why is it ?

Because. Praise the Lord, they have seen the Light!

 

I blame the spread of democracy.

We don't want rulers to have power that isn't given them by the people.

 

What complete nonsense. The Lord, Who is not "Calvinistic", has in His Wisdom chosen to bypass the "Church" that is not preaching His Word.

 

The Calvinist answer "should be"

God has "ordained" it so that truth prevails!

It is all of God and none of man after all.

Praise God!

 

I think that is part of the problem. We simply will not have the God of scripture to rule over us. So we create a lesser 'god' that better suits our own liking.

 

Its encouraging to see this trend changing. The last few decades have seen a revival of the old orthodox truths of Christianity. Sincere and genuine believers are seeing the corrupt fruit of a man centered & powerless 'gospel.'

 

Uh, if you're Calvinistic, isn't the answer obvious??? Those churches cannot be anything other than what God foreordained them to be.

Ya wanna blame someone, blame Him. BTW, God predestined me to tell you this.

 

I'm a Calvinist & I have no problem accepting that God fore-ordained the false teachings of Arminianism.

 

I am an Arminian - I have no problem accepting that God fore-ordained that I should point out the errors of Calvinism.

 

Then why wasn't that your answer to the original question? Instead, you talked about what "we simply will...", as if we were the cause.

 

Man will do what God ordains. Man still bears responsiblity for his actions.

 

What complete nonsense. The Lord, Who is not "Calvinistic", has in His Wisdom chosen to bypass the "Church" that is not preaching His Word. </font>[/QUOTE]Oh like he bypassed Spurgeon, Knox, Edwards, et al.?

 

Because people are offended by the notion that they are not the total lords of their own destiny.

Whether they admit it or not, most take pleasure in the idea that their good own will and own choices resulted in their salvation.

 

Yes, I understand that's the Calvinist explanation. However, I said "cause". God is still the cause, even if he chooses to shift the "responsibility" to us (it's not like we can prevent him from doing this, eh? ).

Calvinism makes God into a giant puppeteer, who has his puppet do something wrong, then holds the puppet responsible. We can say (and even believe) all we want that the puppet is "responsible", but it doesn't change who caused the puppet's action.

 

Charles Finney and the reviavalism that flowed from him reslted in many churches becoming Arminian. Finney's effect on evangelicalism was catalclysmic. If you study history you can see a deffinate change in thought after the time of Finny within the churches.

Many unfortuantly embarced his man-centered theology and methods and still do today.

 

Your words show a lack of understanding of the work that the Holy Spirit did through Finney. To call his work "man-centered" is shameful, as I am sure that his own Christian life and his great passion for the salvation of the wicked, is unmatched by the majority of Calvinists. Please do speak the truth in love, and not try to destroy the live of a dear brother who reached more with the Gospel than you or I will do in our life time

 

yes i have heard of charles finney the altar call king. what in the world would happen if the preacher just gave the gospel and didnt have anyone walk forward? what a blessing in that many would find themselves less assured of a false salvation based on a tearful event that they did. </font>[/QUOTE]Biblically, what is wrong with the "altar call", since we are told to make a public confession of our faith. Your words are not based on facts.

 

Our Lord gave us sacraments (or ordnances) and nowhere in scripture do I read that the altar call is one of them. The altar call is Rome creeping back in.