"I don't think that anything has been done in the name of Christ and under the banner
of Christianity that has proven more destructive to human personality, and hence
counterproductive to the evangelistic enterprise, than the unchristian, uncouth strategy
of attempting to make people aware of their lost and sinful condition." Robert
Schuller "Promise Keepers is a bridge; and whether there is a denominational label it
does not matter, for we will have relations with any denomination." Daniel Erickson,
NW Regional Director Promise Keepers, NAE Convention, 1997 "Our vision is to go into
every church, whether they like us or not." Bill McCartney, Founder of Promise
Keepers, Insight, 3/3/97 Bill McCartney told Our Sunday Visitor (a Catholic weekly)
"that full Catholic participation was his intention from the start." Calvary
Contender, 8/97 McCartney said, "the most important point in the crusades was that
being a good person on earth was the ticket to eternal salvation." Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette 7/25/97 "I'm in the camp that says our relationship with the Roman
Catholic Church has to be the most important agenda for us. We're the ones who parted
company in the 16th century, and we're the one that must get back together again."
Rev. Frank Senn, Ecumenical Offices of Evangelical Lutheran Church of America,
Christian News, 7/97
Taking a Stand
Moses did it. Joshua, Gideon, Daniel, Elijah, Jeremiah, Paul, and many others down through
the ages have done it. They all have stood up in times of crisis and in times of
departure. They warned the people of God. They shed tears over them. They also took a
stand for the truth of the Word of God. (Acts 20:31-32) We too live in a day of departure.
The Word of God is being rationalized away, even in "Evangelical" circles, and
sadly, in far too many assemblies. Discernment is rarely exercised, and many simply
do what is "right in their own eyes."
Now taking a stand is more than casting traditions in concrete, and refusing to make any
changes in the way the assembly functions. It is a conviction that the Word of God is the
sole and final authority in the life of the individual saint and in the assembly. It is
the conviction that "obedience is better than sacrifice," that truth comes
before pragmatism and popularity. It is a conviction that goes beyond family ties and the
approval of men. It is conviction that is firm, but gracious--not cold and legalistic. It
is living and functioning by faith in the Word of God, regardless of what others may think
and do.
Are we so convicted? Will we stand, or will we be swept along with the tide? (Eph.
6:10-18) Will appeasement, expediency, and compromise dictate our course, or will the Word
of God?