I have a reputation for making pastors upset. As an evangelist I afflict the
comforted. Pastors are supposed to comfort the afflicted, but the evangelist
afflicts the comforted. Sadly, most pastors don't even comfort their people.
If you are attending a church for a few months and never hear the pastor
comfort the afflicted, strengthen the weak or lift up the fallen from the
pulpit, you need to find a better church. I am surprised at the low quality
and shallowness of the men often hired to fill the position of pastor. It is
truly sad and pathetic. One of the beautiful things about Pastor Jack Hyles
is that he
regularly comforted the afflicted from his pulpit.
Some pastors fall short of preaching the whole truth. Pastor Joel Osteen is a perfect example. He comforts the afflicted too much, never preaching about a burning Hell and God's wrath upon all Christ-rejecting sinners. Joel Osteen doesn't preach the whole truth.
And then you've got pastors like John MacArthur, who preach many unbiblical things they are not truth at all. “Lordship” salvation is a lie of the Devil. Lordship salvation is not the truth. Preachers have a duty to preach the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. You cannot tell the truth if you don't first have the truth. Sadly, as gifted and likable as Dr. MacArthur is (which makes him all the more dangerous), he went astray somewhere in his past, following a counterfeit plan of salvation that cannot produce the new birth by the blessed Holy Spirit of God (John 1:12-13). The Devil's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born-again.
All men have sinful pride. We don't like to be corrected in our doctrinal teaching. I have been corrected by numerous web visitors over the decades, and I always heed their correction if it is justified. For example: I used to promote Jack Chick's ministry. But a web visitor showed me that Jack Chick perverts the Gospel in all his Chick Tracts. On the back page of every Chick Tract, it says that admitting you're a sinner is not enough to be saved. Jack Chick teaches that a second step of being willing to turn way from your sins is required, which he errantly misunderstands to mean repentance. Jack Chick's tracts teach that admitting you are a sinner and believing the Gospel is not enough to be saved. In addition, Jack Chick teaches that you must have a willingness to turn away from you sinful living. This damnable heresy has caused millions of lost people not to come to Christ, because they weren't willing to forsake their sinful bad habits. Folks, Jack Chick is a liar, a false teacher, and a foolish man for corrupting the Word of God. Over 1,000,000,000 Chick Tracts have been printed and distributed worldwide!!! Only God knows how many lost souls have gone to Hell, thinking that God would not save them because they weren't ready to give up their sinful bad habits.
It took me over 6 months to repent of my misguided loyalty to Chick Tracts. But the seed had been planted. Little by little I kept thinking about what my web visitor had told me about Jack Chick. In time, I laid the ax to the root and faced the harsh reality that Jack Chick was doctrinally wrong, plain and simple. I even wrote a friendly letter to the Chick Tracts organization about the issue, but they never replied to my inquiry. Jack Chick's ministry has taken in tens of millions of dollars over the past 40 years. I was wrong about Jack Chick. I had to repent (change my mind) and I did. Today, I am one of the biggest critics of Chick Tracts, because they corrupt the Word of God and cast stumbling blocks before the people. Yet, I see Chick Tracts in nearly every church that I visit. It is sad that most pastors don't care about right doctrine. Well I do. 2nd Corinthians 11:6, “But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things.”
Right doctrine matters! We desperately need a revival in America of trying (testing) everything with the inspired Word of God (1st John 4:1; John 5:39). I hear Renee Roland on YouTube denying that Hell is real. I hear Bryan Derringer preaching a counterfeit gospel of “Lordship” salvation. I hear Robert Breaker teaching that people were saved by works in the Old Testament. I hear Joseph Prince Speaking In Tongues, which is a form of witchcraft. All of these well-meaning teachers are false prophets! Dear friend, let your only authority be the inspired Word of God. So many pastors today preach a bunch of junk that cannot be backed up with the Word of God. We need to avoid them (Romans 16:17-18).
I heard a pastor recently teach that “repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of behavior.” He is very wrong. It bothers me, because he is influencing thousands of people. Pastors have a grave duty and responsibility to make sure that they preach the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Pastors usually become offended when I try to help them. They resent a layman challenging their doctrine. But God is on my side (Jude 1:3; Romans 3:4). There is no matter any more important than getting the doctrine of repentance correct, because if you get it wrong it will affect how you present the Gospel. If a person's behavior must change, then the logical conclusion is that you're not really saved unless your life changes. That is not what the Bible teaches. On the Day of Pentecost 3,000 people were saved (Acts 2:41). There was no probationary period to monitor their lives to see if they had changed. Oh how ridiculous are so many preachers today, who corrupt the Word of God and cast stumbling blocks before the people.
“If you do not put a difference between justification wrought by the man Christ without and sanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, you are not able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people.” —Evangelist John Bunyan
We are saved outwardly by faith alone (justification); but then the indwelling Holy Spirit begins to change us inwardly (sanctification). If you don't keep justification and sanctification completely separate, you will never be able to preach the Gospel correctly, and you will confuse people. Please read Michael P. Bowen's helpful book called: “I NEVER KNEW YOU,” for a wonderful concise defense of the Gospel. There is nothing wrong in this country that couldn't be fixed if we'd get the preacher and the papa right with God. Our churches are in spiritual shambles. Sadly, most pastors merely go along with the crowd. Anyone who thinks you must desire to give up your sinning to be saved doesn't understand LAW and GRACE.
The purpose of the LAW is given in Romans 3:19, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Galatians 3:24-26 teaches that God gave the LAW to bring men to CHRIST to be saved by grace. Galatians 3:24-26, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
Carefully notice that once saved we are no longer under God's LAW. That means you don't have to give up your sinning to be saved. The Holy Spirit will chasten a disobedient child of God (Hebrews 12:6-8). May every person reading this determine in your soul to become a truth-teller, to be diligent to get doctrine right, by searching the Scriptures as Jesus commanded in John 5:39. There is no controversy if you believe the Bible. We've got a bunch of pastors and Bible college professors today who are woefully ignorant of truth, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men (Mark 7:7-13). We've got a bunch of preachers who don't RIGHTLY DIVIDE the Word of God. 2nd Timothy 2:15-16, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.”
I have been calling preachers out all my life for preaching heresy. I do not know of even one who took heed to the wisdom I shared with them. Sadly, once a man is corrupted he is well nigh hopeless because of pride. No wonder Jesus said in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” Being pure of heart simply means being honest with yourself. An honest man will acknowledge the truth that he is a guilty sinner. An honest person will believe the truth of the Gospel. Jesus said that only the PURE OF HEART shall see God. It is tragic that our Bible colleges and churches today are filled with men of impure hearts, who are merely making a living by parasiting off of Christendom. I speak to their utter shame. Truth matters! Right doctrine matters!
I wouldn't give you a dime for a lousy pastor who chooses to remain neutral. He doesn't want to suffer reproach for the name of Christ. He doesn't want to be rejected and find himself outside the gate with Jesus. So he kowtows, dips his sails, stays silent, being part of the problem in America. Today's pastors are not standing! Go to the average church and you won't hear hard preaching. The era of Billy Sunday style preachers is over! Pastors have a dire responsibility. They are the spiritual leaders of the church and community. There is nothing worse than a proud and pompous pastor who has a big head. Those type of pastors don't realize that they are proud, but the evidence that they are proud is their refusal to heed sound doctrine when rebuked.
Dear friend, a pastor is to be a SERVANT. Jesus said he that is greatest among you shall be your servant (Matthew 23:11). I get frustrated with pastors who don't care about the individual. People matter! There is something wrong with a pastor who does not love everyone. God loves the world (John 3:16). God's children ought to unconditionally love everyone. That doesn't mean we look away from their sins. We should never accept the sin with the sinner, nor reject the sinner with the sin. Jesus humbled Himself. Philippians 2:3, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” How many pastors obey that Scripture? Not many! A truly humble pastor cares about the individual people who make up a group, not the group. You can tell what kind of character a pastor has by the way he treats the stranger, the poor person, the unpleasant person, the troublemaker, the least among us. The Bible says to esteem our self LOWER than others. That Bible verse would transform your life if you would let it. Genuine humility is woefully lacking in the clergy today.
