Rethinking Church

Comments

• HidingBehindNickname

  Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:21 pm : 1 : 0 Flag

  The Lord asks have YOU done the things He said to YOU. Pointing out how another servant is worse than you is much the same as thanking God you are not like the 'tax collector'. But to his own master he stands or falls - or do you believe you are greater than that scripture? The work our master commissioned you to do, is NOT to beatify some other as his, nor to demonize others as not, so get on with what He has commisioned YOU to do.
  
  (And BTW your opinion does not force the Great King to decide as you have done. His grace and His power to save is so much greater than yours, so be careful not to re-form Him in your own image, that would be idolatry ;-).

• DRJ

  Fri Dec 07, 2007 9:14 am : 0 : 4 Flag

  It's time to get our heads out of the emotional arena of how proud we should be of Bill H. for seeing the error of his ways. Here's the math which points to the gravity of the situatiion: Take 20 years of false doctrine, multiply that by hundreds of churches that mimicked such a "success" paradigm, multiply that by the thousands of people adversely affected, compounded by the thousands of people within their spheres of influence, times several generations to come who will be emotionally and eternally ill-affected by such forbidden fruit...and voila! You have the perfect example of what Jesus meant by the curse placed on such a stumbling block. It would be better to have a one-ton grinding stone placed around his neck and him be thrown into the sea (paraphrased)! To whom much is given (responsibility), much is required (accountability). The real question is begged: How serious is God concerning the preaching/teaching of false doctrine/methodology? The answer is simple. God loves His creation (people). When they are "purposefully" poisoned by false teachers, His position has always been, "Vengence is Mine,...I will repay." Of course, now that the news of a failed system is out, those who were beguiled have the responsibility of re-examining what they have been falsely taught and seeking the truth of God. Let's pray that those who were once innocently way-layed by the austerity and magnimity of the seeker movement will accept the wonderful opportunity God has graciously offered them to quit the lie and find the truth.

• HAWK49

  Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:46 pm : 1 : 1 Flag

  prespilot68; I just read in World, Dec1 issue, more info about the Willow Creek Association and the study. WCA contains over 12,000 member chruches that are all impacted by this seeker (man centered) philosophy. Here is an excerpt from the article that indicated Hybel will be doing more of the same:
  "Hybels' words have been reported on several blog sites (including townhall.com). According to Callie Parkinson, the online conversations have generated a flood of inquiries to Willow Creek and a response by Hawkins on the Reveal website. Parkinson told WORLD that the Reveal study would result in a "broadening of the movement. There's been a breakthrough in our understanding." But she reiterated that Willow Creek remains not just "seeker-focused. We are seeker-obsessed."
  
  That means, according to Michael Horton, a professor at Westminster Seminary California, that American evangelicalism is likely to see "more of the same" from Willow Creek. "In the 'seeker' view, evangelism and outreach are spiritual technologies that must be made more efficient," Horton said. "Having a survey tell you that you need to add 'discipleship' to the list of technologies that we're trying to make more efficient doesn't solve the fundamental problem." .....The problems go beyond Willow Creek: Parkinson said the study included 30 churches that "were not all Willow Creek clones. The findings in the study are true of all churches." Horton agrees with that: "The state of the church in America today is poor, and it's a condition that you can't blame on Willow Creek alone. It's increasingly difficult to swim against the tide of materialism, consumerism, and narcissism in the culture." Hybel is only one of a whole cast of characters and the prognosis for correcting the error doesn't look good.

• HAWK49

  Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:24 pm : 3 : 0 Flag

  prespilot68; scripture also allows someone to see the error of their way, repent and be transformed. This appears to be the path Bill Hybel has proceeded upon. Seems to me Peter also screwed up and Paul had to set him straight in the book of Acts; that incident didn't prevent Peter from continuing to lead the Church.

• prespilot68

  Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:53 am : 1 : 4 Flag

  I am sorry but Chuck has it all wrong here. So basically what we have seen over the past couple of years is Bill Hybel has been preaching a different gospel than that required by Christ in the Bible. So that would make him a false teacher....Bill just didn't make a little mistake here. He intentinally ignored the real gospel! He dcided to preach a man-centered message and ignore the scriptures! We see whenever the real gospel is being preached - people get saved, lives are transformed, people see sin diminishing in their lives. So what we see over the past couple of years is none to little of this has been happening in Willow Creek. Therfore, according to Scripture this man is a false prophet and he needs to go! Is not worthy to continue to preach anymore!

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