Tell us how you really feel.

The church police will be after you soon!

Mark 9:38-41 We all have to be careful of taking our “stance”/ beliefs and understanding of who Jesus is and presenting Him only the way we think is right. As believers we must be something other than what the world is showing them; arguing, condemning, one upping, etc., they have seen that everyday. Can we be different?

No, no. Preach it brother!

Sorry Stewbum but this tyraid of a Vlog is “producing a negative reaction” in me. I think the medium you choose to voice these opinions short-circuits the very thing that you are trying to accomplish. First, youtube vlogs, on an academic level, are really left to the individuals that find certain solace in speaking with passion towards a computer screen. There is an general understanding that most of these people are not capable of rational, intelligible discourse with another human being and are therefore relegated to broken “thoughtful” monologues. This creates a natural barrier for me as a listener to take you seriously or with credibility. Secondly, you title it “An open letter to John MacArthur”, yet you recognize that he is not the real recipient of the letter and thus you function in the Vlog under false pretenses, again hurting your over-all effectiveness. And finally, by using a vlog to communicate you “doctrine” and thoughts to not specifically John MacArthur but instead the few clappers and ameners of your own you have in actuality become in practice that which you most detest…John MacArthur. You simply are the other side to the same coin.

I do not need to address the whole biblical issue of you defaming a elder of church without him able to offer a response or be present.

wow i just read my comment it is sounds simply condemning not sarcastically insightful. I hope you know me well enough Stuart to take it the way I meant it. :0)

[...] is a no-no for Stuart. After an overdose of Way-of-the-Master and John MacArthur send Stuart into ranting craze. It wasn’t a pretty sight and not something He’s proud of. It was much like middle [...]

I have listened to John MacArthur every week day morning on my commute to work for about the last 7 - 8 years. I’m about as different from John, personality wise, as you could get. He’s good at sports, I suck at them. He was raised in a Christian home my Dad was a whiskey drinking, cigar smoking, gambling atheist. I was an alcoholic but so heavily into drugs you couldn’t notice it. So in once sense I kind of understand a little where your coming from but the problem I have with MacArthur lies not so much with him as with me. He definitely has helped me in my life no question about it. Also over the years he has sent me around 8 hard cover books no charge or pressure to give at all. I think my negative reaction to John is kind of like the reaction you would have to a doctor telling you you have cancer. Not a pleasant thing to have to tell some one, but it’s got to be said. The wounds of a friend are better than the kisses of an enemy.

Searched the web for a few definitions of “dogmatism”

positiveness in assertion of opinion especially when unwarranted or arrogant

a viewpoint or system of ideas based on insufficiently examined premises

Arrogant, stubborn assertion of opinion or belief

a statement of a point of view as if it were an established fact.

I friend of mine took a look at MacArthurs photo on the back of one of his books and threw it away in disgust. LOL. I’ve had my own rantings at MacArthur. Turned his radio show off on more than one occasion. Still I’ve stuck with him over the years and have come to love him as a brother / leader in the Lord. Maybe we are like the prodigal son that wasted his inheritance on wine, women and song and John is like the son that stayed home. We are Christians but we still have some of the old grave rags clinging to us. Maybe. So we need to forbear one another a little more. What I appreciate about John is that he’s done his home work. That is, his messages are crammed with biblical truth. OK now stay with me Try this. Next time you listen to MacArthur see if you can discern the truth/love that I believe is present in his message and over all ministry. I’m actually reading a book of his “The Love of God” it’s awesome. I do think that to label John as a raging dogmatist is an unfair and inaccurate assertion. Love you in the lord bro Thanks for replying to my post.