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Read also this letter
from a Lake Mills pastor.
Below you will find a
letter sent to me from a church elder in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. The man
and his message are representative of a perversion of the Christian faith
which is perhaps even more dangerous than the apostate Protestants' open
rejection of the sovereign authority of God's Word. Following Elder
Steve's comments, you will find my response. His letter was also the
impetus for a sermon I preached last Lord's Day, "No Cross. No
Gospel. No Love," which can be heard at http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?sermonID=22106193031.
Pastor Ralph Ovadal
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2006 9:44 AM
Name: Steve [last name deleted]
City: Lake Mills
State: Wisconsin
Country: USA
Email: [deleted]
Subject: Feb. 14th demo. - turning children Away from Christ
Message: On Feb. 14th Ralph Ovadal and a number of members arived in my
town ond protested in front of the high school. This group had signs,
tracks and a large banner condeming gays as sinners who were condemed to
hell.
I have a number of problems with this: first I
have to assume that the home town of Mr. Ovadal has problems that he could
turn his attention to. second, I do not believe that Mr. Ovadal has any
idea what type of youth outreaches we have in lake mills, In fact in the
past year this community has hired 3 youth pastors and is aprox. 5 or 6
weeks away from opening a youth center downtown. All of the work that was
put into our youth was destroyed in less than one hour by this unloving,
ungraceful, ill timed act of the people from Monroes Pilgrims Covenant
Church.
As an Elder in a Christian church, a parent of two teens, an active
member in this community I could not be more dis apointed in the acts of
these folks. A majority of the teens that were " Seeking Christ"
and had shown an interest in the new programs at the community center and
youth groups are now of the opinion that "Christians" are no
different than the rest of this world.
Mr. Ovadal NEEDS to know that the only
thing acomplished on Feb. 14th in my town was that somewhere between 70
and 80 kids are now turned off and turned away from Christ. If Mr. Ovadal
had a contract with the devil, I believe that he can now collect his
thirty pieces of silver.
For furture rallies or demonstrations
please at the very least contact the local churches and see if your
efforts will help or hinder there work for Christ.
My prayers go
out to your church and your leadership as I do believe that you may have
ment well, And I would also ask for your prayers as a community we try to
repair the horrible damage done.
By Faith
Alone,
Steve
----- Original Message
-----
From: Pilgrims Covenant Church
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2006 2:38 PM
Subject: Re: Feb. 14th demo. - turning children Away from Christ
"But have renounced
the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness,
nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the
truth
commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God."
2 Corinthians 4:2
Dear Steve,
Your letter is a total
distortion of the ministry we undertook in Lake Mills this past week. It
is also a further confirmation that we were in the right place at the
right time ministering to the right people. Everything we did during
the half day we spent in your town included and centered on the
gospel of Christ. From the signs we used in our two open-air witnesses to
our brochures to our one-on-one witnessing, the gospel of Christ was the
focal point. For instance, the banner to which you are referring read,
"Homosexuality is sin." Right beside it was a huge sign bearing
Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Across the street was a
large sign with this message: "Seek ye the LORD while he may be
found, call ye upon him while he is near. Isaiah 55:6." By the way,
our ministry at the school was not a demonstration. It was a gospel
witness with gospel messages. Between the tracts we distributed in your
town and the two open-air gospel witnesses, hundreds upon hundreds were
exposed to both the gospel and the biblical truth about homosexuality. We
rejoice in that knowledge because "faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17), and the gospel is
"the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth"
(Romans 1:16). But I see this has all depressed and upset you.
By the way, and for your
information, we are very active in Monroe including by weekly gospel tract
distribution, a weekly gospel witness at our local Planned Parenthood, and
regular gospel preaching on the city square. We also do a certain amount
of biblical witness on homosexuality, just as we did in Lake Mills. You
must admit, the ministry we did in your town was hardly duplicating any
work in progress there! Your accusations that our ministry efforts were
"unloving, ungraceful, ill timed" fall far short of constituting
a biblical refutation of them.
I will not go any further
in defending the ministry of Pilgrims Covenant Church as you clearly have
an unbiblical and worldly concept of evangelism and appear to be ashamed
of the Word of God and have no faith in the work of the Holy Spirit to
convict men of sin and save their souls. Further, you seem to have no
concept at all regarding the scriptural charge given to the Lord's people
to reprove the unfruitful works of darkness. Perhaps that comes with an
unwillingness to bear reproach for the Lord.
You are not the first
evangelical elder or pastor to hurl such charges against me since our
ministry in Lake Mills. After one pastor finished venting his scorn for my
"aggressive way of doing things," he informed me that he and
others are "infiltrating" the culture and winning people to
Christ by being friends. I don't believe in infiltration evangelism.
I believe we are to be the light of the world and a city set on a hill.
The Scriptures describe the just who live by faith as being
"strangers and pilgrims on the earth." It sounds as if there are
evangelical pastors and elders in Lake Mills who are more interested in
being accepted and loved by the world.
You have decided that I
have the power to drive seventy to eighty young people away from
Christ and presumably into the fires of hell. What can I say except to
repeat the words of Jesus, "Do ye not therefore err, because ye know
not the scriptures, neither the power of God?" You have accused me of
doing the devil's work and having a contract with him to destroy the souls
of young people. But salvation is of the Lord, and I do not believe
that any man can turn a soul into hell. But I know that the Word of God is
a sharp sword that may interfere with the gathering of false converts by
modernist preachers who find the preaching of the cross foolishness (I
Corinthians 1:18). I would encourage you to read the first chapter of I
Corinthians. Perhaps doing so will bring some conviction to your
conscience.
By the way, since I
mentioned knowable things, I also know that weak, effeminate preachers who
will not warn young people of the consequence of sin and the power of the
devil can lull those vulnerable youth into committing sins that cannot be
undone and which are mourned for years. The cursed counterfeit which
passes for love these days is nothing less than hate in disguise.
Your remarks are a classic
example of the spiritual declension and doctrinal downgrade which has
taken place in the evangelical world. To read your comments, one would
think that the Word of God has no power, and souls can be won for Christ
through sophistry and worldly-wise ministry methods. After reading your
words, I fear for those teens you spoke of who are "Seeking
Christ." I fear that they are in danger of experiencing a false
conversion thanks to false teachers who turn "the grace of our God
into lasciviousness" and trust in man's methods rather than God's
power.
Quite frankly, we have
never heard such a chorus of criticism and accusations come from
evangelicals from one small town. Perhaps not so coincidentally, the
youth with whom you have done so much work had some of the most filthy,
blasphemous mouths I have ever heard in any small town. Perhaps you have
forgotten the necessary use of the law in gospel preaching? I should also
mention that we received the enthusiastic support of a number of Christian
adults. Apparently, they were not members of your church.
You claim to be an elder in
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet in your paper tantrum, you have
accused a fellow minister of being in league with Satan based on the
evidence that the accused has taken a biblical stand against a great evil.
You have also cast me as a Judas to my Lord and His Word. These are
serious charges which you have made against a pastor, yet you give no
biblical evidence to back them up.
I intend to use your letter
on a future "Heart of the Matter" program (www.theheartofthematteronline.com).
I would like to invite you to come on that program and explain to our
listeners how I am doing the devil's work by publicly sharing the gospel
of Jesus Christ while also publishing the biblical truth about a
perversion widely promoted in our culture, including by many calling
themselves Christian. I would also be willing for the two of us to
discuss—more accurately, debate—what the Bible says about the
salvation of souls, gospel preaching, and public ministry. Let me know if
you are interested.
I am quite used to hearing
criticism from the neo-evangelical, friendship-evangelism wing of
Protestantism. We normally take that in stride. However, the torrent of
accusations and bile which has been spewn out by professing Christian
leaders from Lake Mills has convinced me that PCC should return to your
town in the future. Any time there are so many Christians in one place who
believe that the Word of God publicly proclaimed causes "horrible
damage," that is a place which desperately needs to hear more of the
same. Meanwhile, I would encourage you not to denigrate and deny
scriptural truth in your efforts to maintain your friendship with the
world. "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so
did their fathers to the false prophets" (Luke 6:26).
In closing, I must ask you
one question. The principal of Lake Mills High School has publicly stated
his determination to use tax funds to encourage "acceptance and
tolerance" of homosexual acts among the young people in your
town. This, he has said, is the American principle! In addition, he
has excoriated and threatened Christians who defend the Bible in this
matter. You have taken it upon yourself to take me to task for publicly
proclaiming God's Word. My question is, have you confronted the principal
of the local school who is corrupting the morals and minds of young people
with his perverted promotion of sexual perversion?
Pastor Ralph Ovadal
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