Letters

Dear Sirs,

Please take me off your mailing list. You are way too radical. So you don’t like Seeker Churches. I guess you don’t care if those “seekers” go to hell. Not everybody is a Bible scholar. First you have to get people to come to your church. Then you can educate them. Contemporary churches can be a lot of fun. Whoever said that church can’t be fun? God wants us to celebrate what He has done for us. But I guess you guys want to be some exclusive club. Don’t think too much of yourselves. God wants all people to hear the Good News. I could write much more but I have no time. I have to prepare for my “Purpose Driven Life” study group. Wherever people come together to talk about who God is and who we are and what life is all about—that cannot be a bad thing. So please back off badmouthing contemporary churches. You have to give people a chance to grow. Not everybody grew up “in the church.” SS (IA)

Dear Dave Hunt,

Thank you for your ministry. I think you come down hard sometimes on those you take to task, but maybe they deserve it. We’ve gone beyond “flabby” to seduced, as a church, and I appreciate your Berean spirit and prophetic voice. PB (TX)

Dear Berean Call,

My family and I were Christian missionaries in Costa Rica and Spain for twelve years….When we came back to the United States, we were in a spiritual “shell shock.” Although there are many wonderful things that the Lord is doing, I find apathy, entertainment, and shallowness in the church today. I guess that’s what happens when “the fire goes out.” JH (WA)

Dear TBC,

I’ve recently encountered Calvinist folks, and it seems as if they [think they] are the only ones with the right theology and view of Scriptures. They even call themselves “Biblical Calvinists” or “Reformed Theologians”….I’m just simply disappointed at this theological slant and I would like to educate myself more and try to educate others. Please extend my deepest heartfelt admiration to Dave Hunt for taking the stance that he does concerning this theological error of Calvinism. RR (IL)

To Dave and T.A. at TBC,

Just received your October 2004 TBC, ironically on my way home from a “Purpose Driven Life” small group. My now former church is doing a 40-Days-of-Purpose thing. My new church just preaches God’s Word….They preach God’s Word in season and out. During the small groups at my former church, we did not open our Bibles—just The Purpose Driven Life. God bless you, Dave and T.A. Your ministry is a much-needed wakeup call. Biblical preaching is fast disappearing these days. EP (CA)

To the Berean Call,

Please remove us IMMEDIATELYfrom your mailing list. Pastor Rick Warren is a true man of God. He is a mentor and wonderful example of true Christianity. JB (PA)

Dear Dave and Friends,

Thank you for your excellent articles, “The Vanishing Gospel,” and “The Seeker Friendly Way of Doing Church.” I really appreciate how you tell it straight and expose error. My church, too, fell prey to “Purpose Driven Church” principles and fell into awful apostasy. HL (Canada)

Dear Dave,

Thank you for your recent newsletters, which addressed the growing movements of the megachurch and “seeker” churches. We left a church five years ago for following Warren’s book….A year ago we left our church for its constant referrals to psychology. We’ve been visiting “everything” for the past year and are so amazed that nothing seems to be sacred anymore. CG (AR)

Mr Dave Hunt,

In your September 2004 issue of The Berean Call in the Q&A column, a questioner challenged the singularity of the Hebrew noun for the English word “stripes.” I called my Christian Hebrew friend who is an Israeli Sabra, now 25 years a believer in Messiah, as to the exact noun in the Hebrew scripture of Isaiah:53:5But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
See All.... He said it is singular, not plural, definitely, i.e., [it describes] Jehovah’s stripe of judgment in the three hours of darkness and not men’s wicked dealings, which could never answer to God’s demands of righteousness. TK (NJ)TBC:

Thank you so much for saying, in a very articulate way, what our spirit has been groaning for the last year and a half. Many of our so-called squared-away, biblically based churches in Southern California are embracing this junk wholeheartedly. In fact, we left our home church…for this very reason. But rejoice! The Holy Spirit directed us to a Bible-and-Bible-only-preaching church (Warren has ruined the word “purpose” for our pastor, who sent us your article “The Purpose and the Passion.”) Keep up the good work and focus! (email)

Dear Dave and All,

We were so thankful for the last issue’s topic, “Taste and See,” September ’04. We were discussing in our Sunday class the revelation of how many self-described “born again” Christians do not hold to a biblical worldview. Only nine percent do. And we are losing our teens. Your topic is so current and, as always, right to the point—The Message Bible, Revolve Bible, etc. WD (OR)