir it up, but he already had it.

The Courage to Think Clearly

2011-06-27T15:38:00.000-07:00

And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Joshua 2:11

This is the only appearance of the word “rhuack” in Scripture. The word refers to the spirit or mind of a rational being. Rahab explained to the two Israelite spies that the fear of God’s power had driven the people of Jericho into irrationality. This helps us understand 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

When a Christian breaks under fear, and begins lying or doing some other wrong, that Christian already possesses the opposite of fear: a spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. But the Christian needs to use it.

Awmatz--Courage That is Already There

2011-06-21T18:56:00.000-07:00

The Hebrew word “awmatz” appears nine times in the Old Testament. It can refer to establishing something that is already there, or increasing what is already there. Seven times it is part of the phrase, “Be strong and of a good courage.” Awmatz requires strength because what you have is under attack, and you have to establish or increase it under pressure. It is twice translated “courageous,” and both times it follows the command “Be strong.”

Once again, awmatz is not a spiritual gift. You are commanded to be strong and use it.

Khawzak

2011-06-17T19:32:00.000-07:00

Four different Hebrew words are translated “courage" in the Old Testament.

Appearing eleven times, “khawzak” refers to grasping, seizing, or conquering something. In seven appearances, it is part of the phrase, “Be of good courage.” Twice it is translated “courageous,” and once it is translated “courageously.”

And now an important point: It is never referred to as a spiritual gift: all the Jews were told to use khawzak, as if they already had it.

New Testament Courage

2011-06-14T07:48:00.000-07:00

And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.
Acts 28:15

In the only appearance of the word “courage” in the New Testament, the Greek word means, well, “courage.” It is related to the Greek word “daring,” and is also related to the Greek word for “comfort” and “good cheer.”

How does courage work? By comforting and cheering you as you face difficulty, enabling you to dare to do what is right.

How does a Christian gain courage? From the kindness and encouragement of the saints.

Courage

2011-06-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

Decades ago, the principal of the Christian school where I taught complained that a student was cheating in most of her classes and the teachers wouldn't do anything about it. That afternoon, I caught her with the textbook open during a test.

In the nightmare that followed, the church leadership united in blaming me. Why? The student's father announced that he was going to sue, and I watched in amazement as the entire leadership quickly turned against me.

I have heard enough similar stories from former Christian school teachers that I feel safe in saying that the great decline in Christian schools is largely due to the failure of leadership to stand up to parents. In fact, the failure of many Christian churches to grow is the result of leadership failing to stand up to church bullies.

I'll be posting a couple times a week from a Bible study on "courage," and comments are welcome.

Was Barnabas Right? Part 11

2011-03-30T18:58:00.001-07:00

Folks, I'm not even sure that this next story is true. W.E.B. Griffin has written a successful series of historical fiction novels about the US Marine Corps. Using inside information and tales from veterans, combined with actual history, he has assembled a fascinating series of Marine tales.

After Japan had invaded China, but before they had bombed Pearl Harbor, the US, Japan, and Italy all had Marines stationed in China. The Christian Missionary Alliance had a base, and the director's wife was promiscuous, even with US Marines. A new young missionary arrived, and she seduced him the very first night. They got caught, and the husband made him sign all kinds of confessions that would destroy his ministry if revealed, and then they covered it up.

Remembering that THE STORY MIGHT NOT BE TRUE, I would have advised the young man to get back to the US by any means he could, report everything that had happened, get a secular job, and get out of the CMA. Two pastor friends here agree with me except for the last part. Bypassing their doctrinal differences, they see no need for him to leave the group.

How would you have advised him?

Was Barnabas Right? Part 10

2011-03-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

Re: Barnabas Was Right--or was he?

Marty became pastor of a small rural church and within a few years had built it into a successful Ruckmanite (King James Only) church. He started a successful Christian school, and one day a problem student reported seeing Marty kissing an unmarried woman teacher.

The two denied it, the church ruled in their favor, and several months later, Marty and the teacher were caught in adultery by Marty's wife. Resigning in disgrace, Marty wanted to return to the ministry. He got into difficult, non-Biblical questions about how many natures Jesus had, and used his knowledge of this non-Biblical subject to present himself as a knowledgeable Christian leader.

Learning that some teachers at his (former) Christian school opposed bringing him back as pastor, he sent letters threatening to destroy their ministries if they didn't stop. At least one teacher read the letter out loud at a church business meeting. He also sent similar letters to some people in the church.

Marty still covers his trail. He currently advertises himself as a successful Christian leader, while omitting the part about adultery.

Was Barnabas RIght? Part 9

2011-03-18T06:08:00.000-07:00

Jim Bakker (Yes, I spelled it correctly) was an extremely wealthy and successful television evangelist when he had an affair with Jessica Hahn in 1980. His ministry continued to proper, but seven years later, he came under investigation for fraud. Among his various crimes was using donations to pay off Hahn's blackmail demands.

While in prison, Bakker made a major turn-around, confessing his guilt (although some people feel he was more guilty than he admitted), and currently runs a much-smaller ministry. But Bakker really did stop his fraud. He really has kept himself clean. God doesn't object to His children going to prison; He objects to the sins that got them there.

When Bakker eventually did produce real repentance in prison, God didn't get him out the very same day. He had to go through a period of spiritual growth before God, Who can do anything, got him out. When a Christian goes into major sin, there can still be consequences that repentance doesn't remove.

Was Barnabas Right? Part 8

2011-03-14T21:19:00.000-07:00

In the 1970's, while Jack Hyles was pastoring the largest church in the world, his son David was running large youth conferences and was a highly sought-after speaker. When I was in college, I worked for David, who had a stupendous personality and was always surrounded by admirers.

Unknown to me, he was having frequent sex with teen-age girls, and his youth department promoted his friends who were involved in David's sins. Dave would demote or fire hard-working, Godly college students who were getting results, and put his ungodly friends in positions of authority where they took the credit for the success of the Godly students.

Years after I graduated, the sex scandals blew up badly enough that Dave couldn't lie his way out of them anymore. Faced with the prospect of having to work at an honest job, Dave "repented," Hyles declared that the Holy Spirit had restored Dave, and once again he became a successful Christian speaker.

When a large church in my city was considering bringing Dave in as a speaker, I stated publicly that his repentance was fake, and that I would tell anyone who would listen to me that Dave was still a sexual predator. A Godly deacon confronted me about how I could KNOW that Dave's repentance was fake, and I explained the Biblical commands to go back to those you have wronged, and how Dave was disobeying all of them.

Months later, when new sex scandals with Dave Hyles broke out, that same deacon was thanking me for having spared his church from public embarrassment.

Was Barnabas Right? Part 7

2011-03-07T16:06:00.001-08:00

In 1988, Assemblies of God televangelist Jimmy Swaggart was caught with a prostitute. Unable to lie his way out of it, he finally confessed. When he had been ordained, he had agreed to the AOG regulation that if he were caught in immorality, he could not preach for two years, and then could only return to the ministry if the AOG leadership permitted him to do so. While the Bible does not give such a command, it clearly does command that we are to keep our word.

Claiming that it would hurt his ministry and that the AOG was too harsh and unforgiving, Swaggart broke his word and returned to the ministry. Three years later, he was caught again with a prostitute, and he announced that God had told him to tell his followers that it was none of their business.

If you cut through the hype and read a neutral article on Swaggart at Jimmy Swaggart - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia you'll see that he had lived a life of self-sacrifice for a long time. Was his first repentance real? I don't know, but based on Proverbs 2:19, I had known back then that he could never be trusted again:

" None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life ---"

Was Brnabas Right? Part 5

2011-03-01T19:56:00.000-08:00

I received some interesting input on a Christian forum:

Folks, when someone fails a test they get an F, if someone messes up in Bootcamp they get set back, this is reality for crying out Loud. If we truly repent then God will forgive us for the sin and we are not condemned to hell for it, but to assume that we can go on in the world of humans as if nothing has happened is absurd.
Any christian leader who is found to be in a serious sin should be a leader no longer because those who lead are an example. If the person repents and over a period of time is proven to be faithful and the particular sin a thing of the distant past then leadership could again be considered.
Today we have nutty stuff, leaders caught in serious sin who continue to lead by asserting that God called them and God forgave them so they should be allowed to continue to lead...that is pure nonsense. Question: why would any christian leader who fails as a christian leader believe that God would want them to continue as a leader? The requirement of a leader according to the bible is to be above reproach, if they commit something that is a serious reproach them they no longer qualify. Of course they can be forgiven by God and still serve the Lord...but not as a leader.

Comments?

Was Barnabas Right? Part 4

2011-02-23T12:56:00.000-08:00

In 1972, Jack Hyles, pastor of the largest church in the world (at that time) opened a Bible college. One of the first students was a former Baptist pastor who had been fired after being caught in adultery. He had gone to Hyles for advice, and Hyles told him to enroll in the college; if he graduated, they would have to tell what had happened, but Hyles would give him a recommendation.

A few months later, the fellow went to Hyles and confessed that he had been to a prostitute, and Hyles expelled him. Some of the man's friends went to Hyles, asking him to reverse his decision. They pointed out that the man's repentance was genuine.

Hyles told them that he believed that the man's repentance was genuine, but that no one could ever trust him.

Should Hyles have let him continue? Should he even have let him into the college in the first place?

Was Barnabas Right? Part 3

2011-02-20T14:19:00.000-08:00

I was saved when I was sixteen, and a few months later was watching Billy Graham having "Youth Night" on TV. Graham Said "If you lie, you can go back and tell the truth. If you steal, you can go back and repay. But if you commit immorality, you can never undo it!" He stated repeatedly that he had talked to many young people who told him that they wished they could undo their immorality but couldn't.

That teaching, that certain sins can never be undone, made a valuable impression on me that never wore off.

Was Barnabas Right? Part 2

2011-02-17T13:58:00.000-08:00

One of the ugliest, least popular passages in the Bible talks about the immoral woman. It tells us in Proverbs 2:

18 For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead;
19 None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life ---

A Christian who gets involved in immorality can be forgiven, cleansed, and used by God. But this passage teaches that he will never fully recover. There is nothing in Scripture to suggest that John Mark had been involved in immorality, but there is a principle here: certain sins can leave results that repentance does not remove.

Barnabas was Right--or was he?

2011-02-13T11:48:00.000-08:00

Acts 15: 37 Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark.
38 But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work.
39 Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus;

Today was the third time I have heard a sermon on "Barnabas was Right."

Acts 14:14 tells us that both Barnabas and Paul were apostles. On a previous journey, John Mark (author of the Gospel of Mark) had deserted them. Now, as they prepare for another journey, Barnabas wants to take Mark with them, and Paul refuses. After all they had been through together, and after all the great works that God had done through them, Paul and Barnabas separate in anger.

The Bible later tells us that Paul and Mark got reconciled, and that Mark also helped the Apostle Peter. Outside the Bible, history tells us that Mark brought Christianity to Alexandria, Egypt. So, is it true that Barnabas was right and Paul was wrong?

We'll be dealing with the painful subject of what to do when a Christian goes into major sin and repents. Forgive him, yes. But can you trust him? Should you trust him?

Knowing God's Will RIGHT NOW Through Friendship Part 2

2010-12-01T14:24:00.000-08:00

In John 15:15, Jesus told the Apostles "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you."

How do you become Jesus' friend? In the previous verse, Jesus explained "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you." Several times, in Jesus' talk with the Apostles after the Last Supper, He stressed that those who truly love Him will obey His commands. And in John 14:21, He gives the promise "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."

Jesus manifests Himself to Christians who obey Him. Disobedient saints rely on their own wisdom as to what to do; Jesus teaches those who obey Him what to do.

Knowing God's Will Through Friendship

2010-11-28T14:42:00.000-08:00

John 15:15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

Being a servant is one of the great accomplishments of the Christian life. More than once, Jesus told us that servants, not rulers, are the greatest Christians. Jesus said that wherever He is, His servants will be there also. In that case, His servants are going to be learning a lot from Him, and they are going to be close to him.

But a servant isn't entitled to an explanation. If God tells you to do something, you are to do it, without questioning God. As a servant grows in the Lord, however, God wants him to grow spiritually and to understand His ways.

How do you grow from a servant of God into a friend of God?

Knowing God's Will Through Trust Part 2

2010-11-22T06:50:00.000-08:00

James 4:6-7 tells us: But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble. Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Submitting to God includes obeying the Bible. But it also includes yielding your will to God's call for your life. I have often run across Christians who insist that God has called them to teach, but who refuse to teach children's classes. It might be possible, but I have never seen one of them teach a good adult class.

We decide that we want to serve God, but then Satan motivates us to seek prestigious positions. So many Christians feel "called" to be leaders that churches have to hold elections, while the same churches beg for people to provide transportation, work in the nursery, give money to poor families, etc.

If you'll submit to God and accept whatever He tells you to do, He'll tell you what to do with your life.

Knowing God's Will RIGHT NOW Through Trust Part 1

2010-11-18T18:27:00.000-08:00

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us: Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

In our 5 1/2 years in Mexico, we have seen several missionary families come and go, often with little or no fruit. Meanwhile, we had 19 kids on the church van last Sunday.

Common sense says that a missionary should have nothing to do with our church's children's ministry. It will never become self-supporting, and it will never grow into a successful church. So it makes sense that over the years, as I have often asked missionaries to help, they do not. Common sense tells them that it is a bad idea. And then they go away empty-handed, while the children's ministry continues to thrive.

You have to learn to trust GOD, not your own understanding. God's ways are past finding out, and if He is doing something, then that's where you want to be.

Knowing God's Will RIGHT NOW Through Separation Part 3

2010-11-15T14:49:00.000-08:00

Immediately after promising to be a Father to those who separate, God continues:
"Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 2 Corinthians 7:1

If you want to know God's will for your life RIGHT NOW, you have to cleanse yourself both inwardly and outwardly of filth. We have already seen that true separation does not mean obeying man-made rules while tolerating sin. True separation means getting rid of ALL filthiness of the flesh and spirit.

Okay, but what specific things is God talking about? God lists "the works of the flesh" in Galatians 5:19-21, telling us that "...the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like;"

If you want the guidance that God gives to separated Christians, God has given you a list to start off with.

Knowing God's Will RIGHT NOW,Through Separation Part 2

2010-11-10T12:28:00.000-08:00

After the Southern Baptist Convention became a large and successful religion, modernists crept in who sought to turn them away from God and His Word. When the Convention refused to take serious action, many Baptists obeyed the Biblical command to separate, and they became independent.

Blessed by God, independent Baptists experienced great success in the 1960's and 1970's. But when they made the decision as a group, that sin in the leadership would be quietly smoothed over, things went wrong. They regarded themselves as "separated" because they still followed the man-made rules that hadn't worked, even while they disobeyed the Biblical command "Those that sin, rebuke before all." Losing the guidance of God because they didn't separate, many turned to Ruckmanism, regarding themselves as superior to Godly saints because they would only use the King James translation of the Bible.

Others, regarding Peter Ruckman as a wife-stealing enemy of Godly men, obeyed the Biblical command to separate. You'll find that independent, fundamentalist Baptists churches (often without the word "Baptist" is their name, though) still dominate the list of America's 100 largest churches. And despite their pride, Ruckmanites do not.

"Separation" does not refer to following man-made rules while tolerating sin. And Christians who tolerate sin don't get the guidance that God promises to those who separate.

Knowing God's Will RIGHT NOW Through Separation

2010-11-07T11:14:00.000-08:00

PART 1

2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore " Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you."
18 " I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty."

When God's people have fellowship with the wicked, it influences them. A person can only learn so much, and that Christian is learning from the wrong source. But there really are good things you can learn from the world: how to read, how to drive, etc. However, the context of this verse shows that Paul is talking about pagan religions, and we are to have nothing to do with them or their wisdom.

When you lose the wisdom of the wicked, God gives you His own wisdom in its place. He promises that if we will separate, He will be a Father to us, instructing us in right and wrong.

To be continued...

Knowing God's Will Through Obedience

2010-10-31T20:37:00.000-07:00

The question was "How do you know which leaders to obey?"

In John 14:21, Jesus said "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."

Regardless of what people claim, those who truly love Jesus are willing to obey Him. And Jesus manifests Himself to those who obey Him. So, one way to know God's will RIGHT NOW is to obey Him.

But two verses later, Jesus clarifies His statement: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word;"
Those who truly love Jesus obey Him, and they keep His Word. So, which leaders should you obey? A leader who does not stand without compromise for the Word of God doesn't really love Jesus. Therefor, Jesus doesn't manifest Himself to that leader. Therefor, you shouldn't be following that leader.

It is Possible to Know What God is Doing RIGHT NOW

2010-10-28T08:02:00.000-07:00

1 Chronicles 12:32 of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command;

Notice that these men of Issachar didn't learn from Scripture what Israel should do; that was pretty well known already. But with Israel in transition between kings, these men knew what Israel should do RIGHT NOW. And because they had this knowledge, God's people were willing to follow them.

Notice that most of the tribe of Issachar only knew that they should follow these men, but even then, they knew what Israel should do. And notice that these leaders were making a change: the kingship had passed form the house of Saul to the house of David.

But other leaders were saying that Israel should be loyal to the house of Saul. How can you KNOW which leaders to listen to?

God Has a Time for Everything

2010-10-22T15:07:00.000-07:00

Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us:

"To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:"

It helps you to realize that God has specific things that He does at specific times, but they're not always the same things. Solomon follows this statement with a list of contrasting things that God does at different times, and one of them is "A time to break down, And a time to build up;"

At different times, different organizations have been greatly used by God, and then cast aside for various reasons. It is an incredible Christian truth that the YMCA was once a powerful organization for Christ, but those days are long gone. There was a time when Methodists shook nations with powerful revivals, but those days are gone. At one time, Calvinists shook England and the US for Christ, but are now mostly sheep-stealers.

Christians who are in the right place at the right time often think that their success is due to their own Godliness, but move them to another area, and their success disappears. If you are to know what God wants you to do RIGHT NOW, remember that God is doing certain things in certain areas RIGHT NOW.

What Should You Do RIGHT NOW?

2010-10-19T19:12:00.000-07:00

It is always God's will for you to obey His Word, and the Holy Spirit never leads a Christian to disobey Scripture. But many specific things are not mentioned in Scripture. What church should you attend? What kind of Christian service should you do? Which translation should you use? Should you volunteer at a Christian organization that you do not totally agree with?

God's Word tells us that God does certain things at certain times. Different Christian groups are greatly used by God for a time, and then find their ministries declining, while others grow. Can you know specifically what God wants you to do RIGHT NOW?

We'll be looking at how to know God's will for you, as I post twice a week to show how to know God's will for RIGHT NOW.

A Church Full of Strife

2010-06-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

James 3:16 is one of those verses that needs some explaining.

"For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there."
"For where envy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil work."

The King James Version states: "For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work."

The word translated "envy" is literally "heat," and is used is both a good and bad sense for zeal.
The word translated "self-seeking" refers to intrigues and conflicts.
The Greek word translated "confusion" refers to tumult and disorder.

In other words, when any organization has people fighting and maneuvering to advance themselves. that organization will be filled with conflict and sin. You need to move on.

Envy and Hatred are Connected

2010-06-13T11:10:00.000-07:00

Titus 3:3 is talking about non-Christians when it says "For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another."

But notice the connection between envy and hatred. The passage goes on to tell us how the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit changed us.

Elsewhere on the internet, there is a Christian hatesite dedicated to tearing down successful preachers and pastors. Some of their accusations are true, and there is rejoicing up and down the site every time that a man of God falls. You, as a Christian, need to remember that God has called you out of that type of conduct.

Who is Proud?

2010-06-06T20:01:00.001-07:00

1 Timothy 6:4 he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions,

Who is "he" that this verse is talking about? The previous verses show that Paul is talking about men who urge Christians not to submit to authority. There is a connection between envy and rebellion. People who get passed over for a promotion find themselves under the authority of a colleague, and envy develops. Within churches, envy develops when certain people get prominent roles that others feel that they should have.

Submission to authority produces humility, and humility produces grace. Grace gives us the desire and ability to do God's work. Rebellion against authority produces envy and other sins.

Serving God Out of Envy

2010-06-01T12:44:00.000-07:00

Philippians 1:15-16 Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill:
The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains;

It's hard to believe that some Christians hated Paul so much that they preached Christ. Since their motive was selfish ambition, it appears that their goal was to build their own influence. Why were they in Christian work in the first place?

A Christian who wants to serve God wants a good thing. He may also be responding to grace, which gives us the desire and ability to do God's work. But then, failing to accept God's grace, he becomes bitter at someone else who has a bigger ministry.

The warning here for the saints is to turn away from envy, seeing how much harm it can do to you.

Sometimes It's Hopeless

2010-05-29T07:40:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 27:4 Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent, But who is able to stand before envy?

Some time ago, I did a study of the psychology of envy. People who had gotten promotions would find that an envious co-worker was now their bitter enemy. Try as they would, the successful workers could not win the friendship of the envious workers. The author of the study explained that the envious worker believed that he had been wronged, and as long as the successful worker held his job, there was no cure.

After an unsuccessful revolt among his pastoral staff, the pastor of a mega-church explained in a sermon that he had tried to reason with the disgruntled employees who had not been promoted. But when it didn't work, he had to fire them.

Envy and Bad Health

2010-05-26T05:38:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 14:30 A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones.

Long before scientists discovered the fact, God was telling us that stress harms our health. A person who dwells in envy is hurting himself physically, as well as spiritually and emotionally.

If you yourself are envious of someone else, God's cure is to start serving Him diligently.

Don't Envy the Success of the Wicked

2010-05-19T18:21:00.000-07:00

Psalm 37:1 Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.

It is inevitable that we will see the wicked doing better than we are. Yet, here in Psalm 37, God gives His reasons why we should not envy them:

2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb.

9 For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth.

13 The Lord laughs at him, For He sees that his day is coming.

20 But the wicked shall perish; And the enemies of the LORD, Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away.

38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; The future of the wicked shall be cut off.

The Cure for an Empty Life

2010-05-15T05:23:00.000-07:00

"... love does not envy..." 1 Corinthians 13:4

The word "love" is better translated "charity," referring to love in action, but the idea is the same. An envious Christian is lacking in love. And the entire context of 1 Corinthians 13 is that the actions of a person without charity are in vain.

Envy is sometimes the result of an empty life. Surprisingly, the cure for an empty life is "charity." When you put love into action, you'll find things to do that will make your life worthwhile.

When You Succeed

2010-05-11T11:39:00.001-07:00

Ecclesiastes 4:4 Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

A few months ago, a couple who had failed in starting an animal shelter began posting signs attacking the owner of the successful animal shelter where I volunteer. I pointed out to him that this is normal; success produces envy.

If you succeed in Christian service, you will be the target of envy. Period. It's automatic.

2010-05-08T12:31:00.001-07:00

Some folks have been trying to contact me. My e-mail is Threeofu@hotmail.com

Dealing With Your Own Envy

2010-05-07T18:54:00.000-07:00

Genesis 37:11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Joseph had the special love of his father, largely due to being the son of Jacob's deceased favorite wife. Could his brothers have done anything "right" about it? Later, some of them did excel, and were praised by Jacob on his deathbed.

Hatred was the wrong response; serving God diligently was the right response.

How God Destroys Envy

2010-04-30T08:39:00.000-07:00

Psalm 106:
16 When they envied Moses in the camp, And Aaron the saint of the LORD,
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan, And covered the faction of Abiram.
18 A fire was kindled in their company; The flame burned up the wicked.

God recognizes the power of envy to destroy His work. It is, of course, possible for a person gripped with envy to repent, and God may well have worked in the hearts of these men before He finally destroyed them. But if that doesn't work, God still has a cure: the destruction of the envious.

If you see someone being blessed by God more than you, you can turn to envy. Or you can ask the person for advice on how to obtain God's blessings.

The Sin of Envy

2010-04-27T12:46:00.001-07:00

Some time ago, I did a study on Jealousy and Envy. I was surprised to learn that modern psychology defines both terms the way that the King James Version does.

"Jealousy" is not that big of a Biblical problem. It means "I have something and you don't, and I'm afraid that you will take it from me." King Saul was jealous that David would take his throne, but the word is usually used to describe God.

"Envy" means "You have something and I don't, and I feel that it should be mine." Envy gets a lot more space in God's Word than jealousy, and it is described as more serious, both to the person being envied, as well as the person doing the envying.

I'll be doing a Bible study on envy over the next few weeks.

Should You Trust a Compromiser?

2010-01-21T20:48:00.000-08:00

A fellow who had graduated from a good fundamentalist college became an elder in a compromising church. When modernists tried to seize the church, he held on for a while. But when people started leaving, he made a deal with another church. If they would give him a leadership position, he would go to the second church, bringing some people with him.

The deal went through, and he holds a leadership position there now. Folks, you just can't trust a compromiser.

When the Fighting Starts

2010-01-17T20:42:00.000-08:00

An interdenominational Protestant church would accept anyone as a member if they claimed to believe the Apostles' Creed. Not all of them really did, but it wasn't enforced. Becoming an elder was fairly easy. The church constitution required twelve elders, and the church rarely ran over 100 in attendance. Almost anyone could be an elder if he wanted to.

The pastor told me that when liberals would try to seize the church and turn it away from God, the fundamentalist elders would usually quit the church because of the criticism they were getting.

The Decline of Christian Schools

2010-01-12T06:51:00.000-08:00

As a Christian school teacher, I often would have a lying student in the pastor's office, accompanied by enraged parents, claiming innocence. The standard procedure was that the teacher would tell the truth, the student would lie, the parents would go into a rage, and the pastor would back the student.

But I eventually learned from the students that the pastor already knew that the student was lying, and the parents knew it as well. Both the parents and the student would brag about all the trouble they had caused in getting revenge on the teacher. I went to the pastor, who explained that I wasn't looking at the big picture, and he was, so it was all right for him to lie that he didn't know whom to believe.

The Christian school movement in America has fallen heavily from its heyday in the sixties and seventies. Godly, experienced teachers quit, leaving the ranks filled with inexperienced teachers. My own observation was that less than half of all Christian school teachers would enter their third year. Poor discipline, poor education, and a contempt for the pastor by the parents and the children became more and more normal.

Compromise worked in the short term, but not in the long.

Does Anyone Respect a Compromiser?

2010-01-09T05:43:00.000-08:00

Decades ago, Robert Jordan started a church the hard way, literally going door-to-door. He told me that when he was starting out, he talked to a strongly fundamentalist Christian who taught a large men's Sunday School class in a large compromising church.

Jordan asked the man to quit his class and teach a small class in Jordan's church instead. The man politely refused, stating that he could do more good where he was. Over the years, the compromising church repeatedly split the man's classes, until he had a handful of men left, while Jordan's group had grown into a mega-church.

Modernists tolerate Christians as long as they have to, but they undermine their work for God as soon as they are able. And Christians who think they are respected by modernists are sadly mistaken.

Even Modernists Despise Compromisers

2010-01-05T13:36:00.000-08:00

In the 1970's, Evangelist Bill Rice told of being brought in for a week's preaching at a Godly, fundamental church. The man who was paying a large share of the expenses met Bill at the airport.

To Bill's surprise, the man did not attend the church, but was the Sunday School superintendent of a modernist church that had rejected the Word of God. The fellow explained that God had called him to stay there and be a good influence. Every Sunday, he gave a brief message from God's Word before dismissing everyone to their classes.

Rice told the fellow that he wasn't the good influence that he thought that he was, and Rice could prove it. He advised the man, the next Sunday morning, to talk about the virgin birth in his brief message, and to explain that a person who does not believe in the virgin birth was not a born-again Christina. The man agreed, and after dropping Rice off at the church where he was preaching the superintendent went to his own church.

Later that day, the superintendent picked Rice up. Badly shaken, he told Rice that the church had fired him immediately after Sunday School, citing the "extremist evangelist" who was staying at his house.

Brethren, Satan will tolerate Christian leaders in his churches, because they are an influence for keeping other Christians there, instead of in the house of God where they belong. But modernists only pretend to respect them.

Can You Trust a Compromiser?

2010-01-01T12:07:00.000-08:00

James 1:8 "he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

One of the churches here in the Gringo Zone of Mexico is built on compromise. To become a member, you have to believe The Apostles' Creed. Actually, you don't; you just have to say that you do. Over its fifty-year history, it has swung from rejecting God's Word to accepting it, but for the past ten years, it has accepted God's Word.

The pastor is a Godly man, and this past year, there was a major movement to fire him and replace him with a pastor who didn't believe God's Word. The church was badly hurt, but it is growing again. Middle-aged families are joining, they have some children in the congregation (we are a community of retired Gringos), and they are paying their bills on time.

What do compromising Christians do when a fight starts over God's Word? I'll be discussing that in the next few posts.

Trusting a Compromiser

2009-12-28T16:55:00.000-08:00

James 1:8 "he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

Nancy and I had a wonderful Christmas, and we wish all of you a Happy New Year.

Part of Christianity is dealing with compromising Christians. Folks who are genuinely born again, but who want to be "nice guys" and not offend anybody, sometimes reach leadership positions because of their ability to get along.

Can you trust people like that during a crisis?

Peter Ruckman Sets Us Free--Really

2009-12-05T12:46:00.000-08:00

Peter Ruckman had no problem ripping into his alma mater. Some of his accusations were true, some were false, none were Christ-like, and all of them were irrelevant. But independent Baptists were surprised to learn that you could attack BJU, criticize its wrongs, and reject its authority, even though they had been taught that this was impossible.

Having been driven into steadily-smaller, hostile camps that spied on and criticized each other, independent Baptists had no one to champion BJU, and its leadership over the group virtually disappeared.

Whether disciples of Peter Ruckman, members of the Southern Baptist Convention, practicing Biblical Christianity without the word "Baptist" in their name, or even continuing as they always had been, independent Baptists rarely send their students to BJU today.

The third reason why God allowed Ruckmanism to gain such influence over independent Baptists was to break Bob Jones University's control over them.

Fighting for the Lead

2009-12-01T14:45:00.000-08:00

Bob Jones University had a well-organized network that kept track of various Christian publications, conferences, and churches. They began attacking Christians who were not in obedience to BJU, denouncing them across America and forbidding God's people to have anything to do with them. They took a new and strong stand for "secondary separation," teaching that we were to disobey the Biblical commands to fellowship with Christians who would not obey BJU. Eventually, they expanded this false doctrine to forbid Christians from associating with anyone who associated with anyone who associated, etc., with anyone whom BJU did not approve of.

Drunk with power that neither God nor man had given him, the president of BJU forbad any Christian anywhere to criticize him or his practices, and forbad Christians to fellowship with anyone who did. And with large numbers of fundamentalist churches being pastored by BJU grads, strong, fundamental evangelists who had already been rejected by moderate Christians found themselves unable to get speaking engagements if they did not did not obey him. He drove deep divisions into fundamentalists, isolating them from Godly Christians and groups who realized BJU's errors, as well as isolating them from each other.

Their new magazine, "Faith for the Family," spread this fighting into congregations whose pastors would not obey BJU, and he invented the word "pseudofundamentalist" to describe Christians who obeyed the Biblical commands to love one another.

And then it all backfired.

The Key Wrong Stand at the Key Wrong Time

2009-11-28T11:04:00.000-08:00

As independent Baptists grew rapidly under the blessing of God, they formed careful alliances with Godly fundamentalist soul-winners from other groups that were not quite as conservative as they were.

At the same time, Bob Jones University was a large, successful, strongly fundamentalist institution with high academic standards. They taught and demanded strict loyalty and obedience from their students, and helped churches and evangelists with recommendations. Their graduates pastored a large number of fundamental churches, many of them independent Baptist. And the obedience of those graduates to BJU was fading.

BJU watched as their independent Baptist graduates fellowshipped with individual preachers from groups that BJU did not approve of. Already weak in doctrine, BJU couldn't compete with the powerful preaching and teaching of the independent Baptists, who were now starting to form their own colleges.

The fragile bonds that held fundamentalists together were growing stronger, while the powerful bonds that held BJU and its graduates together were growing weaker. And BJU decided to take its stand.

To be continued...

Why Did God Do It?

2009-11-25T13:19:00.000-08:00

I have three overlapping reasons why Ruckmanism spread so strongly among independent Baptists. God deprived their leaders of wisdom and He wanted to break the power that editors of their publications had over them. The third reason is going to take a while to explain.

During their heyday in the 1960's, independent Baptist leaders cautiously reached out to fellow Christians whom they disagreed with. They invited soul-winning, fundamentalist preachers from the Southern Baptist Convention, Assemblies of God, and others, to be friends. They printed their sermons, let them speak in independent Baptist churches, and spoke at Christian conferences with them.

Godly, soul-winning men had few problems with this. It was frightened, angry denominational leaders who fought this kind of Biblical fellowship. As a result, this unity was fragile and carefully-balanced.

All it would take was one key man, in a key position, saying the key words at the key time, to shatter this unity.

To be continued...

Why Did God Do It? Part 2

2009-11-22T11:37:00.000-08:00

Ruckmanism spread rapidly among independent Baptists, causing them to have a major decline. God caused it to happen, by depriving their leaders of wisdom. Why?

Independent Baptists are not supposed to have any human leaders higher than a local pastor. But over time, various publications emerged, usually controlled by Godly men, and independent Baptist churches urged their members to subscribe. The editors of these publications gained power that the churches never meant them to have.

Decades later, these publications had turned Ruckmanite, and large churches and their pastors found themselves being attacked in these publications if they would not obey the editors. Pastors who wanted to depart from man-made rules found their people reading publications attacking anyone who departed from the rules. Conferences and radio broadcasts played a smaller part, and overall, independent Baptists were steadily being put under the authority of leaders whom they did not elect, who ruled through the authority of unscriptural offices.

These publications kept up active spy networks, accusing various preachers who associated with Christians who would not obey the editors. Pastors who wanted to learn and grow from unapproved Christians had to do so secretly, or avoid doing so altogether.

Sick of the fighting, many churches joined the Southern Baptist Convention, many individuals left for other churches, and many independent Baptist churches avoided the title "Baptist" in order to get away from these editors. Keeping the Word of God without the man-made rules, they are generally doing well, while Ruckmanites continue to separate into steadily smaller, hostile groups.

Why Did God Do It?

2009-11-18T09:31:00.000-08:00

Why did independent fundamentalist Baptists turn so heavily against the Word of God and become disciples of a false prophet so quickly? Because God did it.

Isaiah 15:13 Therefore the Lord said: " Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
14 Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden."

Because independent Baptist leaders had replaced Biblical holiness with man-made rules, God deprived them of wisdom. Working to bring independent fundamentalist Baptists closer to Him, God let their leaders become disciples of a wife-stealing enemy of Godly men.

Why did God do such a thing?

Why Did God Allow This to Happen?

2009-11-15T06:54:00.000-08:00

The spread of Ruckmanism among independent Baptists churches contributed heavily to their downfall and lessened their soul-winning influence. Why did God allow this to happen?

Surprisingly, the results indicate that God did not merely "allow" this to happen. He did it deliberately. Independent fundamentalist Baptist churches continue to dominate the list of America's greatest mega-churches, but they are calling themselves "Community," "Bible," "Fellowship," "Neighborhood," and other names. Yet their statements of faith clearly show that they are independent fundamental Baptist churches.

So the question becomes "Why did God do this?" I can give three overlapping reasons. One is from the Bible, and two are only based on observation, but the simple answer is "Because it worked."

When Man-Made Rules Prevail

2009-11-10T18:03:00.000-08:00

After the largest independent Baptist church in the world turned Ruckmanite, attendance went into a two decades long plunge. No longer the world's largest Sunday School, it eventually reached the point that it wasn't even Indiana's largest Sunday School. While their other man-made rules hadn't actually violated specific Scriptures, Ruckmanism did.

And a series of sex scandals started striking other independent Baptist churches as well. Believing that obedience to their rules was proof of holiness, they had a tendency to trust anyone who obeyed those rules, no matter how ungodly the person was in other areas. Many of them then turned to Ruckmanism, but the amount of scandals in Ruckmanite churches continued to be higher than in other groups. Regarding themselves as superior due to their man-made rules, they isolated themselves from other Christians who tried to warn them of what was going on.

It was the Word of God, not the rules, that had made independent Baptists America's greatest soul-winning group. And when they rejected the Word of God and kept the rules, their massive decline began.

The current pastor of First Baptist is a Godly man who has moderated their Ruckmanite position, bringing the attendance up to about 15,000, and causing many Ruckmanite preachers to turn against him. Hopefully, he will continue on the path he is on.

Refusing to Face The Truth

2009-11-07T18:27:00.000-08:00

During the 1960's and 1970's, Jack Hyles pastored the First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, which was the world's largest Sunday School. I graduated from their college, and they were running 40,000 in Sunday School when I left.

His son David had an extremely large and successful youth ministry, but reports kept coming in of Dave's wide-spread immorality. Looking at David's strict obedience to the church's lengthy list of man-made rules, Jack didn't believe the charges. When he finally accepted that they were true, he tried to cover things up while he worked on getting David to repent. Finally, everything blew up in his face, and the scandal became public.

And then Jack preached one of the most important sermons in Christian history: "Logic Demands the King James Bible." A strict fundamentalist who had cracked under the strain of his son's wickedness, Jack rejected God's Word in favor of a man-made translation, but he did keep the man-made rules.

Did it work?

What Does God Bless? His Word, or Our Rules?

2009-11-03T14:09:00.000-08:00

Independent Baptists hit their heyday during the 1960's and 1970's. At one time, the largest church in 17 states was independent Baptist, and in another 17 states, the largest non-Catholic church was independent Baptist. They had a fast-growing number of Christian schools. Through their bus ministries they were reaching more new lost people than every other Christian church in the US combined. Meanwhile, the Southern Baptist Convention, representing over half of America's Baptists, declined steadily.

The independent Baptists offered two explanations for why God was blessing them more than the Convention: their loyalty to God's Word, and their obedience to man-made rules. And, to put it bluntly, they had the numbers to back up their claims.

Today, only one of those 17 independent Baptist churches is the largest in its state. Most of their schools have closed or merged, and their bus ministries have dropped heavily. Many of their churches have joined the Southern Baptist Convention, which has shown good growth since the "fundamentalist take-over," when Christians managed to oust most non-Christians from leadership.

What went wrong?

Fearing God Without the Rules

2009-10-29T16:41:00.000-07:00

What happens if a Christian fears the Lord, but rejects man-made rules? Many sincere Christians will insist that such a Christian cannot be used by God. Let's see what God says:

Ps 25:12 "Who is the man that fears the LORD? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses." This Christian doesn't need a list of man-made rules, because God Himself teaches him what he should do.

What the Fear of the Lord Does

2009-10-26T21:11:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 16:6 tells us that by the fear of the Lord, one departs from evil. Proverbs 8:13 sheds more light on this: " The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;"

Some sincere Christians have lists of man-made rules that they follow. They believe these lists are necessary, because they won't know how to live holy lives without them. Furthermore, they believe that obeying these lists will keep them out of situations that will bring them into sin. Yet, these groups have as many scandals in their leadership as other groups. One such group, the Ruckmanites, have more scandals than most other Christian groups.

The fear of the Lord does for Christians what man-made rules fail to do. The lists don't make you hate evil (many people under the authority of those lists don't want to obey them, but their church makes them). The fear of the Lord, on the other hand, makes you hate evil and makes you depart from it.

Hating Evil Without the Rules

2009-10-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

2009-10-19T16:03:00.000-07:00

We have seen that reading the Bible and getting understanding produce holiness. There are other things as well.

Proverbs 16:6 tells us "And by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil." Some commentaries and study Bibles are quick to state that "the fear of the Lord" refers to "reverential awe." But when I looked up the Hebrew and Greek words, I found that the words translated "fear" mean "fear."

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; it is a springboard from which many other strengths can eventually grow. An interesting Bible study would be to take a colored marker, and the next time you go through the Bible, mark every time the phrase "fear of the Lord" appears. God pours out many blessings on a Christian who fears the Lord. But there are no blessings promised to those who obey a list of man-made rules.

What is better Than Man-made Rules?

2009-10-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

Some years ago, a Ruckmanite pastor took a church running 19 people and built it up to 400 in two years. He established a Christian school, teaching a strict set of man-made rules in both his church and school. About a year ago, he began an affair with one of the married teachers, while both of them continued to follow the man-made rules. Three months later, a high school student saw them kissing, and while lying and slandering the student, the two of them continued to obey the man-made rules. Six months later, they got caught and he was forced to resign, still without having violated the rules.

How was this possible? Proverbs 6:32 tells us: Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding

The woman later wrote in to a Christian hate site, blasting both the pastor and the student, claiming that the pastor had deceived her. How could that have happened? Proverbs 2:11-12 tells us that "Understanding will keep you, To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things"

The man-made rules didn't make either one of them holy, but understanding would have. Job 28:28 tell us "...to depart from evil is understanding." So how do you get understanding?

Ps 119:99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation.

Ps 119:104 Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.

Ps 119:130 ¶ The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.

Reading God's Word will give you understanding, and understanding will separate you from sin. Let's spend more time in God's Word today.

How does the Bible make you holy?

2009-10-13T17:15:00.000-07:00

Folks, I have to apologize. My computer died, and living in Mexico, I needed two weeks to get it fixed. I'll continue to post about twice a week, and I appreciate your patience.

We've seen that holiness is obtained by reading God's Word. How and why?

1Th 2:13 ¶ For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.

This next part is important, so please pay close attention. When you practice obedience to man-made rules NOTHING HAPPENS. When you read the Bible, it WORKS EFFECTIVELY in you. God uses the Scriptures to deal with specific problems in your life. He uses His Word to make you grow as a Christian. Reading the Word of God produces results in your life. Following man-made rules does not produce results in your life.

How to Become Holy

2009-09-25T10:36:00.000-07:00

There are sincere Christians who strongly believe in man-made rules, insisting that we need these rules in order to know how to live holy lives. Yet Colossians 2:20-23, clearly states that these rules will not make you holy.

In John 17:17, Jesus prayed "Sanctify them through your truth. Your word is truth." The passage could also be correctly translated "Separate them through your truth," or "Make them holy through your truth."

Now we see that God's Word (which does not contain man-made rules) does make you holy. The next question is "How?"

Holiness=Separation

2009-09-21T12:56:00.000-07:00

We have seen that holiness cannot be obtained by obeying a list of man-made rules. So, how do you obtain holiness?

The words "holy," "sanctified," and "separate" are all the same words in the Greek and Hebrew. "Holiness" means "separation." It does not mean "spiritual" or "religious." The Bible uses these three words in only two ways: separation from sin, and separated to God. To become holy, you need to separate from sin.

Okay, how does this happen?

Do Man-Made Rules Make You Holy?

2009-09-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

Is it possible to obtain holiness by obeying a list of man-made rules?

Col 2:20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations--
21 "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,"
22 which all concern things which perish with the using--according to the commandments and doctrines of men?
23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Paul explains that these man-made rules only appear to have wisdom, because they cause you to sacrifice. But they do not improve your flesh or keep you from sin.

Why Fundamentalists Accepted the Rules

2009-09-14T08:04:00.000-07:00

"Modernists" are people within Christianity who seek to turn their church or denomination away from Christ. In the early twentieth century, they were opposed by the "fundamentalists," who believed the fundamental Christian doctrines. The fundamentalists were not a new group; Christianity had always believed in the Deity of Christ and His virgin birth, the literal Second Coming of Christ, His literal resurrection from the dead, salvation by faith alone, and the total innerrancy of the Bible.

Having rejected Christ, modernists also rejected holy living, which is a natural product of the new birth (which they also rejected). Fundamentalists over-reacted, preaching holy living (which the Bible commands) but adding man-made rules that dealt with the current situation.

They preached against movies, cards, women wearing slacks, and various other offenses. At one time, some of these rules might have made some sense. But as the decades rolled by, the "current situation" that had produced these rules changed. Fundamentalists found themselves stuck with obsolete rules that their own people did not want to obey. Their response? Preach heavily on these rules; it was the only way to keep them in force.

How the Rules Began

2009-09-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

It helps if you understand where, when, and how today's bunch of man-made rules began. In the early part of the twentieth century, Hollywood found that movies provided a lucrative method of introducing immorality, glamor, and worldliness to the general population. At a time of strict government laws against indecency, Hollywood fought for sin, and wealthy producers made a fortune doing so. A small number of rebellious women began wearing pants in public. Playing cards provided opportunities to gamble, drink, and neglect families.

A small number of churches objected, but these objections were not well-organized....yet.

When Strict Rules Fail

2009-09-08T16:29:00.000-07:00

A successful Ruckmanite pastor would post on the internet, insisting that Christians had to obey a list of man-made rules in order to live holy lives. The list included various dress codes, restrictions on music, places where Christians were not allowed to go, and others.

Another pastor, who had graduated from a strict Bible college that had commanded those same rules, wrote in to ridicule him. He had turned against those rules, and he now practiced scorn and ridicule on those who obeyed them. Later, it turned out that the second pastor was having an affair while still pastoring his church.

The first pastor went on in triumph, until his wife caught him having an affair that had lasted nine months. A few weeks later, he was back on the internet, teaching with authority, as if nothing had happened.

While there have always been scandals in the ministry, Ruckmanites (people who believe that the King James Version IS the Word of God, and it is sinful to use any other translation) have had a far heavier share than most; yet they have stricter rules than most.

In the next few weeks, we'll be discussing how to live a holy life without obeying a list of man-made rules.

2009-08-01T15:33:00.000-07:00

Jealous leaders, fearful of losing their power, are generally incompetent. They often realize the danger of having their people build lateral support, because they have difficulty controlling it. A common method of destroying lateral support is to teach people that they chould not listen to "critics." Surprisingly, words like "critic, critics, criticize," etc., do not appear anywhere in the King James Version, and therefor, there is no Biblical definition of these words. Therefor, I'll give my own definition of a critic: "a person who criticizes frequently, whose first response to any situation is to criticize without hearing all the facts."If you have lateral support, and these people are helping you, and suddenly they all start urging you to get out of a certain organization, they are not critics. The Bible does warn against "scorners," and a person who goes around ridiculing others should not be part of your lateral support. But a person who goes around helping people, who believes that you are in an abusive situation, is not a critic.

Building Lateral Support

2009-07-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

How do you built lateral support?

1) It really helps if your spouse and you can agree that your family is more important than your church. People who won't tolerate seeing their family members being abused are less likey to get abused.
2) Cultivate friendships with Christians at work or in your neighborhood who don't go to your church. If those friendships become strong enough, you'll have lateral support.
3) Keep in touch with friends from previous churches.
4) In your own church, attend social functions, such as church dinners. Cultivate friendships that can exist outside the church walls.
5) Get onto Christian forums, where you can explain your situation to sympathetic listeners anonymously.
6) Seek out fruitful Christians. The Bible talks about the fruit of good works, the fruit of giving, and the fruit of converts.
7) Be supportive of other Christians, because some day you might need to reap what you sow.

Lateral Support

2009-07-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

We have seen from both the Bible and real life that jealousy and envy are difficult to overcome. How do you overcome these two evils when you're on the receiving end?

One way is to develop "lateral support." This means that you have other Godly Christians as friends, and you can go to them for advice. Lateral support is important enough that most churches pay to allow their pastor to go to ministers' conferences, realizing that they help the preacher improve in his service. It is also important enough that Christian school teachers are not allowed to have it; their conferences are tightly controlled by pastors, and even their newsletters are actually pastor-controlled.

Is "lateral support" Biblical? You need to know, because abusive pastors either forbid or discourage lateral support.
Pr 11:14 ¶ Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
Pr 15:22 ¶ Without counsel, plans go awry, But in the multitude of counselors they are established.
Pr 24:6 For by wise counsel you will wage your own war, And in a multitude of counselors there is safety.The Apostle Paul followed this pattern, usually having Godly companions with him.
Ac 20:4 And Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia--also Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.

So what kind of people should you go to for lateral support? And how do you develop lateral support?

How Strong is Envy? Part 3

2009-07-18T06:56:00.001-07:00

Pr 27:4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

It IS possible to defeat an envious person, but it can be difficult. A small Baptist church had a very badly-written church constitution. It permitted children to vote, and on every anniversary of his hiring, the pastor could be fired by 25% of the vote. No joke; 25% of the membership could fire him. New members couldn't vote until they had been members for one year, so it didn't even take 25%.

Two men with large families controlled the vote, and they routinely fired every pastor on his anniversary, often over the objections of the majority of the tiny church. Without being elected, they controlled the church, and they envied the popularity and success of any pastor who could take their power away. Then, my friend Mel became the pastor.

Under Mel's leadership, the church tripled in attendance in a matter of months. And as the anniversary drew near, the two men assured everyone that they were going to fire him, although the rest of the church didn't want to. One month before the anniversary, the two families took a vacation together, and Mel got to work.

As I said, this church had a badly-written constitution. They could have a surprise business meeting any time a quorum of members was present, and they could amend the Church Constitution at any business meeting. Mel called all the members on the phone and told them he was having a business meeting on the Wednesday night that these two families would be absent. There, they amended the constitution to require a 50% vote to fire the pastor.

The two families returned to find out that they had lost their power. When one of the men threatened to give Mel a beating, Mel demanded that he keep his promise. From then on, any time the man started something, Mel demanded that the man keep his promise to fistfight him, and the problem disappeared.

Months later, the last I heard of them, the church was doing well, was growing steadily, and had a happy congregation.

How Strong is Envy Part 2

2009-07-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

Pr 27:4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

About thirty years ago, a good Baptist church was running about 175 in children's church, mostly due to their bus ministry. The pastor asked me (I didn't ask him) to be in charge. Several of us worked hard, and attendance grew to around 300.

Meanwhile, the pastor's wife held a lot of authority in the church, mistreating secretaries and other staff, and often forcing her husband to carry out policies he disagreed with. I was called into the pastor's office one day, where she told me that she was a mature Christian and I was an immature Christian, and therefor God had called her to take over the children's church.

When I pointed out that she had nothing to do with the blessing God was giving us, she replied that God hadn't called her to work on bus routes; He had called her to rule over people who did. I refused, her husband over-ruled me, and three years later, she had taken the children's church from 300 to 10.

Earlier, I had pointed out this same problem with jealousy: if you're in a family-run church, your church probably has incompetent leadership. And if you start being blessed and used by God, that family is going to start moving in to take over your ministry.

The Strength of Envy Part 1

2009-07-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

Pr 27:4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

Who is able to stand before envy? - The rabbins have a curious story on this subject, and it has been formed by the moderns into a fable. There were two persons, one covetous and the other envious, to whom a certain person promised to grant whatever they should ask; but double to him who should ask last. The covetous man would not ask first, because he wished to get the double portion, and the envious man would not make the first request because he could not bear the thoughts of thus benefiting his neighbor. However, at last he requested that one of his eyes should be taken out, in order that his neighbor might lose both.

From Adam Clarke's Commentary