Thus says the Lord: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" --Jeremiah 6:16

 

5 October, 2007   comments: (0) Anti-Calvinism   Rick Frueh on "Jesus The Arminian Cry Baby" and Heartless Calvinists The shocking anti-Calvinist statements from Pastor Henry (Rick) Frueh seem to have no end these days. In one of his latest online contributions he has this to say to someone who commented on a blog: "- you subscribe not just to an emotionless, Calvinistic view of people being damned forever, you seem to teach we should rejoice. Then when Jesus wept over Jerusalem He was just being an Arminian cry baby, right?". But does that fit with the historical accounts of what we know of Calvinist pastors, many of which have been known to weep and pray over lost souls? Let's have a look at church history and find out. Rick Frueh's words are disrespectful not only to our Lord, but also to so many of the great Calvinists in church history that labored in missions and evangelism. A few names that come to mind include George Whitefield who preached to a good percentage of the early American colonies, David Brainerd who died an early death being exposed to the elements in his missionary endeavors amongst the American indians, Charles Spurgeon, and George Mueller who prayed and cared for thousands of children in the orphanages under his care. Allow me to share one more account with you however, from Joel Beeke talking about the Scottish (Calvinist) preacher RM. M'Cheyne. See if you think this matches-up with Pastor Frueh's depiction of Calvinists: The [Calvinist] Puritans saturated all their evangelistic efforts in prayer. They were "men of the closet" first of all. They were great preachers only because they were also great petitioners who wrestled with God for divine blessing upon their preaching. ... A [worker at the Puritan-minded] Robert Murray M'Cheyne's church noticed the awe on the face of a visitor and invited him into his study. "Tell me", said the visitor, "having sat under this Godly man's ministry, what is the secret of his success?" The worker told the visitor to sit at M'Cheyne's desk. Then he asked the man to put his hands on the desk. Then to put his face in his hands and weep. Next the two men walked into the church sanctuary and ascended to the pulpit. "Lean over the pulpit", the worker said. "Now reach out your hands and weep". "Now you know the secret of M'Cheyne's ministry". The church today desperately needs such preachers whose private prayers season their pulpit messages. The Puritan pastors jealously guarded their personal devotion time. They set their priorities on spiritual, eternal realities. They knew that if they ceased to watch and pray constantly they would be courting spiritual disaster. Faithful, steadfast, and sincere, they were God-fearing men who continually examined themselves and were painfully aware, as John Flavel said "that a man may be objectively a spiritual man, and all the while subjectively a carnal man". They believed as John Owen noted: "No man preacheth that sermon well that doth not first preach it to his own heart... If the word do not dwell with power in us, it will not pass with power from us". Unlike many modern evangelists, the quality of their spiritual life was uniformly high. Rick Frueh's troubling comment can be found on this post over at Chris Lyons' watchdog site. It's mixed in with numerous other erroneous, perhaps even slanderous, comments against biblical Predestination and Election, which they harpoon with the label of "manmade Calvinism". UPDATE 12/1/07: More of the same from Rick Frueh in the comments of this post which attempts to deconstruct Phil Johnson's discussion of the shortest verse in the bible ("Jesus wept"). Frueh sarcastically injects: "Jesus was weeping over the coming departure from the teachings of His servant John Calvin. It's in the original." As a side note on the "cry baby" post, watch the video of the culturally-relevant pastor Rob Bell on that page, who enjoys a great deal of positive press on that particular site. As you listen to it, ask yourself, "what did Jesus come to SAVE his people FROM"? See if Rob Bell's answer lines up with the biblical priority of salvation that we find throughout the New Testament. So the question for Rob Bell is: "Saved from WHAT?". Phil Johnson provides this response to Rob Bell's tainted teaching. See our previous Rick Frueh posts: "Reformed Theology is an Idol That is Worshipped" "Rick Frueh: Cultish, Calvinist Blasphemers?" Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.790   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism