Back again - Finally!

Greetings to all my readers. I have been "away" for a time, not really able to contribute much to my blog, but occupied with other matters of ministry. Significantly, though, that time was not without its benefits on the topic that I have been treating here - Gothardism.

In fact, I have been working directly and personally with a Gothardite family which is experiencing difficulty in family relationships. I have spent hours speaking to the father of the family with a son, 18 years of age. Thus, my knowledge of the effects of Gothardism on real people has grown immensely, and the news if not good at all. I will try to describe my analysis of my experiences in future posts, but suffice it to say that I now consider Gothardism as expressed by the families with which I am familiar to be nothing less than a "Christian" cult. The followers of Bill Gothard are as much indoctrinated into their cult as were the followers of Jim Jones or David Koresh. That is strong stuff, I admit, but in fact pretty much true, sadly. Thus far, Gothard has not gathered his followers into a commune and asked them to imbibe poisonous Cool-aid literally, but the doctrines that he has inculcated in them is probably just as deadly, spiritually speaking.

But I now must return to my former approach of examining Gothard's use of the Scriptures, which I believe is the great revealer of the error of that system. This is not surprising, as errors in the faith have mostly always arisen from those who perverted the Scriptures. Thankfully, sound scholarship, especially that study we call hermeneutics, provides the foundation for an accurate - and revealing - assessment of Gothard's writings. As I indicated in an earlier post, I have had the fortune to pick up a full packet of Gothard's writings, from the "Big Red Book" right down to the lessons on health-related issues [which is a totally amazing thing in itself!]. We will cite his writings as we return to our treatment of his interpretive practices - or perhaps lack thereof may be more accurate to say. Reading Gothard's materials is nothing less than disturbing to those who study the Bible with even a smidgen of thoughtfulness. I continue to be struck by the fact that years have gone by and very few have had the fortitude to critique Gothard's cultish movement. Perhaps the reason for that is that the pastors and others who ought to have been guiding the sheep in discerning the error of this cult were themselves involved in the seminars! For them, I suppose it would be embarrassing for them to admit that they were duped themselves. I will leave such judgments to the Lord, as we know from the Scriptures that special obligations are laid upon the shepherds. I recall vividly Dr. George Norris' admonitions to us young preacher boys at seminary as he with gravity and soberness applied the 33rd and 34th chapters of Ezekiel to the minister of the Word of God. Those Scriptures have remained with me to this very day when I sit down to work on sermons, lessons and articles for the people of God whom God has assigned me.

For those of you who know me, you should know that I have purposely curtailed my activities on the Theology email discussion list. I intend to rather express my views here on my blog where my posts are not an automatic invitation for a group of Arminians/semi-Pelagians to overwhelm with massive email "bombs" and the like. I don't mind engaging them in such forums as the List, but there is a time when a more pacific environment must be sought out for the thorough treatment of an issue.

I thank my readers for their patience while I was occupied with other ministerial tasks. I will once again seek to be more productive here on my blog, but you must realize that it is a secondary or even tertiary priority in my ministry, so if daily pastoral ministry takes me away again, I hope you will understand. God is blessing us here with new members, baptisms, and opportunities to proclaim the Gospel to many.

Back with you soon.