The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. (Proverbs 1:7)

Who Could Possibly Fear The Mush God In The Image of Effete Man?

And so the below Rodney King theology of “Can’t we all just get along?” is what is passing for “knowledge” in the new evangelical church planting movement, which Tadd Grandstaff of I Hate Christians infamy, is an up and coming part. This is not to be confused with the emerging church/Emergent Church.

You see, by and large the new evangelicalism of Rick Warren and Steven Furtick is just as seeker sensitive and semi-pelagian, but it is not as neo-orthodox as the emerging church as typified by Dan Kimball and Erwin McManus, nor is it as liberal as the Emergent Church and Brian McLaren or Doug Pagitt or Rob Bell.

However, all of the above employ a similar type of man-centered approach to the Christian faith. Pastor Jeff Noblitt put it well in his message On the Rise of Calvinism in the Southern Baptist Convention:

Someone asked me a while back, “How would you define the difference between using the Scriptures to support a more man-centered pragmatic message and just preaching the Word?”

And I do not mean this as a personal attack; it’s the difference between Rick Warren and John MacArthur.

Careful Not To Offend Goes The Seeker Sensitive Dilemma

For example we take one of Church Planter Grandstaff’s comrades Ben Arment. Arment is pastor of Reston Community Church in Virginia who also has all of the usual new breed new evangelical church planting suspects on his “shout out” blogroll. He says in his post “Don’t be Hatin’” November 30:

There seems to be some controversy between the Mark Driscoll camp and the Rob Bell camp over whether God loves sinners and is not angry with us…

In this video, Driscoll claims that God IS angry with us as sinners…. that the phrase “God hates the sin but loves the sinner” was invented by a Hindu.

In this article, Bell states that God is NOT angry with us as sinners… and has created a sold-out speaking tour around the subject.
(Online source)

Well, there doesn’t seem to be “some controversy” between the teachings of Mark Driscoll and Rob Bell concerning the actual view of God about sin; there happens to be an unbridgeable chasm between their positions. But where is Pastor Ben’s own stance? Which “camp” is correct?

So speaking new breed pastor-ese for a moment—dude, your pastor “gig” says—He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it (Titus 1:9)—totally. But this is a huge weakness in the people-pleasing new evangelicalism and the emerging church; take an actual stand and you’re liable to, um…I’ll spare you the word they would usually use…tick somebody off.

Even so, among other things the Lord has been pleased to raise Apprising Ministries up as a leading critic of Rob Bell , and in pieces like Rob Bell Says, “All-ee-In-Free…Almost my position concerning Bell’s apostasy is crystal clear. And although I am not here recommending the ministry of Mark Driscoll, in this instance below he is correct:

See also:

NEW BREED NEW EVANGELICAL PASTORS OF “INFOMERCIAL CHRISTIANITY” SHARE THEIR ISSUES