The name Apprising Ministries refers to my mission to keep the Church apprised, “to give notice to,” issues we are facing. With this in mind I am going to share the following exchange which began with an email comment sent from the Christian Research Net website from one who is a member of Elevation Church home of the young and fast-rising megapastor Steven Furtick.

I’m going to present the following exchange for the edification of the reader in order for you to better understand the issues involved with this man-centered new evangelical seeker sensitive infomercial gospel preached by men like Furtick and his mentors such as Perry Noble and Purpose Driven Pope Rick Warren. In order to protect anonymity I have also changed the person’s name:

—– Original Message —–
From: “Gerry”
To: apprising@hughes.net
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 11:09 AM
Subject: A comment from a CRN visitor

Message: I read the blog, ‘Steven Furtick: Pastor with a real chip on his shoulder’, and im [sic] not sure why you have a problem with him or the church. He simply states the church’s purpose and what its purpose isn’t. The church has grown to around 2800 coming weekly, with over 600 active volunteers, more than that are in small groups, hundreds have heard and received the gospel, hundreds have been baptized, they are heavily involved with 5 local charities…in less than two years. I guess I don’t understand why you feel this church is so bad, ‘seeker-sensitive’ or whatever you wanna call it. You found one video clip on youtube and critique it, but every sermon he has is on podcast or on video on the churchs [sic] website www.elevationchurch.com.

From: Apprising Ministries [mailto:apprising@hughes.net]
Sent: Mon 9/10/2007 11:20 AM
To: “Gerry”
Subject: Re: A comment from a CRN visitor

Hello “Gerry”,

Thank you for contacting Christian Research Net. You say: “You found one video clip on youtube and critique it,…”

You must be new to CRN. This is by no means the only clip we’ve used concerning Furtick nor is it the first piece we have done on him.

If you are sincere in wanting to know more I will suggest that you do a search here on CRN for “Steven Furtick”.

I pray this helps.

For Christ’s Honor,

Pastor Ken Silva
President
Apprising Ministries
https://www.apprising.org/
Ezekiel 3:7-14

General Editor
Christian Research Net
http://christianresearchnetwork.com/
2 Corinthians 11:12-15

—– Original Message —–
From: “Gerry”
To: Apprising Ministries
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 11:23 AM
Subject: RE: A comment from a CRN visitor

Thanks for the quick reply, but what about every thing else I said? Please tell me what you find so bad about this church and pastor in your words.

From: Apprising Ministries [mailto:apprising@hughes.net]
Sent: Mon 9/10/2007 11:31 AM
To: “Gerry”
Subject: Re: A comment from a CRN visitor

Not a problem. I happened to be online. My point was “Gerry” that CRN and my more personal website www.apprising.org have discussed the “every thing else” you said in the posts you would find if you do the search I suggested.

—– Original Message —–
From: “Gerry”
To: Apprising Ministries
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 12:10 PM
Subject: RE: A comment from a CRN visitor

STEVEN FURTICK: “IF YOU KNOW JESUS, THIS CHURCH IS NOT FOR YOU!”…you missed the entire point of what he said. Disclipeship [sic] does take place at this church. The point of what he was saying is that once you become a Christian you are in the army of God, you will be taught biblical things, but at the same time the goal of the church is to reach to the community so that those far from God will be filled with the spirit…what is wrong with that? How could that fisrt [sic] line be true if the church offers bible studies, even bible studies for new believers?…maybe you took it out of context, like most of your articles did.

the only other defense i can offer this church is for you to come and visit it. they actually offer ‘tours’ to church planters who want to see how the church operates…generally folks get there around 5 or 6am to set up an auditorium, the lobby, and the huge kids area. The people at the church aren’t Christian zombies who don’t [sic] know any scripture or sound doctrine. He preaches the gospel, heaven, hell, and everything inbetween [sic]. Please stop writing about things you have no idea about, it benefits no one and hurts the cause of Christ. Again, thousands come to this church weekly, hundreds have been saved, hundreds have been baptized, there are hundreds of joyful volunteers, hundreds of joyful tithers, hundreds of bible study attenders [sic] and plenty of discipleship and accountability.

From: Apprising Ministries [mailto:apprising@hughes.net]
Sent: Mon 9/10/2007 1:33 PM
To: “Gerry”
Subject: Re: A comment from a CRN visitor

“Gerry”,

You speculate: “you missed the entire point of what he said.” How are you so sure I did? I find it interesting that you are so adamant in informing me you know the “point of what he was saying” and the pastors and teachers who work with me do not.

Have you some special inside information here? You do appear to be taking this kind of personally. You actually give every impression of being someone whose mind was already made up before you even wrote to me the first time. I also find it curious that you seem to know “the goal of the church” so well.

The second paragraph of your email [above] indeed reads like a promo for Elevation Church. So is this your church “Gerry”? Is this why you know it so well? But FYI, when you say Furtick “preaches the gospel” you err. The fact is he preaches the common new evangelical heavily Arminian non-gospel of the virtually spiritually impotent American Christian Church.

No doubt a cool show and a rocking band will pack people in and the emotional group psychology will cause many to “choose” to follow Jesus. The eternally deadly spiritual problem “Gerry” is that man simply cannot choose to follow God. Unless one is regenerated he truly hates the actual God of the Bible. And no one is regenerated unless God first chooses him. And no one believes in Christ until God grants him the gift of faith.

I do not question the sincerity of Steven Furtick but I do know from the Bible that at best he is filling a building with people whose baptisms mean nothing more than they took a quick bath in public. So you see, if I love Jesus and if I love Steve and if I love the people who are being mislead by him, and if I love you then I’m going to tell you the Truth. This I have now done. May the Lord open your eyes that you might see.

Sincerely in Christ,

Pastor Ken Silva

Yes pastor, this is my church. That is why and how I know it so well. That is why I know so many people whose lives have been changed, who now minister where ministry once didn’t exist, that is why my opinoin [sic] is much more valid that you or your pastor and teacher friends. I have seen marriages put back together, have met individuals who were on the brink of suicide before attending the church. Your pastor and teacher friends do not attend this church, they have probably never been or met him, his staff or the congregation, so yes I do know more about this church then you and all of them.

I’m not taking this personally, I’m am [sic] saying as a Christian you are off base and need to get your facts straight. I’m not hiding anything, I attend this church and support my church in its vision which aligns perfectly with the same Bible you read.

I do believe that without God no one can come to faith. Pastor Steven Furtick, I assure you, believes the same. However unless you have the list of individuals that God has chosen then who are you to decide if their faith is genuine or not? I might agree with you if there wasn’t service involved, but these people joyfully serve week after week, are involved with bible studies, and wholeheartedly love God.

You say that I made up my mind before reading those articles, but so have you. You, your pastor and teacher friends watch his sermons looking for things you think he saying wrong, you are not listening to what he is saying, you’re looking at how to beat him up. How many times have your prayed for Pastor Furtick? How many times have you visited his church?

Are you suggesting that church should be boring? That people should gather in a room and sing nothing but hymns and talk about John Calvin and Martin Luther? Is that church? Would that be better for you? I am not defending other churches, in fact I know of other churches that are very ‘seeker-sensitive’ and are just a show with no substance, but that is not Elevation Church I assure you!

Please do not pretend as if you are truely [sic] concerned with Pastor Furtick. He is a fellow pastor of yours, you should be building each other up with wisdom, not slander. You shouldn’t be calling him Steve or Steven, he is Pastor Steven Furtick.

As a Christian, I am your brother in Christ, correct? I am constantly studying scripture, theology, doctrine, apologetics, etc, so please trust me when I tell you that Elevation Church and Pastor Steven Furtick are sound in doctrine, purpose, and vision.

God is doing mighty work in Charlotte, NC and is blessing this church and the community greatly.

Thank you.