Steve,
1 Cor. 14:38  would have been a good verse to include.  I too, am thankful
for those Christ-honoring, true-to-the-Bible seminaries, Bible colleges and
pulpits that proclaim Word of God faithfully.
David

-----Original Message-----
From: Steven G. Rockhill [mailto:revrock@...]
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2005 1:21 PM
To: pastorsforum@...
Subject: Re: [PastorsForum] MOVE OVER, PAUL


Hey that's not so much funny as it is sad.  The Wisdom of this World
which is foolishness with God has led many astray - whether it is in
seminaries, bible colleges or from the pulpit of many churches.  But we
can be thankful to God that He freely offers His wisdom to those who ask
and seek it for God does not want his people to be ignorant.

Proverbs 4:5-7   5 Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor
turn away from the words of my mouth.  6 Do not forsake her, and she
will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you.  7 Wisdom is the
principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get
understanding.

I am thankful that there still are many very faithful seminaries that
God uses to give His people wisdom and understanding of His Word and the
  tools necessary to both encourage the sheep and defend the Truth of
the Gospel.

I am not sure why the guy left 1 Cor. 14:38 out of the letter - now that
would have been funny.
1 Corinthians 14:38   38 But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.


Peace,
Steve





Pastor David Warner wrote:
> No, I do not know if this guy is IFB but he sure writes well.  I couldn't
> help but think of some in our day and time that sound just like this.
>
>
> The following is by Pastor Buddy Smith, Grace Baptist Church, Malanda,
> Queensland, Australia smiles@... --
>
>
> Dear Paul,
>
> As Convener of the Greater Corinth Ministers Fraternal, I have been asked
to
> write you regarding your coming visit to our fair city.
> Since you were here last we have made impressive gains in many vital
areas.
> The greatest advances are in our Ministerial Training Programme. Ten
> years ago the Corinth Bible Institute was upgraded to Bible College
status.
> Then, just five years later we added Seminary level courses. And
> two years ago we received accreditation from the Department of Education
in
> Athens. This is a real feather in our laurel wreath. We are honoured to
> have several professors on our faculty (three Stoics and two Epicurians)
who
> remember you from Mars Hill. The graduating class this year will
> have more than fifty men and women whose accredited degrees will be
> recognised throughout the Mediterranean nations.
>
> This brings me to the purpose for this letter. We want you to know we
> appreciate your previous ministry in Greece. After all, the gospel might
> never have come to us if you had not heard "the Macedonian Call". But I
must
> be very candid and tell you that we have reservations about you
> speaking at our annual Minister's Retreat. This event is one of the
> highlights on our religious calendar. Someone even said the other day, "We
> retreat every chance we get!" (Ha, ha, I am sure you will enjoy the little
> play on words.) You would be aware that our Retreat draws men from a
> wide range of denominational and theological backgrounds.
>
> And this is where the rub comes in. I was given this week a copy of your
> recent letter to the church at Corinth. And I must say I was shocked
> at what you said to our dear brethren.
>
> Let me be specific,
>
> 1.. You wrote, "Christ sent me not to baptise, but to preach the gospel,
not
> with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of
> none effect." And then you went on to say, "God will destroy the wisdom of
> the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." I must
> convey to you the fact that the Board of Regents at our Seminary was
deeply
> offended by your criticisms of their wisdom. How could you insult
> these learned men by statements such as "The world by wisdom knew not
God?"
> Don't you realise that a good minister must avail himself of the
> wisdom of the ancients? Our seminarians study the writings of Plato,
> Aristotle, and Socrates, and are delivering very well reasoned and
> sophisticated sermons. We are so proud of the honours they receive from
the
> literati and intelligentsia of the land.
>
> 2.. Everyone knows the days are past when a minister could say, "Not many
> wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are
> called" or "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound
the
> wise" Those sentiments may have been appropriate for the old
> days, but these days we simply must have more dignity in the ministry.
Dear
> brother, if you were to stay in your office more and not be
> forever going on those preaching tours, you could keep up with the latest
> developments in the religious world. You should read Dr. Diotrephes'
> glowing description of the Mensa club in the seminary, of our Olympian
> athletes, and of the patrician scholars that fill our classrooms.
> Incidentally, I have enjoyed immensely his new book on leadership (You Can
> Control Your Church !) It is a runaway best seller.
>
> 3.. Paul, it hurts me deeply, but I feel I must tell you that your
preaching
> is just too simplistic. You are reported to have said, "I
> came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom I determined not to know
> anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified and my speech was
> not with enticing words of man's wisdom that your faith should not stand
in
> the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." Such words are naïve and
> lack sophistication. How will we ever be able to reach the people who
matter
> if we use words that pre-schoolers can understand? We do live in an
> age of technology, you know. We simply cannot reach doctors, lawyers,
> scientists, and philosophers with such a simple message. (And I
> would remind you that they are the ones with all the money!) We have found
> that our psychology courses in seminary equip our students better
> than the courses in theology. Surely you realise that we cannot abandon
our
> counselling courses just because you despise the non-biblical origins
> of Dr Galenius' Four Temperaments course. Why must you be so narrow? You
> really ought to adopt our Seminary motto, "The end justifies the
> means!" (You would not believe how much income is generated for the
Seminary
> by our graduates who specialise in dealing with repressed memories and
> multiple personality disorders.)
>
> Bro. Paul, I am sorry, but we must withdraw the invitation for you to
speak.
> At our last Fraternal luncheon it was decided that we should
> invite Dr. Sigmund Dobson instead. All the churches in Corinth are using
his
> videos and books. If you would still like to attend the
> Retreat, you are certainly most welcome, and I am sure Dr. Dobson would be
> able to spend a few moments with you to help you overcome your
> neuroses. I have recently had a counselling couch installed in my office
and
> you are welcome to use it if it will help. We might even consider an
> emeritus professorship for you at the Seminary if you could just pull in
> your horns a bit.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> The Rt. Rev. Dr. Demas
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>
> Bahahahahahahahaha
>
>

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