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Dangers Facing the "Non-Traditional" Christian

An Overview
Concerns Over Attitudes

Is all of life worship?
Should the Lord's Supper be eaten as a common meal?
Are churches of Christ the modern day Pharisees?
Do We Have A Wrong Hermeneutic?
Should we clap, wave hands and encourage "spontaneous worship"?
Have we rejected the true grace of God?
Should we include other "believers" into our fellowship?
How can we resolve differences without dividing?

An Overview

Every generation faces the challenge to understand and apply the Bible for themselves. No one should blindly accept what previous generations have taught just because of past practices. Those who know the Lord will learn to search "the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). Those who refuse to examine past practices by an open Bible are indeed caught up in a loyalty to a human tradition above God (Mt 15:8-9). It is my goal for this website to encourage such a discussion.

Also with every generation, a movement arises that carries the banner of opposing human traditions and having the desire to see "radical" changes within the church. There is a real danger for those who seek reform to actually form a human movement with human loyalties that are forming new human traditions to contrast with the practices they oppose. When this happens you will often find a group of doctrinal positions taken that will define the new movement. There then will be an effort made to line people up through name-calling, peer-pressure and other carnal weapons. When this occurs, pride, bitterness and a desire for control of others motivate these "reformers." Division occurs in these settings and another sect is born. Please carefully look into your heart and of those who are seeking reform to be sure that you have a heart of love and an open Bible rather than the "win at all costs" attitude of one who will slander and destroy others just to add another slave to a new human movement (Gal 4:17-20; 2 Pt 2:19).

Over the next few months I will be accumulating material under different categories surrounding these questions. I also plan to publish exchanges that will focus on the differences brethren have. If you have material you would like to share or wish to give feedback or begin a discussion, please contact me.

May the Lord Bless You in Your Studies,

Larry Rouse

LarryRouse@cvillechurch.com 

Material on Attitudes
 

Articles
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Greg Litmer

Turning the Grace of God Into a Carnal Weapon by Larry Rouse

The Danger of Doubt by Larry Rouse

The Traditional Party Line by Warren E. Berkley

An Open Letter to Those Among Us Who Believe that Churches of Christ are All Wrong by Tim Nichols

Audio

Dangers Facing the "Non-Traditional" Christian by Bill Hall
(Preached at the Jackson Drive church in Athens, AL)

Material on the Nature of Worship

Is all of Life Worship by Kevin Kay

A Clarification and Exchange on Defining Worship by Larry Rouse

Bob Waldron

Re-digging the Wells of Abraham:
What We Do in Our Worship
Outline

Audio Part 1           Audio Part 2

PowerPoint 1        PowerPoint 2

Re-digging the Wells of Abraham:
What We Do in Our Worship - Prayer, Giving, Singing

Audio

PowerPoint

Material on Should the Lord's Supper be Eaten as a Common Meal?

Bob Waldron

The Lord's Supper as a Meal
Outline
Audio

Observing the Lord's Supper

Audio Part 1           Audio Part 2

PowerPoint 1        PowerPoint 2

(Presented at the Eastside church of Christ - Athens, AL)

Editor's Note: There are two books that are the source for the current discussion on the nature of the Lord's Supper that will be the focus of these reviews.

Reviews of F. LaGard Smith's book Radical Restoration

Terry Benton's Review

Preface

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

John Waddy's Review
(Click Here to Read)

Jim Deason's Review
The Lord's Supper
A Review Of The Lord’s Supper As Presented in F. LaGard Smith’s, “Radical Restoration”
Sermon Outlines

"Radical Restoration" or Radical Apostasy?
(A Review of the House church Movement)

Four Part Series - "Radical Restoration" Review by John Gibson

Notes on "Radical Restoration" by John Gibson

House Churches by John Gibson

Larry Rouse's Review
Are Common Meals the Work of a Local Church?

(Presented at the Cahaba Heights church of Christ- 4/10/2005 - Birmingham, AL)

Outline
Outline With Printed Scriptures
PowerPoint

Material Answering the Charge that Churches of Christ are the Modern Day Pharisees

Articles

The Pharisee Shield by Terry Benton

Legalism the Un-Sin by Steve Klein

Sermons

Hiding Behind the Pharisees by Larry Rouse

Outline

PowerPoint

(Presented at the Cahaba Heights church of Christ- 1/19/2003 - Birmingham, AL)

Material Concerning How to Interpret the Bible (Hermeneutics)

"Christian Primitivism in the Twenty-first Century"
by Ed Harrell
(Preached at the Annandale church of Christ - May 19-20, 2007)

•Apostolic Authority: Its Biblical and Historical Significance
PowerPoint
Audio
•Common Sense Hermeneutics: Can We See the Bible Alike?
PowerPoint
Audio
•Getting It Right: Why Does it Matter?
PowerPoint
Audio
•Congregationalism: The Local Church in the New Testament  
   and in History
PowerPoint
Audio
•The Dynamics of Unity and Division in the American
   Restoration Movement
PowerPoint
Audio
--------------------------------Audio
Instrumental Music by Sewell Hall

(Preached at the Pepper Road church of Christ, 2/9/06)

Articles

Jesus and Hermeneutics by Frank Jamerson

The Apostles and Hermeneutics by Frank Jamerson

Hermeneutics And Silence by Frank Jamerson

Hermeneutics And Modernism by Frank Jamerson

Sermons

Views on Why the Church Must Change by Larry Rouse

Outline

(Presented at the Cahaba Heights church of Christ- Spring 2000 - Birmingham, AL)

Book Excerpt

A "New" Hermeneutic by Maurice Barnett

Material Concerning Clapping, Waving Hands and "Spontaneous" Worship

Articles

Clapping in Worship by Gardner Hall

The Growing Trend of Performance Worship
by Wayne Jackson

Sermons

Who is the Center of Worship: God or Man? by Larry Rouse

(Presented at the Cahaba Heights church of Christ- Spring 2004 - Birmingham, AL)