"Always remember, when somebody comes up with something new,
it's usually wrong. We are to be plagiarists of the same information that
God gave the first Christians." -- Dr. Matthew McMahon, aPuritansMind.com

 

10 February, 2006   comments: (0) Purpose Drivenism   Symptoms of a Purpose Driven Take-Over Yet another testimony from someone coming out of the Purpose Driven scheme. He says: "I happen to be one of those who watched the church of my youth turn to purpose driven madness". As in my own experience with a church that adopted this methodology, his church eased-in the system slowly, to minimize potential protest from seasoned church goers: "I will tell you that out of 500 people in my local church, there are about 10-15 that I know of that recognize the shift, and disagree with it for solid, biblical reasons". In his account, he gives this list of symptoms, which indicated the switch: Small Group Formation Further distancing of the youth from actual church worship and activities. Promotion of 'Christian Counseling' for any family or marriage problem. Unbelievable emphasis on giving, constantly. More and more decisions being delegated to committees made up of people who weren't deacons or elders. A survey (I wish I was making this up) from the preacher that asked the following: [ _X_ ] I want to hear Bible based sermons, that are expository in nature. [ _X_ ] I want to hear sermons that help me with what I am facing this week. These will still use Bible verses, but will have more stories, humor, and real life application. You can guess which one won in a landslide. Constant "Marriage and Family" type lessons, classes, retreats, groups, etc. [see previous OldTruth article] A mandated Bible class curriculum that doesn't allow expository teaching of the scriptures, but looks at "topics". I went against everything I have always felt about respecting the eldership, and continued to teach my class called "Through the Bible". No sermons on sin, hell, Calvary, or any element of the gospel for well over a year. [see OldTruth article] Sermons regurgitated almost word for word from Rick Warren's 'Pastors.com'. Sermons with 'fill in the blank' outlines passed out to worshippers. There are almost always three big fill in the blank statements like: "God will bless me if I _______ and ________." and "To overcome your fears, you must _______ and _____." Incredible emphasis on works. Endless promotion of committees, activities, ladies get-togethers, men's get-togethers, class parties, etc... Redefinition of the word 'serve' to mean that one is involved in church activities. Worship services dominated by what I have heard referred to as "7-11" songs: songs that have seven words, repeated eleven times. I haven't been able to sing my favorite hymn, "His Grace Reaches me", in worship services for over three years, but I have heard "People Need the Lord" about seventy weeks in a row... Sunday school classes entitled "What We Believe, and Why We Believe It" (Is that not the worst title ever? I would call it "The Bible"). These classes put forth the idea that there are "essentials", "safe ground practices", and "matters of opinion". Every topic covered was in the Bible. I fail to see how something that is in the Bible is a "matter of opinion", but these classes were seriously crossing the line of Biblical inerrancy. Our last true gospel meeting was three years ago, with a true preacher of the word. There were so many complaints from the younger set, that there was actually an apology given. This true gospel meeting lasted four nights, and each time, a separate event was deliberately planned for the youth groups to keep them away from the meeting. We don't want the teenagers to hear the truth, right? The visiting preacher actually offered to give his per-diem back to the congregation because he felt that he was ineffective. He knew what was going on as well as I did: how can anyone respond to the invitation if everyone present has already done so? Everyone who needed to hear his message was elsewhere! General move towards people telling "their story". This is usually accompanied by crying, childhood traumas recounted, etc... Emphasis on men "understanding" their wives, and "communicating" with their spouses, whatever that means. My wife and I have some really good comedy routines we've worked-out at home based on this nonsense. I was actually asked to stop teaching my class (a three year study through the entire Bible) because the room was needed for a women's class called "How to overcome stress and anxiety". I responded that they should feel some stress and anxiety if they would rather do that than study the Bible. When one of our elders was asked to teach a Bible class that I was in for a few weeks, instead of teaching the Bible, he taught "The Prayer of Jabez", and used the example of his multi-million dollar business to "prove" that the prayer worked. My wife and I were sickened to the point of nausea. I started referring to the book as the "Plague of Jabez". I realized after this, and after talking to the elder, that he was unable to teach the Bible because he didn't know much about it. A "program" was instituted with the explicit purpose of growing the church from 500 to 900 within a specified period of time (I can't remember how long). Every sermon was based on this, classes were formed for this, and people were assigned to different aspects of the program (e.g. "First contacts", "Referrers", etc...). There was even a theme song picked that the church sang in each service for over a year. When we actually lost members during that time, the program quietly went away. I have asked the elders point blank if what I thought was occurring was what was really occurring. I was told that I was mistaken, and that we were just trying to keep up with the times. I responded, "You can't answer a question with no AND yes". I could run on ad-nauseam with this list, but it is really too sad. I realize that most people who would read this would ask, "why in the world would you stay in a congregation that is this off-track for so long?". The only answer I have is that I have been there since the age of twelve, and it is very hard to suddenly break from your lifelong congregation. In the heart of the Bible belt, one of the most conservative and traditional churches around has been taken over by uninformed people under the sway of the west coast, liberal, unbiblical 'purpose driven madness'. There really is nowhere to turn, and we have reached the point of moving out of the area in order to find a church we can be a part of and not feel as if we are participating in apostasy. Please pray for these people who do not know what they are doing. I believe that they think they are doing good, but they reject sound doctrine and training, which is a sin. Please pray that they will return to the Bible, forgetting the garbage they have filled their minds with. Thank you for allowing me to vent this frustration. A Reader from Tennessee Received 2/1/06 and posted with permission of the victim. Related Information and Resources: Read another testimony from a Purpose Driven refugee Listen to an audio recording with similar testimonies See Bob DeWaay's resources exposing the Purpose Driven system. Read critiques of the Purpose Driven Life on the Bible Bulletin Board Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.199   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism