Friday, August 18, 2017

Immanuel Bible Church In The D.C. Area Says It's Ok For Women "Missionaries" To Lead & Start New Churches




My response is in the brackets. 
From the first page, an introduction:

Quote:
We, the elders of Immanuel Bible Church, believe
that the Scriptures address every area of our lives,
including the roles of men and women. Although
God has made these issues clear in His Word, our
culture has rejected the biblical view, causing
much confusion. 
[Thou art the men! YOU are confusing people by your pragmatic and rebellious approval of women creating and leading churches as "missionaries"]

Our purpose is to understand God’s design and
resist the pressure to conform to the standards
and structures of our culture.
What follows is a
summary of the biblical principles relating to this
issue and the practice of Immanuel Bible Church.... [No, what follows is doing exactly what we just said we're to resis: conform to the standards and structures of our culture, namely women leading men in spiritual enterprises and starting churches--which by the way, is the feminist Charismatic justification-if there are no men, then God will raise up women.]

Then later they state:
Missionaries
We believe that men and women in missionary service should follow the
mandates of the Scriptures as churches are established.
Missionaries receiving support from Immanuel Bible Church
shall be guided by the Scriptures concerning the roles of men
and women in the church as they respond to diverse cultural
and ethnic differences.

Women in missionary service may find themselves in
situations requiring them to assume teaching and leadership
roles normally reserved for men. This typically occurs where
no qualified men are available.
Once a church has been

established and qualified men become available, they shall
assume leadership roles. 
[Why are they sending women without men?Anyway this stance denies that IF God wants to raise up a church HE will supply the men to evangelize, teach, lead, and start a new church. It denies His absolute and sole sovereign power and instead has a God less powerful who has to break His own Word because He just can't find any qualified men around. Do they understand that they put the cart before the horse? That they make Man the determiner of creating a church, not God? That they make Him dependent on women if HE can't find qualified men available? That they deny it's God alone who qualifies men?]
End quote.


Where Jesse Johnson (formerly at GCC where John MacArthur teaches) is lead teaching pastor and The Master's Seminary's Long Distance provider. This is what the seminary students (soon to be elders among you (as if going to seminary qualifies a man to be an elder in the first place) is bringing to their churches. 
So it's ok to violate clear commands of God? Pragmatism not biblical practice rules these seminaries and churches and THAT'S why we end up with Inter-Faith Dialogues like what James White, Driscoll, and Rick Warren do. This is a rejection of that God's Word is absolute in it's authority, that there are definite biblical roles for men and women in the church/ministry, and that God will provide men IF He wants a work to be done. Such abject hypocrites. Religious empty words. Haven't people learned from the past? Trying to help out God is blasphemous (He doesn't need you) and thinking His way is not all that important is also blasphemous.
The Phillistines had stolen the Ark of the Covenant and placed it on a cart to move. The Israelites improved things by getting a "new" cart.  But God had already said that the Ark is not to be moved but only by using the poles. But then something happened and it was the result of the original issue: their irreverence toward God and HIS Word:

2Sa 6:3  They placed the ark of God on a new cart that they might bring it from the house of Abinadab which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were leading the new cart. 
2Sa 6:4  So they brought it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Ahio was walking ahead of the ark. 
2Sa 6:5  Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of instruments made of fir wood, and with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets and cymbals. 
2Sa 6:6  But when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it. 
2Sa 6:7  And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God. 

Gen 16:2  So Sarai said to Abram, "Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 
Gen 16:3  After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram's wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. 
Gen 16:4  He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight. 

That didn't turn out well for Sarah, Hagar, or the children, for Ishmael would be set against his younger brother Isaac through whom the promise of God would come. But Sarah wanted to help out God and so she sinned.

Then there's the event of Aaron's sons who offered strange fire to God in worship, not the fire God required. God struck them dead.

The point is that to violate God's command is sinful. To justify the sin is also sinful. It's also a heart of unbelief  and irreverence toward God and His Word. It is to say with the ancient Serpent, "Hath God said? Surely you won't die!" It's to attack HIS authority and raise up man's instead. It's treason.
For a biblical response regarding women's roles I dealt with it here.


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