NOTES ON WHY I SOMETIMES SHOUT: BECAUSE HE TOLD ME TO, BELOVED! – (WITH VIDEO)

1. THE TEACHING

SCRIPTURE. “Cry aloud, spare not. Lift up your voice like a trumpet and declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins!” – ISAIAH 58:1, AMPC

KEY TERM: “CRY ALOUD, SPARE NOT!” From two Hebrew words: ‘Qara’ [קָרָא], from the idea of ‘accosting a person;’ to utter a loud sound or cry out; to call for help; to declare by name; to preach [fervently]; to pronounce, proclaim or publish and thereby make renown; to read aloud from a scroll or book.” ALSO: ‘Garon’ [גָּרוֹן]: “To bring up from the back of the throat in a loud voice; implies a hostile force dragging people away or catching them as fish in a net.” DK: ‘Shout in a loud voice the iniquity of My people without restraint!’

QUOTATION. “‘Woe betide the leaders’ now perched on their dizzy pinnacles of triumph if they cast away at the Conference Table what the soldiers had won on a hundred blood-soaked battlefields.” ― WINSTON S. CHURCHILL, Memoirs of The Second World War, 1948; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘Cry aloud! — Be faithful, plain, and earnest in thy addresses, remonstrances, reproofs, and exhortations to and among My people; ‘And spare not!’ — Forbear not to speak whatsoever I command thee for their conviction and reformation. ‘Lift up thy voice like a trumpet!’ — Be not afraid to exert thy voice and spend thy strength in this work. Give an alarm which all may hear. ‘Show My people their transgressions!’ — Set their sins, all their sins, before them, in a true point of view, and with all their aggravations, especially the iniquities of their holy things, and the hypocrisy of their religious services, (Isaiah 58:2) ‘that they may be brought to true repentance for them.’” –  JOSEPH BENSON, Notes on the Holy Bible, 5 vols., 1811-1818; edited

DK. When the Lord first started calling me to this Circuit Ride Mission back in 2016, I argued with Him about why He would choose a wretched sinner like me. I remember what I heard in refrain but did not receive it as it sounded pompous.

“Because no one else will do this.”

It was not that there were no other voices – Brother Paul, James Key, Russell Moore et al. – but no one would do it ‘quite like I would.’ Let me explain. By heritage, I am Hispanic, Jewish, and Scottish. I am given to passion as you all well know by now. I come from fervent, expressive people groups who feel things deeply and express them accordingly.

In addition, I mentioned recently that some time I clearly heard the Spirit address me by the name, “Boanerges,” translated by most Greek scholars as a reference to the Sons of Zebedee, James and John, “Sons of thunder or commotion.” But no, I am not claiming to be an Apostle; God forbid it!

To Clarify: I go directly to the Exhaustive Bible Concordance of JAMES STRONG (1890) who notes that “their passion and boldness in the past no doubt aptly fit their future calling.”

HIS POINT. Beloved, this is not boast, I can assure you! I have complained to Him frequently about why He chose ‘to build me this way.’ Rather, it is a description and some spiritual defense of why indeed, I speak in less than hushed tones. It is wonderful that others are more measured; I envy them! But it is not appointed to me to be so. MY CALLING:

‘To warn His people of their grave errors.’

It is not for everyone, but it is for me, to the very best and most sincere effort to both understand it and execute it. May God help me!

II. AN ERA OF FALSE TEACHERS

Perhaps the most serious sin a Christian Pastor or Teacher can commit is to preach False Doctrine. I have before written a great deal about how much ‘God hates lying’! (cf. Proverbs 6:16-19). Most especially, beloved, when it comes from Pulpits in His own houses.

CHRIST’S SEVERE WARNING. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” – MATTHEW 7:15-20, NKJV

It has often been said both from the American Pulpit in quiet conversations around the dinner table for generations: “You will be surprised on that Day of days who is received into Heaven and who is cast out into Outer Darkness and the Furnace burning with a Great Fire, “Where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (cf. Matthew 13:42; 22:13).

I believe that more today than at any other time in my long Christian life. This, based on what we see in the Church today with the pernicious spread of the Prosperity Gospel, the Hyper-Grace movement, the viciousness of Dominion Theology and its evil twin in the form of Christian Nationalism that seek to create a Christian Theocracy in America to replace the United States Constitution.

America’s Spiritual Landscape is Dark indeed.

In spite of mountains of evidence of the Current Crisis of Faith in our country, the Church remains for all intents and purposes fully ‘Asleep at the Switches of Truth,’ somehow lulled into a Deadly Slumber by soothsayers, smooth talkers who are actually vipers, and slick hucksters selling a grotesquely cheapened version of Christianity that appeals to those motivated by Self Gain.

THUS, I SOMETIMES SHOUT! Shouting may or may not involve actually raising my voice (as I frequently do, rightly or wrongly), it more fundamentally refers to ‘Sharp Rebuke,’ a practice nearly vanished from the American Church community in recent years.

American Baptist theologian, pastor and Chancellor of Bethlehem College in Minnesota, JOHN PIPER addresses this sensitive topic in an interview entitled, “Should We Call Out False Teachers or Ignore Them” (Desiring God, Oct. 4, 2019; edited).

He confronts head on what needs to be done in such circumstances, and my Bullet Point Review follows.

• BEWARE THE WOLVES! So let’s begin with Jesus. Matthew 7:15: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” And the word ‘beware’ means all of us should be alert, but especially Shepherds, to identify not just false teaching, but false teachers, whose ways are subtle. They’re clothing themselves with lamb’s wool while they’re wolves. And Paul used the same Greek word for ‘beware’ in Acts 20:28-29 when he said, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers … I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.”

• AVOID & CALL OUT! To avoid them, you have to know who they are. You can’t avoid somebody if you don’t know who they are. This idea of identifying and avoiding shows up in 1 Corinthians 5:11; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-14; 2 Timothy 3:5; 2 John 1:10. In other words, Christians, and Shepherds in particular, should be discerning and alert to behavior and teaching that dishonors Christ and destroys people — and not treat it in a casual or harmless way. And then in 1 Timothy 5:19-20, Paul went beyond just “Avoid them” and “Rebuke them publicly.” So, speaking of elders who persist in error, he said, “Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin” — and that can be sin of false doctrine or sin of evil behavior, anyone who does not accept correction — “rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.” Instead expose them.” ‘Censure them; show them to be wrong,’ is what the word elegchō means.

OUR LAST DAYS CHARGE. Inarguably, this is what the Lord Commands that Shepherds especially do when they find False Teachers and False Doctrines infiltrating the Church, God’s sacred sanctuary. ‘Then why all the Silence, beloved?’ Where is the Holy Outcry from our leaders today, identifying the Wolves, warning their flocks against them? The last section will address that Historic Question.

III.CHURCHMEN WITHOUT CHESTS

LEWIS. “In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.” – C. S. LEWIS, The Abolition of Man, 1943

Though Lewis was referring here to the generalized trend in Western Culture toward the debunking of traditional Biblical Values, he would have been astonished about how deeply these ideological infections would worm their way into the Modern Church a half a century later.

Or would he? Selah.

I fully realize I am hard on Pastors, beloved, but not without serious cause. And no harder than I am on myself as a Teacher of God’s Word. But I have sensed that in the past decade, the American Pastor has been, to be blunt, running scared.

The reasons are several, flagged in that stunning study by DR. GEORGE BARNA in his 2014 Report of why it was that by then, Pastors were avoiding preaching on tough subjects as if their lives and their jobs depended on it. Because they did!

BARNA. Well respected SAM RORHER, president of the American Pastors Network website and online journal summarized Dr. Barna’s findings (“Pastors Deliberately Choosing Not to Preach on Pressing Issues,” Aug. 21, 2014; edited).

“New research shows that while 90 percent of pastors believe the Bible has much to say about today’s pressing political and societal issues, less than 10 percent are talking about those issues from the Pulpit. Researcher George Barna spoke recently on American Family Radio’s ‘Today’s Issues’ about his research project over the past two years [2012-2014], in which the Barna Group asked pastors across the country about their beliefs regarding the relevancy of Scripture to societal, moral and political issues, and the content of their sermons in light of their beliefs.

‘What he found was startling.’

When we ask them about all the key issues of the day, [90 percent of them are] telling us, ‘Yes, the Bible speaks to every one of these issues,’ Barna told American Family Radio. ‘Then we ask them: “Well, are you teaching your people what the Bible says about those issues?” and the numbers drop … ‘to ‘less than 10 percent of pastors who say they will speak to [key issues of the day]” …

Barna added that many ‘Pastors are afraid’ to get involved in political issues because of the controversy it might create. And, he added, ‘Controversy keeps people from being in the seats, controversy keeps people from giving money, from attending programs,’ Barna said. He also found that when asked how they measure the success of their churches, most pastors look to Five Factors: ‘Attendance, Giving, Number of Programs, Number of Staff and Square Footage.’”

DODD. Sometime after this, Pastor, CEO and Founder of Pastor Serve, JIMMY DODD offered up this straightforward addendum to the work of Dr. Barna.

“Wesley Horne, PastorServe SE Regional Director and I were recently at a small gathering of Pastors and Leaders from around the country … The leader of the discussion turned to me and asked, ‘Jimmy, in a nutshell, what is the number one problem plaguing pastors in America?’

In a nutshell? After shooting up a quick prayer (I know Wesley was doing the same), I said, ‘In a word – Fear!’ The fear of being fully known. The fear of disclosing long-held secrets. The fear of standing for truth in an ever-changing culture and knowing the outcome could be people leaving the church. The fear (and risk) of intimate friendship. And perhaps above all, the fear of unmet expectations.’ And the list could go on and on. Fear is an alarming absorbing emotion. ‘Fear drives us to do crazy things’”  (“Many Pastors Are Gripped by Fear,” ret. Apr. 11, 2024; edited).

EARLS. Next, AARON EARLS writing for Lifeway Research summarized a Report published on August 8, 2023, that further opens our eyes to the current Decline of the American Church and pastoral unwillingness to confront the mountainous Crisis of our Times over Truth and Morality in America.

““Fear not!’ is a frequent Command in the Bible, but most Pastors feel churchgoers aren’t getting the message. A Lifeway Research study finds almost 7 in 10 U.S. Protestant pastors (69%) believe there is ‘a growing sense of fear’ within their congregations about the future of the Nation and World. Additionally, more than 3 in 5 (63%) say their churches have a similar increasing dread specifically about the future of Christianity in the U.S. and around the world.”

Earls then follows up with a breakdown of Mainline versus Evangelical Pastors with the former group being more fearful than the latter, but both groups were in a statistical heat over the experience of mounting Uncertainty related to the Christian future in America and the more general condition of the Nation and World.

DR. RUSSELL MOORE. Perhaps a Case Study illustration of why I believe pastors are afraid these days I will place in the form of a REASONABLE THESIS: ‘Most American Pastors are afraid of Donald Trump, and will therefore avoid upsetting his followers.’

American theologian, ethicist, preacher and former president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention and their associate Theological Seminary DR. RUSSELL MOORE, now Editor-in-Chief of Christianity Today weighs in with some more no-nonsense analysis of the Pastoral Crisis now before us.

The following Summary is by senior political reporter for Newsweek, NICK REYNOLDS in a piece entitled, “Evangelical Leader Has ‘Big Fear’ About Trump’s Effect on Christians” (Aug. 18, 2023; edited).

In a landmark Letter issued in 2020 courageously bucking the Baptist tide to acquiesce to Trump’s perversion of American Christianity, ‘Moore was forced to resign’ from the Southern Baptist Convention in 2021. He now reflects on the upcoming Presidential of 2024 with the following chilling prediction.

“My big fear is that we’re at the point right now where it’s not even a point of controversy for most people. Most people who would ordinarily argue about this have either made peace with it or have just stopped talking to people who would disagree with them. And that’s one of the reasons why I really don’t think 2024 is going to be a repeat of what we saw in 2016 and 2020. It’s just numbness. And I think that [says something] really bad about American life and about Church life too …

Multiple Pastors tell me, essentially, the same story about quoting the Sermon on the Mount, parenthetically, in their preaching—‘Turn the other cheek’—[and] to have someone come up after to say, ‘Where did you get those liberal talking points?’ Moore asked during his interview at the time.

He added: ‘When the Pastor would say, “I’m literally quoting Jesus Christ” … The response would be, ‘Yes, but that doesn’t work anymore. That’s weak.’ ‘When we get to the point where the Teachings of Jesus Himself are seen as subversive to us, then we’re in a crisis.’”

DK. With the deepest possible respect for Dr. Moore’s sobering conclusion, I dare to state it in even starker terms: ‘America and her Church have very nearly reached their Nadir,’ their lowest possible point of Degradation over the fundamental distinctions between Good and Evil, Right and Wrong, True and False.  

Therefore, beloved, we are left with CHRIST ALONE to surround and fill us with His Hope, His Wisdom, His Courage, His Perseverance, His Provision, and His Protection for what lies ahead. May He ‘secure our families’ and give us opportunity to ‘reach out to our neighbors’ who are willing to listen, but only as He directs that we would not waste time on those who have firmly chosen the Way of Darkness.

And may we see the Lord solidify the Last Days Remnant, led by the voices of modern-day Wycliffe’s and Luther’s and Bonhoeffers and Wilkerson’s and by all means, the Beth Moore’s and the Russell Moore’s and others …

‘While it is still Day. For Night fast approaches, beloved, when no man can anymore work.’

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/4wYfD2CJgLQ