Sunday, November 18, 2018

A Latter-day Jeremiah?

in·dict·ment
  NOUN
 1. an act of indicting.
 2. Law. a formal accusation initiating a criminal case, presented by a grand jury and usually required for felonies and other serious crimes.
 3. any charge, accusation, serious criticism, or cause for blame.
 4. the state of being indicted.
       Source: Dictionary.com (bold emphasis added)
If ever there were a prophet who indicted the "children of God," it was old Jeremiah.1 In our day — at least on a political / legal level — we are hearing about thousands of sealed indictments, but in the case of old Jeremiah, the indictments were not sealed; NOR are the ten latter-day indictments of Paul Washer which he profiles in a speech entitled, Ten Indictments Against the Modern Church.2  Paul Washer3 is a controversial, outspoken Baptist minister, so an important question for us is: Are we open to examining the indictments of this Baptist minister? open to asking ourselves how many of these déjà vu charges might also apply to us?

Washer's indictments are:
1.  A Denial of the Sufficiency of Scripture
2.  An Ignorance of God
3.  A Failure to Address Man’s Malady
4.  An Ignorance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
5.  An Unbiblical Gospel Invitation
6.  An Ignorance Regarding the Nature of the Church
7.  A Lack of Compassionate Church Discipline
8.  A Silence on Separation
9.  A Replacement of the Scriptures Regarding the Family
10. Pastors Malnourished in the Word of God
Do we have the courage to read and ponder his words?

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1. Jeremiah ~ LDS Bible Dictionary: "After [King] Josiah’s death [Jeremiah] tried to stem, almost alone, the tide of idolatry and immorality, of self-deception founded on superficial reforms (Jer. 3:4–5; 7:8–10), and of fanatical confidence in the Lord’s protection, in which all classes were carried away. He had to face continuous opposition and insult from the priests (20:2), the mob (26:8–9), his townsmen at Anathoth (11:19), the frivolous and cruel (22:13; 36:23; 26:20), the king (36:19), and the army (38:4)."
2. Washer, Paul. Ten Indictments against the Modern Church. Chapel Library. Kindle Edition. Also available for free download or hard copy request at https://www.chapellibrary.org/literature/title-catalog/?fldTitle=washer&searchType=lit
3. Who is Paul Washer: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2010/09/06/who-is-paul-washer-john-frye/ ; http://www.heartcrymissionary.com/paul-washers-bio ; https://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Wolves/paul_washer.htm . Will we allow controversy or criticism of outspoken ministers to keep us from reading their words and making our own discernments? What do we imagine was said about old Jeremiah in his day to discourage people from pondering his words? See also: https://rosemichels.wordpress.com/2014/04/15/rosario-charo-washer-interview/