Why Have Some Called Us a “Cult?”
Kevin Cauley--preachersfiles.com

This past Wednesday night in the high school class, one of our astute and observant high school students asked me why some are calling us a cult. After the death of Matthew Winkler, there were several in the media who were seeking to “analyze” the situation. One Nancy Grace on CNN invited a Baptist “pastor” to come and answer some questions. During this interview, the “pastor” said that the church of Christ was a cult like religion. While he didn’t come out and call us an outright cult, there are others who do. Why do some refer to the churches of Christ as a cult?

First, there has been some confusion between the churches of Christ and the International Churches of Christ which is the former Boston Movement, a.k.a. Crossroads Movement. While the ICOC had its origins among churches of Christ, their practices were not consistent with what we practice and they rapidly became identified as a separate religions group. Some of their practices included a one man leader type system in a hierarchical pyramid style organization. They also held to the practice of “prayer partners” where one would confess sins to a “higher” Christian. These confessions would then be used to manipulate the “lower” Christian into the “correct” behavior. With such mind manipulation techniques and a single charismatic leader many correctly identified them as a cult. Unfortunately, the distinction between the ICOC and the “mainline” churches of Christ was not so clear in the minds of observers. One government document in the 90s identified the “Church of Christ” as the most rapidly growing cult in the United States. In that same document there was a footnote that identified “churches of Christ” as the ICOC or Boston Movement, but this was not commonly understood. This failure to understand the difference between these two bodies has contributed largely to the confusion that many today have.

Second, many in the denominational world consider us a cult because of our teaching regarding the one nature of the church. The Bible clearly teaches that there is one body (Ephesians 4:4) and that that one body is the church (Ephesians 1:22-23). The denominational world identifies this body as all of the denominations. However, this is not how the Bible identifies Christ’s body. The Bible teaches that the one body of Christ isn’t divided into denominations (1 Corinthians 1:10-13), but united under a single doctrine (Ephesians 4:1-6) and that Christ expects his church to have unity based upon this doctrine (John 17:20-23). That’s not the picture of the church that we find in the denominational world today. Denominationalism teaches that one may believe any of various different doctrines so long as one doesn’t condemn any other denomination. Such a picture of the church is foreign to the teaching of scripture which demands like-mindedness in doctrinal matters (Philippians 2:2). Thus, because churches of Christ teach that denominationalism is sinful, divisive, and aberrant to the New Testament’s teaching regarding the nature of the church, denominationalists can only respond with the accusation that we must be a cult regardless of what our practices are. In essence, what they have done is defined the word “cult” to mean anything other than acceptance of the denominational world, a definition of convenience at best.

Finally, because the churches of Christ teach the necessity of baptism prior to salvation, denominationalists level the accusation of “cult” against us. It doesn’t matter to them that the Bible itself teaches the necessity of baptism prior to salvation in such passages as Mark 16:15, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Romans 6:1-11, Galatians 3:27-29, Colossians 2:11-13 and 1 Peter 3:21. So in essence, this is the classical logical fallacy of argumentum ad hominem (attack the man or in this case, the church). In essence the argument is, “Don’t believe that baptism is necessary for salvation because they are a cult and cults can’t be believed!” There is no effort to deal with the actual issue of what the Bible plainly teaches. In essence, they label us a cult because they can’t refute what is plainly taught in the scriptures and what we believe.

It is sad that denominational leaders and people outside of the church will blindly accept such accusations and criticisms without investigation, but that is exactly what occurs. The Lord’s church has experienced such criticism since its inception (Acts 24:5, 28:22). Even Jesus was accused unjustly (Matthew 9:34). We, however, as the church, ought not to let such unwarranted criticisms move us away from the truth of the scriptures; we have truth and it sets us free from the shackles of denominational teaching and practices, which practices are rapidly leading the denominations into the acceptance of immorality in our day and age. The church of Christ is not a cult regardless what others say. Let us continue to hold fast to the truths of scripture regarding the nature of the church, the plan of salvation, and religious practices that are pleasing to God and not man (Galatians 1:10).

Preacher files.com site: http://preachersfiles.com/why-have-some-called-us-a-cult/

Posted by bearingthecross at 7:49 PM EDT

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The Bible Doctrine of Creation:
How Essential Is It to the Faith of a Christian?

How important is the doctrine of creation to the Christian faith? May a believer accept theistic or organic evolution? Is the Genesis account of creation literal history and fact, or is it figurative myth and legend? May we believe the days of creation were long ages, or must we accept them as literal days? How does creation relate to the wisdom, power, Deity, and eternal nature of God? How fundamental is creation as evidence for the existence of the one true God and for the Bible as God's word?-Gospelway.com: http://www.gospelway.com/creation/creation_significance.php

Posted by bearingthecross at 3:29 PM EDT

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Is The Bible Complete?
Mike Riley--The Preacher Files
http://preachersfiles.com/is-the-bible-complete/

A querist asks, “How would you prove that the Bible is completely finished and that adding to the Bible is no longer necessary?”

Paul states in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” The phrase, “All scripture” is all inclusive of “all” the inspired words (or writings – Gk. “graphe”) of God (cf. 2 Peter 1:20-21; John 6:63).

2 Peter 1:3 tells us that we have been given “all things” that pertain to life and godliness, “through the knowledge of him….” The “knowledge” of Christ (2 Peter 1:2) can be fully known by a study of both Old and New Testaments, which contain the totality of inspired scripture (Psalm 119:160; Psalm 139:17). Without a knowledge of the totality of the inspired scriptures, how could we have been given “all things” that pertain to life and godliness?

Jude 1:3 tells us that the faith was “once for all delivered to the saints.” The meaning here is that the God’s truth has been “once” delivered for all time. It is a permanent delivery from God that will never be superseded, amended or modified (Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18-19; cf. Gal. 1:6-12).

Additionally, James 1:25 states, “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth [therein], he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” The word “perfect” in this passage is translated from the Greek word, “teleios” which signifies “having reached its end” (telos), “finished, complete, perfect.” In James 1:25, the word is “referring to the complete revelation of God’s will and ways, whether in the completed Scriptures or in the hearafter” (Vine’s, 1996, p. 466).

Posted by bearingthecross at 2:43 PM EDT

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The Hope of Israel"
The apostle Paul had been arrested and
taken to Rome for trial before Ceesar. Allowed
some liberty, he contacted the leaders of the Jews in Rome.---Gospel Minutes
Read the rest of the article here: http://www.wfcoc.org/WFCoC/Minutes_2009_files/gm042409.pdf

Posted by bearingthecross at 10:08 AM EDT

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What Must I Do?"--Gospel Minute

"Sirs, what must I do?" (Acts 16:30). There some things we MUST do. And especially is  this true if we would seek to please God."
Read the entire article here: http://www.wfcoc.org/WFCoC/Minutes_2009_files/gm041009.pdf

Posted by bearingthecross at 11:08 AM EDT

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http://www.wfcoc.org/WFCoC/Minutes_2009_files/gm040309.pdf

"If you keep up with sports of any kind, you
ow about the passion some athletes have to
be the best. Whether it is on the golf course or
a basketball court, people compete to prove
they and/or their team are better than the other guy and/or his team." (click on the link for the full story)

Posted by bearingthecross at 10:39 AM EDT

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