By Jon Cardwell, pastor of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church

Look, love him or leave him, the one thing that you can count on with Ken Silva is that he calls ‘em as he sees ‘em and he tells it like he sees it.

Ken has been my friend since my family and I were ministering in Alaska and one of the things I appreciate about Pastor Silva is that you don’t have to try to figure out what he’s saying: candid as a camera and direct as a military communique; nope, no guesswork necessary with this brother.

I suppose that this makes my dear brother somewhat controversial to the some, strange to others, and downright “vicious” to those to whom he names in his missives. I personally don’t have the time for controversy, preferring only to preach up Christ and preach down the devil; yet, I don’t see Ken Silva as controversial. Through his Apprising Ministries, Ken posts articles that touch on areas that I just don’t have time to research.

Now, an objection may be raised by one of his critics, “He names names and never substantiates his baseless claims.” To that I answer, well, if you read one of his articles or missives and it seems merely opinion, it may be because he has provided the links to what has been said, written, or claimed by those he exposes. Tons of links. Ken himself would be the first one to say, “Hey, don’t take my word for it. Hear what these people have to say for themselves and check it out with the Word of God.”

Also, in defense of Ken Silva, I have read what some critics have written publicly, and even sent to me personally; they offer objections, the such like, “But that is not what [he, she, we, they] meant.” To that I answer, then by all means explain; write a retraction of the former; and express it so one who is ignorant and unlearned as I might understand.

I mean really, and please, instead of calling us stupid (for that you must fall in line because I’ve been called stupid by many others, including myself… I readily admit it so don’t tell me something I already know), explain it to us so that my stupidity may be enlightened through your condescending grace (seriously, I mean it sincerely).

An example of what Ken Silva provides at Apprising Ministries can be found in his post of June 12, 2011, titled, “THE EMERGENT CHURCH ON A WILD GOOSE CHASE.” Here is an excerpt:

The online apologetics and discernment work Apprising Ministries has been covering the damage that’s been done by evangelicalism’s embrace of the sinfully ecumenical neo-liberal cult of the Emergent Church aka the Emerging Church— with its “big tent” Progressive Christianity aka Emergence Christianity.

By using warped and toxic teachings of EC leaders like Emerging Church rock star pastor Rob Bell the mainstream of the visible church has been poisoning its own young; and since squishy evanjellyfish has now followed the mortally wounded mainline denominations out of the closet, with its man-love of heart murmur spirituality at the expense the God-centered spirituality of sola Scriptura, I’ve also been giving you peeks at its bleak future of division and compromise of God’s Word.  Read the rest of the article here.

Before anyone gets the idea of calling me on the carpet as being a cheerleader for Ken Silva, you might need to check with a couple of folks from the Emergent Church to see if I haven’t been fair, open, and honest in dealings with them. And further, ensure that you check all I write, all I say, all I preach, all I publicly pray, and all I do to see if it lines up with the Word of God contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, if it expresses love to the brethren, and mostly, that it glorifies God in Christ by that fruit.

The original appears complete with a comments section here.

See also:

THE EMERGING CHURCH, DOUG PAGITT & PROCESS THEOLOGY

POSTMODERN MYTH AND SOME HOMEBREWED ROB BELL

THE EMERGING CHURCH AND THE NEW PROGRESSIVE THEOLOGY ON OTHER RELIGIONS