It's No Good

I wrote an analysis of the ICOC and ICC ten years ago called Enjoy the Silence. Now that we’re twenty years after the events surrounding the Henry Kriete Letter, I’ve written a new analysis entitled It’s No Good. (And permanently binding these papers to titles of Depeche Mode songs!) It expands on some of the key ideas in some of my social media posts, specifically where the ICOC and ICC are at now internally and where they could be going in the next decade.

I wrote an addendum at the end since the core of the paper was completed before the first lawsuits were filed. Keep in mind that this critique doesn’t take them into account.

An Open Invitation for Dinner at ICMC 2018

The 2018 International Campus Ministry Conference will be held in my hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio in July. I'm issuing an open invitation to any member of the International Churches of Christ who will be in Cincinnati during this time for dinner at my expense. We'll dine on the Queen City's finest: Skyline, Gold Star, LaRosa's, or perhaps some special hole-in-the-wall joint.

Why am I doing this? I want to provide a safe place for ICOC members to talk that's outside of the ICMC sphere. We could discuss Andy Fleming's church growth article. Or perhaps ICOC 3.0. Or the status of the 2020 Vision. Both men and women are invited. (I'm bringing my wife!)

I'm also open to meeting any members of the team planting the Columbus International Christian Church, including Coltin Rohn. Don't worry, I'll arrange separate meals for both groups.

The Rising Threat of One Man

Over the past few years, the outlook of the ICOC becoming a power once again seemed doubtful. However, recent events in my home town of Cincinnati, Ohio have shown that the local ICOC, the Cincinnati Church of Christ, may have reached a threshold where they should be considered a serious and very dangerous threat, especially to students at the local college campuses. This threat may help accelerate the drive of the entire ICOC back to the intensity of its controlling practices when it was lead by Kip McKean.

In the beginning of 2013, the Cincinnati ICOC hired Doug Lambert of the Baltimore ICOC as its Lead Evangelist. A little over a year and a half later, in late August of 2014, Lambert spoke the the ICOC's annual International Leadership Conference (ILC) in Singapore. He spoke the first half of a lesson entitled "Building with Costly Stones". That cost for the members of his congregation is heavy. In his lesson, we learn the following:

1. Men make the church grow, not God.

"You see, the Bible says here 'God makes it grow'. So if it's not growing, it's not God's fault. [affirmations by the audience] OK, we understand it, if it's not growing, it's not because God's not doing His part - because He makes it grow. It's not because of the workers, it's not because of the field, it's not because of the situation, it's not because of the challenges, we've got to look at ourselves and say 'am I the man to make it grow?' Because God makes it grow."

Doug Lambert - Lead Evangelist - Cincinnati Church of Christ, ICOC International Leadership Conference (Singapore) "Building with Costly Stones", August 28, 2014 [6:21-6:55]

2. Growth is the increase of the number of members and the amount of money taken in through the weekly offerings.

"And I believe that as a leader, it's important that I bring faith to my church and to the situations. [affirmations from the audience]. The church in Cincinnati was very, very stuck. Except for a few campus and teen baptisms, it wasn't growing. And we came in; we said, 'we believe all ministries can grow'. We believe the members can get engaged and that the marrieds and the singles can grow. We believe our contribution can grow. [loud 'Yeah!' from the audience]"

Doug Lambert - Lead Evangelist - Cincinnati Church of Christ, ICOC International Leadership Conference (Singapore) "Building with Costly Stones", August 28, 2014 [7:56-8:22]

3. ICOC congregations are not autonomous.

"But coming to Cincinnati, the challenges were so daunting, with the eldership and the staff and the other churches in the area, I thought: I've got to write things down. I mean, I've got to have detailed plans, four typed pages of what I need to focus on."

Doug Lambert - Lead Evangelist - Cincinnati Church of Christ, ICOC International Leadership Conference (Singapore) "Building with Costly Stones", August 28, 2014 [10:55-11:12]

In the entire context of his lesson, it appears that Mike Fontenot, leader of the Hampton Roads ICOC in Virginia may have sent or allowed Doug Lambert to go to Cincinnati. Doug Lambert apparently has influence and authority of other ICOC congregations in the Ohio Valley area (covering Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia). In other words, Doug Lambert's role and authority is no different than the role and authority of the Geographic Sector Leader (GSL) in the ICOC before 2003. Consequently, Mike Fontenot's authority appears to be that of a World Sector Leader (WSL) in the ICOC before 2003.

4. Re-establishing an eldership is not a priority whatsoever.

"We focus a lot on building infrastructure: great Sunday services, great midweeks... staff meetings, getting the HOPE work really going, women's ministry, missions, children's ministry, great events, working with our board... building a leadership group, really getting the youth and family ministry really great... We've built our campus ministry. We have ministry training programs and internships. The big focus now is on our singles and our young marrieds..."

Doug Lambert - Lead Evangelist - Cincinnati Church of Christ, ICOC International Leadership Conference (Singapore) "Building with Costly Stones", August 28, 2014 [11:50-13:00]

Note that in context, "building a leadership group" means continuing to build himself and staff roles below him in the discipling hierarchy, not establishing a plurality of spirital men to lead the congregation as elders where Lambert would work at best alongside them.

5. Needs of the rank-and-file members are subordinated to the plans to build the church (numerically).

"But having a plan requires focus, doing it well and thoroughly, and completing it and then moving on to the next task. There's still a lot to do in the church. We've got a lot of holes and a lot of needs. Part of the problem: we've raised expectations now so that everybody's saying, 'Hey, what about this and what about me, how about over here?' And I'm like, 'We'll get to it!' [affirmations by the audience] It's going to take five years. So I told the church when we came in: it's going to be five years to build what we need to build."

Doug Lambert - Lead Evangelist - Cincinnati Church of Christ, ICOC International Leadership Conference (Singapore) "Building with Costly Stones", August 28, 2014 [13:20-13:50]

6.  An ICOC Evangelist still has unilateral authority to discipline ICOC Elders, even implicitly call for their resignation.

"When we came to Cincinnati, the eldership that was in place was very divided. And we had many conversations and I finally said, 'You know, this has been going on for a long time. We're setting a five month time limit on this. And within five months, this situation will be resolved because it has gone on too long.' I believe that I have the authority as an Evangelist to discipline elders if I need to. And so after five months, we got the elders together and they met and they decided that they needed to step down."

Doug Lambert - Lead Evangelist - Cincinnati Church of Christ, ICOC International Leadership Conference (Singapore) "Building with Costly Stones", August 28, 2014 [15:07-15:43]

1 Timothy 5:19-20 clearly states that two or three witnesses are needed to bring a charge against an elder. However, Lambert did not mention any other witnesses besides himself. (Making the other elders be the other witnesses makes no sense, of course!) In addition, Lambert has the authority to correct the unrepentant elders in front of the entire congregation, but no authority to make them step down from their role.

A previous post discusses the resignation of the elders in the Cincinnati Church of Christ and its conclusions and ramifications.

7. Additional restrictions (specifically membership in a shepherding group) are required to be a member of the church and thus keep one's salvation.

"And we decided we were going to have high expectations. ['Yup' from the audience] And we were not going to compromise. We're going to expect everybody to come to midweeks, we've heard that, right? [affirmations from the audience] But that is the expectation. And then we said everyone in the church, to be a member of the church, has to be in a small group. [affirmations from the audience] You don't want to be in a small group, you're welcome to attend as a visitor. [affirmations from the audience] But you will not be a member of our church - that was not without controversy."

Doug Lambert - Lead Evangelist - Cincinnati Church of Christ, ICOC International Leadership Conference (Singapore) "Building with Costly Stones", August 28, 2014 [17:05-17:33]

8. The destructive practice of pruning has returned to the ICOC.

"And as discipling began to spread through the church, I prepared the leadership. I said... we will have more fallaways in 2014 than we had in 2013. Because as discipling spreads through the church, there will be a slow bleed. [affirmations from the audience] Because some of our members actually like the fact that there was no discipling. [more affirmations from the audience] some of our members actually like the fact that Jesus was not Lord of the church or of their lives and kind of liked the way the church was and so as we're getting where we need to be, we knew that we would lose people. Now what's been encouraging is way more people have got on board because in their hearts, deep down, they really do want Jesus to be Lord. [a chorus of 'Right!' from the audience] But we couldn't be afraid of what was going to happen if we did what was right."

Doug Lambert - Lead Evangelist - Cincinnati Church of Christ, ICOC International Leadership Conference (Singapore) "Building with Costly Stones", August 28, 2014 [18:02-18:48]

Clearly if the ICOC's upper echelon of leadership chose Lambert as an example of how to build and grow an ICOC congregation a decade after the resignation of Kip McKean and the events of the Henry Kriete Letter, then their long-term intentions are as clear as crystal. Now that the organization has stabilized, the leadership intends to return to implementing controls (albeit some slowly) across the entire organization as McKean singlehandedly did throughout his twenty-three year head of the Boston Movement and ICOC.

It's a dangerous time to be a disciple.

The Eldership is Toast!

From out of nowhere came news that the three men who comprised the eldership of the Cincinnati Church of Christ: ("Lead Elder") Jim Fulcher, Joe Dilts, and Tom Meade, resigned from their positions and thus dissolved the eldership of the Cincinnati Church of Christ. Their pictures have been removed from their website (according to this post). The reason for their collective resignation is the inability for them to work together. Even with outside assistance and direction - from other International Churches of Christ congregations - they could not reconcile their differences and operate effectively as an eldership. In fact, it appears that they may have been directed by the other ICOC leaders outside of the Cincinnati Church of Christ to resign.

"[The elders] each spoke to us and said that they have tried for a while to work through the issues they had. Leaders from other [ICOC] churches were brought in to try and help them out, and give advice, but in the end they (ed: the elders or the leaders from the other ICOC congregations?) felt that what was best for the church (ed: the Cincinnati CoC or the ICOC or both?) would be them stepping down."

At this time, Lead Evangelist Doug Lambert will be leading the congregation. A process to choose new elders appears to be underway.

In my opinion, it's too early to draw conclusions and predict outcomes, but we do know the following facts and what they imply:

• The Cincinnati Church of Christ leadership structure failed to transform from one man leading the entire church (the traditional ICOC model where an Evangelist possessed the ultimate and final power and authority for an entire congregation) to a plurality of qualified spiritual leaders shepherding the entire flock. This was one of the promises made after the events of the Henry Kriete Letter ten years ago.
• Consequently, the elders were merely figureheads. The functional "eldership" was, and remains, the hired evangelists (Doug Lambert and John Cleghorn) and other paid staff (Michael DeAquino and Chase Mackintosh).
• The Cincinnati Church of Christ could not resolve this situation internally as an autonomous church. They had to call in others in the ICOC for assistance to receive discipling. And that external discipling influence obviously failed to keep the eldership together.
• Jim Fulcher failed to establish an eldership in the Cincinnati Church of Christ, even ending up as one of its elders. This is one of the reasons he was hired as the Lead Evangelist in early 2007.
• If the most qualified men in the entire congregation couldn't work out their differences, even after decades upon decades of ICOC discipling - before, during, and after Kip McKean was over them in leadership - what does that say about their discipling system?
• If this is the result of discipling for the most spiritually mature in the congregation, what kind of discipling is everyone else receiving and how are they maturing?
• I'm not surprised that a dysfunctional eldership like this would have appointed a man as unqualified as John Cleghorn as an Evangelist. (See a previous post I wrote for details.)
• How can this problem be avoided in the future? Can more ICOC-style discipling even fix this problem?
• The Cincinnati Church of Christ, even after thirty years of existence as a discipling church, has failed to produce leaders from its own membership to effectively shepherd itself. How can it successfully replicate itself in the long-term by planting ministries and other churches?

In one sense, this event was surprising, but not unexpected. This is simply just another natural outcome of their theology. Jesus said "by their fruit, you will recognize them" (Matthew 7:15-20).

If you're a current member reading this, please think seriously about these facts and questions. There is no quick fix. Look hard at the past and look long towards the future. Do you want the discipling you receive and give to end up in a situation like Fulcher, Dilts, and Meade? Finally, don't be afraid to comment or send me an e-mail or tweet!

Validation: Gut Feeling

As Genesis 1:27 tells us, God created us human beings in His image, as the masterpiece of His creation. One of the marvelous aspects that we were created with is the ability of involuntarily reacting to our environment. Most of the time these involuntary reflexes help protect our lives. For example, if we accidentally touch something very hot with our hands, our hands, arms, and bodies will immediately recoil, mitigating damage taken from severe burns. Ignoring or overriding these involuntary actions take strength, energy, and concentration in addition to the great risk of harm that will likely come by ignoring these kinds of reflexes.

In the same way, God our Creator has not only given us involuntary physical reflexes, but mental and emotional reflexes as well. These help to avoid physical and psychological harm. The classic example is the fight-or-flight response. Sometimes it's more difficult to attribute these feelings to impeding or perceived danger, but in some circumstances, especially when they're told to an external observer, these "gut feelings" turn out to be absolutely correct.

In April of 2013, a member of the Cincinnati Church of Christ posted on the ICOC/ICC Discussion Forum on Delphi. His initial post gave typical defenses of ICOC doctrines and practices in the post-McKean era. One part did stand out (underlined emphasis mine):

I'm not thinking about leaving, and my goal isn't to "silence the criticism." I have issues myself sometimes, but I am not afraid to give voice to them, talk to leadership etc. Sometimes my issues get good answers that put them to rest and sometimes they don't. So far I don't have big enough issues with stuff to leave and stop trying to help the church grow, and I don't think there is abuse. There was a sermon a while ago that i did feel was waaayyyy [sic] strong and made me very uncomfortable (not "ouch, convicting" uncomfortable, but "this is wrong" uncomfortable) but a few weeks later he apologized to the whole congregation and said it was uncalled for and too much. Overall i don't usually feel like manipulative control is our issue.

Upon reading this, I responded to his post and affirmed that his instincts were likely correct. I also encouraged him that this was an opportunity to think and confirm that his instincts were correct. Was it just the delivery of the sermon that made him and many other members of the Cincinnati Church of Christ uneasy or was it the delivery and the contents of the delivery? I also asked him which sermon it was so I could listen to it.

He responded again:

He let his emotions about the subject cause him to go on a rant, and lost the love aspect of "speak the truth in love." That's what i mainly found wrong with it, and this was the only time in my 4 years here that I felt like I was hearing something similar to the bashings I've read about in the past.

This response didn't contain the response to the request I had made in the previous post for the sermon he was concerned about. After I had mentioned it to him again, another forum member graciously gave me the information. The sermon was based on Mark chapter 4 and was entitled "Seeds and Soils". It was delivered by Evangelist and Youth and Family Minister John Cleghorn. I wasn't surprised in the least that it was Cleghorn that went on a rant!

In the next post, the contented member of the Cincinnati Church of Christ explains the content of the sermon:

We were going through Mark, and that sunday [sic] was the parable of the sower. When talking about the worries of the world that choke our faith, [John Cleghorn] used an example of teens spending too much time on sports and got carried away, ending up saying parents were enabling it and would get to heaven to find their kids didn't make it, but hey at least they got a college scholarship.
There are many better ways to say ["]Why gain the world if you forfeit your soul?["] but that is all he was trying to say, i [sic] think.

I responded:

The scriptures clearly teach that it's the responsibility of parents to teach and model the faith once for all delivered to the saints to their children and the responsibility of the children to decide to follow Christ, whether it be early in their lives or many years later. Parents may enable their children to prioritize other things above Christ, but John Cleghorn is wrong to directly blame (and presumably lay guilt upon) [Note: keep reading this blog post because my presumption was correct!] the parents for their children not making it to heaven.

I would ask Cleghorn about those Kingdom Kids who grew up in the ICOC and whose parents made the Kingdom of God a priority, but those children are now no longer interested in Christianity whatsoever. Who's to blame there?

Although what Cleghorn was teaching from the pulpit was not obviously violating any primary Christian doctrines (as he and his cohorts have done many time in the past), what he was teaching was both clearly incorrect and highly manipulative.

Several days later, I listened to the sermon and posted a full analysis. The following is the section in question "preached" by John Cleghorn that made everyone uneasy:

"And I think in this area, I get a little scared because we've watered that down. We often don't water it down for ourself [sic], but we're OK missing church to go to something, to some sporting event, to some dance-thing, or some something and you think, 'Well, I'm committed.' But what are you teaching your KIDS? [My wife] Shannon and I made a decision with our children, they can play one sport. (And I think it's good to be in a sport or dance or something like that. I think that's GREAT. There are things you can learn on a team that you can't be taught unless you're on a team. I think that's great.) But my kids aren't going to join a sport that's going to get in the way of seeking the Kingdom first. Period! Maybe on our minds we're thinking, 'Well, they can be a pro athlete. Or they can get a SCHOLARSHIP and SAVE US MONEY.' I KNOW WE'RE THINKING THAT. WILL THEY GET A SCHOLARSHIP? SO WHAT?! WHO CARES IF THEY GET A SCHOLARSHIP IF THEY [pounds the pulpit] DON'T MAKE IT TO HEAVEN?!?! WHO CARES!?!?!? YOU'RE GOING TO BE IN HEAVEN AND GO, 'MAN, MY KID GOT A SCHOLARSHIP AND I'M FIRED UP, BUT THEY DIDN'T MAKE IT TO HEAVEN.' NO, YOU'RE GOING TO BE LIKE 'I BLEW IT!!!!!! [pounds the pulpit] I BLEW IT!!!!!!' [some clapping from the audience] 'MY KID'S EDUCATION WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN GOD'S WORD AND THEM BEING A CHRISTIAN.' It drives me crazy when I hear about parents that talk about if their kid did homework or not, but they didn't have a quiet time with them. They asked them more if they did their homework or if their homework was complete than if they ask they're walking with God. That STUFF DOESN'T MATTER! (Now you still need to get good grades, amen? [laughter from the audience]) But that stuff doesn't matter! 'Well, John's being hard.' No, I'M NOT BEING HARD, THAT'S WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS!! AND IF YOU THINK IF YOU'RE FRUSTRATED, GET MAD AT GOD BECAUSE HIS EXPECTATION IS THAT!! AND I KNOW SOME OF YOU ARE BLARING AT ME, LIKE 'HE'S TALKING TO ME!' YES!!!!! I'M TALKING TO YOU, AND IT AIN'T JUST ME, IT IS GOD TALKING TO YOU THROUGH HIS HOLY SPIRIT, THROUGH HIS WORD: DON'T WATER DOWN GOD'S EXPECTATION BECAUSE WE WANT THESE KIDS TO BE FAITHFUL!!! ['amens' and applause from the audience]"

His "gut feeling" was correct, as well as many other members of the Cincinnati Church of Christ. Sadly, as this follow-up post details, he did not want to accept the facts that were exposed and the conversation came to an end. As of early July, he hasn't posted much, if at all, on the forum. And why should he? From what we can tell, he recently graduated from college, is in a "sharp" ministry of young professionals (as opposed to a "weak and weird" ministry of the "unsharp"), and all is smooth sailing. He's likely on the track of good graces with his peers and the leadership to date and marry as well. Why take direction from a "fall-away" who has confirmed that his instincts are correct and risk losing everything he has in Kip McKean's Christ?

The truth hurts. Leaving the International Churches of Christ over six years ago was one of the most difficult things I've done in my life. But seven years ago I woke up and realized that I was burning. The authentic Jesus Christ of true Christianity has healed me of the spiritual, emotional, and psychological burn wounds I've suffered at the hands of their demonic system. But what will happen to those today who remain burning and who continue to will themselves to ignore benefits of common grace in order to avoid what they perceive as inconceivable pain? You can only ignore your "gut" for so long before it gives out.

Validation: Meet the New Boss

On the ICOC/ICC Delphi discussion forum, I read an interesting thread involving three current ICOC members, all of which have been with the organization from at least the 1990's.

The first, who initially quotes a former member:

"The [Boston Church of Christ] will not change until all the old leaders are either gone or die off. Sorry to be so blunt.

If you read in Exodus, the LORD had the nation of Israel wander 40 years so that everyone died off and only the new generation could ever see the promised land. God forgives, but he takes righteousness very seriously. Even Moses himself was not allowed to witness the land that God had promised to Abraham and his descendants"

you know...i had this same conversation with a couple of folks about the ICOC on the whole.

This was followed by the second current member:

That's funny - I've had the same conversation, too. Though I see the occasional young evangelist who thinks the old days must have been great and it makes me very sad...

And this was followed by the third:

Me too, actually! I have had MANY of these conversations in the last 10 years, and a few very recently. I've said here before, but the ICOC as a whole will not collectively grow or get collectively healthier while the current leadership paradigm exists. And the current old boy club ain't given up control! Heck, Steve Johnson is on the evangelist committee thingie. And too many of the young leaders aren't being taught differently, either. I don't see it changing fellowship-wide at all.

We won't get fooled again.

Enjoy The Silence

In light of the tenth anniversary of the events surrounding Kip McKean's resignation from the ICOC and the Henry Kriete Letter, I've written an op/ed on the current state of the ICOC entitled Enjoy the Silence. What is the status of the ICOC now? What, if anything, has changed? And where are they going?

You can read the paper at: http://www.reveal.org/library/history/enjoythesilence.pdf.

Hoodwinked!

The Christian Chronicle, a periodical published by the mainline Churches of Christ, recently published a glowing article of the current state of the International Churches of Christ. It appears they didn't ask the hard questions necessary to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are no longer a cult of Christianity. Instead, they merely bought into the dog and pony show given to them by leaders such as Mike Taliaferro and Steve Staten.

My concern is that can even those in the mainline Churches of Christ, or even those in the general Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement (including the Christian Churches and Disciples of Christ) know what to ask them to reveal that the ICOC preaches a false gospel of tentative grace that can only be earned by pleasing men and a man-made messiah without the person and work of the Holy Spirit?

P.T. Barnum would have been proud.

Studies Separated at Birth?

Several months ago, the International Christian Churches released a version of the "First Principles" Bible study series as an app that can be used on a smartphone or tablet device. That "app" is basically a web page that can be viewed at http://www.1stprinciples.net/. This mobile version contains the same studies and corresponding heresies that the previous, paper-only versions have had, going back through the early 1980's, when Kip McKean allegedly wrote them from scratch. The core of the studies, from "The Word of God" through "The Church", has been largely unchanged for over three decades. McKean formally added a "Seeking God" and several post-baptism studies such as "After Baptism, Now What?" and "Persecution" several years ago.

This isn't surprising to observers of "God's (New) Modern-Day Movement". What's shocking to those who understand the core of this false gospel and can refute it is this article on the International Churches of Christ news site HotNews. This article announces the availability of a full-fledged iPhone/iPad app called "First Principles". It was developed by a group called CheapBrain. The project manager of the group, Ed Partch, is located in Denver, Colorado. There is no church loyal to Kip McKean's new movement in Colorado (at the time this article was written), so it's a safe assumption that this group has direct ties to the ICOC.

So how do the mobile "First Principles" apps from the ICOC and ICC compare? Comparing the screenshots on the ICOC app to those on the ICC app and to the paper (or PDF) versions of "First Principles" before Kip's departure from the ICOC in 2002 show no substantive difference whatsoever between either movement's versions (besides the addition of new, non-core studies in the ICC version). Even the same illustrative graphics are used in both "Light and Darkness" studies!

What does this mean? Why would people likely linked with the ICOC publish a "First Principles" app that was an exact clone of the version used by the ICC? Why would one of the ICOC's flagship news sites publish an article noting its release and apparent support by the movement? Is it a coincidence that one of the major players behind the scenes of HotNews is Mike Taliaferro, who is hosting the ICOC World Discipleship Seminar in his hometown of San Antonio in a few months with over 16,000 members registered to attend? How important is it that the San Antonio congregation is part of the ICOC Co-operation Churches and that Taliaferro is a key high-level leader in the post-McKean ICOC?  Note that Denver's Bible Study series, Knowing God, is a thinly-veiled rehash of "First Principles", complete with its heretical false gospel. In addition, many other ICOC congregations use knockoffs of "First Principles", including Cincinnati (I provided an analysis of this supposed "new" study series about a year ago).

Perhaps the most intriguing question is this: what will happen if Kip's group attempts to call out the ICOC for plagiarism? Or vice versa? In either case, both groups undeniably support a false, works-based gospel that calls for its disciples to sell out to total commitment to an idol and system that takes the place of the authentic Jesus Christ of truth and grace.

Update! On Thursday, May 17th, Disciples Today posted an announcement concerning the release of the "First Principles" app by Ed Partch. He adds certain details such as adding study series from the individual ICOC congregations (the larger ones first) and integrating additional features such as tracking the progress of people who are being studied with along with inviting people to "study the Bible" using the address book. Perhaps the most chilling new addition is "a reporting feature to keep others abreast of progress".

The more things change, the more things stay the same.

Declaration of War

In an article on the City of Angels (Los Angeles) International Christian Church's web site posted on April 15, 2012 entitled Degrees of Lukewarmness, ICC founder and top leader Kip McKean concludes the article with this paragraph:

My heartfelt plea is for disciples anywhere and everywhere - whether in the Mainline Churches of Christ, conservative Christian Churches, the International Churches of Christ, those who have drifted into denominational churches, or even fall-aways: Let the Spirit gather us together as one in God's new movement. Let us be unified by being "consumed with [a fiery, hot] zeal for our Father's house" (John 2:17) and "loving one another deeply from the heart." (1 Peter 1:22) Then and only then, will we become "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God" distinct from the world and worldly churches with various degrees of lukewarmness. (1 Peter 2:9) And to God be all the glory!

It's obvious that McKean himself is the locus of unity for this call to those outside of his current movement. It's his false gospel, his methods, and submission to his leadership or nothing at all, even to those who may be "true disciples" in his view in these other churches. McKean has called out the "remnant" before in the 1980's and does so again with not only the mainline Churches of Christ, (Independent) Christian Churches in the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, and other "denominational" churches, but also his former fellowship - the International Churches of Christ. With his new movement at 1,500 members as of early 2012 and with plans to plant (or replant) congregations in San Francisco, Orlando, Paris, Mexico City, and Boston late this summer, nothing is in McKean's way to impede his progress. Kip has declared war on not only the churches that have clearly rejected him (namely the Churches of Christ and the ICOC), but has resumed a full-scale assault against historic, healthy, mainstream Christianity.

The United States wasn't fully prepared for war when Pearl Harbor was attacked in December of 1941. In a similar fashion, the groups Kip has specifically targeted don't appear to be ready either - and some of them are in some sort of weakened state:

• The International Churches of Christ, almost a decade after removing McKean from leadership, is still attempting to take his false gospel (see the previous blog post) and methodologies and re-brand it as their very own without McKean. In the various factions, the same doctrines are still taught, but almost none of them require the same call of commitment as McKean requires. The ICOC remains in serious danger of being run down and run over by McKean's new movement, particularly with those who have grown up and have been brought into the movement in the past decade.
• The Churches of Christ are having a growth and identity crisis of their own. The Churches of Christ are shrinking numerically, especially those bent towards legalism. (Remember that the ICOC arose from these legalistic congregations and the ICC split from the ICOC.) As conservative and progressive elements continue to determine the future of that wing of the Stone-Campbell Movement, few are paying attention to both the ICC and ICOC.
• The Christian Churches, at most a very minor player in the history of the Boston Movement and ICOC up until McKean's departure in 2003, may be blindsided by both the ICC and the ICOC because of their contemporary styles of worship and outward evangelical stances on certain positions. In fact, on the surface, one may not be able to distinguish a Christian Church congregation from an ICOC or ICC congregation.
• The other Protestant denominations and fellowships, Roman Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox have largely ignored the problems the Discipling Movement have created the past four decades because of its negligible impact on overall mainstream Christianity. The only Christian and para-church organizations that have even paid attention are those working in apologetic and anti-cult ministries and campus ministries.

In the International Christian Churches Good News E-mail from April 15, 2012, one person from the mainline Churches of Christ has been baptized into the new movement, one was "restored" into the new movement, and several others have joined from the ICOC - the former fellowship. Kip McKean's intentions to pull as many followers as he can into his new movement from churched backgrounds (if you can call an ICOC member "churched") are clear and are currently paying off. My hope is that these other healthy denominations and fellowships warn their members of this new menace and continue to preach and teach the true gospel of grace to Christians within their ranks and let the Holy Spirit do His work to convert the lost in addition to the Church doing their part as the hands and feet of Jesus.

Constructing Heresy

Today, Google had a doodle in honor of the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Yesterday, I encountered a quote from Cincinnati Church of Christ Lead Elder Jim Fulcher that is just as well architected and constructed as one of van der Rohe's buildings.

"Well, think about this real quick. Even to be saved, if we know, we have the knowledge to be saved, are we saved? No! You have the knowledge. OK, if you have the knowledge and you believe it, you have faith, are you saved? No, you're not! Well, what if you have knowledge - the real knowledge - truth, and you have faith - you believe it - and you start following Jesus, are you saved? No, you're not, really! And you'll see it in just a minute. Because God wants this whole thing to all work together, all of it. So how about all that stuff: you really know it, you got the knowledge, you really believe it, you really start following, and you repent, are you saved? Wait a minute, I'll tell you what! Now you've got an individual who's got the knowledge, they're going to church all the time, they're reading their bibles, I mean, they're acting like Jesus, and they're repenting - man, they're quitting all that nasty old, sinful stuff, surely, I mean, when you start repenting and you're going to church, don't you feel - saved?! Yeah, you really do. Because so much has changed by what God calls you and I to change. You with me? [Audience agrees.] But you see, it's still not complete because you and I come in contact with the blood of Jesus when we are baptized [more agreement from the audience]. So when you hear it, you believe it, you become a disciple of Jesus, you follow, you repent of your sins, and you're baptized, are you saved? [Audience responds with a resounding 'Yes!'] Yes!! But you can mix it all up. What if you just believe it and you get baptized, forget the repentance? [Audience responds 'No!'] I mean, you can mix it up in any order you want, but unless we do it the way that God pens it out. So whether it's a salvation issue or whether it's a dealing-with-sin issue, it's got to be done God's way, Amen?! [Audience responds with applause.]"

Jim Fulcher - Lead Elder - Cincinnati Church of Christ - "Mastering Your Mind" - March 26, 2012 - [37:35-39:34]

I have seen and written quotes containing the kernel of the McKeanist plan of salvation (hear, believe, repent, become a disciple, and then be baptized), but never have I seen someone articulate it in this well laid-out form. The steps are built one on top of another and in the supposedly correct order. It's like clockwork. Additionally, the collective membership of the Cincinnati Church of Christ doesn't clearly respond audibly until Elder Fulcher starts talking about baptism. They agree with him on his assessment of the so-called revealed plan of salvation that every other so-called Christian has gotten wrong. And those poor, deluded, religious Christians are placed right smack dab in the middle of his argument! It's pure brilliance.

It's no wonder Satan masquerades as an angel of light. If the heresy of a works-based, man-centered, Spirit-less salvation can be so clearly seen, the darkness surrounding those who teach and truly believe this demonic doctrine must truly be great.

Revealing Your Unplayable Hand

In a post on One in Jesus, blog owner Jay Guin (an elder of a progressive Church of Christ) asked the following question in light of a post discussing the future of the mainline Churches of Christ in light of significantly declining membership: "What do we do?" Out of the many responses, one from Alan Rouse (an elder of the ICOC Co-operation Church in Gwinnett, Georgia - a suburb of Atlanta) stood out as alarming:

"Start making disciples of Jesus. Starting from one person, if each person makes one disciple a year, the entire world will be Christian in a matter of 30 or so years.

Oh, and make sure the first disciple you make is yourself.

That's a snarky answer, I know. But I don’t know of a better one. The real point is, this has NOTHING to do with what your worship service looks like."

This model of exponential growth, which goes back to at least the late 1960's, has been a mainstay of the theology of the Discipling Movement in the Churches of Christ. However, this model is fatally flawed in the light of scripture and plain common sense for several reasons:

1. This model assumes that one remains alive once they are made into a disciple and are making disciples. Clearly someone who is converted early on, say at the age of 90, will likely not make it to see the world evangelized within their lifetime.
2. This model assumes that one doesn't apostatize and leave Christianity once they are made into a disciple and are making disciples. The scriptures clearly teach that some people who are are following Jesus (at least by outward appearance) one day will stop following Him altogether (John 6:66).
   
3. This model eventually (when there are literally billions of people making disciples) contradicts Christ's teachings that few will be saved (Luke 13:22-30).
   
4. This model is nowhere to be found for the New Testament church, particularly in Acts. On the Church's first day at the Pentecost after Christ's crucifixion, burial and, resurrection, the visible Church grew from about 120 to 3,000 in one day (Acts 2:41). Later, the Church grew to 5,000 men (Acts 4:4). During the first widespread persecution of Christians, the congregation in Jerusalem shrunk down to twelve (Acts 8:1)! However, the Holy Spirit continued to grow the Church until it had evangelized the known world, namely the Roman Empire, in thirty-to-forty years. None of these examples prove exponential growth. However, all of the growth was done by the power of God the Holy Spirit.
5. This model clearly collapsed under its own weight if we take the original Boston Church of Christ in 1979 through its growth peak in the late 1980's and early 1990's, flat lining in the mid-1990's and utter collapse at the turn of the millennium. Practically, this model doesn't work, even when driven by men's ambitions and authoritarian control.
   

Those who have been in leadership in the Crossroads Movement, Boston Movement, and the ICOC both before and after 2003 should certainly know that the exponential growth model is a fairy tale. But Alan, in his own words, admits "I don’t know of a better one."

What's more concerning is his second statement: "[M]ake sure the first disciple you make is yourself." Here, Alan Rouse betrays his hand and exposes himself as a false teacher of the god of McKeanism. How can a lost person, a person who is separated from the love and grace of the one, true creator God, make themselves into a disciple - a Christian - a saved person (using the standard McKeanist formula "Disciple = Christian = Saved")? It's impossible! One can't earn or work for Christ's righteousness by their own imperfect righteousness. Even nine years after the events surrounding the Henry Kriete Letter when reforms were promised, the ICOC is still holding a bad hand and doing everything in its power to bluff its members and potential recruits.

Death of a Dream in San Diego

A former ICOC member named Janice Franklin has written a powerful testimony of her time in the San Diego Church of Christ called Death of a Dream. It goes from the time when that congregation (originally known as the Mission Church of Christ) started practicing discipling before it joined the Boston Movement and goes through six months after the release of the Henry Kriete Letter in early 2003. What makes this powerful is the mixture of her personal story and recovery and in-depth scriptural analysis of some of the biggest McKeanist doctrines that ensnare people and leave them confused once they leave the cult. Janice covers true worship, reliance on the law and works instead of faith, the McKeanist take on discipling, and tolerating leaders at the top of the discipling hierarchy.

The last time something like this was released was around the time of the Henry Kriete Letter itself. The release of this paper now clearly underscores the fact that things in the ICOC have not changed, now nine years after the HKL's release. Great job, Janice!

The URL for the paper is: http://www.reveal.org/library/stories/people/deathofadream.pdf

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I started a Twitter account. Let's see what happens when I try to engage the ICOC and ICC on the social networks!

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Kip McKeanʼs Theology: Still Winning in the Cincinnati Church of Christ

Almost five years ago, July 4, 2006, my discipling partner and I were both members of the Cincinnati Church of Christ. We decided to meet for coffee when we ran into another former member. With the fallout of the Henry Kriete Letter still fresh in my mind, this former member confirmed many suspicions I had that the Cincinnati Church of Christ wasn't changing and heading towards a healthy direction.

He gave me permission to think.

Five years later, prompted by the Holy Spirit, I started discussing current church issues with a campus intern for the Cincinnati Church of Christ. I asked what they were using to "study the Bible" with people. And she gave me the "new" study series... with notes from the leadership embedded in it.

Ohioans such as myself enjoy the trick-taking card game Euchre. Using this as a metaphor, the campus intern called trump on Spades while I was holding the Jack of Clubs. She gave me what is known as the "Left Bauer" (the code name of this project), which was now the second highest trump in the deck and could most definitely prevent her from taking the majority of the tricks.

The final result is this in-depth analysis of this "new" study series entitled Kip McKeanʼs Theology: Still Winning in the Cincinnati Church of Christ. As the title states, the theology taught by the Cincinnati Church of Christ in terms of salvation is still the same as what Kip McKean has taught in "First Principles" for over three decades. It's just the same rusty (but effective) steel trap, but with a different paint job.

Thanks to the folks who helped review it and work out some of the details. And special thanks to Jen Chambers and Chris Lee of REVEAL.org.

(The full URL to the paper is: http://www.reveal.org/library/theology/kipwinningincincy.pdf)

Over Eight Years Later: Signs of ICOC Reversion, Part 3

This is the third and final commentary in a series of posts on recent articles on Disciples Today concerning the reversion of the ICOC to a state before reforms were promised by the leadership in 2003. The third article is entitled Still Willing to Go Anywhere for God, written by Damon Brog (presumably the Lead Evangelist) from Springfield, Illinois.

At first glance, this story seems inspiring. A young, single man named Rajaveen (Raj) Chandrasakaran decides to do "something radical" in order to escape "complacency".

"My time with my company was coming to an end, I am single and my parents are disciples. I realized no better time than now to take that radical plunge and to GO and be on the cutting-edge of faith. So I proceeded to put my condo on the market, gave away all my possessions, and put out feelers to anyone who would give me an opportunity to help build their ministry."

Raj then gets hooked up with Damon and effectively becomes the campus minister of the Springfield Church of Christ. Damon describes Raj's efforts.

"Just today we studied the Bible with 4 college students consecutively between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. They continue to bring friends with them. Nearly twenty students are studying the Bible in earnest. The church has been here for about 15 years and had never had a campus ministry, though the effort had been made prior to our arrival. We put together a little campus Bible Talk at the beginning of 2010 and had a couple of baptisms, but there has been a literally miraculous injection of life to our campus ministry since Raj arrived here in August. It is very likely that we will finish the year out with about a half dozen baptisms."

So should there be rejoicing about Raj's decision? That apparently he made it on his own and wasn't being told to do it through a discipling partner? Was the Holy Spirit calling him to do this?

Perhaps.

However, the article mentions nothing about the Holy Spirit, or the influence of another person either for that matter.

He says, "Instead of living my life by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me, I constantly tried to live for me –not in a blatant manner but far more subtly, allowing the distractions and desires of life to lull me into a sense of complacency." This certainly can be done within the context of being a "Network Engineer for Fortune 500 company".

Did that "something radical" have to be done in the context of selling and giving away everything and becoming a campus minister intern? Certainly not! However, this mode has been a classic McKeanist position for decades. And he's going though this well-worn path once again. Even though Raj may not have a discipling partner or leaders telling him what to do, the ICOC's mindset regarding what it takes to be "alive in Christ" has clearly been transferred to him.

Damon continues:

"All that being said, it has made a GREAT impact on our church members here. Seeing someone surrender all and move to their town in order to invest themselves in the work of the Lord has left the people here revived and challenged in a good way. The Springfield church began the 2010 with 39 members; we will finish the year with well over 50! This comes after years of the church here struggling and even decreasing in size. Now there are ongoing Bible studies in all ministries of the church –campus, teens, marrieds, and singles! It is difficult to overstate the effect that the campus explosion has had on the entire church. The momentum that we have gained during the year has been pushed into hyperdrive when one committed disciple made the bold decision to respond to the radical calling of the Lord!"

In short, the campus ministry is the spark that gets the church going, growing, and doing well. The position of the campus minister is and continues to be the most exhausted role in the church, sometimes surpassing the roles of the evangelists and elders! Why couldn't Damon "crank" the campus ministry like Raj could?

It's concerning, like it's been mentioned in the previous two articles, that the role of the Holy Spirit isn't mentioned at all. So it's doesn't take a lot for Raj to fall back into the classic game plan - convert a bunch of campus students to create the illusion that the church is growing and groom those campus students as the leadership base as they get married and have children of their own. In addition, it's not a foregone conclusion that when Raj or any of the people mentioned in the previous two articles aren't using "First Principles" or a derivative that still promotes the same works-based steps of salvation developed and pushed under Kip McKean.

In the past three articles, the common thread for both Kingdom Kids and new converts, major cities and smaller towns, established strongholds and newer outposts, is that core patterns established in the Crossroads era, built and solidified through the Boston Movement era, continued through the unified ICOC era, are now clearly being seen during the post-McKean era. We should see more signs of abuse as the ICOC continues on its clear path back to the "glory days". And we should pray that the Holy Spirit is stirring the heart of the next Henry Kriete who will inevitably call the graceless, Christ-less, man-made system to true and unequivocal repentance.

Over Eight Years Later: Signs of ICOC Reversion, Part 2

This is the second of three posts commenting on recent articles on Disciples Today concerning the reversion of the ICOC to a state before Kip McKean was dismissed from the organization. The second article is entitled The Joys of a Discipling Relationship, written by Ross Lippencott, a campus student who was "converted post-2003" in his own words. The first paragraph provides a concerning summary of the article:

"I was not growing because I did not have a Paul in my life. I did not have someone to teach me, to train me, to correct me, to rebuke me, to love me, to guide me, to help develop the character of Jesus in me - to get in there and encourage as well as to say the hard things that no one else could."

The traditional, authoritarian, hierarchical model of discipling in the ICOC has been well-documented. A top-down system of control is established in each congregation from a Lead Evangelist or Lead Elder and each congregation's leadership is discipled in a top-down form from more influential churches to less influential ones. One of the key reforms called for by the Henry Kriete Letter was to reform the discipling system:

"We have assumed, wrongly, that the sheep are stupid. We have trained them to depend on men, on us in fact, and not on Christ. 'Did you get advice' for the most part means 'Did you get permission.' Yes of course, they are vulnerable and open to attack, but they are not stupid. It is we who have been stupid, Biblically and spiritually. Should we not assume, rather, that a true, Spirit-filled Christian desires to please God, not to rebel? Ezekiel 36: 'I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws'.

Through our discipleship partner theology, we have attempted, like modern-day Pharisees, to put a hedge around God's law. In trying to protect or control the Christians, we have routinely violated their liberty in Christ. We have not trusted disciples to live by their own convictions and decisions (and mistakes), and have fostered in them an unhealthy dependence, rather than freedom to grow and mature. Many of our discipling guidelines are nothing more than 'rules taught by men', condemned by Jesus as burdensome and legalistic. No control mechanisms, or traditions of men, or rules and culturally accepted regulations will keep anyone faithful who does not want to be faithful in their heart. But they will create rebellion and criticalness among sincere and liberated Christians. We did not become new creations to be controlled by men; rather, 'it is for freedom Christ has set us free'"

In light of Henry's call, Ross's descriptions of discipling indicate that Henry's truthful insights have been ignored.

"'That was it!' I had realized. I was not growing because I did not have a Paul in my life. I did not have someone to teach me, to train me, to correct me, to rebuke me, to love me, to guide me, to help develop the character of Jesus in me - to get in there and encourage as well as to say the hard things that no one else could"

Healthy Christian relationships when it comes to teaching can be classified in three ways relative to an individual believer: student-teacher, peer-peer, and teacher-student. Ross's article only describes one of these aspects: student-teacher. He needs a Paul in his life to teach him as his student. He doesn't need peers like Barnabas and Silas. And he doesn't need students like Timothy that he can teach, although he will likely become a Paul himself some day. With the focus on only the necessity of the teacher, the groundwork is laid for a repeat of the authoritarian abuses of the past.

Sadly, Ross has no frame of reference of this kind of discipling:

"As someone who was converted post-2003, I never had an assigned 'discipling partner' and quite frankly - because of my limited understanding - the term 'discipling partner' had a negative connotation. However, the way Nilson had described his relationship with Troy sounded very different from everything I had associated with 'discipling' in the past. To be honest, they sounded a lot like... well ... friends. To be honest, I needed a friend."

Ross got his friend - and friends are a blessing from God! - but Ross has no idea about the evolution of the optional prayer partner back in the Crossroads Campus Ministry days of the late 1960's to discipling partners to mandatory discipling partners to mandatory assigned discipling partners that can change at the blink of an eye due to the whims of the leadership.

Again, as was shown in the last commentary on Joseph Porter, the lack of the role of the Holy Spirit in Ross's life is disturbing. For a healthy believer needs both need the relationships in a healthy community of Christians and the Holy Spirit to be taught (John 14:26), trained in divine wisdom (1 Cor 2:6-16), corrected and rebuked (John 16:8), loved both individually (Romans 5:5) and collectively through the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:3), guided into all divine truth (John 16:13-15), transformed to the very image of Christ (2 Cor 3:18), encourage (Acts 9:31), and speak with Spirit-taught words (1 Corinthians 2:13).

Ross is "young and still learning". Let's pray that now as a Youth and Family and Worship Minister can learn to throw off this one-way model of discipling that has failed in the past before he and his hearers are irrevocably damaged.

This is the second of three related commentaries. The third one will be posted soon.

Over Eight Years Later: Signs of ICOC Reversion, Part 1

Three articles posted on the primary news site for the International Churches of Christ, Disciples Today, are an ominous sign that over eight years after the reforms spurred on by the events surrounding Kip McKean's departure and Henry Kriete Letter, that the status quo is returning to classic positions the movement has had since the 1970's.

The first article is entitled Confessions of a Kingdom Kid at Harvard, written by Joseph Porter (posted 1/7/2011), a self-professed "Kingdom Kid" (who was born and raised in the church). In fact, his parents "both... served in Boston's campus ministry back in the day".

What are Joseph's confessions?

"I was a prideful coward. I was terrified of inviting strangers to Bible discussion groups or other events, and I did everything I could to avoid actually talking to strangers..."

His sin was not anything in the realm of sexual immorality, drunkenness, use of illegal drugs, cheating and cutting corners in his school work, but inviting enough people out to church! He repented of this sin, not by reading the Word of God (there still isn't a verse in there that says "thou shalt evangelize everyone at all times of the day and night") and not by a conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit (John 16:8), but by submission to discipling.

"Eventually - about two years in to my career as a college disciple - I learned my lesson. I learned that it was laughably foolish for me to think that I knew how to evangelize my campus better than my campus ministers..."

It's a given that any leaders of a campus ministry would have more experience than the students they're leading. However, what we see in this case is submission to discipling by the leaders. "Soul Talks", now known as "Bible Talks", were a new innovation in the late 1960's during the start of the Crossroads Campus Ministry Movement days in Gainesville, Florida. Were they "laughably foolish" by breaking the then norms? Of course not. These delivered results: conversions. And Joseph wasn't making disciples at the rate that both himself and his leadership expected him to.

Joseph finishes with a description of his commitment to the church:

"Of course, being a disciple on campus is a full-time job. I have to use my time wisely; meals are often combined with Bible studies, and many evenings are devoted to midweek services, Bible talks, Friday devotionals, d-groups, and the like. I've learned to limit the time I spend on Facebook and playing video games. I don't always get as much sleep as I'd like; I wake up at around seven on Saturday mornings for Saturday Academy, and not much later for church on Sunday. But I love what I'm doing nevertheless."

With this example, he's been "given the opportunity to serve as an intern in Boston's campus ministry". He's also repeating the time and resource consuming requirements of being a disciple, a Christian, a saved person - as the ICOC has clearly defined it in the past. A total commitment not to Jesus, but to the church and its ideology. Joseph's reflection of the ICOC ideology is shown here:

"I knew that campus ministry was the heart and soul of the ICOC, and I wanted to turn my campus upside down when I arrived there."

The concept of the importance of the campus ministry, not only to himself as a campus student, but to the survival of the church as a whole, has been deeply embedded into him, literally since birth! Also his unconditional submission to discipling and what the leaders above him say and what he says to the people he personally disciples. And not to mention the total commitment to even put the church above his studies, particularly challenging studies at an Ivy-League institution! Sadly, Joseph and other Kingdom Kids like him have likely never learned to put Jesus in the center of their lives and had all of their activities - church, school, family, leisure, and even sleep - centered around the crucified Christ and guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit to keep the balance.

Two more commentaries about the remaining two articles will follow.

We Have Met the Enemy... and He Is Us?

The ICOC Co-operation Churches Teachers Service Team produced a report in early March 2011 that contains two intriguing ideas. The first is the discussion of a paper describing the roles of teachers which contains a section on conflict resolution.

"Steve Staten had written an appendix to the paper that included a case study illustrating the process of correcting a teacher when a teacher teachers a divisive or minority view.
...
This paper has been forwarded to the evangelists and elders service teams so that they can give feedback on it."

It's clear what a "divisive" view would be, and the need for Christian leaders to correct other divisive leaders in a church. However, what exactly does "correcting a teacher when a teacher teaches... a minority view" mean? When I think of a "minority view", I tend to think of justices of the United States Supreme Court who are on the dissenting side of a decision. Typically one of those dissenting judges writes their take on the case from their perspective. Although the parties on the winning side of the case and parts of the media disagree with the minority view, none of those judges lose their jobs or face any reprimand.

This brings us to the responsibility of Christian teachers to hold fast and strongly to solid, core Christian doctrines and the liberty of those teachers to have opinions on secondary issues. Although within a certain denomination or fellowship, they would have to teach and be unified around some secondary issues such as mode of baptism, church polity, and eschatology. The problem with the ICOC worldview is that they have inherited from the mainline Churches of Christ the tendency to be "right" on as many secondary issues as possible. And if someone doesn't agree with their interpretation, it typically involves a church split. But in the case of the ICOC, you would have to leave the "kingdom" itself.

Ultimately, the boundary line between having an acceptable, differing opinion on something and having an opinion that could potentially cause division isn't entirely clear. Practically all of the men on this committee were converted and brought into the ICOC (and its predecessor movements) under Kip McKean who demanded unquestioning obedience and uniformity from his followers, especially his leaders in the upper ranks. How much would a teacher have to step over the line in order to be in the "minority view"? From historical precedent, probably not too far.

Note that the appendix containing the "minority view" in correction was written by Steve Staten, a very high-level leader with a lot of influence currently in Chicago, Illinois and a key player in the post-McKean ICOC.

The second idea that deserves attention is on the topic of loving your enemies.

"We also discussed the issue of what it means to love our enemies. Tom Jones presented his thoughts on the subject. We had an engaging talk this issue. We all agreed that we must love our enemies, but saw the need for more discussions on topic on how to present this teaching to our churches. We want to work with the elders and evangelists groups to come to unity on this topic. This led to some discussion on the process of peer review on papers on controversial topics before these papers are released to a general audience."

Who are these enemies? The world, the flesh, and the devil? "Bitter" former members? Zealous followers of false religions? It's unclear. Although I believe it may be in response to the only sole, unified group that has the utter destruction ICOC in its sights: Kip McKean's International Christian Churches. It's shocking to realize that the ICOC is still ignoring the new movement overall. There haven't been any clear warnings from their large pulpits or web sites about the "sold-out" movement since the formal split occurred in late 2005. In addition to warnings, clear teaching to why Kip's new group is so dangerous hasn't been given either. However, the reason for this is simple: there are no practical differences between the core doctrines of the ICOC and ICC besides who one is discipled by: people being discipled up to a committee or people being discipled up to Kip McKean himself.

It's ironic if both of these ideas are coupled together. The enemy would be one of their own for teaching doctrine the others disagree with. How will the next Ed Powers or Henry Kriete be loved for their views? Likely in the same harsh manner as these men were treated for not playing ball with the party line.

Same Patterns of Salvation Past in the ICOC

Disciples Today, one of the official media front ends for the ICOC, posted an article on Friday, February 4 entitled Couple Wrestles through "Praying Jesus into Your Heart". In it, a married couple named Peter and Cindy Van Dyk describe their experience of coming to Christ in Fargo, North Dakota, moving to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and encountering the ICOC church there - the Fort Wayne Church of Christ. Instead of finding a church where they "could feel connected to a community of believers", they got a lot more than they bargained for.

"So, as a result, we were baptized again on October 11th, 2007. This time knowing God's full plan for salvation. With fully repentant hearts, with a pledge of a good conscience, and an understanding of the importance of all that God requires of his disciples."

Note what they're saying here. Their initial baptism was invalid. Why? Because they did not "[know] God's full plan for salvation." What this this include? "[F]ully repentant hearts... and an understanding of the importance of all that God requires of his disciples."

This should immediately raise red flags for those who are familiar with the traditional salvation theology of the ICOC. They not only require that people know that their sins are being forgiven at the point of baptism (like in the theology of the conservative Churches of Christ where both the ICOC and "sold-out" ICC came from), but they require converts to understand God's requirements for being a disciple. Even though those requirements aren't listed in this article, it's clear that this can only mean one thing: the list of requirements is the list presented in the First Principles (link is to the audio form taught by Kip McKean himself) bible study called Discipleship. These include - but aren't limited to - the following as requirements to receive salvation:

• Go to all nations and make disciples.
• Deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow Christ.
• Lose their lives by put Jesus above all possessions and relationships.
• Be persecuted.
• Have daily quiet times and prayer times.
• Have a discipling partner and learn from them.

Since converts must start doing these things to the satisfaction to the ICOC leaders "studying the Bible" with them, this is clearly works-salvation with men playing the role of God. What's more disturbing is that this occurred in 2007, years after the release of the Henry Kriete Letter and calls for reform.

This is another significant sign that things really haven't changed in the International Churches of Christ. This also explains why those in the ICOC don't have a clear, concise, and consistent theology to explain that they're not the "One True Church" - that there are "true disciples" in every other Christian denomination and fellowship, even the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics. Those in the Churches of Christ, Christian Churches, and other healthy denominations and fellowships should be on guard against this yeast that has poisoned the Van Dyks and will continue to poison more as time goes on.