From: Jess
Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2017 1:09 PM
To: The Path of Truth
Subject: RE: Article written by Victor about Charles Stanley
To Victor:
I stumbled upon this article when I was searching for some information on the internet about a particular person who I had certain questions regarding his doctrinal teachings. I came upon a list of false teachers on your website. Charles Stanley’s name was listed, even though I wasn’t searching him.
The article titled ‘False Teacher Charles Stanley Nice ‘n Easy, Certified ‘n Deadly’ written by Victor made such statements as the following that are highlighted in red :
“When you know the True, the false become manifest.” Who proofread that before it was posted? The statement was probably intended to mean something, but it’s an incoherent statement.
“Mr. Stanley is no different from all the other ministries in the world. He is no servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Are you saying Dr. Stanley is not a born-again believer and his ministry provides false teachings?
“Allow me to point out but a scant few indicators of many falsehoods”:
“No man of God titles himself “Doctor,” as Stanley does. To put letters behind, or titles in front of, your name is to call on the audience to believe you based on your theological scholastic abilities and credentials, which any man in the world is able to obtain with any intelligence, yet without spiritual regeneration (without being born again) or the calling of God to ministry. To place faith in such things and presume that others should as well is purely and simply anti-Christ.”
What mature Christian thinks like this ? Do you mean you can actually see a connection where if a person lists his credentials, he’s using his higher education to draw uneducated people to his ministry? Let me ask you, did you continue in school beyond your high school education? It is covetous to have feelings of Dr. Stanley’s earned credentials.
“Jesus and His disciples, apostles, and prophets had no formal education to prepare them for ministry”.
What’s your point? Most people in that day didn’t have a formal education. It sounds as though you believe that because we live in the United States today which affords us ample opportunities to achieve a higher education, then that automatically disqualifies a person to be a true teacher of the Word of God. Your comment is such an absurd statement.
“Dr.” Stanley poses with a smile, as most such do. If you knew the Lord Jesus Christ, you would know He doesn’t do that, as though you should believe Him because He is a great and friendly guy.
Whhhaaaaat ? Are you saying that Dr. Stanley is vain because he smiles? What then. Are you saying Jesus never smiled throughout his entire ministry? This is pure idiocy… “if you knew the Lord Jesus Christ, you know He doesn’t do that”. Are you serious?
“It’s true that the evangelical world usually portrays Him that way, but that’s the evangelical world’s false perception of Him, which is at enmity with Jesus Christ. It’s another Jesus being preached,” ….
So because Dr. Stanley occasionaly smiles, then he’s not a true teacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ because that doesn’t match with ‘your’ criteria of the way Jesus would have taught during his ministry. How do you even arrive at your conclusion. So you think true believer’s teaching the Word of GOD who pose a smile occassionaly, are at emnity with Jesus Christ? That is most absurd
“Not that there is anything wrong with poses or smiles, in and of themselves, but those aren’t the “selling features” of the true Gospel of God.”
So what are ‘Your’ selling features? People with episodal bouts of psychological depression that lead to them never smiling are the only true teachers of the Gospel in the world?
On his site, he sells his Sermon Series. Can you imagine Jesus and His disciples selling their sermons?
“Jesus Christ wouldn’t put His material on sale or give His ministry a formal name or register it with Caesar, as though He needed the world’s permission to save it. Isn’t that ludicrous? Think about it.”
I thought about it. You’re right – Jesus would never do that. You’re wrong about true gospel teaching material being used to reach the unsaved throughout the world through asking for donations being somehow out of line with GOD’s plan. Or perhaps you are suspicious of a motive behind asking for donations to the ministry. The fact is that in order for materials to benefit GOD by bringing people to the saving grace through Jesus Christ, resources are needed and are required to be put in “PRINT or on CD’ or by what other means in use, and they have to be DISTRIBUTED. You’re wrong again. Think about THAT!
“Charles Stanley preaches many doctrines of devils, which, while revered and preached by mainstream Christianity, are not sourced in the Scriptures or of God”
I never heard Dr. Stanley’s preaching on what you call “doctrines of devils”, so I don’t even care to comment, nor is it true. I think you came up with that statement because you were running out of things, so it was easier to makeup lies out of thin air to add to your article.
=====
I do not know Charles Stanley. I have never met him. I do not attend his church. I am not a supporter of InTouch ministeries, and I am not a Baptist. But what I am considering though however, after reading this article, is to publish the profound claims you made in this article on your website about this man. They are such false and absurd comments that amount to nothing more than disparaging lies. You throw passages of scripture around in an attempt to try and back up comments. Sadly, you don’t know much about the verses you included in your article as to what they pertain to mean in the Bible. You have used the internet to make claims about Dr. Charles Stanley and the InTouch ministries that are unfounded.
I do not intend to read anymore on your website, so please do NOT respond back.
From: Paul Cohen
Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2017 7:52 AM
To: Jess
Cc: Victor Hafichuk
Subject: RE[1]: Article written by Victor about Charles Stanley
Hi Jess, Paul Cohen here.
You conclude with, “I do not intend to read anymore on your website, so please do NOT respond back.”
Is it your habit to speak, criticize, and condemn and then turn on your heels and walk away? Are you the judge in Heaven and earth with final say?
You write, beginning with a quote from our posting on Charles Stanley (Nice ‘n Easy, Certified ‘n Deadly): “‘When you know the True, the false become manifest.’ Who proofread that before it was posted? The statement was probably intended to mean something, but it’s an incoherent statement.”
I proofred that. It’s a simple statement, meaning: “When you can see and know who are True teachers sent by God, you will also see and know false ones who aren’t sent by Him.”
“‘When you know the True [plural noun/adjective], the false [plural noun/adjective] become manifest.” So far, you’re setting the tone for the validity of your judgment, Jess.
“Are you saying Dr. Stanley is not a born-again believer and his ministry provides false teachings?”
Yes, we are. We’re not saying, however, that everything Stanley says is false. As Jesus said, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” It’s what’s mixed in Stanley’s teachings and quotes from the Bible that is deadly.
The Pharisees had much true doctrine and practice. They were authorities in their day, called “Rabbi,” or in terms of our context, “Doctor” or “Reverend.” They claimed the authority of God, yet rejected the One Who came as a thief.
Men coming in their own name were received by those without faith, but He Who came in the Name of the Father was despised. Charles Stanley comes in his own name and you receive him. We come in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you reject us, and by rejecting us, you reject the Father Who sends us. You do not confess that Jesus Christ comes in the flesh.
“Do you mean you can actually see a connection where if a person lists his credentials, he’s using his higher education to draw uneducated people to his ministry? Let me ask you, did you continue in school beyond your high school education? It is covetous to have feelings of Dr. Stanley’s earned credentials.”
There’s nothing at all wrong with using credentials to let people know one has studied or achieved something in a specific field for which their services are sought. That’s not the issue here. The issue is men’s credentials from religious institutions don’t qualify one in the service of God. That kind of spiritual qualification was the very thing the apostle Paul left behind him and counted as “dung” when he was apprehended by Christ.
Philippians 3:3-9 MKJV
(3) For we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh;
(4) though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other thinks that he has reason to trust in the flesh, I more.
(5) I was circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. As regards the Law, I was a Pharisee;
(6) concerning zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness in the Law, blameless.
(7) But whatever things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
(8) But no, rather, I also count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them to be dung, so that I may win Christ
(9) and be found in Him; not having my own righteousness, which is of the Law, but through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God by faith.
Not one of the servants of God throughout the Bible ever had a formal degree conferred by the religious institutions of men, starting with our Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Pattern Son, the Supreme Example, setting the tone for those entering and ministering on behalf of the Kingdom of God and not kingdoms of men.
So no covetousness here, Jess. We’re extremely thankful to have been delivered from the pride of man and the destruction brought on us and all who walk in it.
You go on to say that most people in the days of the Lord and His apostles didn’t have a formal education. You miss the point altogether. The apostle Paul had been schooled, trained by Gamaliel, which training he not only never mentioned as certifying his ministry, but be made it abundantly clear that such was opposed to the Gospel God gave him to preach. Man’s glory and wisdom versus God’s glory and wisdom. Men come aggrandizing themselves but the Lord comes as a thief.
Things haven’t changed as you think, Jess. There was schooling in those days, and as with today, men naturally were confident in their carnal accomplishments rather than the revelation and gift of God:
“The Jewish authorities were greatly surprised and said, ‘How does this man know so much when He has never been to school?’” (John 7:15 GNB)
These schools of men, created by the Pharisees and other religious men, weren’t part of the Lord’s and His disciples training and qualification for the ministry of God. The servants of God were and are persecuted by those trained and indoctrinated in the schools of men.
Jesus Christ suffered “without the gate, without the camp.” So it is with all those who walk with and bear witness of Him:
Hebrews 13:11-13 KJV
(11) For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
(12) Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate.
(13) Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach.
You quote Victor:
“‘Dr.’ Stanley poses with a smile, as most such do. If you knew the Lord Jesus Christ, you would know He doesn’t do that, as though you should believe Him because He is a great and friendly guy.
Your response: Whhhaaaaat ? Are you saying that Dr. Stanley is vain because he smiles? What then. Are you saying Jesus never smiled throughout his entire ministry? This is pure idiocy… ‘if you knew the Lord Jesus Christ, you know He doesn’t do that’. Are you serious?
You then quote what Victor went on to say without recognizing his answer to your objections:
“Not that there is anything wrong with poses or smiles, in and of themselves, but those aren’t the ‘selling features’ of the true Gospel of God.”
Instead of seeing and acknowledging the issue isn’t smiling, you ask:
“So what are ‘Your’ selling features? People with episodal bouts of psychological depression that lead to them never smiling are the only true teachers of the Gospel in the world?”
You have drawn false conclusions and build straw men arguments, such as this:
“So you think true believer’s teaching the Word of GOD who pose a smile occassionaly, are at emnity with Jesus Christ? That is most absurd.”
True ministers of Christ don’t put forth pictures to draw people to themselves and presumably to the Lord with smiles, inviting friendship with the flesh. True ministers draw people to the Lord in sober truth, to be reconciled with God and become His friends, the One with Whom they’ve been at enmity.
2 Corinthians 5:18-21 MKJV
(18) And all things are of God, Who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
(19) whereas God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and putting the word of reconciliation in us.
(20) Then we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as God exhorting through us, we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
(21) For He has made Him Who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
As Victor said, it’s also the evangelical world that portrays Jesus smiling for the same reason, as if He is friends with the world, “but that’s the evangelical world’s false perception of Him, which is at enmity with Jesus Christ. It’s another Jesus being preached….”
“Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever desires to be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4 MKJV).
It’s this other “Jesus,” the friend of the world, which approves of selling sermons, an activity pointed out about Stanley:
“On his site, he [Stanley] sells his Sermon Series. Can you imagine Jesus and His disciples selling their sermons?
Jesus Christ wouldn’t put His material on sale or give His ministry a formal name or register it with Caesar, as though He needed the world’s permission to save it. Isn’t that ludicrous? Think about it.”
Your response, Jess:
“I thought about it. You’re right – Jesus would never do that. You’re wrong about true gospel teaching material being used to reach the unsaved throughout the world through asking for donations being somehow out of line with GOD’s plan. Or perhaps you are suspicious of a motive behind asking for donations to the ministry. The fact is that in order for materials to benefit GOD by bringing people to the saving grace through Jesus Christ, resources are needed and are required to be put in ‘PRINT or on CD’ or by what other means in use, and they have to be DISTRIBUTED. You’re wrong again. Think about THAT!”
Victor wasn’t talking about asking for donations, although true men of God don’t EVER do that with those to whom they’re preaching the Gospel.
“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay” (Matthew 10:8 ESV).
Victor was talking about selling ministry materials. You miss the point and end up arguing with yourself, as you do time and again.
Victor: “Charles Stanley preaches many doctrines of devils, which, while revered and preached by mainstream Christianity, are not sourced in the Scriptures or of God.”
Jess: “I never heard Dr. Stanley’s preaching on what you call ‘doctrines of devils’, so I don’t even care to comment, nor is it true. I think you came up with that statement because you were running out of things, so it was easier to makeup lies out of thin air to add to your article.”
If only you paid attention and red what was written, you’d find the answers handed to you on a platter of gold:
Victor: Read Diabolical Doctrines. There are also many proofs of falsehood with “Dr.” Charles Stanley and In Touch Ministries at The True Marks of a Cult.
You’re blinded to all but your own thoughts and ways, Jess, learned from others who are blind and have led you into the ditch. How tragic to not see when confessing the One Who gives light and sight!
Your inclination to shout out condemnation, pointing your index fingers at people and then stuffing them in your ears after speaking is what brings on your desolate spiritual condition of ignorance, anger and fear.
You finish your letter:
“I do not know Charles Stanley. I have never met him. I do not attend his church. I am not a supporter of InTouch ministeries, and I am not a Baptist. But what I am considering though however, after reading this article, is to publish the profound claims you made in this article on your website about this man. They are such false and absurd comments that amount to nothing more than disparaging lies. You throw passages of scripture around in an attempt to try and back up comments. Sadly, you don’t know much about the verses you included in your article as to what they pertain to mean in the Bible. You have used the internet to make claims about Dr. Charles Stanley and the InTouch ministries that are unfounded.”
It’s true – you don’t know Stanley, and you don’t know us, which is why you aren’t qualified to judge him or us. You don’t know what you’re talking about because you don’t have the mind of Christ, which is why you don’t know the Scriptures either. It is you the Lord speaks to here:
“Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no sin. But now you say, We see. Therefore your sin remains” (John 9:41 MKJV).
“I do not intend to read anymore on your website, so please do NOT respond back.”
Which sums up your appalling state. You come here making unfounded accusations, condemning the judgment of the Lord in gross ignorance, and then flee. You aren’t even willing to hear a reply that could instruct you in the way of life. But though you refuse to listen, others may be edified and helped by this answer. And you’ll still be held responsible for what’s been said to you, which also is for good.
So go ahead and make good your threat of posting against us if you wish. We will be posting, too.
Paul