Chuckles owes me about an hour of my life back … and maybe some other compensation for what I spent that hour doing …
All theological issues with Will Galkin’s James 4 message aside (he, as do most, ignores the basic fact that this is a single letter and no chapter or verse can be carved out on its own), the overall theme is clear. We must take it upon ourselves to fix our issues and get rid of our sin before we can approach God and have any sort of fellowship with Him. Period.
There is no mention of the deepness of the relationship … no attempt to empathize with young people (this was a college crowd) who may feel alone … noting except a 68-minute guilt trip. And it ends with … you guessed it … a call to raise your hand if you have some secret sin you want to get rid of. Yep, we’ve heard it all before and it relies little to none on Grace and every bit on your and my ability to “be better” and resist.
John Eldridge, in his great work titled “Epic” talks about God’s great, continuous story that stretches out before and after time. We each are part of that story as well. But he also makes the point that we tend to ignore another party, one who is hell-bent on destroying us. Instead of crying out to God in a genuine way, we get mad at ourselves which leads to the attempts to “fix” our flaws the way Galkin says we need to do it. In doing so, as I see it, we ignore what God has done and how freely He extends Himself to us. That’s at the heart of the story I know and love … not some formula for trying to be better.
Galkin freely uses stories designed to drive home his part. I don’t know if they are true or not. The one bout the young girl, if it is, should have never been told as it could too easily be traced back to a minor. The one about the young man near the end of the message sounds so much like a slanted version of the Prodigal that I have to doubt it’s voracity. In both cases, they were more than illustrations … they were scripted to evoke a response. And we aren’t talking a response to God either. They were there for a response to Will Galkin, Evangelist.
I struggle with this type of person greatly. By his own admission, he has been in the evangalism game for 15-16 years … meaning that, given his age, he has never pastored a church, never been a consistent member of a church … just an “evangelist”. Frankly, that’s a pretty narrow point of view.
In the end, it’s what I would expect from the situation – all guilt and zero grace. And I still want that hour of my life back, Chuckles.
C.P. Traveler
Thank you CP for the excellent job you did deconstructing Will Galkin’s message from the August 30, 2011 opening exercises at Bob Jones University. You deserve the Silver Star for being able to sit through all that. Personally, I had a difficult following what he was saying due to his screaming rambling. To me, he sounds like a manic man on speed. I’m sure it had nothing to do with his preaching style, it just had to be my old ears.
CP, you have a few adult beverages on me.
Thanks again.
Chuckles,
I did do some skipping starting just after the 30-minute mark. I stopped for a few extended periods after that and made sure I took in the last few minutes in their entirety.
He spent over an hour setting them up to get hands raised, plain and simple, and that’s all he ever does because that’s all he knows how to do. He’s 37, has 4 or 5 young kids, and does nothing but “evangelistic” work. He has no roots, no grounding, and since it’s the “Will Galkin Evangelistic Association” I must assume he has no real oversight which means zero accountability.
He’s selling something … and it is NOT the Gospel.
C.P. Traveler
They seem to demonstrate a propensity for taking verses out of the context in which they belong and are most accurately interpreted. Then they twist the text to make it “appear” to fit each point they make. The listeners quite naturally look at it (if they get a chance to take their eyes of the speaker and focus their mental faculties on the passage)–it looks like what the speak is saying fits, so they accept it.
The speaking style goes from quiet and relaxed, to loud and intense–bringing listeners to the white knuckle stage of tension–they think “What powerful preaching–I am convicted–the Holy Spirit is trying to get my attention, etc, etc . . . What a powerful man of God! Awesome!” They play with people’s minds, emotions, and psyches as a cat plays with a mouse. They know full well what they are doing and they love to do it. Power and control.
With a few well placed comments they can plant seeds that will make any abuse survivor keep their mouths shut about anything–to suffer in silence and get over it. Most importantly, though is to keep their mouth’s shut.
What a corruption and abuse of the Word of God. How they take His Word and twist it into something He never meant to say. It is a cult, not because of what they believe. It is a cult because of the way they spiritually control, manipulate, and abuse God’s people for their own benefit. Sometimes its money. Other times it just power and fame. And did I say money? “Lord, Lord, have we not *done* many wonderful **works** in your name?? The answer makes me shudder.