Three Streams

In keeping with my post on reformation and the idea of what today’s 95 thesis would look like (possibly a two million thesis) I found this article on Rory Moore’s Website

Hard Questions

Dear friends, these are some ponderings from the wilderness… God bless you as you “study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of God”. -Paul, an apsotle.
In John 17:20 Jesus prayed “Neither pray I for these (the apostles) alone but for them (future believers) also who shall believe on me through their (the apostles) word.”
We suggest you print this page and keep it in your Bible so you can fill in the answers as you study God’s Word
Part One

1. Can you show from the New Testament scriptures a single pastor given sole authority over a local group of believers?

2. Can you show from the New Testament scriptures a “church” building program or property purchase for a group of believers?

3. Can you show from the New Testament scriptures the typical pre-programmed formatted church service?

4. Can you show from the New Testament scriptures any Christian or church receiving a direct instruction to tithe?

5. Can you show from the New Testament scriptures any woman given authority over male Christians or named to ANY titled position in any church?

6. Can you show from the New Testament scriptures an example of a “church” fund-raiser”?

7. Can you show from the New Testament scriptures where Christians are encouraged to accumlate wealth and material goods?

8. Can you show from the New Testament scriptures any verses calling the NT church the “storehouse”?

9. Can you show from the New Testament scriptures the doctrine of a minister or pastor being our “spiritual covering”?

10. Can you show from scripture any minister using any capitalized title “Reverend, Doctor, Apostle, Prophet, Pastor, Evangelist, Bishop” in front of their name?

11. Can you show or demonstrate an “altar call” in the New Testament?

12. Can you quote the verse for “come forward and accept Christ as your personal saviour” or words close to it?

13. Can you show an instruction to or an example of a “decision for Christ” for salavtion?

14. Can you find anyone using the phrase “going to church” “go to church”or similar in the New Testament?
15. Do you know what the word “church” means in scripture?

-You may be astonished!

1 John 2:26 - These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
Matthew 15:2 - Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? A question the religious leaders asked Jesus.
Colossians 2:8 - Beware lest any man spoil* you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. (*lead away as booty, tradition: especially Jewish precepts such as sabbath observance, tithing, circumcision, etc.)

Part 2 A very simple test: (May I add that most Christians will fail this test!)

This verse refers to what is known as the “five-fold” ministry:
Eph. 4:11-12. ” And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:”

Question #1 ? Which three of the Ephesians 4:11 ministries are mentioned most in the New Testament?

Question #2 ? Which two of those fivefold ministries are mentioned least in the New Testament?
Question:#3 When the early church gathered in the Jerusalem Council where the “elders” and the “apostles” gathered to determine doctrine and teaching in the churches, were ANY women named or included in that leadership meeting?

The answers may shock you. They indicate how far the contemporary church has apostasized from the original leadership that Christ established on the earth, and is modeled in the book of Acts.

Answer to question #1:

? The word “apostle(s)” occurs 85 times in the New Testament.

? The word “prophet(s)” occurs over 150 times in the New Testament, about 20 of those occurrences referring distinctly to prophets in the Church Age.

? The word “teacher(s)” occurs 125 times in the New Testament.

Answer to question #2:

? The word “evangelist(s)” occurs only 3 times in the New Testament.

? The word “pastor(s)” occurs precisely one (1) time in the entire New Testament! Not a single pastor is mentioned by name.
Answer to #3:
God did not ordain a single woman to the ministry of elder, apostle, teacher, pastor, evangelist. There is not a single reference to any woman as an elder in the Book of Acts when the churches were founded.The apostate church practices the opposite.