Pastor’s Pen 10/27/2019

Pastor’s Pen 10/27/2019

Truth matters.

“Did God actually say…”Genesis 3:1

 When Satan tempted Eve he did not tell her that God did not exist or that God was evil. He tempted Eve by getting her to doubt the Word of God, “He said to the woman, “Did God     actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

(Gen.3:1) . This past week the Twitter world and other social media outlets exploded with outrage over a John MacArthur comment about Beth Moore. Why? Because he had the nerve to publicly rebuke a Christian who is in sin. One post I read  stated, “In an insult veiled as a boast for himself, I would liken MacArthur, for all the good he has attempted to do in his life,  to that of a resounding gong or clanging cymbal, devoid of love.” Here is another from twitter,   “Man, that @johnmacarthur clip, dragging @BethMooreLPM is misogyny at its finest. All that good ole boy chortling and back slapping, made my stomach sick. What a disappointing witness for a man whose influence has been so broad. Sometimes God lets us tell on ourselves.”

I find it interesting that she is finding support from atheists as well. On the Patheos website a blog titled the  Friendly Atheist, Sarahbeth Caplin writes, “The only positive interpretation of MacArthur’s response is that it gives away the fact that he’s threatened by Moore’s success. He’s jealous. Better to dismiss a powerful Christian woman than to admit she’s more effective than him. Whatever his reasons, MacArthur showed his true colors. And Moore has refused to sink to his level by clapping back.”

Why all of this outrage? Because when asked at a Truth Matters Conference (yes Biblical truth does matter) he was asked to give a one word response to Beth Moore. He gave two, go home. While this may seem harsh and unchristen like he was doing what her spiritual authorities (her husband and her    pastor) had failed to do. Telling her that she is doing what Scripture commands her not to do. On Mother’s Day of this past year she preached a sermon to men and women. Since then there has been a huge debate within the SBC and       Evangelical community over whether Beth Moore is violating Scripture.

Scripture is clear, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to     exercise authority over a man; rather” (1 Timothy 2:12). Some will say that this was only meant for the church in Ephesus where Timothy was the pastor. But, Paul addresses that when he refers back to the book of Genesis, “For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor”. In 1 Timothy 3:2-3 it list the qualifications to be a Pastor, “Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.” We need to very careful when we say that scripture does not apply in our modern day society.

Dr. John MacArthur did what he has done for 50 years, stand  on the truth of Scripture and call out those who would twist  the Word of God. Beth Moore is the one who is violating      scripture not John MacArthur but those like the president of the SBC, Pastor J D Greer, would rather defend her rather than rebuke her. I wonder what John MacArthur’s critics would have said to Paul about his calling out people by name,  “Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme ”, would J D Greer say, “Hymenaeus and Alexander you are welcome in my home”?

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark

 

 

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