BobVigneault
Bawberator
Once again we have been witnesses to the fact that there is a thin wall between devotion to pure doctrine and pharisee-ism and it easily crumbles. We speak of Arminians like they are some great alien race whose minds are linked to the central arminian super-brain forcing them to think as some monolithic singularity. Each one an expert in arminian heresy and bent on the destruction of the church.
Arminians are our confused brothers and sisters and we have no idea who is the elect and the reprobate. True, there are arminians who preach their doctrines with the same fire and flash that many here preach calvinism. Debate is good. But most arminians are folks who have been sitting under the teaching of lazy, seeker sensitive, marketing oriented so-called "˜shepherds´. There´s so many of them. In fact there´s so many of them that we haven´t the luxury to get too deep into debating who is saved and who is not. Time is short, we must go after all of them.
I´m am not an ordained minister but here is what I do. Because of acquaintances I have made over the years performing music I get invites to come and preach in churches when the pastor has gone away. As long as the recognized leadership of the church invites me I will always go. The churches have been Baptist, Congregational, Seventh Day Baptist, Lutheran and of course Independent - Arminian churches all!
I don´t preach to felt needs, I preach Christ and Him crucified. I preach on the Sovereignty and Supremacy of God, I preach on the Sufficiency of Scripture. I watch the older folks weep when hearing of the sovereignty and glory of God. How they miss hearing God exalted and His Word proclaimed boldly. How my heart breaks for them at the hunger they endure at the hands of poor "˜shepherds´.
Let us strive to remember that our duty to defend the faith must never overshadow the great commission. When Jonah was ready to cast aside an entire city of people who were despicable (and perhaps even some were arminians), God replied to Jonah, "œAnd should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?"
We are here on this board because we believe that we have figured out our right hand from our left. I pray we are as smart as we think we are. But after figuring out our right from out left some of us have tightened our hands into fists. We offer a right cross and a left jab. We need to be quicker to offer a right hand of fellowship and a left hand of rescue for the sake of the gospel.
Arminians are confused, they don´t know their right hand from their left. God´s grace through our teaching will make the lights come on. Most of us here were elect-arminians. I was a happy little arminian until PB brother Jim Jarantowski introduced me to the glory of God. I was so happy in my church until Jim´s teaching made me a pariah to the pastor.
Let´s be patient with one another, let´s remember from where we have come, let´s conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel that´s been entrusted to us clay-footed sheep.
Arminians are our confused brothers and sisters and we have no idea who is the elect and the reprobate. True, there are arminians who preach their doctrines with the same fire and flash that many here preach calvinism. Debate is good. But most arminians are folks who have been sitting under the teaching of lazy, seeker sensitive, marketing oriented so-called "˜shepherds´. There´s so many of them. In fact there´s so many of them that we haven´t the luxury to get too deep into debating who is saved and who is not. Time is short, we must go after all of them.
I´m am not an ordained minister but here is what I do. Because of acquaintances I have made over the years performing music I get invites to come and preach in churches when the pastor has gone away. As long as the recognized leadership of the church invites me I will always go. The churches have been Baptist, Congregational, Seventh Day Baptist, Lutheran and of course Independent - Arminian churches all!
I don´t preach to felt needs, I preach Christ and Him crucified. I preach on the Sovereignty and Supremacy of God, I preach on the Sufficiency of Scripture. I watch the older folks weep when hearing of the sovereignty and glory of God. How they miss hearing God exalted and His Word proclaimed boldly. How my heart breaks for them at the hunger they endure at the hands of poor "˜shepherds´.
Let us strive to remember that our duty to defend the faith must never overshadow the great commission. When Jonah was ready to cast aside an entire city of people who were despicable (and perhaps even some were arminians), God replied to Jonah, "œAnd should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?"
We are here on this board because we believe that we have figured out our right hand from our left. I pray we are as smart as we think we are. But after figuring out our right from out left some of us have tightened our hands into fists. We offer a right cross and a left jab. We need to be quicker to offer a right hand of fellowship and a left hand of rescue for the sake of the gospel.
Arminians are confused, they don´t know their right hand from their left. God´s grace through our teaching will make the lights come on. Most of us here were elect-arminians. I was a happy little arminian until PB brother Jim Jarantowski introduced me to the glory of God. I was so happy in my church until Jim´s teaching made me a pariah to the pastor.
Let´s be patient with one another, let´s remember from where we have come, let´s conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel that´s been entrusted to us clay-footed sheep.