Feels like I brought a Conversation to a Fist Fight
We have had three recent posts surrounding the occasional reoccurring struggle to have authentic Christian conversations in the midst of a few who are seeking a noisy crusade to “purify” the church according to their own personal idea of heresy. They alone think they know what the bible really says as they take issue with countless Nazarene Pastors, Professors, and leaders who affirm the Articles of Faith of our tradition which reflects a shared understanding of biblical Christian Orthodoxy.
Now this is not an indictment on anyone with real concerns. It is however an appropriate criticism of those few who have put themselves out front of those concerns in a divisive way that lacks Christian love and integrity. It is primarily a handful of people who are attacking an entire denomination as they do their best to scare and misinform others.
Here are the latest posts:
New Statement by Board of General Superintendents
The BGS, through Naznet, has posted a new statement that may well be of interest in regards to the emergent church. This was received this from the GMC by request of Dr. Porter with the explicit statement: "Feel free to circulate these documents." I presume this was written in reply to questions and concerns around this topic. In a later email he wrote: "the BGS endorsed it as a good point of reference regarding this conversation". -Hans Deventer
Read it HERE
Article IV: an Olive Branch for Unity in the latest “Battle for the Bible”
This post invited the small group of individuals who are making the most noise in the name of concerned Nazarenes about their claim there is a tidal wave of heresy going on in the Nazarene Denomination to stop being divisive and unify under our shared Articles of Faith. Article IV concerning Scripture is of particular interest as it is misunderstood and misrepresented by those looking to move our tradition into extreme fundamentalism. This post takes a careful look at the Nazarene Article of Faith on the Holy Scripture and explores why it is biblical and how it is something we all as Nazarenes should be able to unify under.
Read the post and check out the comments following it as Tim Wirth- the founder of the “Concerned Nazarenes” websites rejects unity and rejects affirming the 16 Articles of Faith in the Church of the Nazarene as biblical.
Read it HERE
Concerned “Nazarenes”, Direct Answers, the Articles of Faith and Rob Bell’s Dust
This post examines a recent “Concerned ‘Nazarene’” post. Manny Silva of “Reformed Nazarene” and creator of the “Concerned Nazarene” facebook page wrote on his blog on March 7th a “Questionnaire For Church Leadership, Part 1”. In this post Manny wants answers for the reason that various Pastors and church institutions within the Church of the Nazarene would use authors such as Henri Nouwen, Richard Foster, and Rob Bell as any kind of recourse and why our colleges like Trevecca “some Nazarene churches” use “Prayer Labyrinths”.
In his post he goes through each one and explains what he thinks is wrong with them, giving examples like saying that Rob Bell says the bible teaches us to “believe in ourselves”-as if Bell was pushing some kind humanistic self help. What is most interesting though is how Manny ends his post as he asks leaders (Pastors, DS’s GS’s Professors ect.) to answer this question as if everyone has been dodging it. Manny concludes: “Is the silence saying something?”
Find out how the “concerned Nazarenes” are behind the “silence” they hear, and read a comment from a Nazarene Pastor that Manny would not allow in response on his blog because it actually answered his question about something Rob Bell taught. This comment not only pointed out how Manny was twisting Bell’s words, but how if we listen to what Bell actually said, this particular teaching of Bell’s actually speaks to something we believe as a Wesleyan-Holiness tradition is biblical.
Read more HERE
