Dear Bill

Chapter twenty-nine

I know of no other way to reach my brothers- and sisters-in-Christ than through the media. I suppose I could petition all the Pastor Whoevers in Kelowna to use their pulpit. Hmmm. “Well certainly, Larry. Anytime you feel you have a word from Lord Jesus just let us know. Our pulpit is always vacant 2:00 am.”

So I concluded if Martin Luther can write his Ninety-five Theses and post them on the door of catholicism, why not post mine and have them delivered door-to-door? I began: “Theses is the plural of thesis. A thesis is a proposition or statement to be considered, discussed and possibly disputed. Martin Luther wrote his famous 95 Theses in 1517, a challenge to accepted religious beliefs and practices of that day.”

I gave the Why not? question serious consideration….

Would the heathen become more heathen when they learn christians are in serious need of reform? Did Jesus ever refuse to preach to the Israelites because roman soldiers were nearby? Doesn’t truth, even ugly truth, still “make you free”? Is God’s way concealment or exposure?

I used my publication, posted in the Kelowna’s Daily Courier (June 24, 2009), to preach the salvation message of Jesus Christ by directing the last eight theses to non-christians…..

1. The most feeble, slack christian is immeasurably wealthier than the most successful non-christian.
2. Failure of christians do not make Christ and His gospel less authentic.
3. Non-christians are incapable of committing a crime Jesus is unwilling or

unable to forgive.

1. More than any other person in the bible, Jesus warned of an eternal hell.

Eternity is a long time.

1. There is no Redeemer on the other side of death. Immediately after death

the non-christian will fully realize his/her opportunity to attain Christ’s salvation has passed.

1. Non-christians attempting to gain heaven by self-effort or religious

observances will fail.

1. The love of Christ for the non-christian far surpasses the love of any

man or angel for Christ.

1. A non-christian becomes a christian by embracing Christ into his/her life

and accepting Christ’s cross as payment for his salvation. This is done in prayer. Embracing Christ is submitting to Christ. Submitting to Christ is submitting to the bible (as one is progressively enlightened to understand it).

But of course I directed my 95 Theses primarily to evangelicals. Under the sub-title Leadership I wrote….

1. When one considers church leadership one should think of Jesus Christ

and not any man or group of men.

1. The pastor, not Christ, is the actual leader and shepherd and teacher of

the evangelical congregation.

1. Three similarities place the pastor above the rest – his license, titles and

salary; none of the three have bible precedent.

1. The pastor is the connecting door between two spiritual spheres, the

denomination that licensed him and the congregation he serves. It was the man’s loyalty to the denomination that secured him his post as pastor.

1. The pastor is expected, by his church and his denomination, to capture

the congregation’s loyalty. He is usually successful.

1. Many evangelists ‘turn’ pastor because only the pastor is salaried. This

results in less people spending their eternity with Jesus in heaven.

1. The pastor dictates who speaks from the pulpit. Almost always he

appoints himself.

1. It is non-biblical and unhealthy for one (or a few) to have excessive

influence over many.

1. The evangelical pastor who repents of compromise and makes a decision

to obey the bible will lose his position.

At the risk of boring you, my brother-in-Christ Jesus….

Evangelicalism

1. Since evangelicalism seriously affects the relationship between Christ

and evangelicals, evangelicals would be wise to evaluate evangelicalism.

1. Refusing to examine evangelicalism under bible light is certain evidence evangelicalism is an idol. (An idol is that which has captured one’s

focus and loyalty.)

1. As loyalty to Christ is evidenced by loyalty to the bible, so loyalty to evangelicalism is evidenced by loyalty to evangelical traditions. Neither

centuries of observance nor endorsement of most validates non-biblical practices.

1. Evangelicals choosing evangelical traditions over bible teachings have

a feeble relationship with Jesus.

1. Evangelicalism would bear much more fruit if it discarded traditions

not rooted in the bible. There are many such traditions.

1. The dividing of Christ’s church into two groups, the clergy (or

ministerial) and laity (laymen), is a harmful, non-biblical practice.

1. The notion that a few are to spiritually equip the many is contrary to

Ephesians 4:16: the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body.

1. Choosing the licensed over the anointed has always been a practice

of evangelicalism.

A year or two later I wrote my fifth and final book: Another 95: Another 95 These For Another Reformation. This book amplifies all 95 theses that I posted in the Daily Courier.

I have a high regard for Martin Luther, his courage and intelligence. But his reformation was very, very incomplete. Since his day many have tweaked, contorted, stretched, shrunk, manipulated, and adjusted evangelicalism in the hopes of finding a better way of doing church. Yet we seem to be more unproductive and confused than ever.

Lord Jesus gave us the recipe for fertility. It’s not complicated. Though expressed in different ways throughout the bible, John 15:5 says it best, “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit.”

Evangelicalism gets in the way. The same Holy Spirit that lead each of us to our Saviour also wants to lead each into deeper, ever deeper, intimacy with that same Person. It is intimacy – not expediency or intelligence or skill or programs – that assures “much fruit”. Amen?