A Post-Faithful Report from Lipscomb University - #2

Report & Analysis

28 July 2017 - Gospel Call Media - (Charlotte, NC) - Last month in Nashville, TN on the campus of Lipscomb University there was a pro-denominational gathering known as InterGenerate 2017 (TM).  It was a purposeful, proactive, and plotted yoking of the universities "Institute for Christian Spirituality" with the radically pro-sectarian organization known as GenOn Ministries (TM).  The director of this conference herself, Dr. Holly Allen of Lipscomb University, disclosed in my hearing that the entire conference was made possible by a $5,000.00 grant from the president of Lipscomb University, Dr. L. Randolph Lowry.(1)

This reporter was there.  I was determined to hear with my own ears any evidence of movement away from the "faith once for all delivered to the saints" at Lipscomb University.  What I heard was far worse than my greatest fears.  Though there are many faithful faculty, staff, and students remaining at Lipscomb, the leadership of the Bible Department has gone "retro."  What I heard has more in common with 2nd century Gnosticism than it does the the "pattern of sound words."

The conference essentially is attempting to replace, not only the essence of the gospel, (2) it seeks to aggressively change how that gospel is conveyed.  Paul asserts in Romans 10.17 that "faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God."  The eunuch in Acts 8, when asked if he understood what he was reading, replied; "How can I, except some man should guide me?"  The spoken and heard Word of God is the chosen conveyance of God.  It has not changed.  Sadly, this conference is interested in every form of communication EXCEPT biblical preaching for "ears that hear."  Among a number of un-biblical portals, I heard conference presenters advocate uber interactivity, the use of children in worship services, and drawing out of prayers with crayons for adults.  It was like being at a "magical mystery tour" of extreme spiritual experimentation.

Sadly, Origen, Augustine, and Aquinas would have been far more comfortable at this conference than would have Peter, Paul, and John.  In the 2nd century the Gnostic's claimed both an exclusive and higher knowledge than that which was common to ordinary Christians. Now, as then, those who see themselves as the "best and the brightest of all time," have a "buzz word" language to confuse traditional and understood meanings so as to "sound" faithful as they attempt to force the "car over the cliff."  Here is a list of novis-Gnostic words and terms I heard (along with definitions) (3) while at the conference.  (I'm sure there were others, these are the ones I caught.)

• "Cross-denominational" - The transference of truth across conflicting denominational lines without objection.
• "Spiritual" - Feelings of religion in lieu of trust, obedience, and faithfulness.
• "Intra-denominational" - Conflicting doctrines within a singular denomination.
• "Multi-denominational" - All denominations are equally viable, one is good as another, truth is in multiples and not in singularity.
• "Traditions" - In lieu of the Bible, this is where conflicting denominations justify their existence.  All "traditions" are all equally worthy.
• "Faith Formation / Spiritual Formation" - Takes the place of obedience to the gospel, an evolution and not an event.  As you may have heard; "Faith is a journey, not a destination." (4)
• "Historical Roots" - The foundation of conflicting denominations is rooted in history and not upon the Bible.  The novis-Gnostic's reject the existence of singular, revealed, inerrant, and inspired truth.
• "Explosive Free Range Worship" - The 21st century version of the "silence of the Scriptures" is a license for never ending progression away from revelation.  ("We can do anything we want as long as the Bible doesn't expressly forbid it.")
• "Accommodation" - The act of dumbing down worship, preaching, and teaching to the lowest common denominator,  i.e.don't put anything over a 4th grade level.  This is also known as "Changing forms to suit the capacity."
• "Paradigm" - That which comes from the past and must be discarded at all costs.  All things from the past are counter-evolutionary and therefore must be considered useless.
• "Story" - A term that is associated with fiction that is applied to all the historical accounts found in the Bible.
• "Testimony" - "My story" trumps revealed Scripture.  What I feel is more important than what I can learn from the Scriptures.
• "Practical Theology" - The pragmatic tail that wags the theological dog.  What works is more important that what is revealed.
• "Pragmatic Academic" - Outcome based educator who practices "practical theology."
• "Narrative of Scripture" - The Bible is a story from Genesis to Revelation devoid of interpretation of the Holy Spirit, devoid of dispensation, and testament. It overtly rejects the concept of II Timothy 3.16 - 17.
• "Re-clothing Communion" - The radical change of the Lord's Supper to include, integrate and accommodate the mindset of very young children. 
• "Collaborative Theology" - In lieu of studying the Scriptures, this is the blending of many conflicting doctrines so as to render them all devoid of conviction.  For years this has been also known as the "unity in diversity movement."  It is based upon human wisdom and ignores the Scripture entirely.
• "Tribe" - A term used for referring to people of conviction as being somehow backward for the faithfulness to revelation.  When one admits to belonging to a "tribe" one can then "admit" that there are "Christians" in all "churches."  

These are "smooth words" and we must be wary of them!

Remember Isaiah 30.10b: "Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:"

[Lord willing, this will be an on-going series.  The next report will deal with the theological assumptions of Dr. Leonard Allen who is the head of the Bible Department at Lipscomb University and is married to the conference chairman, Dr. Holly Allen.] - RM

NOTES:
(1) These facts were all verified in detail in our first report 13 July 2017 and available on this same blog.
(2) There were many denominations in attendance, all advocating "different gospels."  There were Presbyterians, Lutherans, Catholics, Disciples of Christ, Anglicans, Episcopalians, et. al.  The theme, stated numerous times and numerous ways was, "truth is relative, it is multiple, ever changing, evolving, emerging, and is individually defined."  The only truth I did not hear was that "truth is revealed, unchanging, singular, and is not individually defined."
(3) The definitions are mine based upon how these words / terms / phrases were used at the conference in my hearing. As there is no such thing as a "New-Gnostic" dictionary, I WELCOME your better definitions that I can use to update any mis-definition on my part!
(4) The radically emergent ETHOS CHURCH in Nashville, where Dr.'s Leonard & Holly Allen attend brags about having an atheist leading a mission team to Kenya a couple of years ago!  You see, he's on a "journey" to faith and his "journey" is just beginning.  (Verifiable on the 3rd session of Leonard Allen at the 2016 Pepperdine Lectures, if you care to look it up.  It's on YouTube.)

A Post-Faithful Report from Lipscomb University #1

13 July 2017 - Gospel Call Media - (Charlotte, NC) - I heard it with my own ears in person.  The InterGenerate 2017 (TM) conference was held on the campus of Lipscomb University, Nashville, TN and I was there June 25 - 27, 2017.  Not wanting to print "hear-say," I was there in person with reporters pencil in hand.  The purpose for going?  To verify one way or the other whether the university which claims to be "affiliated with the churches of Christ,"(1) continues to adhere to the "apostles doctrine" or not.  This is why I was there.  To claim "affiliation" without "faithfulness to the apostles doctrine" is simply existential, chaotic, and contradictory nonsense.  Sadly, from what I heard from the very opening of the conference, the answer is "no," Lipscomb is no longer faithful to what she once was.

From the very moment I arrived, I was perplexed.  I found not a single confessing member of the church of Christ on the program.  Other than brother and sister Ireland from my home congregation (present with me the first night of the conference), I did not meet even a single confessing member of the Lord's church among the 150 attending.  Most disturbing of all, we were the only ones present with Bibles.  The last two days of the conference, as far as I could comprehend, I alone came with a copy of God's Word.

The conference was a collaborative effort between the universities "Institute for Christian Spirituality" (2) and the openly pro-denominational GenOn Ministries (TM) organization. (3)  The purpose of this first ever InterGenerate Conference (TM) was to promote the bridging of generational gaps as a primary tool for more effective church growth, regardless of denominational affiliation.    

This pro-denominational / inter-denominational conference being at Lipscomb University was no accident nor was it incidental.  In fact the conference was orchestrated by Lipscomb faculty member Dr. Holly Allen (4) and overtly funded by a $5,000.00 grant from the institutions president, Dr. L. Randolph Lowry. (5) (6)  Despite the inspired apostle Paul's clear warning against "unequal yoking" in II Corinthians 6.11 - 7.1, Lipscomb University, Dr. Allen, Dr. Lowry, et al have unequally yoked themselves with the non-Christians (7) of GenOn Ministries (TM). to openly endorse and promote sectarian division.

Even more disturbing than the open acceptance of religious division, Dr. Allen on at least 3 occasions that I heard during the introduction focused, reiterated, and insisted upon the "multi denominational" and "inter-denominational" emphasis of the conference in a most overt way. (8)  Most upsetting of all, though, was the comments made by Dr. Holly's husband, Dr. Leonard Allen. (9)  He welcomed the approximately 150 participants on behalf of the university.  As the head of the Bible Department at Lipscomb he told the assembled denominationalists that the university was "affiliated with churches of Christ" which is one of three "denominations" that came out of the 19th century so-called "Stone-Campbell" movement.  In my hearing Dr. Leonard Allen purposely and overtly asserted that the Lord's Church was nothing more and nothing less than just another denomination. (10)  By so doing he surrendered ground to error and declined to share the one true gospel with those who are lost.  Of course, had both the Allen's stood up for the truth, the conference would not have been possible or even conceived of.

There are individuals at Lipscomb University that remain faithful but they are not in the Bible department. We must pray for their continued faithfulness.  We must also pray that faithful Christians, especially in Nashville, will warn others of this departure lest they come through many a "Jude's side door." (Jude 1.4)  This reporter will follow with more reports from Lipscomb University detailing their collective departure from the faith "once for all delivered to the saints." 

NOTES:

(1) http://www.lipscomb.edu/about/fast-facts
(2) http://www.lipscomb.edu/ics
(3) https://www.genonministries.org/blogs/blog/intergenerate-reflections (This links to a blushing pro denominational blog post about the conference)
(4) http://www.lipscomb.edu/news/filter/item/0/31716 (The very pro-denominational nature of this conference is admitted here on Lipscomb's own website.  Biographical info on Dr. Allen is included in the post)
(5) Per comments made by Dr. Holly Allen as she introduced the conference on the evening of 25 June 2017
(6) Bio on Pres. Lowry: https://www.lipscomb.edu/president/biography
(7) [In the New Testament sense of the word - no participating denominations present preach and teach that one must "repent and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins"]
(8) Per comments made by Dr. Holly Allen as she introduced the conference on the evening of 25 June 2017.  Interestingly, even though that both she and her husband both having backgrounds in the church of Christ, neither her or her husband acknowledged this fact at any time during the conference in my hearing.  All the other participants affiliation with sectarian denominations were clearly noted.  According to comments made at the 2016 Pepperdine Lectures, Dr. Leonard Allen, Dr. Holly Allen's husband, openly admitted to their attending the radically emergent ETHOS CHURCH (http://www.ethoschurch.org/) in downtown Nashville, TN.
(9) Bio on Dr. Leonard Allen: http://www.lipscomb.edu/www/bio/detail/1248
(10) Per comments made by Dr. Leonard Allen as he welcomed the conference participants to Lipscomb University on the evening of 25 June 2017.

The Glorious Land!

America is the most unique nation on earth, being the only nation ever formed on biblical principles.  The framers asserted that the rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (what they understood as property)" descended, not from government (other men), but from God Himself...rights that cannot be denied, biblically, by any man.   Peter speaks of "honoring the king as supreme" in I Peter 2.13 - 17.  Who is our king?  In America the king is not a man, it is America's collective political assertion...the Constitution.  We are a nation, "not of men but of laws."  Our oaths promise loyalty to the Constitution, not to the President and not to the Congress. 

The Founders were collectively the most biblically astute political body ever assembled.  They knew their Bibles far better than most preachers of today.  They knew how God had founded the nation state of Israel.  They knew that in God's political framework life was precious as it was created by God "in His image."  They knew God founded Israel upon "the one true religion" which gave man that which he yearns for the most...liberty.  Finally, they knew that God made ownership of property the central pillar of the economy of "the glorious land."  Every family was given a parcel of land to have, hold and to retain in one's family all the generations.  Even if by mismanagement or neglect, every 50 years the land would revert back to it's original owners in what the Bible calls the "year of jubilee."  Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness are central God given rights in the Declaration as they were to "the glorious land!"

 

The Declaration declared to the world our God given right to self government.  The Declaration acknowledges the separation from England by England.  Yes, there was "revolution" and "rebellion" in 1776.   It was the king and his ministers who rebelled and revolted against the English Constitution, not the colonials.  America's un-heeded plea was that the king and his government return to the covenant.  The break between us was acknowledged by us but caused by and confirmed by the English covenant breakers in London.

 

The American Constitution was the implementation of our rights to self-government under God and none other. 

 

Unfortunately our current troubles regarding immorality, violence, bigotry, religion and un-belief are in direct correlation to our abandonment to the God of Heavens directives.  The more evil we become, the further from God...and the Constitution...we drift.  Unless we repent, the "glorious land" [Daniel's phrase for Israel] will fall to a "Babylon" raised up by God to discipline us, and perhaps, destroy us.  

 

What to do?  "Preach the gospel in season and out of season."  Who, friend, can do this?  Only one entity is given the "ministry of reconciliation," the church of Christ!  It is up to the church of Christ, and she alone, to "stand in the gap" for the Glorious Land we call America.  Should "the Bride of Christ" become unfaithful, the wrath of God will surely come down upon our land.   Why did the God of Heaven raise up this "glorious land" in the New World?  Why did He providentially work through the Founding Fathers?  The answer is breathtaking!

 

It is fundamental to note that the NT word "liberty" used by the Founders in the Declaration is taken from Jesus Himself in describing His mission on earth.  We read in Luke 4.17 - 21: 

And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent ne to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.  And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down.  And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.  And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. (1) 
 

The words "deliverance" and "liberty" are both translated from the same Greek word aphesis, meaning, according to Strong's,  "...pardon, deliverance, forgiveness, remission.." 

Was America founded as a vehicle for the preaching of remission of sins?  The case is strong! 

The Founders knew that political freedom depended totally upon spiritual freedom.  Adam's said it best, "...ours is a system of government suited for a moral and religious people...and no other." 

 

Our survival as a people depends solely upon the faithfulness of the church of Christ to the Great Commission, loving God with all our hearts, minds and souls and loving our neighbors as ourselves.  God bless America, the Glorious Land! 

 

(1) KJV via http://e-sword.com
Photo Credit: http://gardenwalkgardentalk.com.  The Founding Fathers sculpture at the National Constitutional Hall in Philadelphia via Yahoo! Pictures