A CLARIFICATION: Before I continue, it is important that I clarify any potential misunderstandings what I am about to write may bring, especially from those of whom I am writing about. I in no way impugn either the character or sincerity of either Pastor Eric Douma or Dr. David James, two sincere servants of Christ. Let me make that clear up front and bring it to center light before anyone gets the wrong impression.
When I refer to some within the Discernment Ministry as being too committed to their campaign against Cahn and his book The Harbinger, I am not necessarily referring to them, I am speaking in a general term. Therefore, let it not be taken by either men or anyone else reading this post, that I refer to anyone in particular when writing about commitments and how hard it is to seperate oneself from them once one is fully committed to them.
Because people can interpret into what other people write more than what is said, or an entirely new narrative - just read the critics of The Harbinger and you'll get a real lesson in this - then it is my responsibility to make sure that no one reading this post misunderstands what I say in it. Therefore the clarification. Now we may proceed.
Normally I enjoy sermons and find them both uplifting, and a true help in affirming and strengthening our faith. Some of the best sermons preached that i've heard in my lifetime have been and continue to be those given by such notables as Dr. Charles Swindoll, Dr. James MacArthur, Dr. James MacDonald, Dr. Charles Stanley, and of course my own Pastor/Rabbi Jonathan Cahn whom I hear almost every week.
Even when at times I find myself disagreeing with all or some of these, I still find their preaching and exposition of God's Word uplifting and inspiring. I cannot in all honestly say the same about Eric Douma's.
I cannot stomach Eric Douma’s preaching. What's more, the message he gave regarding The Harbinger titled Can the Bible Say What It Doesn't Mean? is the worse specimen of verbal manipulation and semantical twisting I've ever experienced in my lifetime.
I must confess too that I can’t take his voice. But I can get passed the voice if the message is uplifting and if it glorifies God, but Douma’s message does neither. It is not uplifting, nor does it glorify God; so in the absence of one or the other – in this case both – it is like the proverbial swallowing of a very large pill without water. It is very hard to swallow.
So it’s taken me much longer to write down word by word his sermon, though what I’ve done thus far, I’ve encountered holes in his reasoning, his theology, his use of Aristotelian Logic as a Hermeneutic for Biblical Interpretation, and his fixation with semantics – where he makes generalizations of what he believes Cahn is saying and equivocates as to their meaning – actually huge gaps; as he tries to build his case against The Harbinger and Jonathan Cahn.
His sermon is almost exclusively based in its totality upon the writings of David James and his book The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction?, not independent of them. Listening to Douma's sermon is like reading James' book. It's as though James is the ventriloquist and Douma the marionette, presenting to their audience the arguments contained in James' book.
It’s hard though, to listen to him, know where he’s gone off the rails, and discipline myself right there and then to comment upon a specific point, rather than to continue to listen to the bilge of bias masked as a Sunday School Bible Teaching. There is absolutely nothing uplifting or inspiring in it. It is dead scholasticism at its worst couched in a veneer of Christianity and taught to people who did not realize just how off the mark he really is.
I know Brannon Howse was completely taken by his presentation, and presents it as the best thing since slice bread on his web site. Just goes to show that if you package something well, regardless of the content of the product, it will find an audience who will be taken up by it. I plan to write a thorough review of Douma's sermon Lord willing, which will be part of a greater work on David James' book I am currently at work on.
No doubt the critics of The Harbinger think the same thing about us, and they would be correct in that respect alone. Anything, good or bad, right or wrong, correct or incorrect; can if packaged the right way, and sometimes regardless; find the right audience who will be taken up with it. There is no exception.
Some of the worse motion pictures of all time all have a cult following, even some of the worse politicians; as we’re witnessing currently with Obama. And so Brannon Howse and the others are taken up with Eric Douma’s well laid out presentation and readily accept it as gospel because it concurs with their point of view, and can be used by them to affirm it with others, possibly even convince some to their point of view.
Remember, this is their aim, and therefore they will use anything, say anything, broadcast anything that will strengthen their standing with the public regardless at this point whether or not there is a shred of evidence to support it. They’ve gone too far, and are far too committed now to turn back. It would be a most amazing thing to see them make a public repentance of what they have done, and turn around and cease their narrow campaign against Cahn and his book, and their efforts to marginalize and defame him and his ministry publicly.
Because of this – and it is at the very heart of human pride and ego – it is a very hard thing to do to end a project if one is convinced that it is serving God – but even harder for some if they have committed their reputation to it and are far too attached to its successful outcome – for them to shift gears and present a public apology and confession of their sin and guilt in attacking a fellow Christian. It takes a real and sincere soul searching for one to do that, and I don’t know if these gentlemen are up to the task, especially if they’ve convinced themselves that their cause is right and of God.
One can actually gauge how deep they’re committed by the manner they respond to criticism of their opinions about Cahn’s book, and their response to challenges presented of specific charges of theirs when these scrutinized by the clear teaching of Scripture and an analytical approach that simply takes the direct meaning of the words Cahn employs in his book and teachings before they’re mangled and twisted with new meanings he never intended but to which they attribute.
Some thirty-four years ago, when I was much younger in the faith, I had been caught up with the false teachings of the Word of Faith preachers. At that time, I was developing carefully a theology built around their teachings that justified the belief that medicine and medical science had no place in the lives of Christians, and that anyone who visited a doctor for a cure was practicing sorcery and living in unbelief. I actually believed and taught this nonsense, and felt justified in doing so. I was also caught up with every false doctrine taught by the Word of Faith preachers and religious telemarketers on TV and on the radio.
It took a deep soul searching as I read the unvarnished Scriptures, and the conviction of the Holy Spirit, to open my eyes to the error of my ways. As I compared what the Word of God taught to what was presented as doctrine by these charlatans, and the sincerely misguided (like me at the time), the Holy Spirit began to slowly and gently peel back the layers of these teachers’ false narrative, and I began to struggle with what I was discovering for the first time. It was painful. Very painful.
It was painful because my wife and I had both vested so much of our own personal theology and beliefs into it, and we had been so committed to supporting the ministries of these men. But as I began to notice how different the narrative of the Scriptures were to their own narrative; I began to share it with my wife and to speak out about it our fellow congregants. We lost dear friends, close associates, and were even expelled from the church we were married in.
And many left the day we left that little church in Dumont, N.J. just minutes from my current residence. The pastor and his wife divorced, the church closed and the property was sold and is now a real estate office. The pastor’s home next to the church has been a parking lot for years. It is a heart-breaking story. But it is the story of false doctrine and false pretenses, human error, and ego.
For a long time we went nowhere, but were content to watch the Sunday morning teachers on television and support their ministries. It took us years to heal from the hurt and return to worshipping in a congregation of a mainline Christian church – Beth Israel Worship Center when it was located in Garfield/Lodi, N.J. in September of 1998.
So in the present situation with regards to The Harbinger and how committed and convinced these men appear to be; I fully understand and appreciate their predicament should they ever come to their senses, and repent, return, apologize, and rescind their attacks on Cahn and his book. I don’t expect it. They have too much riding on their own book, their own radio shows, and their reputation and credibility is worth more to them than to come clean and do the right thing. It’s just a very, very hard thing to do, and human beings are not good at doing it.
People are people and Christians are people too, even the most sincere. Why? Because the heart is desperately wicked, who knows it? And this is where the Lord zeroes in on – the heart. Oh that my heart be right before the Lord! That I may have a heart after His own heart! That I may walk in His ways in humility and in the light of His truth all the days allotted to me to live, because I will never get a second chance at this life. This is it, and I must serve Him in Spirit and in truth, just as He looks for people to worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
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