Very close to my heart is the honour of Christ in a world where there is no discernment. In this Open Letter to Angus Buchan, I have made an appeal to a very prominent stadium preacher in South Africa to preach a bigger, God-honouring Gospel. It is my urgent prayer that the Lord will use this letter to win him over to the beauty of the Gospel of the Bible, which is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
Tens of thousands pack into stadiums around the country. They hear a powerful speaker speaking about God and what He can do for them. They return home fired up to reform their lives and to live for Christ. Yet they have never been confronted with the glorious gospel of the blessed God. They are dead in sin but are trying to act as if they are alive. I grieve over this sad waste of opportunity and the giving of false hope. In the end, those who leave these events, fired up with moralistic zeal, must eventually slump into weariness and conclude that Christ may not actually be able to save them at all.
This letter is not an attack, it is a gracious appeal. It is written from a heart that desires to see Angus Buchan, and many world evangelists like him, use the opportunities God has given them, to preach a magnificent Gospel that honours the magnificent God.
The Bible is replete with instructions on what to do and what not to do. Being made in the image of God includes this. Why shouldn't the Holy Spirit enlighten someone via a call to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ? Take cautious that you are not maintaining an excess of a different sort in your attempt to rectify what you perceive is excessive.
I agree with much of what this letter says and thank the author for its gracious tone that upholds the wonderful truth of the true gospel and gently yet necessarily rebukes the tragically popular erroneous preaching of false gospels. Salvation from sin and redemption of our souls is the reason Christ died and rose again. Please Angus would you make this the primary focus of your preaching. Like the author of this open letter to Angus, I find some of Angus's words encouraging, but I am distressed by the lack of the true gospel at the heart of his words and work.
this is a typical Calvinist/ reformed theological attacks on everyone else who is not reformed ... no basis in all you write .. not everyone is reformed ...
I began reading your letter and at least through p. 11, you are simply rehashing the typical attacks of Calvinsim/Reformed theology towards what you feel is Arminianism/Semi-Pelagianism. While I absolutely acknowledge that we are dead in trespasses and sins, the NT is full of appeals to "repent and believe" and, amazingly, Jesus Himself was recorded in the Gospels as saying at different times that "your faith has made you whole/saved you."
While you do not provide quotes concering Buchan's lack of defining "born again" which may indeed be true, it is quite possible that you are really more offended that he is not "Reformed" enough in your estimation. It amazes me that so many professing Calvinists/Reformed theology proponents easily dismiss calls to faith and belief in Jesus Christ as being anti-Biblical. The Bible is full of imperatives (i.e. commands) to do this/not do that. This is part of being created in God's image. Why should not a call to repent and believe in Jesus Christ be the means by which the Holy Spirit enlightens someone? Be careful that in your desire to correct what you feel excessive that you yourself are not upholding an excess of a different kind.
I do not understand the point you want to make. Although It appears that you are not pleased with the way Angus handles the opportunity God has given him to preach the Gospel, you do not state why or what he did wrong. What would you do different? How are these evangelists failing and what do they need to do to correct their error?
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5/20/2024 1:00 AM
