POSTED BY ADO:
"Before you start criticizing Pastor Furtick you need to visit his church in Charlotte Nc. and hear him in person. As for your Blasphemous comments about his book you need to read the parable in second Kings chapter 2 when the children made fun of Elisha Gods prophet. After I read this passage in the Bible myself I never again said anything bad about a preacher. If you have nothing good to say don't say it at all. Just because you didn't like it doesn't mean it could not be a great blessing to someone else. I'll give this book 5 stars ! thousands came to know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior Because of his message. It sounds to me that you don't believe that God actually made the sun stand still. I really feel sorry for you that you could actually take the time out of your day, to write horrible things about a wonderful preacher."
MY REPLY:
"Ado, first let me thank you for stopping by to share your thoughts. I truly hope you read my entire review, and didn't simply formulate your opinion based on my first paragraph or two. I hope you will read my reply, and that your comment wasn't simply a "drive-by".
Regarding visiting Elevation Church: I attended a church for a number of years in Michigan called "Westwinds". It was/is very much like Elevation. I loved the ethos of the place! I'm sure Elevation is quite similar based on the pictures and videos I've seen. In fact, there's another church down in your neck of the woods called "Watershed." If you're from Charlotte, you've probably heard of it. They are a church plant established by one of the Westwinds staff. So, all that to say I'm quite familiar with the type of church Elevation is. I have nothing against its TYPE. I was fair in my review in that I listened to Pastor Furtick's Sun Stand Still message via podcast. I felt the same regarding his book as I did the 3-part podcast. So, I was fair: I gave it a shot!
Next, please be careful regarding what you call "blasphemous". In Christian theology, one cannot blaspheme a mere book written by a mere human being. Blasphemy is something one can only do to God. For instance, one blasphemes God when we attribute something to Satan when it should only be attributed to God. One cannot possibly blaspheme "Sun Stand Still" the book.
Next, I am very familiar with the passage in 2Kings 2 where Elisha called a bear to maul boys who mocked him. First, this is not a "parable", but "historical narrative". Parables use physical things we can see and touch to describe difficult-to-understand spiritual concepts. For instance, the parable of the 99 sheep, the parable of the lost coin, etc. Each item in a parable is a real thing, but it represents something bigger that was to be grasped by the hearer. 2Kings 2 is "historical narrative", told to us as if it was an event that actually happened...just like the sun standing still for Joshua. In your Elisha example, if you think I am mocking Pastor Furtick, you are wrong. I am bringing his poor teaching to light. That is simply good stewardship of God's word.
If what you intended was to say the bible tells us to "touch not God's anointed," well, you are unfortunately misunderstanding God's word. In that Psalm, the "anointed" one was King Saul, and David was instructed not to physically harm Saul although Saul had been physically attempting to harm David. Many teachers use this passage to defend their shoddy theology so listeners will not judge their words or work.
While we're on the topic of judging: we OUGHT to judge! We must judge whether or not a math teacher properly teaches us mathematics; we must judge whether or not we'll buy a car from a particular car salesman who has a bad reputation of cheating people; we must judge whether or not God's word is being taught correctly...whether we judge Pastor Furtick's messages or the Pope's messages. What we must NOT judge is a person's salvation, which I am not doing. I have not condemned him to hell or proclaimed that he is not a believer. I simply think he needs to tune up his theology! But I digress.
Next, regarding having nothing good to say: You apparently didn't read my entire review. Honestly, you didn't, did you? Because I actually had a couple nice things to say. For instance, I recommended chapter 13 to readers, and I explained why. On the other hand, I was requested to provide my honest review of this book. What kind of reviewer would I be if I didn't give all of my opinioin...both the good and the bad? That wouldn't be very fair to future readers, would it?
Next, I didn't say the book couldn't be a blessing to a person. In fact, I even asked myself if my faith is a living faith (3rd paragraph from the bottom of my review). There's another example of why I doubt you read my entire review. But, I forgive you.
Next, I actually DO believe God made the sun stand still that day for Joshua. It was a miracle that science and time cannot explain, and I will not blaspheme GOD by attributing that miracle to Satan or as a mere accident. So, thank you for judging my faith...something you seem to wish I hadn't done of Pastor Furtick's book.
Finally, I do hope you will re-read my review. Please re-read Pastor Furtick's book again more critically. Read it with you bible open. Ask yourself some tough questions when you read the historical narrative in Joshua: "Is this miracle told to us so that we'll have a 'sun-stand-still faith' so that all of my dreams can come true if I just believe in faith? You'll probably find yourself answering much differently than Pastor Furtick would have you to believe.
I look forward to your reply and an on-going conversation."
Sounds like a book I would not be interested in other than to know it is not in line with Scripture. My comment however is to applaud you on your excellent response. Very well written. I am afraid it fell on deaf ears however.
ReplyDeleteGregg, that is high praise coming from you...the master written communicator. Thank you. I agree, it probably fell on deaf ears. I even visited his own profile to invite him to read my response.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that you raise some valid points ML.
ReplyDeleteFirst the mere "kids" mauled by he bear in 2nd Kings can translate to be people of military age. Feel free to look that up whenever you get the chance.
Insofar as Joshua's 'Long Day', there are a couple of possible explanations for this and each one would probably require it's own blog post.
JD, I'll have to check out some of the explanations for the long day...should be interesting speculations. I always like that kind of stuff.
ReplyDelete