Jude 1:3, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
Most of us are concerned with the
direction of our country. We would agree that our country is moving in a
direction that is destructive. The liberals who are trying to change the
direction of our country often accuse those who call them out as being
divisive or troublemakers. No matter how carefully we word our concerns they
will continue to use that tool as their means of defense. The New Green Deal
is the current first step to Socialism brought to you by your Democratic
Party. The destination is the marriage of Communism to Socialism. Are we
divisive when we push back? Absolutely Not!
The recent responses that I have received concerning my articles on Paul
Chappell has been surprisingly positive. The negatives however have for the
most part taken on the same tone of liberals who criticize those who call
others out for moving in a certain direction of being divisive. Now if I was
trying to destroy a man’s ministry you could call me divisive. If I was
trying to split his church you could call me divisive. I would do nothing to
hurt Paul Chappell’s church. It is his church. He can take it whatever
direction he chooses. That is between Paul Chappell and God.
I did not write these articles to hurt Paul Chappell’s church. I wrote them
as a warning to the rest of us to be careful about following his direction.
He can take his church into the Southern Baptist Convention, the Assembly of
God, the Catholic Church, or the Mormon church and it is not my business. It
is my business however to call out a man who is moving in a direction that
will influence others and I feel it to be detrimental. That is especially
true because of other preachers who are following him.
Years ago, I was accused of being divisive for calling out Jerry Falwell
when he began his move away from independent fundamentalism. I was called
divisive when I begin to call out Jack Schaap for his heresy and for moving
away from what Dr. Hyles taught. People who are moving away from the right
typically call those of us who question their leader as being divisive. You
have no basis for that accusation.
This all came about not in a knee jerk act. I gave those men time. It kept
getting worse. I spoke to those men and then felt compelled to say something
to warn the young leaders of what was going to happen if they continued to
follow these men. Guess what? It did happen. I have spoken to Paul and given
him plenty of time to reconsider his direction. Now he has chosen to be a
main speaker at an SBC meeting in a well known rock and roll SBC church.
Though some will say don’t pay attention to this BLOG I promise you we will
all revisit what is written here if Paul does not stop this spiritual
insanity. He has thrown our mentors under the bus and is in lockstep with
the direction of the late Jerry Falwell.
You would not believe the hate mail I receive from people defending Paul
Chappell. Some is mean, evil, and wicked. Yet when I write a kind and
reasoned article I am called divisive. I am a troublemaker because I speak
what I see to be the truth. There was no hatred in my heart and there was no
hatred in my tone. I desire no ill to come upon Paul Chappell. However, I
will warn people of what I see as a danger. I do not impose my will upon
them. I do not force them to stop following Paul Chappell. I merely say what
I see and foresee will happen when they reach the destination.
Now if my warnings bother someone that much that they feel the need to call
me divisive; maybe the problem is them and not me. Maybe rather than dealing
with the issues they prefer accusing me of making something big out of what
you consider to be small. Well maybe I don’t see it as being small. Maybe I
see it as being big. Who are you to decide what I think is important? Do you
see the hypocrisy in that reasoning?
It’s what the liberals do to us every day. They try to shame us for speaking
what we believe to be true. They turn us into the hate-mongers when in
reality we love them. I don’t hate the liberals, but they hate me. I want
all of them to get saved. It is not hatred that warns people of the
direction our country is taking. It is love to warn someone when you think
there is a danger.
Now you may not think the direction Paul Chappell is taking is dangerous. I
happen to disagree. That does not make me a hate-monger. Nor does it make me
divisive. It merely is my opinion based on what I have seen happen to our
movement time and time again over the span of my 50 years in ministry.
I am not afraid of Paul Chappell. I was not afraid of Jerry Falwell. I was
not afraid of Jack Schaap. Some followed them and ended up at their
destination. Others did not because of the warning of some who refused to be
silent. Not everyone will agree with my view of what is happening. Some will
think that they should continue following Paul Chappell. My friend that is
your choice. I do not condemn you for it. You do not see things the way I
see them. There are others who have wondered about Paul Chappell and my
warning will serve to prevent them from following him any further. That’s
what I’m trying to do. The destination of his direction is full blown
compromise.
Someone foolishly said I am dividing fundamentalism. What does that even
mean? We are all independent. How do you divide something like
fundamentalism? I am merely attempting to identify what I see as
neo-fundamentalism and warn that we do not drift away from our roots. That
is not divisive. I am not divisive to my country because I refuse to be
quiet about the liberal direction our country is taking. That is not being
divisive. That is being honest and true to what I believe.
For those of you who follow Paul Chappell I am not going to fight you. I
won’t call you out. I won’t be your enemy. We may not preach together, but
we can pray for one another. Consider my words carefully as you make your
decision. Once that has been made then there is nothing else I can do.
I will answer questions honestly and continue to respond to responses I
receive. Honest inquiries concerning what I have said have led me to to
speak out more. This is not a war that I have started. It is not a war I
desire to fight. It is a warning. If there is a war it is because those who
have not liked my warning decide to start shooting real bullets at me rather
than just accepting my warning for what it is.
I did not choose to preach at a SBC meeting in a well known Rock and Roll
SBC church. I would expect a blow back if I did and rightfully so. You would
not be divisive in so doing, but a defender of the faith. We, as a whole,
came out of the SBC and there is no reason to go back into the SBC. The road
that leads directly to Nashville starts in this SBC meeting.
I welcome intelligent sincere reasoned responses and questions. I hope that
I can stop some from following Paul Chappell in the direction that he is
going. Once again it is not to hurt the man. Nor is it to hurt his church.
It is merely doing what I feel God would have me to do with those with whom
I do have a little influence.
Paul placed himself on the national scene not me. In so doing he becomes
responsible for what he says, where he goes, and what he does. If he wants
our children to come to him and be under his influence then we have a right
to ask, “What in the world were you thinking when you accepted this
invitation to an SBC meeting?”
It is possible to be a good man and a bad influence. I believe that Paul
Chappell is a good man, but a bad influence. The direction to a bad
destination is going to be devastating. The key word to my article was the
word “CONCERN.” It is even more of a “CONCERN” after reading some of the
illogical responses. Friendship should never trump truth.
