Dear Rand, I guess I'm okay as my name was not mentioned........ As I have been following the correspondence between you and Lambert, I wanted to examine the fruit of Ray Stedman's ministry. A main goal in this Paraclete Forum ministry has been a desire to help ensure that a new generation might know Ray Stedman and the power of Jesus' ministry through Ray's own sermons and words over a forty year period. In Ray's own words here is an assessment of his ministry which was written in 1985.
Ray was a broken vessel willing to be used by God and to be his mouthpiece. The results being all those people who were radically changed as described in the above paragraph. I, too, was one of those people who met Jesus through Ray. When I heard Ray speak it was like a light going off inside saying if Jesus had been here He would have spoken these same words. Little did I know at that time it was Jesus speaking through Ray. I pray that your ministry has affected people in this way in bringing people to Christ, closer to Christ and to each other. Sincerely, Jimmy Stewart, Paraclete Forum Member ____________________________________________________________________________ Protestant Reformation Publications Hello Jimmy: Thank you for taking the time and effort to contact us. Your courage in doing so is appreciated. My wish is not demean your relationship with the Lord Jesus. Nor is it to demean the memory of Pastor Stedman. My only wish is to correct serious error wherever it may be found. It may well have been the providence of God which left your name off the list :>) Seriously....not having met, personally, the members of the Paraclete Forum or Pastor Ray, I can say that my view of their doctrines was not colored by a personal bias. I have no doubt that on a personal one to one level most would be very 'nice' and 'respectable' people - well spoken, educated, pleasant dispositions, well dressed, above average in looks, etc., etc. However, these are not traits which find favor with God. Nor are they the traits which gain professing Christians entrance into Heaven. Whom say ye that I am? If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins. Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. If he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.....For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. Jimmy, in the Scriptures above I have quoted but a few of the warnings and admonitions directed at the Body of Christ. These warnings are to alert us that those whom we should beware are those who profess Jesus is Christ and Lord. We need not worry discerning the enemy outside the professing Church. They do not call Jesus, 'Lord.' The enemy is much more subtle and cunning in his deception. He comes dressed as a sheep, yet inwardly he is a ravening wolf. With this in mind, we must ask ourselves, Is this pastor/ministry/church/denomination teaching the true Jesus, the true Gospel, the true need of man for salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone? In reviewing the teaching ministry of Forum leader, Lambert Dolphin, I found several serious errors. His co-laborer, Richard Young, explained these errors in greater detail. - Neither knew the will and power of God which cannot fail to fulfill its purposes. - Neither knew the saving grace of God which cannot fail to save one person He wills to save. - Neither knew the darkness of men which cannot and will not love the true Christ, come to the true Christ, and follow the true Christ without turning back. - Neither knew the promises of God which cannot fail to achieve the ultimate glorification of all those chosen before the foundation of the world. - Neither knew the holy blood of Christ which cannot fail to save those for whom it was shed. - Neither knew the love of God which cannot fail to save the beloved. With this in mind, not knowing the true Christ, it is not surprising they know not the Antichrist. To know the One is to know the other. True Christians throughout the centuries knew the true Christ, and because they did, they discerned the arch-enemy of Christ. Had they not identified their enemy as the very Antichrist warned of in Scripture, they would have escaped the fire. But that was not to be. God cannot deny Himself. Lead His people into all truth He must. If you will note in II Thess. 2:13 belief of the truth is a prerequisite for salvation. The Lord Himself sends a strong delusion to those who preferred unrighteousness to truth. They loved the lie. In context, Paul was speaking of end time events (verse 2) in which there would be much deception (verse 3). Those who loved the lie did not believe the true identity of the Man of Sin, the subject of chapter 2. This is the case with Ray Stedman and Lambert Dolphin, both 'experts' on end time events. Though the Man of Sin was in Ray's presence, he looked right past him. Though the Man of Sin is currently in Lambert's presence, he, too, dismisses him and his pedophile army of priests. Both have been sent strong delusion, having disregarded the united testimony of history, prophecy and the martyrs. It certainly wasn't for lack of intellect that they remain in unbelief. Lambert is a certified physicist whose expertise is understanding the inner workings of the universe. Unfortunately, without spiritual wisdom, which comes from above, it is impossible to discern the true Christ and true Gospel from the false Christ and false Gospel. Jimmy, it is my prayer that you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. I pray that the Lord give you the gift of discernment to distinguish good from evil, the true Christ from Antichrist, the workers of righteousness from the workers of iniquity. Sincerely in His name and to His glory, Rand
Winburn ____________________________________________________________________________ Paraclete Forum members posting anonymously at their website slander me among themselves without refuting my emails: first comment Paracletes, This is renewed attack on us from a man I thought we had dealt with decisively a few weeks ago. (I hope our editor can gather and archive our discussions with this man). I do not think any of us has over stated the case against this man. There may be others of you who would like to comment in answer to his latest. ____________________________________________________________________________ second comment Don't miss this man's web site! The pope is the antichrist. Billy Graham is a false prophet. His problem is that he is very self-righteous and hyper-calvanistic. Under this surface layer there must surely be mountains of pride which has made him judgmental and critical of everyone. He has gone to a lot of trouble making fancy graphics, but it is all very sad I think. His fan mail, http://www.iconbusters.com/iconbusters/love.htm shows that others like us have been outspoken in dealing with him. He seems to thrive on being called sick. He hates Catholics with a vengeance. I don't think we can gain any ground with this poor man--but God knows. ____________________________________________________________________________ third comment Paracletes, I've been mulling over a response to this cat. It's really easy to fall into his trap of confrontation and polemical rhetoric. There are a couple of passages from Proverbs that I think are relevant: The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise. A fool's wrath is known at once, But a prudent man covers shame...There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, But the tongue of the wise promotes health...counselors of peace have joy (Pro 12:15-20) Good understanding gains favor, But the way of the unfaithful is hard. Every prudent man acts with knowledge, But a fool lays open his folly (13:16). A wise man fears and departs from evil. But a fool rages and is self-confident (14:16). And my personal favorite: A whip for the horse, A bridle for the donkey, And a rod for the fool's back. Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes (26:3-5). I'm sure Father Theodore Wisely and the Great Lambo remember the days of street evangelism at UC Berkeley and Stanford. All through my musical ministry (and we were quite confrontational, too), we dealt with people who had the farthest out approaches to just about everything. Trying to have a balanced approach was a challenge for the neophytes we were then (and still are), but one thing I think we tried to learn was how to pick our fights. This dude speaks for the Body of Christ. He is the final interpreter of orthodoxy, and he covers up his arrogance by claiming he is following the example of Jesus. So, my first thought is that he must hang out with prostitutes and smelly fisherman who work for a living. He must be healing them by the thousands, and He must be the most loved man there is, with fruits of the Spirit dripping from His blessed personage. Sarcasm aside, I think we did hit a sore spot. There must be something in his past that has turned him to bitterness, a divorce or betrayal of some kind. If I do, however, chose to respond directly to the man, I would probably take the following tact: First, I would praise him for his knowledge of scripture and very clear focus (not answering the fool according his folly). I would mention some of the better-known Calvinists I've read (with my testimony, perhaps). Now, I'm insisting that I'm not out to get him, mostly because he is plainly deluded. I think he needs most of all to know that his arrows are sailing into the air and harming no one in this camp. He is a prating fool. Secondly, I would merely mention that we, too, are fit into the Body of Christ. I would take almost every scripture from this latest reply and totally agree with him. I know my Savior's love, His grace, and His sacrifice for me. I've not only met Him personally, He has walked with me for more than thirty years, even in times of trouble. Finally, I would merely ask that he stop the attacks. They don't exactly fall on deaf ears, but he really is only making himself look like a jackass. We are open to exhortation, but I believe we concur, at least in general, that no one person has all the truth, no matter how linear his logic might be. While I admire Calvin's thinking (the extremely linear kind of logic of the Institutes that is forced to claim that other interpretations are wrong, and therefore heretical), I cannot accept any view that (a) teaches in strictly dogmatic form how to interpret scriptures (like the tension of truth that exists between freewill and predestination) and reconcile those troublesome scriptures that don't fit the dogma/theory and that (b) patently tells me that my eyes, intellect, and ability to call on the Holy Spirit in order to interpret scriptures myself is insufficient. I do not need Calvin or this man in order to understand what the Scripture teaches (answering the fool according to his folly). My God is big enough to teach even morons like me. My God came to me while I was yet a sinner, in the most profound error that exists. He revealed Himself to me. Yes, He will save me because He loves me. He is the Author and Finisher of my Faith, and neither Calvin nor this man can claim that. And, despite this man's deliberate attempts to offend us, I am not offended because God has planted my feet upon a Rock. The Lord (Adonai) is my refuge and my strength. Whom shall I fear? Certainly not the likes of men like this man who piously hurl insults at me, albeit disguised as truth. His are the mutterings of an egomaniac, not a minister of the Living God. God's truth edifies. And, while we all have to admit that incorrect thinking must be rooted out to allow the Truth to grow, we--as a priesthood of believers--have the Spirit to do that. Each of us can test the spirit in what this man has to say to the churches and they are not of God. Taking it to the absurd, Satan knows the scriptures inside-out and uses them for all sorts of things. How do we tell truth from lie? Not from the ravings of some self-appointed gatekeeper of the truth: we look at the scriptures, and prayerfully ask that the God who created the heavens and the earth, Who revealed Himself to humankind in the form of His Son and our Messiah Jesus, will give us wisdom--not just knowledge, but the wisdom to deal with our own humanity and to know Him better today than we did yesterday. I will never know things the way that I should, but I can look at the example of Jesus, and it is not what this man thinks he's doing...far from it. Anyhow, if anyone agrees with me on this, I will put it into a love letter to this man. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ fourth comment Prof., Outstanding thoughts. Yes, by all means what you have written is excellent. I think I will write him a polite letter explaining why the Catholic church is not the whore of Babylon and the antichrist can not be the pope. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ fifth comment Seems the Spirit has been at work sowing this Field with seeds of Truth. As you know, other's have both made valiant efforts to crash through the wall of arrogance. I have this wish we could post disclaimers somewhere to discredit such as "this cat", but lo we might be seen as presumptious/arrogant. How far does one go in an attempt to separate the wheat from the chaff? You all are brave men; I would never question the Spirit's direction for any of you. Have at it if He says so. Love, ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- sixth comment Let me add this: I know men like this from some churches we have attended. They have fallen into the temptation of making their intellect (as in logical thinking) their idol and have displaced Christ. They truly believe that the evangelical church is heretical and no amount of rhetoric will convince them otherwise, it only adds fuel to their convictions. God must humble him and demolish those strongholds. Love, ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ seventh comment > >----------------------snip---------------- > My response: Just when I thought I had heard it all, the Paraclete Forum > breaks new ground in heresy! It is with this inane, blasphemous, > Christ-slandering remark that I shall deal today. > I answer with Scripture alone. And without the aid of any strings, wires or lubricants of any kind! PS: "Have I therefore become your enemy by telling you the truth?" (Gal 4:16) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ eighth comment My real point is that if we make statements towards people like this, they should be positive ones. Engaging in the polemics is kind of silly to me. As I wrote: We are open to exhortation, but I believe we concur, at least in general, that no one person has all the truth, no matter how linear his logic might be. While I admire Calvin's thinking (the extremely linear kind of logic of the Institutes that is forced to claim that other interpretations are wrong, and therefore heretical [if x is true, then not x is false; so, if we are saved by grace, we cannot be saved by our free will]), I cannot accept any view that (a) teaches in strictly dogmatic form how to interpret scriptures (like the tension of truth that exists between freewill and predestination) and reconcile those troublesome scriptures that don't fit the dogma/theory and that (b) patently tells me that my eyes, intellect, and ability to call on the Holy Spirit in order to interpret scriptures myself are insufficient. I do not need Calvin or this man in order to understand what the Scripture teaches (answering the fool according to his folly). What we do accept is our humanity, God's grace, and His personal revelation of Himself, the Bible, and not necessarily in that order. I am also convinced that the first step to real heresy (and not just a difference of opinion) is when one particular person claims to have special insight, knowledge, and/or authority. This type of person consciously positions him/herself as superior, contrary to the example of Jesus as a servant. I know Ray Stedman understood the difference. Having God's calling as a pastor/teacher is an awesome responsibility, and it must be accompanied by the fruits of the Spirit. Otherwise, it is the knowledge that puffs up and the kind that engenders needless controversies and divisions--it is intentionally divisive (doctrines of men) . None of us really knows God's Word as God does--how silly to even think such a thought. We all have to interpret. And, without the Holy Spirit, we are all lost, individually and collectively. If we don't come to the task with our faces on the ground in absolute humility, then we will be held up to tremendous judgment, and that is exactly what I fear for this dude. Oh, well. Maybe it's just our egos wanting to plant a big, fat, over-ripe tomato right in
this guy's kisser, figuratively, of course. |