Andy Stanley came out with a book in 2018 called “Irresistible.”
I had someone recommend this book to me. I haven’t read it because I was concerned with what they told me about it with approaching evangelism without bringing up the Old Testament. That same person recently told me, in their concern for me, that I was too Old Testament. Made sense.
I wonder if Jesus and his followers would have been called too Old Testament?
In the book “I don’t have enough faith to be an Atheist” the authors say “In fact, Jesus and His apostles quote the Old Testament by using the phrase “it is written,” (or it’s equivalent) over 90 times in the New Testament.”
There are 885 references to Old Testament scripture in the New Testament. I guess it might get called “too Old Testament” too. Only 4 books in the Old Testament aren’t quoted in the New.
I just like the whole Bible…..and preach the gospel from it….all.
You can call me a Bible Thumper, but I really prefer if you want to give me a nickname…use an appropriate one…like “Bible piercer.” I don’t thump with a sword. If you, personally, thump with a sword…be free, you do you boo. Just get my title right Biblically.
Eph 6:17 and Hebrews 4:12…ya know…New Testament stuff.
I am not ashamed of the whole Bible. I don’t need to defend the God of the Old Testament. I like God in the Old Testament. I think when we, OURSELVES as Christians, aren’t comfortable with Him in the Old Testament, it makes sense why we would like to disregard it. Makes total sense.
Jeff Durbin expresses the concern he has with Andy’s approach of what Andy means by unhitching the Old Testament from Christianity.
Watch Andy’s expression when Jeff says his faith is based on the Word of God, the Bible.
I recently heard a pastor say that the spirit of the age is coming after one thing: The Bible.
I would agree. If people start drinking the kool-aid that the Bible isn’t their foundation of faith…then everything else is a very slippery relative slope. The arguments are fine sounding and they might not seem like a 180 obvious heresy, but I believe it starts to get you off 000.5% that then gets you eventually 10% off, then 15 % off, then off the narrow road completely.
Satan knew how to get humanity off the tracks, he wouldn’t come right out and deny God’s existence. That’s too 180. He didn’t even come and say God doesn’t speak. Too obvi. But satan said “Did God really say?” That’s the slight attack on the word of God that affected all humanity to this day.
We must listen closer than ever to what we are being taught from the pulpit. We must have ears to discern what people are actually saying so we aren’t deceived.
Unity is not saying “Well, they are Christian and we all might believe different so let’s just hold hands and sing “Kumbaya” together.
There are core tenets of the faith that we can’t agree to disagree on. There are many things we can agree to disagree with, but the foundation and core beliefs of our faith are not some of them.
The gospel coalition addresses Andy Stanley also: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/irresistible-andy-stanley/
Andy says ““Would you consider unhitching your teaching of what it means to follow Jesus from all things old covenant?”
What is the pay-off of Stanley’s proposed paradigm-shift? He thinks it will help reach unbelievers more effectively. In essence, the final chapters of Irresistible offer a new (it’s not really new) approach to apologetics: take the focus off the Bible (especially the Old Testament) and put it on the resurrection.
People don’t need to believe the Bible to be Christians, Stanley reminds us. So, why debate its truth? That’s just a distraction.
He states, “The good news is even if none of those [Old Testament] things actually happened it does nothing to undermine the credibility of our new covenant faith” (306).
TT: Blink blink. (I have no words.)
Alisa Childers says in her blog: Max Lucado’s endorsement of Jen Hatmaker
Unity with False Teachers?
The Jesus who prayed for unity among believers in John 17 is the same Jesus who writes a letter to the church of Thyatira in Revelation 2:18-28. He reprimands them for tolerating a self-professed prophetess who led God’s people into the practice of sexual immorality. He didn’t command them to remain in unity with her (even though she identified herself as a Christian), but actually rebuked them for tolerating her.
In his epistle, Jude had no interest in keeping unity with false teachers, but instead encouraged the church to identify and remove them. He warned of ungodly people who had crept into the church unnoticed and had turned God’s grace into a license for immorality. He pronounced “woe” on them, and he warned believers to persevere in their faith.
In Titus 1:9, Christian leaders especially are tasked with guarding the church. “[An elder] must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” This is followed by an astonishingly pointed remark: “They must be silenced.”
Nowhere in the Bible is it acceptable for a church leader to turn a blind eye to a false teacher or embrace that false teacher in unity. In fact, Paul took it a step further and named names. He specifically mentioned Alexander, Hymenaeus, and Philetus, who had left the faith of other Christians “overthrown” and “shipwrecked.” (2 Timothy 2:17-18; 1 Timothy 1:19-20)
Causing Division?
We live in a culture of tolerance where words like “inclusion” and “affirmation” have become non-negotiable tenets. Thus, it can be tempting to view any display of disunity as divisive.
But we would do good to remember that the Bible places the blame for divisions on the ones bringing in the false doctrine, not on those who call it out. Paul writes in Romans 16:17: “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.” Notice that it was the false teachers who Paul criticizes for being divisive, not the believers.
So unity is going to come when we are standing on and
contending for the truth, the whole truth, so help me God.
