1 Timothy 3:6 (KJV)
Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
He is 23 years old. He grew up in church, taught Sunday school, and did various other ministries around the church. Early he met his bride, and they moved to Arizona. There they united with a church and spent some time there. Soon they were on their way to another city and state to plant a church.
Their website[1]gives little more information about his background than this. No name of the church he grew up in, no reference of any specific training, no mention of an authorizing church other than a vague reference to the church they left before planting this one.
The website provides a doctrinal statement that is less than a page long. Of the eleven statements listed, two are in error, and one is questionable.
This young man also has a Youtube channel where he posts many of his sermons. Perusing through the message titles, I found several that are likely of questionable doctrine. His position on baptism is that one should not be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, but in the name of Jesus only. He claims he is not a modalist, but I don’t believe he really knows what he is.
There is a trend today, perhaps not new but certainly much more evident than any other time since I have been in the ministry, of younger men with contentious natures assuming (or perhaps presuming) the working of the pulpit.
They are generally bold, arrogant, and rebellious against those who have gone before them.
They are novices.
Men like Steven Anderson, who has now many years of experience, have become locked in their novice state, refusing to be corrected. It appears that he has inspired a generation of novices who now rebel even against him.
These rebellious novices have a right to believe as they do, preach as they do and really, do as they do. I would not choose to stop them physically. But I do advocate for those who are not novices to warn against them. These young men are caught up in pride and in condemnation. They will hurt many by their vain and deceitful words. We must train up young men who cherish humility, submission, and maturity.
Only then may we stop the mouths of these foolish novices.
Marvin McKenzie
In the fields
[1]I ran into this young man through the Facebook page I run called “Baptist History Faith and Practice." In this case I chose not to disclose the actual site and name of the man because I do not want to promote him in the slightest.
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