PREVIEW: EXPOSING "THE CODE" OF THE CROSSING CHURCH-PART EIGHT

FIRST, A FEW IMPORTANT DETAILS...

• PLEASE TAKE THE TIME AND EFFORT TO GET THE GOSPEL RIGHT: YOUR ETERNAL DESTINATION DEPENDS ON IT!

•   [If you have experienced spiritual abuse at The Crossing or any other church, you can visit the Facebook page, Back Door Ministries Support Group. This group meets every week to help deal with the grief, anger, and wounds that result from spiritual abuse. This is a GREAT group of people and will give you full support and help your healing process regardless of your situation]  

• Join my ministry, "Fighting the Good Fight: A Gospel Ministry"  and help raise community awareness of The Crossing. Read the document explaining the mission of this ministry. 

• Receive a Free gift! Many to choose from. More resources have recently been added! 

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PREVIEW: EXPOSING "THE CODE" OF THE CROSSING CHURCH-PART EIGHT

This will be my last installment on my "Preview: Exposing The Code", series, I promise!!! Then I will move on to value number one of "The Code". 

"I LOVE MY CHURCH", REALLY?
What follows is a preamble of sorts from the "I Love My Church" video; this video can be found in The Crossing church website sermon archives. It was filmed 8/15/2010 in front of the Crossing congregation. It is not a sermon, but a "What The Crossing Church is all about" kind of discussion.

There are four people involved in the discussion; pastor Eric Dykstra, his wife and pastor Kelly Dykstra, Jason-pastor of the Zimmerman campus, and Tom-pastor of the Big Lake campus. The discussion entails a discussion of  The Crossing church, touching on five themes as follows...

• OUR STORY
• OUR VISION
• OUR BELIEFS
• OUR VALUES
• PARTNER

DYKSTRA EXPLAINS WHAT COMES NEXT

In the video the four pastors had just covered the first three themes, and now they turn to address the fourth theme which are the values of The Crossing church, what is called  "The Code". So in the quote below, Eric Dykstra brings up the subject of "OUR VALUES".

What we're going to do next is...talk to you about our values...What are our priorities as a church? How do we make choices to move ahead? So what we are going to do next is the four of us are going to walk through the eighteen major values of the church; we're going to go through them really, really fast.

Now, in telling you these eighteen values, here is what you gotta know. This is "The Code" of The Crossing church. We want to stick to The Code. That's what makes us successful, that's why God (unintelligible word) us favor and blessing on this church is because we stick to The Code. And we're going to keep sticking to The Code, because we got some beliefs, but we also got a Code. We want you to know what The Code of The Crossing church is. There are eighteen of them...

IS IT IN THE BIBLE?
 I have yet to make the case that The Code of The Crossing church is unbiblical, and I will begin to do this next week. But what I want to point out is that nowhere in the Bible does it teach the God blesses a church because they stick to an unbiblical "Code".


PETTY DETAILS?
Now you might be thinking that pointing out such a tiny error like that and making a big deal about it is outrageous. But tiny errors that go unnoticed or unchallenged make way for bigger errors that slide by uncritically, and bigger errors can lead to serious errors, especially in a church like The Crossing where the pastor's teachings and practices are questionable. 

NOT SO FAST
Also notice that Dykstra says this...

So what we are going to do next is the four of us are going to walk through the eighteen major values of the church; we're going to go through them really, really fast.

If you go back just a few seconds earlier during the second half of the twenty sixth minute, Dykstra makes this remark, 

 "I have never preached on the values of The Crossing church." 

Let's ask a very important question. If The Crossing church has eighteen MAJOR values, is it a good idea for Dykstra to go through them "really, really fast"? Especially if this is the first time he has preached on The Crossing values? Or would it be better to take the necessary time and effort to thoroughly explain each value so there is no confusion or ambiguity as to the meaning of each value?

WORDS MEAN THINGS
The problem with a poorly written statement of values like The Crossing's  is that the particular meaning of a key word or key phrase intended by the author can be confused with another meaning altogether. That's why the author of the eighteen major values of The Crossing church ought to be crystal clear, leaving no question as to the actual meaning of each value being taught. I contend that confusion and ambiguity was written into The Code for the purpose of deception.


The same principle applies to teaching The Code to his congregation in the video. Why would Dykstra want to zip through the eighteen major values of The Code in the video? I am not certain why, but I believe he might not want members of his congregation to think about them too long, lest they realize the full implication of each particular value.  

How about if Dykstra spent fifteen minutes explaining and supplying proof texts for each Crossing value? That would pose a huge problem to Dykstra because there would be scant if any biblical proof texts to support each value, and the oppressive principles behind each value statement probably wouldn't fly with the congregation, so by necessity Dykstra must rush through The Code.   


LETS GET SPECIFIC
Here's an example of a crystal clear, carefully worded statement on the authority of the Gospel. This is an excerpt from a book by R.C. Sproul  titled, "Getting The Gospel Right". Notice that the statement is worded in terms of "affirmations" and "denials".

We affirm that the Gospel entrusted to the church is, in the first instance, God's Gospel (Mark 1:14; Romans 1:1). God is its author, and He reveals it to us by His Word. Its authority and truth rest on Him alone.


We deny that the truth or authority of the Gospel derives from any human insight or invention (Galatians 1:1-11). We also deny that the truth or authority of the Gospel rests on the authority of any particular church or human institution.

 If Eric Dykstra really wants to be clear on each Crossing church value, then this is an excellent model to follow. But as I have pointed out, that may not be his intention.


THE WEIGHT OF EVIDENCE
In my blog I have already successfully argued that Dykstra has contradicted himself and have provided proofs that he twists the Scriptures. His words in the pulpit have proven to be irreverent and outrageous by any biblical standard. There are also personal testimonies of people who have been spiritually abused at The Crossing, people I have personally met with; and this is just the tip of the iceberg. By biblically addressing each point in The Code I will add even more credence to my contention that Dykstra is not who he makes himself out to be. 

And just to be clear, I am not condemning any style of worship as long as it glorifies the Lord, and does not contradict the Scriptures. The Bible does not have much to say about worship style and so there is much lattitude there. What does concern me is any teaching or practice that does contradict the Scriptures. 

See ya, Casey