Ministry -- if your ministry is based on false teaching it needs to be invalidated. It is always so telling how skewed a preacher is when he writes to defend people he views as peers without regard for the sheep the Lord has entrusted.
Romans 12:10 -- the error you keep making is in automatically assuming everyone who carries a bible is our brethren. They are not. We do not build up wolves. We do not encourage them. We should not be devoted to them. If the issues were truly of the disagreement variety then again, we ought not divide over those but this article is sure not smelling like that right now.
"As one who absolutely affirms bold and provocative messages, I'm dismayed that so many who name the name of Jesus presume boldness equates to cruelty and divisiveness. Haters and debaters who are driven by a contentious agenda against those they disagree with are doing great damage to the church. Strangely, they presume to be the champions of truth, knights in shining armor who are to be celebrated for defending their absolutely "perfect" view of Scripture. They presume themselves to be Bereans when in reality they are aligning themselves with a dark spirit of accusation and assault. These are no Bereans. They are, in fact, Thessalonians." -- John Burton
The only agenda that drives true discernment is that lives are saved and the real Gospel is preached. And please John, can you ever see your own hypocrisy? Accusing people of having a spirit of accusation? Seriously? So did Paul have a spirit of accusation when he called out Hymenaeus? What about Alexander the Coppersmith? Why would Paul instruct Timothy that he must rebuke those that do not present an accurate Gospel? Why does Paul call such people accursed while you want to have tea with them? The rest of this snippet is equally nonsensical. I have never seen a discernment minister consider themselves knights in shining armor. Quite the opposite in fact.
"The Spirit of the Bereans vs. the Spirit of the Thessalonians. According to his custom, Paul went in, and on three Sabbaths he lectured to them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus, whom I preach to you, is the Christ" (Acts 17:2-3). In Thessalonica, Paul was reasoning in the synagogue and revealing the glorious truth of Jesus. Some were persuaded, but many weren't, and instead of exhibiting love in disagreement, they started a riot. This riotous spirit is driving the religious today, people who are not at all interested in life-giving truth. Their motive is selfish, protecting their own way of life and belief system. But the Jews who did not believe became jealous and, taking some evil men from the marketplace, gathered a crowd, stirred up the city, and attacked the house of Jason, trying to bring them out to the mob (Acts 17:5)." -- John Burton
Talk about a spirit of accusation! What a disgusting comparison to make. The riotous Jews in Acts 17 were not saved beloved. They did not accept the Gospel as Paul preached it because it went against their power structure as religious leaders of the time. This is the same reason the Pharisees opposed Jesus. What John Burton fails to be able to see is he is the spirit he rails against here. The small handful of discernment ministers could hardly be described as being the leaders of modern day Christianity. The leaders of the apostate church can be found all over Charisma News, rubbing elbows with John Burton. How much money does Charisma make a year John? The wolves that you give aid and comfort to -- how much do they make? Who is the mob in your analogy John? Who has the control of religion? Who riots whenever someone has the temerity to point out what you are saying is wrong? Just a quick aside on the continued abuse of the word religious. This is a word that God Himself has ordained in scripture. To be religious is to be genuine and sincere about your faith and beliefs. The modern day powers that be prefer experience over scripture so they turned this word against the body of Christ. Suddenly anyone who disagrees is religious. Anyone who insists on biblical accuracy has a religious spirit. It is absolute garbage and should be discarded as such.
"I think I've met some of the bad characters the verse mentions. They are all over Facebook. In the face of this, Paul and Silas moved on to Berea. "The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews" (Acts 17:10). Many presume the Bereans heard the message and then, with a nasty, suspicious look on their face and thick theological walls built up, they put their noses into the Scriptures, looking to refute all that was being said. This is not what happened at all. Many modern "Bereans" are some of the meanest, most arrogant and unteachable people in the church. They are so tightly wound up, fearing even the slightest threat to their personal doctrines, that they often slander and accuse people they oppose. This is not how the Bereans in the Book of Acts responded. Not at all. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with all eagerness, daily examining the Scriptures, to find out if these things were so (Acts 17:11). Did you notice that the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians? Did you notice why? They received the message not with great suspicion, but with great eagerness. They were excited about this fresh, life-giving message that Paul was revealing to them! Their energy wasn't spent discounting the message but rather in searching the Scriptures to see if it was true." -- John Burton
I am unsure what circles John Burton traffics in but I have never heard anyone portray Bereans as being suspicious. I am pretty sure this is a strawman argument. Now if someone is unteachable and arrogant that would be a horrible combination but methinks Burton does protest too much. He also continues the disinformation campaign. The issue for true discernment ministers is not an infringement upon personal doctrines. I have no personal doctrines. I have the bible and it is only an infringement upon God's Word that I react to. How sadly ironic that Burton cannot see through his blinding deception here. He is right about the Bereans but that does not help his cause. He openly admits here that the Bereans were nobler because they searched scripture to see if what was being preached was true. Hello! That is what discernment ministries do! Guess those Bereans must have had an arrogant and religious spirit.
