An Open Letter

Concerned to Discern

By Pastor Larry DeBruyn

"Why then has this people, Jerusalem, Turned away in continual apostasy? They hold fast to deceit, They refuse to return."
(Jeremiah 8:5, NASB)

As could be agreed upon by most believers, Christians have the right, even the duty, to evaluate and hold accountable to Holy Scripture professing evangelical Christians who, for reason of their manifest beliefs and behaviors, appear to be departing from the faith.[1] Jude told his readers to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). To shirk this responsibility means that believers are being disobedient to the faith once for all delivered. To all Christians the Spirit gives His anointing which places upon them the responsibility to discern the "spirit of truth" from the "spirit of error" (1 John 4:6; 2:20-21, 27). To the congregation at Rome Paul wrote:

"Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." (Romans 16:17-18; Compare Philippians 3:17-19.)

This same apostle also warned the elders at Ephesus:

"I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears." (Acts 20:29-31)

In one context, Paul even named the false teachers! (2 Timothy 2:17; Compare 1 Timothy 1:18-20.)

Thus, in fidelity to the apostolic injunctions, in an open forum known as Herescope, we attempt to differentiate truth from error. We do so because mainstream Christian publishers and churches--not wanting to become overly controversial and therefore risk the loss of membership and/or sales revenue--ignore issues that we, for the integrity of God's truth as revealed in Holy Scripture, are compelled to engage. In past generations, the pan-evangelical movement exposed and faced down the errors presented by Christian-like cults without, but has, for whatever reason, been quite unwilling to expose equally destructive heresies within. As John MacArthur noted fifteen tears ago, an undiscerning spirit amongst evangelicals has bred and is breeding "reckless faith."[2]

Recent emails to the Herescope blog's administrator have questioned the spirit with which its discernment ministry is conducted; specifically, that some writings are too critical and therefore unloving. As we proceed with further website posts, we shall consider this criticism. We desire to approach our ministry in a godly spirit and therefore consider that such criticism may reveal a spiritual blind spot. If and where valid, we will strive to take the issue raised into consideration. As he did to the Ephesians, Paul does admonish believers to speak "the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15).

Interestingly, this admonition of the apostle follows on the heels of Paul's stating his hope that the Ephesians would have matured to the point where they would no longer be "children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming" (Ephesians 4:14). Thus, one evidence of spiritual maturity involves the ability to differentiate spiritual truth--those beliefs and behaviors which accord with Holy Scripture--from spiritual error--those which do not agree with Holy Scripture. It is therefore understood that discernment must pursue the truth, but must do so in a spirit of love. At times, and given the fleshly nature that remains in every Christian (none of us is perfect), this can become a difficult balance to keep.

Yet on this point we note that though recent emails have accused Herescope of being un-loving, they do not accuse nor document that we are untruthful, that we lie. This of course, raises a tangential issue: can speaking of truth offend some persons to the degree that it will create in them an emotional impression that those who speak the truth do not love them?

On this point, we ought to remember that Proverbs inform us, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy" (Proverbs 27:6, NASB). We might also remember the instance when Jehoshaphat inquired of the king of Israel about where he could find a prophet of the Lord to make inquiry to. So the king of Israel informed Jehoshaphat: "There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil" (1 Kings 22:8). On another occasion Ahab addressed Elijah: "Have you found me, O my enemy?" (1 Kings 21:20). It is evident that the kings perceived the messages of these prophets, Micaiah and Elijah, to be unloving. Of the latter's encounter with Ahab, Anglican pastor J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) noted something that is as relevant today as it was in his day. He observed:

Alas, there are many like Ahab in the nineteenth century! They like a ministry which does not make them uncomfortable, and send them home ill at ease. How is it with you? Oh, believe me, he is the best friend who tells you the most truth! [3]

We would note that received communications have not challenged the truth of what has been posted on Herescope --the documented facts, biblical citations and theological arguments employed--but only personal impressions that blog articles have been unloving. In syllogistic fashion, this perception might be stated as follows:

Christians are to love other Christians.
Discerning Christians appear not to love other Christians.
Therefore, discerning Christians and discernment are un-Christian.

This is the implication implied in the scriptural citations we have received, especially 1 John 4:20-21 which says: "If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also."

Our response to this does not rest upon the truth of the NT passages that have been pointed out to us (John 17:23; 2 Timothy 2:14-16; James 4:11; 1 Peter 1:22; 4:7-8; 1 John 2:9, 11; 4:20-21; Jude 18-21). Agreed--we are to love genuine brothers and sisters in the Christian faith. But, like Jesus, we are forced to ask, especially in the days of apostasy in which we live, Who are our brothers? (See Matthew 12:48.) Any definition of brotherhood must rest upon NT passages that define "brotherhood" to include those individuals who evidence submission and fidelity to the beliefs and behavior of Holy Scripture, who together manifest that we're members of the born-from-above family of God. In Christendom, there are professors and possessors, for Paul wrote that, "they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel" (Romans 9:6). Ultimately, Jesus will separate the wheat from the tares (Matthew 13:36-43). That is why what we engage in is a ministry of discernment, not judgment.

Nevertheless, let's look at 1 John--the epistle that, with the exception of 1 John 4:1, we have been chided as being unfamiliar with--to see if it confirms the assumption that division and differences are invariably wrong, that discernment hinders the greater Christian community from aggregating itself into a single polymorphous "Kumbaya."

We note John wrote his first letter to a hurting church that false teachers/antichrists had devastated with their false teachings. False teachers--professed Christians, who for reason of having subtly introduced destructive and divisive heresies into the body of Christ, revealed they were not Christian--had devastated the church to which John was writing at that time and place (By the way, where's the "love" on the part of false teachers?). The naïve sheep did not know what had hit them, what had ruined the loving fellowship they had once enjoyed. Wolves in sheep's clothing are very unloving and destructive. The biblical metaphor implies them to be the natural born killers of the sheep. So John informed the remaining believers: "They" [i.e., the false teachers and their followers] "went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us" (1 John 2:19). Discernment ministry is necessary to expose unbiblical beliefs and behaviors which destroy the blessedness enjoyed by the beloved. Discernment is necessary to expose those who, often contrary to their claim to be otherwise, are not "of us." We note the division in the fellowship was instigated by those who pretended to be Christians but were not. So John added: "These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you" (1 John 2:26).

All of us have a right to our take on the state of the church today as we also have our right to express scripturally informed views pertaining to the same. May God's truth win out as competing views play out in the blogosphere. Yet amidst it all, Jesus' warning ought to be heeded:

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." (Matthew 7:15-23, KJV)

Jesus' words serve as a solemn warning to all who profess to know Him, including anyone and everyone in discernment ministry. Therefore, Paul tells us: "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves" (2 Corinthians 13:5). Again, the apostle instructs believers to "examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil" (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22; See Ephesians 5:11.). Yet again, he states:

"If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain." (1 Timothy 6:3-5)

In light of these scriptural admonitions--and others abundantly extant in both testaments--Dr. Harry Ironside (1876-1951) observed:

Of late, the hue and cry has been against any and all negative teaching. But the brethren who assume this attitude forget that a large part of the New Testament, both of the teaching of our blessed Lord Himself and the writings of the apostles, is made up of this very character of ministry . . . [4]

He then went on to state:

Error is like leaven of which we read, A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Truth mixed with error is equivalent to all error, except that it is more innocent looking and, therefore, more dangerous. God hates such a mixture! Any error, or any truth-and-error mixture, calls for definite exposure and repudiation. To condone such is to be unfaithful to God and His Word and treacherous to imperiled souls for whom Christ died. [5]

To genuine Christians love "does not," indeed cannot, "rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth" (1 Corinthians 13:6). Meanwhile, as the age unfolds and plays itself out, all of us ought to heed the question of Jesus:

"Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh,
shall he find faith on the earth?"
(Luke 18:8)

ENDNOTES
[1] We ought to remember that through two-thousand years of history, Christian churches, even the Roman Catholic, have declared certain beliefs to be incompatible with the Christian faith. Discernment ministry has thus had a long history in the church! Discerners are not an odd group, but find precedent even with the Protestant Reformation itself. Remember, the heart of the word Protestant is "protest."
[2] John F. MacArthur, Reckless Faith, When the Church Loses Its Will to Discern (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1994).
[3] J.C. Ryle, "Unsearchable Riches," Holiness (Durham, England: Evangelical Press, 1879) 281.
[4] Dr. Harry Ironside (1876-1951) was a Bible teacher and author who for eighteen years served as pastor of Chicago's Moody Memorial Church (1930-1948).
[5] Ibid.

Mingling Becomes Entangled

"Eastern and Western occultism have mingled for at least two millennia. But what used to be a trickle has now become a flood. Even churches are welcoming the mysteries that secret societies and Taoist alchemists once hid so well.

"Westerners raised in a 'safe' Christian culture tend to discount the source of these powers. America, like Europe, has conveniently shut its eyes to occult realities that faded from sight with the spread of Christianity. Now those dark realities are returning with a vengeance." [emphasis added]

This quotation comes from Berit Kjos's recent "Pre-Halloween Warning" article -- "The Rising Darkness in Children's Games: Training kids to love evil more than good." Berit has observed that with the rising tide of mysticism and paganism within evangelicalism, there is "little or no help" for those entangled in occultism. She observes the disturbing trend that

"popular occultism is spreading fast, and the 'spirit world' has become increasingly more accessible.... But few families are equipped to resist it. Contemporary churches offer little or no help. Most simply ignore the danger or endorse the 'fun.' To avoid offense, the word evil is dropped from their vocabulary.

"The main victims of this blindness are children. Unless we teach them to recognize and resist these dangers, many will welcome the darkness."

Her article goes on to explain the popular game "Bakugan," and shows how it is an example of the progression into occult bondage:

"1. Commanding supernatural power through the imagination.
2. Craving more dark thrills -- while increasingly bored with actual reality.
3. Suffering the mental, emotional and spiritual consequences of trusting the occult."


Berit Kjos, a good friend of ours, has warned evangelical parents about the dangers of the occult embedded in children's toys, movies, curriculums, and games for well over twenty years now. She has also persistently warned parents about the dangers of letting their children participate in Halloween.

As the occult becomes more flagrantly exotic and enticing, the church is less and less able to stand and resist it. Sadly, the reason for this is given in the following Scripture: "...in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons...." (1 Timothy 4:1).

The reader is encouraged to read Berit's entire article posted HERE.

"UNSHACKLED"

UNSHACKLED: Breaking Away From Seductive Spirituality

Pastor Larry DeBruyn's new book reviews The Shack, Wm. Paul Young's bestselling spiritual allegory. But is much more than that! UNSHACKLED is a solid biblical refutation of the emerging heresies of the "quantum spirituality" movement. This movement is showing up both within the New Age/New Spirituality and also the Emerging/Emergent church (popularized by Leonard Sweet's book titled Quantum Spirituality).

Pastor DeBruyn's book offers something for everyone. For those who simply want to know more about The Shack, UNSHACKLED is a good source of basic information. This is the type of book that you can comfortably hand to your friends. It is short (only 116 pages) and has a beautifully designed book cover that will attract readers. UNSHACKLED is also a great book to give to your pastors and church leaders to read. It is scholarly and very well-written.

There is an awesome chapter in the book which is titled "From Cosmos, To Chaos, To Consciousness: Quantum Physics and the New Spirituality." This is a must read chapter for everyone who is a biblical believer today. This chapter is riveting, absolutely stunning in its scope. Pastor DeBruyn spent over six months working on this chapter, getting expert advice from friends who are scientists and theologians. This chapter is the coup de grace to quantum spirituality. The eschatological implications of the material presented in this chapter are immense and far-reaching. . . .

UNSHACKLED: Breaking Away From Seductive Spirituality is available from Discernment Ministries for a gift of $10.00 plus $2.50 for shipping. Orders can be placed by phoning: 903-567-6423. Bulk discounts are available. Book sales directly benefit "Eastern European Ministries," a very special mission project that is close to Pastor DeBruyn's heart.

Pastor Larry DeBruyn was a featured speaker at the Discerning the Times Conference held on October 9-10th. Contact Discernment Ministries for conference recordings: 903-567-6423. Presenters included the following members of the Discernment Research Group:

• Pastor Larry DeBruyn - "Quantum Physics and the New Spirituality" & "On the Rocks in The Shack"

• Dr. Martin Erdmann - "Perfectionism and Romanticism," "Perfectionism and Revivalism" & "Perfectionism and Postmillennialism"
• Lynn Leslie - "Separating from the Emergent"
• Pastor Jeffrey Whittaker - "Everything Must Change - Changes Everything"
• Jewel Grewe - "Spirituality (Old & New)"
• Sarah Leslie - "Manipulating the Sheep"

"Pub Theology"

Emergent Inebriates - There They Go Again!

"A growing number of Christian groups from a variety of denominations are taking God to the bars, launching religious-themed pub nights dubbed 'martini masses' or 'theology on tap' in an effort to broaden their reach.[1]

Mixing theology with inebriation is rapidly becoming established as a new way to do evangelism. The latest article on this new wave of tipsy testimony comes from yesterday's Globe and Mail in Vancouver, Canada: "Go on, have a pint with the Lord." The article begins:

On Wednesday nights at Ballygiblin's pub in Ottawa, the most animated conversations involve neither hockey nor politics. Instead, over pints of their local microbrew, patrons are more likely to be engrossed in debate over the significance of Jesus Christ in the modern world.

Pastor Ahren Summach of the Ottawa Valley Vineyard church realizes it may be an unorthodox place to hold his weekly theological meetings.

But since they began earlier this year, his sessions regularly draw more than a half-dozen men who gather to drink and examine such questions as, “Is Jesus God?” and “If God is good and all powerful, then why is there suffering in the world?”

The appeal of holding the meetings in a pub, Mr. Summach said, “is trying to blur the lines between what's a sacred space and what's a secular space. Without the religious setting, you get more authentic discussion, more honest questions and a little more honest sharing.”

According to the article, these "new theology pub groups" are becoming widespread. They "have also cropped up across Canada, in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver."

The previous Herescope post by Pastor Larry DeBruyn, Emergent Inebriates: Some thoughts on 'Pub Theology'" reviewed this phenomenon, which is also coming in like a flood in America as one of the hottest new "tools" for reaching out to the lost.

Some of us recall that in the days of the "Jesus Movement" we did street witnessing, and occasionally walked into bars. But it wasn't to drink. It was to offer lost souls the opportunity to get saved by Jesus Christ and to be freed from their sins. Rather than staying in bars, people were pulled out of bars! The power of true Holy Spirit revival, to which we were eyewitnesses, is now being replaced by a tipsy technique of mixing carnal with spiritual, where the purported soul-winners become indistinguishable from the lost, and where the "mind of Christ" becomes dulled by inebriation.


The Truth:

"[T]he devil never speaks any truth but with an intention to deceive."[2]

"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." (Romans 6:12-13)


Endnotes:
1. "Go on, have a pint with the Lord," Wendy Leung, Globe and Mail, October 12, 2009.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/family-and-relationships/go-on-have-a-pint-with-the-lord/article1321117/
2. Matthew Poole's Commentary on Acts 16:18.

Emergent Inebriates

Some thoughts on "Pub Theology."

By Pastor Larry DeBruyn

As he begins to rip into "a screaming guitar solo," a band member sarcastically yells out at the audience, "Let's go to church boys!"[1] Welcome to Pub Theology. As the reporter describes it, Pub Theology is "a Sunday night show that's one part church and one part party." Among other posters on the barroom walls, one alludes and adds to the final verse of the biblical chapter on love. It reads, "Faith, Hope, Love and Beer." WARNING: The biblical text reads, "But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13, NASB).[2]

Being "shaggy-haired, body-pierced and colored with assorted body art," members of the Sunday evening pub rock group double as members of a mega-church's "worship team" on Sunday mornings. Confessing to love both Jesus and rock 'n' roll, band members will burn through a pack of cigarettes and exhort the audience to visit the bar and buy beer during Sunday night "church." Initially skeptical about hosting Pub Theology on Sunday nights, the bar owner now admits the band has turned an otherwise dead night into a profitable evening.

Regarding this new outreach -- the mega-church's ministerial staff approve of doing Pub Theology -- one of the band's members says: "We want to be sincere and authentic and be who we really are, whether that is wearing jeans and a T-shirt or having a beer. I think that is real," he continues, "and I don't think it is wrong or that God is unhappy about that." Sure . . . in contrast to "drunkenness, carousing," one fruit of the Spirit is "self-control" (Galatians 5:21, 23).

Relates another band member: "I can drink a beer and smoke a cigarette and play some of my favorite songs and hang out with my friends and maybe meet someone and tell them about Jesus."

Interestingly, most of the band members were raised in religious homes. In fact, two of its members are former PKS (That's an acronym for "preacher's kids."). Having been a former pastor, their father has now become the band's "roadie" (That's a term which refers to the managers and technicians traveling with the band.). The members account for the band's existence and approach to ministry for reason of their holier-than-thou Wesleyan upbringing -- you know, "I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't go to R-rated movies, I don't dance."

On this point, and as a rebellious child of the '60s who too was raised in the legalistic environment of Western Michigan, let me say that I understand and somewhat sympathize with the band members' rejection of legalism. But all rebels ought to be cautioned that "rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry" (1 Samuel 15:23). We ought to be reminded that God doesn't make Christians from the outside in, but rather from the inside out. Though one's Christianity is defined by inner faith not outer works, Paul did write that Christians are God's "workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

Works are the issue of faith. Thus, we must not assume the opposite attitude from legalism, that of antinomianism (i.e., that God's grace cancels out any need to obey His moral and spiritual law). For as Paul asked: "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" (Romans 6:1-2). Contradicting antinomianism, the writer of Hebrews orders us to, "Pursue . . . holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled" (Hebrews 12:14-15, NKJV).

Nevertheless, the casual and alcoholically lubricated atmosphere of Pub Theology raises an important issue, for, as the reporter asks, "Does Pub Theology produce any lasting effects, or is it just a casual encounter with church in a bar -- a spiritual one-night stand?" All the band's claims of "doing ministry" notwithstanding -- they do field questions about Christianity from the audience and callers-in, give inebriated individuals rides home, and have even seen one rescued drunk baptized a few days later in their church -- Pub Theology shows every symptom of being a carnal "one-night-stand." (Note: I do not use the word spiritual.)

First, Pub Theology is not church. If it is, then where's the reading of Scripture, the apostles' teaching, prayer and observance of the Lord's Table? (Acts 2:42) But on this point, we can be certain that the band will avoid any impression of being too "churchly or preachy." But beer steins are no substitute for communion cups. In fact, to the true church the Apostle Peter announced that "the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousals, drinking parties and abominable idolatries" (1 Peter 4:3).

Second, Pub Theology is not theology. Reportedly, the band's opening song was Joan Osborne's one-hit wonder, "What if God was one of us?" The lyrics add, "Just a slob like one of us."[3] Imagine . . . God being a slob like the rest of the inebriated crowd at the bar. Given such a humanizing of God, what we're dealing with is not Pub Theology, but pub idolatry. "[T]he glory of the incorruptible God" is being exchanged "for an image in the form of corruptible man" (Romans 1:23, NASB). Do you think Joan Osborne's lyrical questions in any way resemble or affirm the great Christological passages of the New Testament? (John 1:1 ff.; Colossians 1:15-17; Philippians 2:5-11). By the way, these cited passages are comprised of theological statements extracted from early Christian hymns. Would the pub theology band sing them? I'd think they'd estimate that the lyrics of these biblical hymns are far too dogmatic, stodgy, and preachy for the "boys" at the bar! If the song "What if God was one of us?" gives any indication, probably none of the other music the band plays includes "psalms, hymns, or spiritual songs."

Third, Pub Theology is not Christian outreach. The Apostle Paul would not have employed carnal means to attain spiritual ends.[4] You can't fight fire with fire. He wrote: "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God" (2 Corinthians 10:3-5, NIV; Compare Galatians 5:21 where Paul labels "drunkenness" a work of the flesh). The Apostle also ordered the Ephesians: "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:18-19). To the Roman believers he added that, "It is good not . . . to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles" (Romans 14:21).[5]

So we conclude: Given the atmosphere surrounding Pub Theology, the description of love as it exists on a poster at "Sunday-night-church-in-a-bar" might be parodied to read: Now abide these four, "faith, hope, love, and beer," but the greatest of these is beer!


ENDNOTES
[1] Unless otherwise noted, all quotations are taken from Robert King, "Faith, Hope, Love, Beer," The Indianapolis Star, September 27, 2009, A1, A14. Article may be viewed online. See Faith & Values, Robert King, "Pub Theology conveys Christian message in Broad Ripple," Indy Star.com, September 27, 2009, http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009909270384.
[2] Wisdom testifies: "Every word of God is tested . . . Do not add to His words lest He reprove you, and you be proved a liar" (Proverbs 30:5-6, NASB). Compare Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; and Revelation 22:18-19.
[3] Lyrics online at: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/onehitwonders/ifgodwasoneofuslyrics.html.
[4] Those interested in pursuing the matter of the Christian and alcohol consumption are invited to read, "The Wrath of Grapes: The Christian and Alcohol Consumption." Online the article is available at: http://www.frbaptist.org/bin/view/Ptp/PtpTopic20071105160759.
[5] On this point, readers are invited to check out website article, "Was Paul a Pragmatist?" Online the article may be viewed at: http://www.frbaptist.org/bin/view/Ptp/PtpTopic20080513102433 or at Herescope http://herescope.blogspot.com/2008/05/was-paul-pragmatist.html


Pastor DeBruyn is the author of the newly-released book UNSHACKLED: Breaking Away from Seductive Spirituality, available from Discernment Ministries 903-567-6423.