Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave
Of course, time will tell how both driscoll and carpenter play out since they are both relatively young. WN was a remarkable Christian in his efforts to go against the prevailing ideas of a "church" and Christian life. In that sense you can't compare Nee to Driscoll or Carpenter except that the limelight affected them all. And as Aron as noted, in the end they went to me, me, me. ... all of these guys received Christ but still went off the deep end---again, Carpenter is still a work in progress but this apostle thing is problematic.
... We are going to see more Driscolls, Carpenters, WN/WL---because Christians have had 2000 years to develop and someone is always out there willing to give hope because Christianity is without direction. Each denomination and movement are there to maintain themselves. They are just going through the motions with emotion.
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I liked that last line - they are going through the motions with emotion. Emotion is what sustains us in our behaviors, and reveals our source. When Carpenter's marriage unraveled, all he could talk about was his suffering, his trauma. Suppose you are one of the thousands who has hitched your wagon on his star - did you get saved to listen to Ron Carpenter go on about what he had for breakfast, and his emotional state while so doing? Because that's what you are going to get.
I'd like to bring it a little closer to home. Remember the article, "We were wrong" by CRI? One of the articles was written by Gretchen Passantino, who was introduced by Hank Hanegraaf as a "world-renowned expert" in cults. My question is, whose world? No citations were given. Not one shred of objective evidence for the statement.
What I am getting to is that these people (WN, WL, HH, Carpenter, Driscoll, Brian Houston) are experts in amateurish self-promotion. Go to their web sites and they list all the awards they have gotten. "Most charismatic presenter" at the 2012 Ladies Aid Luncheon. Just bizarre arbitrary stuff, something to tout themselves and their "ministry" with. ("Best-selling author"...10 best? 100 best? 50 best? One-million
best?) And Christ, if he ever existed (and He usually did, at one point in their lives) has long since receded into the background. It is now the Kingdom of Me.