tschuckman@aol.com
Dear Friends,
It has NEVER been my intention to 'steal' any articles from ANYONE, and if I do borrow anything I always try hard to represent the true owner of that piece! But if I have even hurt anyone accidently or forgotten to get expressed permission fro any authors, I here by deeply apologize and promise to be more diligent in my offerings and asking's. I seek no glory or monetary funds what so ever, and never, ever looked to gain dime ONE from my humble, small, lonely blog..... but only wanted to help share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My humble glory will be heaven, and that is all I ever wanted.
I don't know what I did or ate, but the right side of my mouth/ lips have swelled up this afternoon, so that it's hard to drink water without slobbering all over myself.... lol. All I ate today was a bit of Terri's left over stuffing, along with a can of Squirt. I any of you folks have any suggestions or remedies, please email me ASAP.
I got a bill from the ambulance service for $1100., for a 2 mile drive to the VAMC in Iron Mtn., MI., and that made my day complete...Ha! Terri thinks that she knows where to send it. Ho Ho Ho ! I am home alone, so I slept half the morning to keep my bad foot elevated so that it heals better that way, and it DID help a lot. And I actually turned the heat up to 70 degrees F !!! Terri always like to keep the thermostat on 60 or lower to keep her self cool, so I have to bundle up. She is gone visiting half of her relatives North of Milwaukee, and a friend has our dog. I don't eat much when I am alone.... fear of choking, I think, or just trying to lose weight. I hope to re-join the local Health Club again very soon to pump iron, or just buy more dumb bells and weight lift at home. But I almost slipped and fell on the porch in my bare feet getting the mail today. There was about an inch of snow on the porch.
I been drinking more water these days too, and think it's good for me.
Question: What do you all think about the black folks making trouble recently because they are dissatisfied about the court outcome of that police shooting in MO ?? I realize that most blacks are good, hard working Americans, but some of them that cause riots are just some bad apples. U.P. where we live, it's too cold and snowy for any riots, and people are just too nice, friendly and conservative to riot.... lol. We are too busy working hard to take time off to riot and make trouble. And why would people want to burn their own town ??
Warm Regards,
Tom
Dear Tom,
You indeed have my permission to reprint any or all of my articles I send out your way, including that one by Bill Reed. Pastor D A Waite
On 11/29/2014 8:53 PM, Thomas G. Schuckman wrote:
Dear Sir,May I have permission to re-print any of your fine articles in my small, humble Blog: TOM'S JOURNAL, please?? I will always give you the credit and include your name and org.Warm Regards,Tom
"Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" ---Galatians 4: 16.Tom's Journal/ Blog://tomschuckmanjournal.blogspot.com/Disabled Vietnam Combat Veteran: 68-70, and Soldier of Christ.
"For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." ~ Phil. 1: 21
-----Original Message-----
From: Pastor D. A. Waite
To: tschuckman
Sent: Sat, Nov 29, 2014 1:07 am
Subject: Baptist Body--A Landmark HeresySENDING #2
Baptists The Only Body Of Christ--A Landmark Heresy
By Bill Reed
Received November 20, 2014
When a spider lures a critter into his web the critter will struggle to get free. The spider will inject him with poison time and time again until he succumbs and then the spider will dine. The critter was trapped unwittingly but when he is trapped he knows that he is trapped and struggles to get free until it is too late.
The first step is Satan will lure a man into his snare with a lie which when repeated time and time again the man succumbs and believes and then he is snared. The man of course is unable to free himself from that lie because it now appears to be the truth since he has been blinded by Satan. He has succumbed. It is too late. After that Satan is able to dine by feeding him on lie after lie and he goes deeper and deeper into heresy. More lies are more "light" here is no place for him to stop.
So when someone is trapped into the snare of the devil he does not know it. He is unaware of the snare and the poison (false doctrine) that Satan keeps injecting into him time and time again. The critter in the spider's web knows that he has been had, but the man in the snare of the devil does not sense that there is anything wrong. On the contrary, he who is in the snare of the devil thinks that those who are not in the snare are wrong and he gets obsessed with trying to get others on board with his heresy. Any effort to convince the man in the snare what the Scripture says is wrong about his heresy goes completely over his head because he is blinded. And if someone should repent which is the only remedy and leave the snare those who are left in the snare become quite angry with the deserter rather than compassionate. This is the awful truth of the snare of the devil.
Landmarkism is a snare (trap) of the devil. Really it is a cult, because it deviates in so many vital areas from the Scriptures that true fundamental Baptists hold to. Eve was deceived when she believed Satan's lies and that is when she was snared which resulted in her sin of disobedience (Genesis 3:6, II Corinthians 11:3 "as the serpent beguiled [deceived] Eve through his subtilty [craftiness]," I Timothy 2:14 "the woman being deceived was in the transgression"). Satan's snare gets started when any Christian accepts and believes Landmarks' lie(s) and becomes deceived. When he is deceived he is like Eve because neither knew that they were deceived. He becomes comfortable in his false doctrine because his conscience does not bother him about his errors on the contrary his conscience convinces him that he is perfectly right. He is blinded and doesn't know it however he is quite deceived in thinking that Scripture supports the Landmarks' position when in actuality it is contrary to it, darkness has become light and light has become darkness. When he has accepted and believed Landmark doctrine he has become a Landmark Baptist even though he may refuse to admit it or he may even deny that he is a Landmarker in spite of knowing this is Landmark doctrine. This is the awful hypocrisy of the snare in concealing that he is a landmarker. He has no conscience about concealing his identity it is not an issue with him.
1 Timothy 4:1-2 “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;”
Paul is speaking of Christians departing from the faith being seduced (deceived) by Satan and speaking lies which is PSEUDOLOGOS in the Greek. It means "promulgating erroneous Christian doctrine" in hypocrisy (concealed deception) because their conscience was seared (KAUTERIAZO in the Greek, meaning to render it insensitive) by a hot iron.
2 Corinthians 4:4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
Satan is able to blind Christians with their acceptance of his PSEUDO (false) doctrine through his concealed deception as well as he does the lost. This is another one of his devices.
2 Corinthians 2:11 “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
Paul is speaking of Christians when he says us. Satan will take any opening that he can find. He has taken advantage of Landmarkers although they are not aware of it because that is the nature of the snare which is Satan's hidden deception.
These things are true of Calvinism, Campbellites, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, paedobaptistism churches that believe that baby baptism saves them, etc. because they are snared by the devil. It is extremely difficult to witness to any of them because they are blinded from the truth and no matter what Scripture that you would show them they are unable to see that what they believe is error and therefore they are blind to the truth.
There are Landmark Baptists who openly admit they are Landmarkers and some even brag about it. Some of their writings are arrogant and boastful such as Dr. I. K. Cross in his book The Battle For Baptist History, copyright 2009, Bogard Press, Texarkana, TX. Dr. I. K. Cross was the president of the million members American Baptist Association (organized in 1902) who are openly Landmark.
By the way Arthur Walkington Pink (1886-1952) was both a Landmarker and a Calvinist, and also he was against dispensationalism. Landmarkers seem to like him because of the many books he has written which have caught their interest. A. W. Pink has been snared and has been instrumental in snaring others into Calvinism as well as Landmarkism.
There are many Landmark Baptists all around in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin who do not want to be labeled Landmark even though they are Landmarkers. Many of these people know what they really are but when they hide their identity that makes them deceitful hypocrites. Are they cowards? This hurts the work of Jesus Christ who is building "my church" Matthew 16:18. If they believe their doctrine to be true they need to own up to what they are be it Landmark, Calvinist or whatever. They are snared and have been used by Satan to influence others into this snare. They become very concerned about getting people on board into their heretical cult.
Dr. Lance T. Ketchum is a Landmarker in much of his doctrine. He hides the fact that he is a Landmarker which is very deceitful. In his book What I Believer & Why I Believe it! From Disciple Maker Ministries, Hutchinson, MN 1996 on pages 91-93:
1. He believes The Church has only a future meaning. There is nothing but the local church in the Bible which is Landmarkism's biggest error.
2. Every local church is a body of Christ of which Jesus is the head. This is a many bodied monstrosity with one head. There is only one body per Ephesians 1:22-23:
“And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”
3. Every local church is a building of which Jesus is the Cornerstone. Jesus must have to be many cornerstones of many buildings. The truth is there is one building The Church with one cornerstone Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:20-21 “And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:”
“The building” means there is only one and the chief corner stone means there is only one.
4. Every local church is a bride of Christ. This is polygamy which is contrary to what the Bible teaches. This borders on Baptist Bride-ism.
There is only one bride The Church per: Revelation 22:17 "the bride."
5. Every local church is a flock of which Jesus is the Shepherd. This is contrary to what Jesus said: John 10:16 "there shall be one fold and one shepherd."
Dr. Lance Ketchum is in the snare of Landmarkism.
Dr. Richard L. Paige, Jr. former secretary of the Minnesota Baptist Association is one who doesn't call himself a Landmarker. But he is one, and he knows it and hides it. This is terribly deceitful. He authored a book The Church Christ Built, in 1985 published by the North Star Baptist Press, Minneapolis, MN. The title is a dead giveaway that he is a Landmarker. Christ never built a local church. I have the book. From the book you can tell he is very much a Landmarker. He was greatly influenced by Dr. Richard Clearwaters. Minnesota seems to have a few of these Landmarkers who were snared because of Dr. Richard Clearwaters. Clearwaters himself was not a total Landmarker, but his students often became total Landmarkers. This was not his intent but it is a natural outcome of error. A partial Calvinist will see his students come out total Calvinists. The teacher never intends the results but it is a natural outcome. When you believe any of Landmarkism all the heresy falls into place the same as with Calvinism.
In his book Dr. Paige unwittingly explains how he was deceived and snared by the devil to become a Landmarker, but he doesn't realize it. That is the nature of the snare you are completely blind to what has happened to you. When I read this it sent a chill up my spine. On pages 14-15 of his book he was discussing various views about the universal church and here is the quote:
"It appears to me that these views are the product of assumption rather than demonstration. This author was himself an advocate of a universal, invisible body concept for the word "church" for a number of years after being saved. After attending a workshop held at the Central Baptist Theological Seminary of Minneapolis, Minnesota and conducted by Dr. Gordon Lovik on the theme "An Historic Study of God's Revelation about the Ekklesia" (later put in print in the "Central Bible Quarterly" - Fall, 1972 issue), I went home determined to prove Dr. Lovik's application of all the New Testament usages of "ekklesia" to the local church as spurious. I went to my Greek New Testament and diligently listed every usage. I studied the context of each. My conclusion was that he was indeed correct. I had been neglecting for years an important Bible doctrine. I had been swept up by assumptions into a movement which ignored, neglected and often belittled the local church, while emphasizing in its place the wonderful fellowship of the brotherhood which composed the "real" church-universal invisible body of Christ.
"I had to change my ways. My emphasis had to change. I now began to put the local church at the center of all my efforts in God's work. It meant the rejection of the ecumenical movement as based on an unbiblical premise. But where did it all begin?"
Bold and underling emphasis is mine. Dr. Paige admits that he was a believer in The Church but he knowingly changed "I had to change my ways." He was snared when the accuser Satan falsely accused his conscience with "I...often belittled the local church" and he accepted that lie and was deceived and snared into the Landmarkism that Dr. Gordy Lovik taught at that seminar.
"Vice is a monster of so frightful mien.
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace:"
“Essay on man” by Alexander Pope, Effingham Maynard & Co, New York, 1890, page 34.
When he went home to study he was already snared and blinded to the Scripture and he saw new "light" that previously was not there. Others have studied the same Scriptures with very different results. When he said he had to change he knew he was different but blindness made him "see" that the change was "right."
2 Corinthians 11:13-14 “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”
Dr. Paige's desire to put the local church at the center of all is serving the local church and is exalting the local church beyond what Scripture does. You are not to serve the local church but to serve the Lord in the local church there is a big difference between the two ideas. The local church can become at idol.
1 John 5:21 “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”
There is no connection between what he calls the universal church and the ecumenical movement that is a terrible lie! He asks the question where did the doctrine of the universal church begin and to answer his question it is with the Bible! There are at least 28 exclusive references to The Church in the Bible.
Dr. Paige and his book have been used by Satan to influence others into this snare of Landmark heresy.
I have noticed through time that there were some preachers like Jack Hyles who are Baptist popes and I called them Bible Baptists for the lack of a better name not knowing at the time that they were Landmarkers. It seems that a number of churches with the name Bible Baptist were like that. I called them Baptist popes because they over emphasized the role of the pastor. Recently I looked at Jack Hyles book on the local church and it shows that he is a Landmark Baptist. I would have to believe that many of the preachers who follow Jack Hyles would themselves be Landmark Baptists. The old adage birds of a feather flock together seems to apply. Jack Hyles' influence is wide spread throughout this country. These folks are snared and they are getting others to follow them.
Dr. Thomas Strouse seems to be somewhat of a narcissist like Jack Hyles because he has the right charisma and is able to articulate his views in a manner that attracts a following. Narcissists have no shame when they are wrong. When someone opposes them it is called narcissist injury and sometimes results in narcissist rage. There is no give and take with a narcissist. Their followers are mesmerized and are awed by their leader.
1 John 2:26 “These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.”
In one instance Dr. Strouse has unwittingly used this psychological stratagem by asking a group of pastors at the beginning of a seminar to accept the premise that every reference to the body of Christ is about a local church. He did not ask them to search the Scriptures to check this out. This has a group psychology to it where each one in the group reinforces what the leader says and stops any who would oppose him. The truth is that all of the 38 references to the body of Christ are all about The Church and not once is it about a local church.
When they had already accepted the rejection of the existence of The Church which is a lie and you are already snared so then naturally another lie would be easily believed which is the assumption that the only thing left is the local church so Dr. Strouse's lie about the body always being a local church would seem accurate. These are lies which they have believed and as a result they have become deceived and snared. This is the snare of Landmark Heresy which is of the devil and he has taken them captive according to II Timothy 2:24-26. The same thing could happen to you if you accept the lie.
This is typical of Landmarkism and especially of the Jack Hyles type of Landmarkism. Jack Hyles and his fellow pastors are noted for this type of narcissism along with some paranoia.
When you are already snared this makes you to "see" corroboration for Landmark doctrine in Scripture which previously was not there before you were snared such as the conclusion that the local church is his bride, closed communion, etc. Once you have become snared the devil also blinds you to the real truth such as The Church is the body of Christ and is His bride which is composed of all the true believers, etc. There seems to be no end to what mischief you can get into doctrinally because you have been spoiled (captured) through philosophy and vain deceit.
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.”
Dr. Strouse has influenced many around the world into this Landmark heresy. Don't let Dr. Strouse or anyone else spoil (snare) you with his philosophy when he asks us to accept his premise without question, why would you do this in any circumstance? You should check everything out by the Bible first. He has been deceived and snared and he doesn't know it. He feels his premise is true therefore you should too. However a Christian needs to have his armour on especially the shield of faith to quench the fiery darts of Landmarkism. You should be as the Bereans who searched the Scriptures daily whether these things were so (Acts 17:11)!
Dr. Chuck Nichols has been influenced by Dr. Richard Clearwaters and Dr. Thomas Strouse into Landmarkism. During the year 2012 when the members of an Independent Baptist Church heard and accepted the changes to doctrine that Pastor Chuck Nichols had presented, they knew these were changes, but they accepted them anyway. They became snared by believing the lies. They were not told that these changes were Landmark doctrine which is deceitful.
When I presented some Scripture passages to show some of the members of this Independent Baptist Church who accepted Landmarkism how they were in error, they would listen, but they were unable to grasp what was being said because they were blinded to the truth. This is what the snare is all about, they are trapped! It was very unnerving to try to cope with their blindness. How could this be? I felt helpless and bewildered because there was not a thing that I could do to help them, they were beyond help! They understood what was right before they had changed to Landmarkism, but when they accepted the error they became deceived and snared by the devil. Their ability to rightly divide the word of truth has been destroyed! The only way out of this snare, in which all cults are, is to repent. Of course at this point they see no reason to repent because they think that they are right. This is the nature of this snare, how awful! This is the snare of Landmark error! Mark Twain once said, "It is easier to fool a man than to convince him that he's been fooled."
That church continues to be used of Satan to influence others into Landmark heresy.
2 Timothy 2:24-26 “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”
My prayer is Lord make them willing to be willing to repent.
It is also true that there are some Baptists that hold to some Landmark doctrine but do not believe it to be Landmark such as the denial of the universal church's existence. Is ignorance bliss?
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