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A Question for My Beloved Calvinists

Those who have been reading with me through the New Testament chronologically—by means of our daily emailed devotional that we call HeavenWord Daily—know that I am not a Calvinist. In fact, practically every time we happen upon one of the many passages of Scripture that contradict the doctrines of Calvinism, I point it out. Consequently, I’ve pointed out scores of scriptures that illustrate where Calvinism deviates from biblical truth.

For readers who may not know what Calvinism is, let me briefly explain. Calvinists believe that, in eternity past, God sovereignly selected some people to be saved, and thus He also sovereignly selected everyone else to be damned. At a pre-determined point during the lifetimes of those who are allegedly pre-selected for salvation, God draws them irresistibly, and they are born again. Calvinists also believe, and understandably so, that Jesus did not die for the sins of everyone. Rather, He only died for those whom He allegedly predestined for salvation. Finally, because Calvinists believe that salvation does not depend on any person’s free will and only upon the sovereign decree and action of God, they also believe that no genuinely-saved person could possibly ever become unsaved. Once genuinely saved, people are guaranteed to be saved in the end, which is probably the most attractive element of Calvinism, and which may explain why some people readily embrace it. Once a person is convinced that he has been sovereignly pre-selected for salvation, he knows he has salvation “in the bag.”

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As a Father

Last month, George Sodini walked into a women’s aerobics class at an LA Fitness Club just a few miles from where I live. He turned out the lights and began shooting into the darkness, firing fifty rounds. Within seconds, he killed three women and wounded nine others. Then he shot and killed himself.

According to his blog, he had been planning the killings and his suicide at LA Fitness for months in advance. In December, he wrote in that blog of the evangelical church he had attended for thirteen years, saying of the pastor, “This guy teaches (and convinced me) you can commit mass murder then still go to heaven.”

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Pastoring with Less Pain, Part 1 of 2

Note: Like April’s e-teaching, Dear Pastor, Will You Repent With Me?, this month’s is also directed primarily to pastors, but even those who are not pastors could, I hope, benefit from reading it. Please understand that a major part of our ministry is to pastors around the world, and we’re reaching tens of thousands of them in numerous nations. This is a great burden on my heart, and I can’t help it! — David

I’ve been thinking about a conversation I had not long ago with a friend who is a pastor. He shared his pain regarding some people who had recently left his church. At one time they had been loyal, enthusiastic supporters of his ministry. But their departure was anything but that. Now they were speaking ill of him to others, and it had become ugly.

It wasn’t the first time he had experienced what pastors sometimes refer to as “the Judas syndrome.” And if past experience teaches anything, it wouldn’t be the last time.

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Silver and Gold Have I Quite a Large Sum

Author’s Preface: In the article below, I’ve omitted the names of the ministries, the names of those who head them, and most of the source links that are in the original article. The reason is to avoid criticism from anyone who might object to my revealing such information (all of which is public information, by the way, and much of which the U.S. government morally believes you are entitled to know). Those who do not object to my revealing such information can scroll down and find the unedited article below the edited version. Please keep in mind that if it is wrong for me to publish the unedited version, it is also wrong to read the unedited version. And because of this fair warning, please don’t send me any criticism for having reported names, salaries, and other public information if you’ve made the decision to read the unedited version!

Some years ago I was admonished by one of the wealthiest men in my city, a retired CEO of a huge multi-national company, with the following words, “It is the responsibility of guys like you to tell guys like me what God expects of us, lest we not be ready to stand before Him one day.” It seemed, he elaborated, that too many preachers patronized “guys like him,” fearful of offending and hopeful of gaining something—and in the process ultimately sealing the eternal doom of “guys like him.” Sobering words to a patronizing preacher like me (at the time).

Emboldened by that old admonition, I’d like to address the subject of stewardship in the next few issues of HeavenWord. This month I want to focus specifically on the questionable example of stewardship being set by some spiritual leaders—because the church follows its leaders. There isn’t any doubt in my mind that Jesus would address this issue if He were personally preaching on the planet today, because when He was preaching on the planet, He quite often made sobering statements about stewardship, and He also exposed the money-loving spiritual leaders of His day (see Matt. 23:14; Luke 16:13-15). Imitating Christ, Paul also lamented that many in his day were “peddling the word of God” (2 Cor. 2:17). He required that spiritual leaders be “free from the love of money” (1 Tim. 3:3). Peter, too, warned against false teachers who, motivated by greed, would exploit believers with false words (see 2 Pet. 2:1-3).

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“Judge Not!”

Anyone who holds to any standard of righteousness in our “culture of tolerance” is in trouble. If you say, for example, that homosexuality is a perversion, abortion is murder, sex outside of marriage is a sin, or that Jesus is the only way to heaven, get ready to be labeled. You will be categorized as “intolerant,” because intolerance is not tolerated in our culture. You may also be branded as close-minded, because our culture is not open-minded to anyone who is “close-minded.” You may be criticized for being critical. And you will probably be branded as unloving, because our culture just hates people who aren’t “loving.” They really should start putting bumper stickers on their cars that say, “I Do Not Tolerate People Who Are Intolerant.”

Quite often, those who are are not tolerant of “intolerant” Christians even cite the Bible to prove how wrong intolerance is. “Judge not!” they quote Jesus as saying. They construe Christ’s words to mean that no one has the right to make a moral appraisal of anyone else. In so doing, however, they make a moral appraisal of those whom they accuse of making moral appraisals. If you say,”Homosexuality is wrong,” they say, “Don’t judge!,” and in the process they commit the very crime of which they find you guilty.