"New Thing" Theology by Todd Wilken

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New Thing Theology
by Todd Wilken

One of the strongest feelings you can get in life, one of the most rewarding feelings is the feeling of an “Aha! I finally understand.” —Penn Jillette

     I have listened to my pastor preach for over seven years. I can count on one hand the times he has given me one of those “aha!” moments. He is a great, faithful preacher. But he is mostly unoriginal. And, that’s just fine. He seldom delivers that new insight, that fresh understanding, that “aha!” moment. And, that’s just the way it should be. 
     There are few things more dangerous in the Church than a bored theologian. I call them New Thing Theologians. Be it a pastor, Bible teacher, seminary professor, author —bored theologians have the potential to do as much damage as bad theologians. I know. I have been one for the better part of 25 years. 
     My pastor’s preaching has cured me. For most of my pastoral career, I have lived for that “aha!” moment. The old, run-of-the-mill theology was fine, but it didn’t give me the theological buzz that I craved. I lived on the edge of boredom, always looking for something to stave it off. I tended toward the pastors, professors and authors who I thought could help me do so. 
     As a New Thing Theologian, I read the Bible always on the lookout for something I had never seen before. I preached, always trying to find the new spin on the old text. I taught Bible class, always exploring some new angle on an old passage. 
     Now, not every new thing I came up with was a bad idea. Some of them were good ideas. None of them were truly original. I eventually realized that most my new ideas were really the old ideas of better theologians than me. Some of these new insights and ideas were just interesting for the sake of being interesting, and new for the sake of being new. Looking back, I realize that I was aiming for freshness, not faithfulness. 
     Then, I started listening to my pastor preach. It was great preaching. It was consistently textual, consistently clear Law and Gospel, consistently centered on the death and resurrection of Jesus for sinners. I wasn’t bored with his preaching, but I was a little conflicted. Where were my precious “aha!” moments? One, maybe two times a year, he would give me one. But most of the time, there were no surprises to speak of. 
      What are the dangers of New Thing Theology? Where does boredom with old theology, old doctrines, old theological categories and expressions lead? 

Heresy 
"I always wanted to become famous. And, then it occurred to me that to become famous in theology means to present something new and different. But, if I present something new and different, after 2,000 years of Christian theology, it is bound to be heresy. And therefore, I have decided not to become famous." —T. A. Kantonen

     The most obvious form of New Thing Theology is, of course, heresy. “New and different” may be good thing when it comes to technology, business and advertising, but “new and different” can be a very bad thing when it comes to Christian teaching and practice. The heretic is all about the new and the different. 
     But, the heretic rarely presents his false teachings as new or different. The heretic almost always presents his new and different teachings straight from the Bible. “All heretics quote the Bible” is the old saying. And, that is usually true. But, already in the second century, the church father Irenaeus observed the heretic’s trick: The heretic presents his teaching “under a pretense of superior knowledge, … as if, forsooth, they had something more excellent and sublime to reveal than God.” 
     Of course, some heretics don’t even bother to cite the Bible, claiming new revelation altogether. Islam started this way, even though we consider it an old religion. Muhammed may have lived 1,400 years ago, but at the time his revelations were new, fresh and different. Islam, Mormonism, The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society —these heresies are easy to spot today, but in their day, they were the newest thing around. And, the claim to new revelation continues today.

God Is Doing a New Thing 
Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I 
am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? —Isaiah 43:19-19

“God is doing a new thing” has become the Creed of many New Thing Theologians, from the charismatic televangelist to the liberal mainline protestant. This is another form of New Thing Theology. You name it, God is doing it. On the one hand God is bringing about new revivals, signs, miracles, anointings, moves-of-the-spirit. On the other hand, God is affirming new alternative lifestyles, sexual orientations, genders, and definitions of marriage. Depending on whom you ask, God is doing all these new things. 
      These New Thing Theologians have a “Bible plus” theology. The Bible is great, as far as it goes, but now God is doing something new. This is a very convenient claim. If God is doing something new, something not found in the Bible, something even contrary to what is in the Bible, then anything goes. Who is to say what God can do? Who is to say what God will do next? The New Thing Theologian, that’s who. 
       This kind of New Thing Theology, like heresy, is the enemy of Christian theology. But in a way, this version of New Thing Theology is even more dangerous than heresy. The heretic introduces a new teaching and usually stops there. The “God is doing a new thing” theologian doesn’t. He can’t, really. God’s ongoing revelation is never the final word on any doctrine or subject. It is always a rough draft, never the final version. It is always open to future changes and revisions. The most this kind of theologian can say is, “This is what God is saying to us today; this is what God is doing today; tomorrow it may change.” The heretic misinterprets the Bible; the “God is doing a new thing” theologian is rewriting it. 

"Death, Distraction and Pixie Dust" by Steven Kozar

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     As I look back on my 35 or so years of being a Christian, I'm very thankful for the foundation that was laid in my teenage years. I read some really good books by C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Josh McDowell, Phillip Yancey and Francis Schaeffer; and I was encouraged by several godly men to build my faith on the reality of God's Word-not just my feelings. Jesus was a real historical person who really said and really did the things the Bible describes. I don't believe one can hold the position that the Bible is "just a bunch of stories that people made up" without being intellectually lazy-or worse (but that is a gigantic topic for another day).


     Today, I look around and see that the Bible describes the world we live in as it really is. The Bible describes man as constantly veering towards selfishness and it describes man as always wanting to rebel against God. We've got a million different ways to disobey our Creator and take control. The Bible does not portray man as basically good, and history bears this out with painful and horrendous emphasis (which is not to say that some people haven't done some very good things, some of the time). The Bible also describes man as all too willing to buy into Satan's original lie that we "surely will not die" and that if we disobey God we will "be like God." In other words, the Bible does not give us a fantasy land of unicorns and pixie dust, where "all of our dreams can come true"-no matter what false teachers (like Joel Olsteen, just to name one) would have us believe.

     We should be glad that the messy, sinful world we live in is very much like the messy, sinful world that the Bible describes. Why? Because Christianity is about God redeeming mankind-not creating religious fantasies to cover up the often nightmarish existence that we all share. This nightmarish existence that we all share is most difficult to grapple with in America; this is the Land of Distraction and the Home of the Shallow. It seems we will go to any length in order to prolong our delusions.


     Here's the greatest truth that we deny: We will all die.


     I don't even know the names of my great grandparents, let alone have any pictures of them. Each of us, with our thousands of personal photographs, mementos, and belongings will also be forgotten within a generation or two (some of us will have our precious belongings liquidated while we're still drooling in a nursery home). Think about it: Completely Forgotten. I'm an artist, so there's a chance that my name will be remembered a little bit longer than most people, but still, I know that my earthly life will soon be over and forgotten.


     What's truly shameful, in my way of thinking, is how this sobering reality should lead us to God, but even in many churches this reality is avoided. We should be asking ourselves: How and why did I get here? What will happen when I die? What is the meaning of my life? Instead of confronting us (lovingly confronting us) with these difficult and sobering questions, many pastors are telling us how to "reach our destiny" and "find the hidden keys to our purpose" and so on. They tell us that "we are meant for greatness" and that God has "planted a dream inside us" yet, all the while they never allow us to contemplate the reality of our impending fate-death itself.


      The Christianity of the Bible confronts us with our sin, and reminds us of our death; it also confronts the sinful, deceptive and violent world we live in, and offers us redemption. Ephesians 1: 7-8 "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding." -Steven Kozar

A Pentecostal in (General) Support of the Strange Fire Conference

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VERY powerful article!! If only more Pentecostal/Charismatic pastors would face reality like this one:

A Pentecostal in (General) Support of the Strange Fire Conference | Question Tradition

Here's the five points of this article:
1. Any error John MacArthur espoused at the conference, and any recklessness he demonstrated, is far less than the errors and recklessness we see in much of the modern Charismatic movement.
2. Pentecostals and Charismatics are allergic to doctrinal distinction and discernment.
3. The false teachers have more influence than we think or admit.
4. We routinely ignore the regulative principle of worship.
5. We functionally ignore Sola Scriptura.

"The Ordinary Church" Very Refreshing Message!

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Tired of the need for hyped-up, multimedia, louder, faster and cooler church services? Exhausted by the failed promises of "the next big thing?" Listen to (or read) this sermon:

The Ordinary Church

Amazing Video about the Dangerous Book: "Jesus Calling!"

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Warren Smith speaking at a recent conference:
http://new.livestream.com/bereancallconference/events/3276850/videos/60649283

Remember boys and girls, don't blindly trust all the "Christian" books being sold at "Christian" bookstores! (And shame on you, Thomas Nelson Publishing!)

Did God Promise Health and Wealth?

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This is a GREAT sermon-especially about the Biblical demand for discernment and how to recognize false teachers in the church!! You can listen to it or read it:

"Candy Christianity: America's Counterfeit Gospel"

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I just found this article from a great new blogger (who makes my writing look mild by comparison!)...
http://www.firebreathingchristian.com/archives/3163

"Casting a vision or commandeering control?" Shocking radio interview!

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This is a great interview with Chris Rosebrough about "vision-casting" in the church. PLEASE listen!! It is fascinating, revealing and quite shocking:

Casting a vision or commandeering control?

Acts 20:29-31 says: "Savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw disciples after them. So be on your guard!"

The False Teaching of Rick Joyner

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Another important article-here's an excerpt: "We are witnessing in this man's writings some of the most blatant "false teachings" ever to invade the church to my knowledge.  He is preparing the way for any person who clings to the doctrines of the Bible to be identified as the real enemy." 
In other words, we who still believe that the Bible is God's (only) Word are the bad guys in Joyner's very twisted and bizarre "visions."  Please please please don't follow these corrupt ideas-just follow God's Word! -Steve Kozar
Here's a link to the article:
http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/joyner.html

 What part of this is hard to understand??...
 "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!" Galatians 1: 8-9 NASB

 Here's a very detailed outline of ALL the error in "The Final Quest" (the book that made Joyner a millionaire):
http://www.letusreason.org/BookR4.htm

 In case you think I'm being too harsh, I dare anyone to watch all 7 minutes of the voodoo-I mean, church service at Joyner's "church:"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgdcdjtlGfo






"Follow the Elite Heretic Rick Joyner-(or God Might Kill You)"

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You can't make this stuff up... If you've been deceived by the writings of Rick Joyner, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read this article (and then read it again), and then start reading your Bible! Another GREAT article from Bob Dewaay:

Critical Issues Commentary: Colossian Heresy, Part 3