God's Not Dead

Sounds like the couple who left the Watchtower on my door.

 

I believe Ray Comfort to be a Christian and one gifted as an evangelist. But he has exceeded his knowledge, training and gifting. Here are a couple of issues (there are more which are detailed in a past thread about Ray Comfort and TWOTM).

WOTM has grown from an evangelistic program (such as EE) into a para-church organization that has the ability to usurp the role of the local church in fulfilling the Great Commission. The danger is the extent it has contributed to the “street-preaching movement” (a movement that interprets the Great Commission as being individualistic and works outside of the authority and supervision of a local church). This is an unbiblical approach to evangelism as there exist no accountability to the Body of Christ and no means of discipleship.

Ray Comfort teaches false doctrine. He has grown from being an evangelist to seemingly being an expert in every field. In truth, he has no training for what he purposes to teach. He misinterprets passages (sometimes it seems intentionally) to support his agenda. He has stated (in “The Way of the Master”) that the gospel is powerless without the Law; that most converted without the use of the 10 Commandments are false converts because they have a gospel with “no teeth”. This is false doctrine, and in fact one that Scripture itself condemns.

Ray Comfort holds to "another gospel", one that is based in the Mosaic Law. This is due, I believe, to a misapplication of a few verses. I have no issue at all using the Ten Commandments to explain sin (it is an outstanding idea, if the one to whom you are speaking believes the Ten Commandments are God's law). There is a danger of false converts, but there is an even greater danger of this false teaching influencing the church body.

The dangers include disregarding local church authority, encouraging false doctrine, and teaching another gospel.

 

Or his infamous banana illustration. That was stupid to the 10th degree, and gave atheists a good reason to ridicule Christians (which they did).

God made the banana with an easy open wrapper, it's shape is perfect for the hand, it curves up to the mouth, the perfect energy snack on the go....he didn't know that they were cultivated that way and natural bananas are not so user friendly.

Reminds me of WKRP Cincinnati when Mr. Carlson had the turkeys thrown out of the helicopter for Thanksgiving, not knowing they wouldn't fly.

Ray Comfort has become the village idiot because he has exceeded his gifting. This is something that we should all notice because it serves as a warning. We are gifted to work within the Body of Christ, to fill a role.

 

The bottom line is his usurpation of the primacy of the local church and violation of the accountability to the local church has identified him to be the very worst that Neo-Evangelicalism has to offer.

 

Yes, the street preacher movement does see the importance of Mark 16:15 but they misapply it. The movement itself is a type of heresy. Your belief that local churches are unfaithful as they don't adopt your method of evangelism does not justify your unfaithfulness.

I have a friend who identified an issue with Baptist churches. He found them not to practice what they preach. So he became Mormon.

Do Kingdom work Kingdom ways. There are no lone ranger evangelists in the Kingdom of God. His people are the body of Christ and His evangelists are given to the churches to function within the body.

 

If churches, and church members, would get on board with the great commission and discipling new converts and be obedient to Matthew 28:19 then there would be no lone ranger evangelists.

 

More importantly, the Great Commission is a command given to the church to disciple. It is more than telling others the gospel message.

Ray Comfort is not much different from Joel Osteen. Both have an altered gospel, both misuse Scripture for their own purposes, but God has used both to draw people to Himself. I suspect a man once saved, if truly discipled, would leave either "ministry".

 

He doesn't have one. The ministry is given to the church. (2 Cor. 5:11-21)

 

So you think the bible is wrong when it records Christ giving the Great Commission to the church?