Oh, to get back to the Gnostic thing, part of the new gnosticism includes the following:
....Gnostics claim to possess an elevated knowledge, a “higher truth” known only to a certain few. Gnosticism comes from the Greek word gnosis which means “to know.” Gnostics claim to possess a higher knowledge, not from the Bible, but acquired on some mystical higher plain of existence. Gnostics see themselves as a privileged class elevated above everybody else by their higher, deeper knowledge of God. SourceSounds a lot like what I hear from Stanley each and every morning.
I saw this:
"GRPL Diplomat, Lutheran Ping List"
If you're not a Lutheran, I stand corrected. But I have seen you professing to be a Calvinist, and that is generally the position of mainstream Protestant churches.
Please understand, it doesn't matter to me at all what denomination a person is as long as they don't deny and Scripture and can support their own beliefs with Scripture.
Sounds a lot like what I hear from Stanley each and every morning.
Only the Gnostics can't back up their beliefs with the Bible, and Dr. Stanley can and always does. Now when a person watches Dr. Stanley, and hears Scriptural truths that they don't hear in their own churches, and that pastor gives Scripture to validate what he is preaching, I can understand the dismal, threatened feeling that must come over the person who is watching this and finds it unbelievable because they never hear these things in their church.
But the barometer of whether a doctrine is true or false is if it can be supported by Scripture. Since Dr. Stanley has consistently provided Scripture to support his messages, one can be safely assured that what he says is Biblical truth. A person's perceptions, based on their own biases and beliefs and experiences, doesn't mean a thing. If what a person preaches is in the Bible, then it is truth.
Why do you listen each and every morning to a pastor who you think doesn't tell the truth?