When you are traveling you always have baggage

Whether we are going for an overnight stay or an extended trip abroad, we will have baggage. Luggage of some size will be going with us, even if it is just the clothes on our backs, we have things that come along with us for good or bad. The same holds true in the Christian realm when we invite people to speak. Like the guest we invited to our home they will come with baggage, some good and some bad. We must determine ahead of time whether the baggage is something we wish to deal with or not. For the believer this determining is not done by our own wits or reason. God has given us His Word and has clearly laid out what determines acceptable baggage.

God has put forth Romans 16:17, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.” and II Thess. 3:6, 14, 15, “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us. And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” These passages guide us in the process of “baggage screening.” Sadly, many today, who claim to hold to the Word of God and accept its mandates, are ignoring or deliberately twisting God’s Word to accommodate some baggage.

A recent example of this is Northland International University. Back on October 5^th Rick Holland, an elder from Grace Community Church in CA (where John MacArthur is the senior elder), spoke in chapel. One then asks; what kind of baggage did Rick Holland bring with him? Well, let’s look. For starters, as already noted, he comes from MacArthur’s church. MacArthur is the most prolific advocate for Lordship Salvation. Between his books, The Gospel According to Jesus, and Hard to Believe, he has made it abundantly clear that his view of salvation is one that the unconverted must consciously submit to the implications of discipleship in order for salvation, justification to actually take place.[1] This is not the gospel that Paul articulates in Ephesians 2:8, 9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast,” or in Romans 10:9, 10, 13, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Nor is LS expressed in I Corinthians 15:1-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”

Another piece of baggage with Rick Holland is his Resolved Conference. A conference for young people supposedly based upon Jonathan Edward’s list of resolutions. With the worldly music that is foisted upon the listeners as being Christian, it is a sad spectacle of a charismatic style, emotion laden experience which is somehow supposed to assist the audience in reaching a closer relationship with the Lord. James is clear enough when he states, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God,” (James 4:4). John is also clear, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever,” (I John 2:15-17). When we bring in the world’s method and message into Christianity we are left with the constant degradation that the world brings with it in order to keep the current crowd and to entice the newcomer.

This baggage came to Northland with Rick Holland, whether Dr. Olson wanted it or not. While Rick Holland’s message was spot on (I listened to the message), this baggage came along for the ride as well and has as much influence on the audience as the message did. For by his presence, Northland gives tacit acceptance for this baggage. It would be interesting to know how many Northland students will be at the Resolved Conference in June and in following years.

Another example at Northland is the recent visit by Wayne Simien of Called to Greatness Ministries. He spoke in chapel on November 18^th. A visit to his website (www.iamctg.org) reveals his baggage. Your ears are bombarded by “Christian” rap music by various artists. A look at the camps that are available and you soon see that there are two “dance” camps for girls age 8 to 17. Again, a worldliness method to convey the message of the King of kings and Lord of lords to a world greatly in need, I think not. Wayne’s baggage came with him and again Northland gives tacit acceptance for this baggage. Will Northland’s camp ministry be extending itself by recommending its female campers to Wayne’s dance camps during the summer?

There is a future example with which I will close this article. Northland has invited in Dr. Bruce Ware from Southern Seminary to teach in their Doctor of Ministry program. What baggage does Dr. Ware bring? Well, for one he is a Southern Baptist coming into an independent Baptist university. Another piece of baggage that comes with him is his progressive dispensationalism. Dr. Ware was a contributing author for the book, Dispensationalism, Israel and the Church, edited by Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock. This was the first book published to espouse this new view of dispensationalism. You may ask, what is progressive dispensationalism? I encourage the reader to obtain a copy of Charles Ryrie’s book, Dispensationalism. In chapter 9 he goes into detail outlining the tenets of progressive dispensationalism. In a nutshell, it is an effort by some to bring in or reconcile Covenant Theology with Dispensationalism. Dr. Ryrie, in chapter 9 of his book, lists the basic tenets of progressive dispensationalism and I list them here:

1.      The kingdom of God is the unifying theme of biblical history.

2.      Within biblical history there are four dispensational eras.

3.      Christ has already inaugurated the Davidic reign in heaven at the right hand of the Father, which equals the throne of David, though He not yet reigns as Davidic king on earth during the Millennium.

4.      Likewise, the new covenant has already been inaugurated, though its blessings are not yet fully realized until the Millennium.

5.      The concept of the church as completely distinct from Israel and as a mystery unrevealed in the Old Testament needs revising, making the idea of two purposes and two peoples of God invalid.

6.      A complementary hermeneutic must be used alongside a literal hermeneutic. This means that the New Testament makes complementary changes to the Old Testament promises without jettisoning those original promises.

7.      The one divine plan of holistic redemption encompasses all people and all areas of human life—personal, societal, cultural, and political.

(Italics are Ryrie’s)

Dr. Bruce Ware along with Dr. Andy Naselli will be teaching a class in the summer modular of the Doctor of Ministry program titled, Models of Sanctification. With the progressive dispensationalist’s “holistic redemption” approach to the doctrine of salvation, we are left to greatly wonder about the impact that thought has one’s understanding of sanctification, which is defined as “a separation to God, an imputation of Christ as our holiness, purification from moral evil, and conformation to the image of Christ,” (Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology, p. 287).

The “baggage” that these three men (Holland, Ware, Simien) and their respective ministries bring do not pass the “baggage screening” criteria that God has given to us in His Word. As such they ought to then be denied access to our services. Just as the baggage screeners at our nation’s airport are to be alert to potential harmful substances, so to we are to be ever vigil in our “screening” process of speakers that will hold the attention of our congregations and our young people while they seek their education.

Dr. Matt Olson has done a poor job at “screening!” It is debatable whether or not immediate harm has been done to NIU’s impressionable young people. While the above listed men may not have caused immediate harm, the gate has been opened for others who may very well cause direct harm, but then all that can be done will be clean up. Dr. Olson, for the sake of fidelity to the Lord and His Word, renounce this loose “screening” process and return to the Scriptural mandates.

For those who erroneously think that unless you have a vested interest in a ministry or institution then you have no credibility in bringing concerns or criticisms (calling it “clouds without rain”); I have from my church three graduates of Northland and one former student home working so that they can finish (which they are now considering to be at another institution). One of those three who have graduated currently works on campus. So, yes, I do have a vested interest in the ministry of Northland and even if I did not, the concerns and criticisms remain the same.

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[1] Follow these links for a detailed explanation: http://indefenseofthegospel.blogspot.com/2008/07/summary-of-lordship-salvation-on-single.html and http://indefenseofthegospel.blogspot.com/2010/10/let-your-yes-be-kinda-sorta.html I would also recommend that you purchase a copy of Lou Martuneac’s book, details are there at the web site.