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9 November

Is There A God? The Moral Argument

By |2019-04-30T09:44:40-06:00November 9th, 2014|Uncategorized|6 Comments

Once a person sees inconsistencies between what Stanton teaches and what the Bible teaches, it can shake their faith to the core. The church has become an idol that stands in the place of God, so when the church is shown to be fallible, it can cause a chain reaction of questions and doubts about God. If God is not who Stanton says he is, can it be that there really isn't a God at all? I happen to believe there are very strong reasons to believe in God, despite the growing ridicule from the secular circles of society. Christians need not cower in fear of being challenged on matters of faith. They just need to wrestle with these questions themselves, and be willing and [...]

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23 September

Rethinking and reframing the Bible the way it was intended

By |2019-04-11T02:09:40-06:00September 23rd, 2014|Uncategorized|4 Comments

The Bible is not the confusing document that many claim it to be, once it's understood in its proper context. That's because context is everything. A perfectly true statement by a friend can mean something entirely wrong if taken out of context. So it is with the Bible. For example, when you read the advice in the Book of Job to "curse God and die," that sounds outrageously out of place--until you realize that the Book of Job is simply recording the bad advice that Job's wife gave him. When you read in Proverbs, "I will laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear comes," it's important to know that's not God talking, but Solomon writing creatively as "wisdom" personified. Don't believe me? Look it [...]

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16 September

Are you Christian or Christlike?

By |2019-04-11T02:09:39-06:00September 16th, 2014|Uncategorized|3 Comments

As any adult can verify from personal experience, words change meanings over time as their contemporary usage changes. What used to be "groovy" in my older siblings' day became "radical" in mine, then "cool" or "bad," and now "sick" or "tight." As fewer and fewer people use the word "sick" in the way it was used even 5 years ago, so fewer and fewer people use the word "Christian" to simply describe someone who is Christlike. In fact, most of us probably have never considered that the two words should be synonymous. To the English teachers reading this, I know—the former is most often used as a noun, while the latter is an adjective. But think about this for a moment. Wouldn't the term "Christian" [...]

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10 September

Procrastinating truth another year

By |2019-04-11T02:09:37-06:00September 10th, 2014|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Truth is timeless. It is unchanging. It maintains its value through the always-evolving marketplace of ideas, like the gold standard in a world of paper currencies. Trends in human thought come and go, and philosophies rise and fall in popularity like fad diets, but truth is like a rock, never succumbing to the pressures of relativistic philosophies or changing "understandings." It is what it is, and what it always has been. The Truth. It also doesn't need to wait another year for us to acknowledge it, either. Or figure it out, or agree upon it, or agree to teach it. Truth just needs to be discovered and immediately taught. This is why Christianity in the first century thrived and turned the world upside down--because people [...]

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28 July

After further consideration

By |2019-04-11T02:09:36-06:00July 28th, 2014|Uncategorized|0 Comments

After further consideration, I've decided to remove my "open letter" regarding the aforementioned blog. Even though the author remains completely anonymous to me, and I honestly thought I was vigorously protecting their anonymity, I can see how my letter may have discouraged them or anyone else from communicating privately with me. I also made some assumptions about the author's intentions regarding the blog being private. I had no business doing that, and want to apologize on that count as well. I want to reassure everyone that I will not make this mistake this again. What you email to me remains between you and me unless you give me permission to write about it on these pages. #notperfect #willingtoadmitit

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23 June

The need for “Pure Doctrine”

By |2019-04-11T02:09:32-06:00June 23rd, 2014|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Many people can attest to the fact that the church has taught for years that doctrine must be "pure" for it to lead one to salvation. If a person believes impure doctrine, even if it's 99% right, Stanton says they will not be saved. "They can be teaching everything 99% correct, but if salvation is not taught correctly then sin is not forgiven and you are not added to the church of Christ." Source: http://whatisthedoctrineofchrist.blogspot.com/2012/05/church-of-christ.html This is not a straw man that I'm trying to set up in order to smack down easily. This Doctrine of Pure Doctrine is a staple of church teaching, as just about anyone who has spent any time in the group can attest, and it is used to deny that the [...]

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16 June

The Suitcase of Books

By |2019-04-11T02:09:31-06:00June 16th, 2014|Uncategorized|17 Comments

One of the best teaching tools the Stanton Church of Christ had going for it in its old Non-Member Classes was the infamous Suitcase of Books. Eventually the inconvenience of passing it around to the next Non-Member Class Teacher, or perhaps the hypocrisy of it, led to its demise. Nevertheless, The Suitcase of Books played a convincing role in many conversions to the sect, because it truly was a unique and effective visual illustration of the confusion caused by the doctrines and traditions of fallible men. I'm not positive the Suitcase of Books has been retired completely, actually. If it hasn't, it most definitely has lost some of its rhetorical power, because alas, the point made by the Teachers using the Suitcase has come back [...]

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6 May

Should Christians go to college?

By |2019-04-11T02:09:29-06:00May 6th, 2014|Uncategorized|0 Comments

One of the teachings of the Stanton Church of Christ that goes way back to the early days is that Christians should not send their kids to college. The reasons I've heard in defense of this teaching are more practical than scriptural. A verse like 2 Timothy 2:4 might be thrown around to suggest that going to college is "entangling" oneself with the affairs of the world, but this is a tenuous argument at best. Why is college "entangling," but studying to learn a trade and advance through certifications is not? The most common defense of the anti-college teaching I've heard is that colleges promote a lot of anti-Christian rhetoric, and there is a statistically large number of kids raised in Christian homes who depart [...]

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23 April

Matthew 5 – Rules and Regulations For The Church

By |2019-04-11T02:09:27-06:00April 23rd, 2014|Uncategorized|1 Comment

One passage of scripture in Matthew 5 has been substantially misinterpreted by the Stanton churches, in my opinion, and I think it will be useful to provide an alternative point of view here. Matthew 5:23-24 - Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. Stanton teaches that one must "take care of sin" (meaning confess it privately and/or publicly) prior to partaking in the Lord's supper based partly on this passage, and partly on their out-of-context teaching about taking the Lord's supper unworthily. The passage in question was [...]

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5 March

The doctrine on doctrine

By |2019-04-11T02:09:23-06:00March 5th, 2014|Uncategorized|14 Comments

March Week 2014 delegates: Reaching what you believe to be wise conclusions on the questions you're considering is great. But don't heap error upon error and proceed to bind your opinions, no matter how wise you think they are, on others. This is no different than the Pharisees "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." doc·trine: a set of ideas or beliefs that are taught or believed to be true teaching, instruction something that is taught Perhaps it's time to consider the Bible's doctrine on doctrine. Before we can teach anything, we should give thought to what can and can't be taught, right? What the Bible teaches about teaching should be what we teach about teaching, should it not? "Doctrine" as used in the Bible [...]

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27 February

The problem with May Week

By |2019-06-15T08:58:03-06:00February 27th, 2014|Uncategorized|48 Comments

The annual May Week (or sometimes March Week, as in 2014) is the third rail of church politics. Touch it, and you are toast. Criticize it, or question its similarity to the Baptist Convention or any other religious body's annual doctrinal meeting, and you'll be promptly corrected, rebuked and/or withdrawn from—and perhaps all three. If your status is high enough in the "brotherhood" upon such an offense, history shows you probably won't even get a chance to defend yourself. You need to be made an example of, quickly and decisively. One would think that May Week, if the attempt is to truly follow the example of Acts 15, should be reserved for weighty subjects of earth-shattering importance to the unity of the brotherhood, i.e. the [...]

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19 October

Telling your story

By |2019-04-11T09:35:17-06:00October 19th, 2013|Uncategorized|41 Comments

SCOC references on other sites "My Inner Sanctum" (This ex-member converted to Islam) Who I am and why Islam (Possibly by the same person above) You cannot go to the other extreme to avoid liberalism (From a preacher's interaction with a member) Your Church Too (DC's old site) We all have stories to tell. Outside of the Church of Christ culture, people call it your "testimony." I like that. My testimony has been largely told here on these pages, and others have undertaken to tell their own stories of how this sect has affected their lives, and how they've found their way to a closer relationship with the loving and forgiving God of Scripture (or not). Please use the comment section of this page to share [...]

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15 October

Prove it, friends

By |2019-04-11T02:09:19-06:00October 15th, 2013|Uncategorized|80 Comments

Stanton has altered the meaning of so many words, it's hard to keep track; hence the new glossary. One of the terms that has been severely misused is the word "prove," as in "prove all things." I'm not saying that the word is always misused, because I'm not there to know. But it's apparent that it's at least misused when it's convenient. The following is a portion of a talk at the Labor Day 2013 meeting: "We put a lot of stock in you brethren that are very, very young in faith. Very young in faith. We put a lot of hope in you, that not only are you going to be able to carry the mantle, you're going to turn around and you're going to [...]

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12 October

Love and marriage, love and marriage

By |2019-04-11T02:09:18-06:00October 12th, 2013|Uncategorized|2 Comments

Note: The "a-ha" moment I describe in Turning the Tables on Legalism about what it would feel like to receive legalistic love from my kids first clicked in my mind regarding marriage. This article is the true story of when I first made that connection. I'm thankful for the love of my wife, in part because she exhibits her love for me in ways I neither deserve nor ask for. That makes me feel privileged and honored to be her husband. I know without a doubt that I have her loyalty and affections. I could argue that most everything good in my life flows from the fact that I feel such security in our relationship. That's because love is inherently inspiring, motivating, and empowering, whether it's [...]

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9 October

Love is the Greatest

By |2019-04-11T02:09:17-06:00October 9th, 2013|Uncategorized|4 Comments

Awhile back an anonymous commenter on this blog mentioned that they had prepared a one year study on the subject of love for their congregation after leaving the Stanton sect. I want to thank them publicly and provide the download for others to enjoy as well. I wasn't sure whether I had permission to post it, but was assured in the comments that I did. So to the author: thank you so much for your efforts in writing this, and thank you for your kind words in the handwritten note that was attached. I know nothing about the writer, other than the love that flows from the pages of this study. I received the study in hard copy format after providing my mailing address by [...]

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23 September

Reclaiming the doctrine of Christ

By |2019-09-27T14:18:36-06:00September 23rd, 2013|Uncategorized|10 Comments

I've realized over the course of writing this blog that the phrase "Doctrine of Christ" has been redefined by Stanton with meanings and connotations that the Bible never gives it. A church member at some point even felt compelled to write an anonymous blog entitled "What Is The Doctrine of Christ?," taking it down after I linked to it. Perhaps you'll find the true meaning of the term rather shocking in its simplicity, as I once did a number of years ago. So let's explore what John was really was saying in this passage: 2 John 9 - Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and [...]

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21 September

Teachers in lieu of elders

By |2019-04-11T02:09:12-06:00September 21st, 2013|Uncategorized|12 Comments

One of the most far-reaching mistakes of church history in the last 2000 years was when congregations started colluding to give bishops influence over multiple congregations rather than over a single congregation, as Paul originally established. Bishops are just another word for pastors, elders, presbyters, overseers, or shepherds. Whatever you want to call these local shepherds, they were a God-given form of church oversight to help keep wolves out of the flock. Paul outlined the qualifications for them, and instructed both Timothy and Titus about those qualifications. The only problem was that human ideas for church management (and control) just seemed so much more practical. The congregation in Rome—not unlike Stanton or Spring Valley—asked for, and received the deference of its peers. Their bishops began to [...]

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19 September

Breaking News: Only sin will be forbidden by the church

By |2019-04-11T02:09:10-06:00September 19th, 2013|Uncategorized|14 Comments

Spring Valley, Calif.  - In breaking news from the Spring Valley congregation, evangelist Gary Preman has announced that only sin will be forbidden by the church in the future. At the Labor Day Meeting 2013, Preman said "Our admonition is not to forbid anyone from doing anything, unless it's a sin." The author of the Stanton Church of Christ blog says that this is a significant change from past teachings of the church, which are largely based on 45 years of church tradition. "Church traditions and the opinions of church teachers are not properly called 'doctrines' in church nomenclature," according to the author of this blog, "but are called 'judgments.' So it remains to be seen if this new 'judgment' will work its way through [...]

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18 September

Love: More than a feeling

By |2019-09-27T09:58:44-06:00September 18th, 2013|Uncategorized|17 Comments

One of the more enlightening moments in the recent Labor Day talk, which I've good-naturedly entitled Not Ready To Give An Answer, was when we were told that those of us who preach incessantly about love have succumbed to a feel-good religion involving no real sacrifice or cost; a cheap gospel that is all about making you "prosperous and healthy and wealthy and wise." "And so as I hear about so many people who were raised in the church, people who are no longer wanting anything to do with the church they were once a part of, seem to have bought into a type of gospel that says "Jesus wants you to be happy" and "Jesus wants you to be joyful" and "Jesus wants you to have [...]

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16 September

Labor Day 2013 – Not ready to give an answer

By |2019-04-11T02:09:04-06:00September 16th, 2013|Uncategorized|64 Comments

How do you defend the Pharisaic rules for travel and the many other unbiblical doctrines discussed on these pages? You don't. You certainly don't want to have any self-reflection, or engage in critical thinking. You assert instead that answering tough questions legitimizes them (although in fact, refusing to answer them is exactly what de-legitimizes your case). And of course you call anyone who dares ask tough questions an "enemy of Christ" for whom you have "contempt" and "disdain." Really? Sadly, there are some for whom that type of response will suffice. For those who question with boldness and search the Scriptures whether these things are so, it's not hard to recognize flowery speeches and empty words without Biblical support. If this talk on Labor Day 2013 is [...]

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Load More Posts

On the preeminence of love…

“I am less interested in all the doctrinal debates it would be so easy to get caught up in on this blog than in this one topic: love. Fix a doctrine, you’ve got hundreds more to fix. Fix love, and virtually everything else falls into line. Love changes motives, behaviors, relationships, exegesis, everything. There is nothing in life and faith that are left untouched by the subject of love.”

On Love vs. Duty

“Someone who is served by a person motivated by love will feel the love in that act of service. Someone who is served by a person motivated by duty will feel the duty coming across loud and clear, and it will not feel like love. So does God want us going to church because it’s our duty, or because we love?”

Contact Kevin

It’s my goal to be as factually accurate as possible. If you want to report a factual error, or communicate with me, please email me at kevinmharper@gmail.com or call or text me at 208-249-8893. I’d love to hear from you.

Note: All conversations will be kept confidential unless you want me to share them.

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