Reckless Faith: When the Church Loses Its Will to Discern

Dr. John MacArthur is one of the best evangelical Bible teachers in America. His books, sermons, and leadership are full of God's Word. His call to the Church of Jesus Christ is simply to faithfully obey the inerrant Word of God. In this work, Dr. MacArthur calls for the Church to learn to discern truth from error by the teachings of Scripture. He calls for Christians to base their doctrine and practices from the Bible and not from personal experience (1 Timothy 4:16; Titus 2:1). His fear is justified by numerous examples of cultic to simply strange teachings and subjective experiences from the Catholic Church to the charismatic movement. He in turn gives a biblical examination of these movements and leaves the reader with a deep hunger to remain committed to Scripture.A great book with a powerful message for the modern evangelical church.

Being of fan of MacArthur's championing the Bible against the popular multitudes, even in the face of all the charges and hostility. Allow not all of his theology is mine, I admire and concur with much of what he holds dear and fervently cries out for the church to seek discernment.History continues to repeat itself; esp. in Satan's M.O. -- deceive them by challenging what God said. From the historical critics to the charismatics to the fundamentalists, it's the same problem: did God really say? do you really think God would say that?Careful attention to the Bible, as MacArthur points out, will occupy itself around the central question: how can a person be saved? Then comes the center of all Scripture: Luke 24:24,26 --Christ and Him crucified! Believe this, and receive it in the means of grace--word and sacraments. (1 cor. 2:1-2). Notice the prophecy of our day? 2 Tim. 4:3. Remedy for lay people to assure yourselves you've got a true servant of the Word= Heb. 5:9-14 and Acts 17:11.

Like the apostle Paul, John Macarthur conveys a tone of firm and no-nonsense adherence to God's word balanced with loving appeals and warnings to those who have strayed from the 'non-negotiable' truths of the Christian doctrine.Clear and scripturally-supported ideas allow Christians to humbly but courageously defend themselves against the often intimidating arguments advanced by church proponents of political correctness, relativism and 'feel-good' mysticism.Those who believe in the 'plain sense of scripture' as the guiding principle for understanding the Bible will probably find this book an easy and riveting read and its challenges against sophisticated-sounding and subtle false teachings well-grounded.

Well, this book really nails the underlying root cause of many of professing 'evangelical' church problems. Lack of discernment, which is directly related to biblical ignorance and/or disobedience, is identified in several of it's symptoms as evidenced by the modern church's quest for success. MacArthur exhorts us to return to the discipline of scriptural reason. Where pragmatism, emotion, and a fondness for the world's approval have taken over the thinking and methodology of many Christian ministries, the author seeks to give us a biblical and historical perspective to help us return to the chief concern of being found faithful to the Lord and His word, which often conflicts with the world's vision of success. I have given away ten copies of this volumn because it is an excellent treatment of an epidemic largely undiagnosed in today's professing church; this book belongs in all Pastor's and church's libraries.

A great treatise on the movement in the church today that is both reckless and dangerous. John MacArthur guides the reader through 7 chapters dealing with: 1) The war against reason, 2) The rise of reckless faith, 3) Biblical formula for discernment, 4) What are the fundamentals of christianity, 5) Evangelicals and Catholics together, 6) The "Holy laughter" movement, 7) Looking for truth in all the wrong places, and an appendix on Jonathan Edward's theology of discernment. It's time for the church to return to a spirit of discernment, and this book gives a layout of the steps needed to do just that.