Thursday 17 July 2014

John MacArthur Calls Churches Supporting Gay Marriage 'Satan's Church' and slashes T.D Jakes


John MacArthur, author and pastor of Grace Community Church
in Sun Valley, California recently equated churches that declare
support for gay marriage are "Satan's church."

"They have no allegiance to the Bible," said MacArthur, in
comments reported by The Blaze earlier this week.

"You go back to every one of those seminaries … for a century
[they] have been deniers of biblical authority, they have no
relationship to scripture, they are the apostate church, they are
Satan's church."

MacArthur also argued that "cultural Christianity" was "dying at
a warp speed."

"Institutional churches ebb and flow, denominations ebb and
flow. They are made up of true believers and false believers —
the genuine and the diluted," said MacArthur. "There is a sense in which there's always going to be an ebb and flow in the
institutional church."

MacArthur's comments come not long after Presbyterian Church
(USA) voted to allow pastors to perform gay marriages in states
where it is legal and began the process for amending their Book
of Order regarding marriage definition.

At PCUSA's 221st General Assembly, held in Detroit last month,
the largest Presbyterian denomination in the nation approved a
recommendation to amend the official marriage definition from
"a man and a woman" to "two people, traditionally a man and a
woman."

To change the Book of Order's language, a majority of PCUSA
presbyteries, or regional bodies, must approve the amendment.

"A proposed amendment to change the Constitution to include
same-gender marriages in the church's Constitution passed the
General Assembly but must be ratified by a majority of the
church's 172 regional presbyteries," explained PCUSA in a FAQ
document.

"Presbyteries have one year to vote on the proposed
amendment. If a majority ratifies the amendment, it would take
effect June 21, 2015."

This is not the first time MacArthur has garnered attention for
his comments on churches and where their spiritual allegiance
may be found.

Last fall, MacArthur had a conference and book released both
titled "Strange Fire", which critically examined the Charismatic
Movement.

MacArthur argued at the Strange Fire Conference held at Grace
Community Church last October that Pentecostal-influenced
preachers like Bishop T.D. Jakes and Joel Osteen are advancing
a prosperity gospel that is "spirit-centered" when it should be
Christ-centered.

"If the Charismatic movement was being produced by the Holy
Spirit, the glory of Christ would prevail everywhere," said
MacArthur in one morning conference session. "It would be
Christ-dominated and everyone in the movement would be
bowing the knee to the true Christ in belief of the true Gospel."

Wallace Henley, pastor at Houston's Second Baptist Church,
wrote a column for The Christian Post last year calling
MacArthur's work a form of "distracting extremism."

"John MacArthur is right that the church in this critical hour
cannot risk taking the wrong course regarding the ministry and
manifestation of the Holy Spirit. But his position seems to reject
the possibility of there being anything good about the
charismatic movement," wrote Henley.

"Sound doctrine must not be an immobilizing anchor for the
church, but her sturdy, balancing keel midst the upheavals. John
MacArthur's extreme 'form' approach is a regrettable distraction
from attaining and maintaining the critical equilibrium between
form and frenzy."

source: christianpost

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