Purpose Driven or Scripture Driven? - Way of Life Literature

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children of Israel could have said to Aaron, “All worshipof god is God’s worship.” These analogies have the samedeceptive sound of being logical at first glance, but theyare full of the same ambiguity and deceit as theexpression “all truth is God’s truth.”Rick Warren made the statement, “I don’t think God carestwo bits about your style of worship as long as it’s in spiritand in truth.”Is he correct? The terms spirit and truth must first bedefined in a Biblical context. When worshipping the Lord,man’s spirit is to be moved only by the Holy Spirit of God;furthermore, worship is to be in truth which means it canonly be defined according to what God’s Holy Word says(not what man says). The Bible says that worship is to bepracticed in holiness and reverence--these qualities of “style”are not subjective! If the methods of worship were totallyrelative to the individual, then the demonstration of “spirit”and “truth” in worship would mean absolutely nothing--therewould be no way to distinguish the church from the socialinstitutions of the unregenerate world. No, the Bible says thepeople of God are to be holy, as He is holy. They are to be a“peculiar people,” “a light set upon the hill”; they arenoticeably different from the world. Thus, Warren’sstatement is not correct; God does indeed care about one’s“style” in worship and methodology. Our worship is to bepatterned after the likeness of Christ Himself and inaccordance with the principles set forth in the eternal,unalterable Word of Truth.First Chronicles 16:29 says, “Give unto the LORD theglory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come beforehim: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” Is“holiness” subjective to the individual? Absolutely not--onlyGod is holy; therefore, the characteristics of holiness arefound in the Lord, not man. Many examples and direct114
statements in God’s Word guide the believer in his worshipand in his witness away from the course of this present evilage. The qualifications of holiness are invariably differentfrom the world; thus, holy worship includes both reverenceand separation from a worldly style.Notice the New Testament counterpart for the Lord’speople in the church: 1 Timothy 6:11-14 says,But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and followafter righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience,meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold oneternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hastprofessed a good profession before many witnesses. Igive thee charge in the sight of God... That thou keep thiscommandment without spot, unrebukeable, until theappearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.First Peter 1:13-19 and Peter 2:5, 9 furthermore providebelievers in the Church Age with commands that must beconsidered when defining purpose:Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, andhope to the end for the grace that is to be brought untoyou at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedientchildren, not fashioning yourselves according to theformer lusts in your ignorance: [NOT stylizing ourcurrent walk after the former unsaved, worldly walk] Butas he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in allmanner of conversation; Because it is written, Be yeholy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, whowithout respect of persons judgeth according to everyman’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here infear.... Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritualhouse, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices,acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. But ye are a chosengeneration, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiarpeople; that ye should show forth the praises of him whohath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.Who comprises the local church? The church is to meettogether on the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week; we find115
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Warren Tells Pastors to Get Rid of
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faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ
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which he or she is highly gifted an
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“The Bible says, ‘Self-help is
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On page 70, Warren quotes Hebrews 1
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lyrics. It is the words that make a
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appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ
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Saddleback Church features nine dif
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the book of Acts and the Epistles I
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Paul’s gospel is clear. It says t
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Warren’s Anti-fundamentalist Tira
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atheism and calling it “one of th
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smoke screen. It is a straw man. I
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instructed to follow in the book of
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orderline as possible” (Henderson
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"ATMOSPHERES ARE GOING TO COMETHROU
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to believe it myself; and that’s
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wicked than same-sex relations? Whe
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how sick and blasphemous this thing
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Warren’s P.E.A.C.E. PlanSpeaking
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“The church is not called to tran
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Roger Oakland rightly observes:“W
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absolutely nothing about kicking pe
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It is a sad fact that Southerland h
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Page 68 and 69: clamour for a confederacy which wou
Page 70 and 71: American Baptist ChurchesThe Baptis
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Page 96 and 97: Warren Predict’s A “NewReformat
Page 98 and 99: An Analysis of the “Purpose Drive
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Page 132 and 133: About Way of Life’s eBooksSince J
Page 134 and 135: ecumenical; it is charismatic; it i
Page 136 and 137: Transformational Power of CCM. V. S
Page 138 and 139: variety of situations, including ho
Page 140: “The encyclopedia is excellent. T
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Purpose Driven or Scripture Driven? - Way of Life Literature

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