Is the Church of Christ a cult? Part 2

My last post, Is the Church of Christ a cult?, garnered a lot of attention.  That may be putting it lightly, actually the post was HUGE!  I was taken aback by the response it received.  From a numbers point of view it was far and away my most read post ever.  During the month of September I set a personal best for hits on my blog, due to the response to this post I broke that record on October 18th.  Even more amazing, the traffic count for the first first three days the post was up (October 17 – 19) exceeded the traffic count of the months of April, May, and June.  When the end of this month arrives Saturday I will have experienced a 50% increase in visitors over the previous record setting month!

I’m glad that so many people read this post. However, I’m humbled by the response people have had to it’s content.  Starting on the Saturday I posted the article up until today I have received well over 100 responses from my readers.  A few of you posted directly on the blog, others did so publicly on facebook, however, the majority of the response came in the form of emails, phone calls, and personal conversations.  If you read the post, and I encourage you to do so if you have not, you know that I was shocked as well as discouraged by the accusations being levied against the congregation I call home.

As soon as I had expressed my discouragement in words, God moved in to replace my discouragement with encouragement!  I was truly a recipient of the promise of Paul in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  You see, what I saw as a horrible setback in the Christian community, what I viewed as an opportunity for Satan to gain a foothold, God took and used it for his great purpose.  What could have been an occasion for more division, God used as a call toward unity.

My purpose in speaking out against this outrageous claim was not to “get back” at the source, if that was the case I would have named names and pointed fingers.  No, I purposefully refrained from naming the source because to do so would only foster divisiveness.  We all make mistakes and do things that, in hindsight, we wish we could take back.  My prayer is that by shining a light on the issue more people will be inspired to do as a dear friend remarked concerning this whole ordeal; “Let’s make the main thing the main thing!”

As I said earlier, I am humbled by the response I received to the article.  Your kind words were uplifting, your advice was invaluable, yet your show of friendship was priceless.

“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.”  Romans 14:19

Mitchell

Is the Church of Christ a cult?

It wasn't like this was the first time I had heard of or read someone attempting to make the claim that the Church of Christ is a cult, however this time was very different, this time it was personal. I, like most of you probably, have ran across some websites making this claim using erroneous, second and third hand knowledge about the Church of Christ and our beliefs or more times than not confusing us with the International Church of Christ. This time, however, a young person from my congregation was asking me why her friends would be saying that we are a cult. As I dug deeper into the situation, I learned that this young member of our congregation was told directly by one of her friends who attends one of the more charismatic denominations in our town that her Pastor was "teaching and warning" them about the Church of Christ "because they are nothing more than a cult."

Watch the "I know that the God of the Bible does not Exist" Debate

I was able to watch the entire debate tonight and I was pleased with the outcome. Kyle Butt did a great job and was an outstanding representative of the church and Christianity. His opponent, Dan Barker, came off as haughty and arrogant in my opinion. He is one of those types who comes off like this, "bla, bla, bla, I'm smarter than you and if you were as smart as me then you would understand, bla, bla, bla." But I digress,see for yourself and make your own judgement. I highly encourage you to watch this debate. The player below will let you watch the first 15 minutes of the debate, to watch the rest you can click the links below.


Watch live video from Darwin Day Debate on Justin.tv

Debate Part 2

Debate Part 3

Debate Part 4

Debate Part 5

Debate Part 6

Debate Part 7

Debate Part 8

"I Know that the God of the Bible Does Not Exist." Debate

Please take special note of a debate occurring on this, the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin. Tonight at the University of South Carolina, Kyle Butt of Apologetics Press will be debating Dan Barker. Barker serves as Co-President of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Probably his most famous written work is the book Godless. The proposition for the debate is stated thus: "I Know that the God of the Bible Does Not Exist."/1

I have known Kyle for many years and I have always been impressed at his ability. This could shape up to be a "classic." Please pray for Kyle throughout the day, and pray for those who will hear this debate. Also, pray for Dan Barker, that he might finally be convinced that God is, and that He is Lord.

If you wish to hear the debate online, you may click here. It begins at 7:00 Eastern, 6:00 Central.

1.  Thanks to Adam Faughn for the details on this debate.

Unity in Diversity

Conflict and controversy are two sure-fire ways of exciting people into Bible study. Sadly, this kind of fire seldom resolves anything, rarely incites people to go into the world to save the lost, and most often causes division and even congregational splits. Words like "liberal" and "legalist" are discussed in church meetings and brotherhood papers so much that they seem to outnumber words that should be considered like "missions," "saving the lost," and "fellowship." Brethren become "experts" on the topic of discussion, and very often they become "one issue" Christians. If you do not believe as they believe then you are a liberal and therefore must not be fellowshipped. Soon, these brethren try to force their issue into every situation possible and onto every person possible.

Brothers and sisters, it is time for this to end! It is time for the Lord's church to stop majoring in minors. It is time for the Lord's church to complete the mission Jesus set for us and "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).

Will there be a time when doctrine is assaulted and needs defending? Sadly the answer is, "Yes." When these cases arise we must unite and defend the faith, but not every issue discussed is a matter of faith or fellowship. Jude wrote to the early Christians concerning this issue saying, "Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 3). Jude wanted to write a letter of encouragement to Christians to inspire them in their evangelistic efforts, however, because of certain people and problems he was forced to write a letter urging them to be unified.

Unity is not giving up the fight, as some perceive. Unity in diversity is often a phrase that gets tossed around like a hot potato. We should never compromise on the doctrine of Christ, yet who would claim that the Lord's church is not made up of a group of people with diverse beliefs? Paul urged the Christians at Rome to have unity in diversity. "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters" (Romans 14:1). In other words, Paul says, accept your brother without giving thought to his differing opinion.

If Christians would strive to do as Jude commands and "contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints," then we could do away with much conflict and controversy. Later in Jude, those who cause division are said to have gone the way of Balaam's error. It is interesting that even Balaam, when he listened to God, got things right. "How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced?" (Numbers 23:8).

When one is seeking to please God and is not violating God's commands, then how can God's people denounce him? Paul says the same thing, "Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand" (Romans 14:4).

Do you agree or can we agree to disagree?

Conflict and Controversy

Conflict and controversy are two sure fire ways of exciting people into bible study.  Sadly, this kind of fire seldom resolves anything, rarely incites people to go into the world to save the lost and most often causes division and even congregational splits.  Words like "liberal" and "legalist" are discussed in church meetings and brotherhood papers so much that they seem to outnumber words that should be considered like "missions," "saving the lost," and "fellowship."  Brethren become "experts" on the topic of discussion and very often they become "one issue" Christians.  If you do not believe as they believe then you are a liberal and therefore must not be fellowshipped.  Soon, these brethren try to force their issue into every situation possible and onto every person possible.    

Brothers and Sisters it is time for this to end!  It is time for the Lord's church to stop majoring in minors.  It is time for the Lord's church to complete the mission Jesus set for us and "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).  Will there be a time when doctrine is assaulted and needs defending, sadly the answer is yes.  When these cases arise we must unite and defend the faith, but not every issue discussed is a matter of faith or fellowship.  Jude wrote to the early Christians concerning this issue saying, "Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 3).  Jude wanted to write a letter of encouragement to Christians to inspire them in their evangelistic efforts, however, because of certain people and problems he was forced to write a letter urging them to be unified.

Unity is not, giving up the fight, as some perceive.  Unity in diversity is often a phrase that gets tossed around like a hot potato.  We should never compromise on the doctrine of Christ, yet who would claim that the Lord's church is not made up of a group of people with diverse beliefs.  Paul urged the Christians at Rome to have unity in diversity.  "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters" (Romans 14:1).  In other words, Paul says, accept your brother without giving thought to his differing opinion. 

If Christians would strive to do as Jude commands and "contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints," then we could do away with much conflict and controversy.  Later in Jude, those who cause division are said to have gone the way of Balaam's error.  It is interesting that even Balaam, when he listened to God, got things right.  "How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced?" (Numbers 23:8).  When one is seeking to please God and is not violating God's commands then how can God's people denounce him?  Paul says the same thing, "Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand" (Romans 14:4).   

Do you agree or can we agree to disagree?