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It’s not necessarily fair to judge the fruits of another based on “guilt by association.” But guilt by affiliation? Yes! We as Christians are to hold one another to a high standard – and whom we hold hands with, partner with and lift up to our flock as praiseworthy folks to follow – that matters. So it comes as no surprise that a Calvary Chapel church would have alarm bells over the likes of Rick Warren, Carl Lentz, The Shack author William P. Young and Catholic mystic Brother Lawrence.
Check out this letter from Lighthouse Trails Publishing written by Senior Pastor Steve Shively of Refuge Church:
I disagree with your judgements against Pastor Jack Hibbs. I agree we are to be discerning to make sure that the teaching we receive is sound and of the Lord, but your accusations against Pastor Jack are unfounded. I don't live in Chino Hills, but I have listened to his messages for about 7 years now and nothing else has helped my growth in Jesus. It's very easy to cast stones these days, watch yourself that you don't make accusing your habit. Jack is very clear about turning from sin and surrendering to Jesus. Following Jesus is a decision. God gave us free will to make choices, including choosing to love Him with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength – or not. Sister, don't be so judgmental, we are to love and show grace. Yes, discern what we hear and hold it up to the Word of God to make sure it's authentic. If Jack Hibbs is not your style of teaching, then go somewhere else where you'll be satisfied. But please do not attack him with weak arguments that are unfounded. Public blasting like this against someone who works tirelessly teaching the whole truth of God s just sad.
I do not know how anyone can listen to Pastor Jack and say awful things like this about him. He is a 100% bible teaching pastor. You can see and tell that the Holy Spirit works in him each week. He is the best pastor I have ever heard and I will stand with him for whoever tries to bring false accusations against him.
The Holy Spirit departed from CC a long time ago. We have all just gotten used to mediocrity, so by comparison, we put up with their slobber as supposedly being better than the rest that is out there. ALL CC pastors who can find their man parts should publicly take the name off and say why. There is a lot of abuse under their umbrella and as long as pastors who know better pretend it doesn't exist, they are part of the problem. There need to be leaders who actually have faith who will separate for the sake of the sheep wandering on the hills and bring them in to something new and doctrinally sound and less man-centered. If any leader REALLY has faith–they will take the name off. This would be a good test to see if it is "the name" bringing people in or the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is quenched because there is too much sin in the camp. It's time to think of the suffering sheep and go outside of the camp. Anybody? Anybody?
I am reminded of how much God loves his church.
I see there are a lot of good churches in the Calvary Chapel affiliation. David Guzik for example in Santa Barbara, CA, who has done a great work in writing books and Bible commentaries that reflect sound doctrine.
I would speak on my own behalf to say that I am disappointed by the approach of this Pastor to separate from the Calvary Chapel by dragging fellow believers through the mud who have nationwide attention. However, I am encouraged by his stand for the preaching of God's Word. I have reviewed some of his sermons and love his passion for God's Word in the light of a world trying to pervert sound doctrine.
As believers, we may have different gifts, ministries, and ways of doing our ministries but each has its specific purpose. I cannot speak on behalf of any of the others Pastors mentioned in his letter but I can vouch for Pastor Carl Lentz of Hillsong Church in NYC. I have kept up with him since he came into the spotlight because I had a concern for his "style" of preaching the Gospel and if it was correct. Most any believer is in a struggle of wanting to reach the world but not be of the world. It is a hard thing to do as there is a negative assumption among non-believers in America that Christianity is outdated, antiquated and irrelevant. This causes us to be very ineffective as we can minister to people who come into our churches but have a very difficult time reaching those outside….especially the young people in the U.S. which we are unfortunately failing to reach.
Pastor Carl Lentz may have a different ministry but he is by no means contrary to Gospel. I have watched about a dozens sermons and interviews from him with a critical eye and the message I get from Carl is this: He loves Jesus with all his heart and wants to reach those who Jesus reached and the Jewish church abandoned. The way he approaches it is not how this Pastor would prefer he approach it but that is not up to him. Pastor Shively is mistaken that Pastor Carl Lentz supports homosexuality. In one particular instance, on a very popular secular radio interview show, Carl was asked many questions about alcohol, adultery, homosexuality, etc. Instead of choosing to get into a debate with the world about adhering to a Biblical standard that the world does not support, he simply pointed to Jesus.
From listening to bits of Pastor Steve Shively, he is a great man of God who loves the church and God's word. I can tell that God has impressed on his heart to equip his church with sound doctrine and he is succeeding in that.
God loves his church and wants it to be unified.
1 Corinthians 12:4-6
This is a lie, females collect tithe money all the time. Sit in serves and look for yourself.
He does not think Palestrina Christians deserve to die. Nor does he teach Calvanism.
I’ve been going to this church for over 10 yes and all your writing is nonsense.
pastor steve is such a stand up guy, a true pastor who has personally counciled me through the roughest of times, and for him to do this , it must be the right thing
You almost had me for a moment, right up until you started preaching that we must repent in order to plead and beg for God’s forgiveness. This is nothing more than works righteousness. Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. Repentance is a natural response to the indwelling if the Holy Spirit. It is NOT the means to an end. I don’t need to plead and beg nor clean up my act first in order to receive what God freely gives. I only need to recognize my sinful behavior and my complete inability to do anything to save myself outside of the work of the Holy Spirit and agree with God to let my self did so that Christ may live in me. And that nonsense about tithing not being a part of the new testament, well that’s such a ridiculous statement its not even worth the keystrokes to address.
Actually, Rick Warren’s teachings are 100% from the bible. I’m very skeptical of all who preach in God’s name so I vet everything from every angle and if you have a problem with Rick Warren then you likely have a problem with the bible. You might not like his emphasis, which is more evangelistic than repentance, but you can supplement that aspect with other pastors online or otherwise. No pastor or church can possibly be perfect in every area so it’s up to you to keep nourishing your soul however you can.
Cherie, you started a thread ABOUT pastor Jack and you blame someone else for idolize get him? That is completely counterintuitive.
It's very clear you have never listened to pastor jack. To anyone who attends Calvary chapel chino hills this "review" is so far from truth I can't even find an appropriate analogy and they would see that clear as day. Your basing your argument on a statement you gathered from a website…a mission statement isn't supposed to be a sermon. It's a brief and clear statement as to what the church believes. Your heart is bubbling with disgust towards your brothers and sisters in Christ, this is obvious. We are to love one another. That is not what is expressed above.
God gives us free will. He doesn't force anyone too ACCEPT CHRIST. You must ask to receive Jesus, you are not born with it. May God bless you all and open your eyes to the truth.
Please everybody, let's remember that God is the one who will judge all of us, for all of the things of which we judge others, we ourselves are guilty, for us to even recognize sin in someone else it first has to be in us. As for Pastor Jack Hibbs, there isn't another person in a 150 mile radius that I know of who has the courage to lay his neck on the line to preach the whole counsel of God's word without flinching, or compromising, in the face of much persecution and harsh criticism from all those whose flesh is offended by the word of God. Yes, we are called to be discerning, if we are reading our bibles, we will know if a pastor is off base, but we should be praying for them, and admonishing them in the love of Christ, not slandering them behind their backs, and adding to the masses of those who oppose them. We the flock should know that satan wants nothing more than to take out a pastor who is shining the light of God's word, and he comes against such pastors with all he has, to get them off course, and render them useless, we should be praying for these men, who have sacrificed much to serve God in these dark days.
Cherie, visit Christ Reformed Church, Anaheim, Pastor Kim Riddlebarger.
I left Hibbs years ago and never looked back after I found a "true" church.
Btw, in his younger days, Pastor Riddlebarger sat under Chuck Smith.
Cherie, I have to respectfully disagree. I do not attend his church in Chino Hills, but I have listened to and watched many of his sermons online. He is one of the most biblically sound preachers I have ever heard. He stresses the importance of sticking to nothing but the word of God. Not my opinion, your opinion, or his opinion, but ONLY the word of God. I'm not sure how long you listened to Pastor Jack on the radio, but if you stick around long enough, you'll know he preaches repentance from sin and making Yeshua LORD are important steps for salvation. I completely agree with you that unbiblical preachers today preach easy-believism, the feel-good gospel stressing God's love but not His righteous and holy nature which requires repentance. Pastor Jack is most certainly not one of those. In fact, he had an entire series called "Living in the Daze of Deception" warning against false gospels, highlighting many of the unbiblical teachings you are accusing Pastor Jack of. Give him a few more listens, and you'll see he's not what you think he is.
No church is perfect, that is why we need to read our bibles. If we are reading our bibles, we would see clearly that pastor Jack Hibbs is one of few men courageous enough to deliver the whole counsel of God without compromise, or watering it down. A tree is known by its fruit. No human is perfect but this pastor prays that what will be said will be of God before the whole congregation, if someone is offended it is because Christ is a rock of offense
Joe, I was offended by Jack Hibbs incessant fixation on himself rather than teaching Scripture fully.
Yes, he does get in "Gospel nuggets" now and again. However, his "narcigetical" use of the Text never ends.
His eschatology is way off – so much so, he completely misses national Israel is NO different than all other nations. Jesus even cursed the Jews in the Temple (the "woe" language is formal priestly judgment).
Once I asked Jack about his view of UFO's and he answered me with a flippant reference to a TV show.
The man is undisciplined, careless and arrogant — negligent of the flock, as well.
The command to be ye separate applies to all…those we approve of are not immune to the command. I don't know enough about CC to speak on the subject but if the organizational leadership is drifting then all CC pastors must take that into consideration- however inconvenient it is to do so.
These issues can be so much better understood when we seek God's truth about salvation, and accept the fact the the large numbers of professing Christians are self-deceived.
The root of Calvary Chapel was not Biblical and so now we are seeing the fruit of it. Chuck Smith was a Foursquare pastor. Foursquare was founded by a woman with dreams and visions, a false prophetess. Chuck decided he wanted to do his own thing that wasn't as Pentecostal, so he broke away and started his own denomination, Calvary Chapel. Over his fifty years of preaching and teaching, he perpetuated his false teachings, the worst of which is that believers will not be resurrected bodily. In addition, CC is staunchly Arminian. Certainly, there is grace for those who are relatively new believers who have not yet seen the light concerning the doctrines of grace, but for Chuck Smith to teach against the doctrines of grace for over 50 years is telling. He never came to the truth.
Chuck originally was against Rick Warren, but a few years later he embraced Warren when it was expedient to do so. Chuck's own son, Chuck Jr., dove into Catholic mysticism and emergent teachings. Chuck Sr. spoke against these things, but many CC pastors sided with Chuck Jr. There was respect among CC pastors for Chuck Sr., but we began to see CC pastors embrace emergent and contemplative teachings and felt justified in so doing when Chuck Jr. broke away. When I attended a CC from 2003 to 2005, for example, we were taught Brother Lawrence and "Practicing the Presence of God" was added to the church bookstore.
The root was false and now that Chuck is gone many CC pastors feel liberated to go even further into the false. It's no surprise. Just because a pastor teaches line by line doesn't mean that it's Biblical. I listened to my CC pastor go line by line every week for 104 weeks. Some of it was right, but much of it wasn't. Those who go line by line can twist each line just as surely as those who do topical teachings can take lines out of context.
As far as Israel is concerned, yes, he loves Israel and the Israeli people as should all believers. And has NEVER said that he believes that Palestinian Christians should die. Exactly what was the context he supposedly said this. Again bearing false witness.
As for speaking out against Calvinism, I can't recall a time when he has done this, but if he has then I appreciate him even more!
Praise God for Pastor Jack and God Bless him and his family.
I know Jack and have listened to him for years. Judge him for what he says, not for where he says it. You people who are here making stupid, unsupported generalizations about him should repent for bearing false witness. I can categorically state that you are incorrect about him. Focus on someone who is a problem.
And the same goes for Chris Quintana who is a solid Bible teacher.
You should all be ashamed of yourselves.
Thanks John. We would not have Jack Hibbs on our radio station if he were not solid in the Word. I am glad that his teaching follows our Stand Up For The Truth program.
John, next time you see Jack, tell him he doesn't behave like a biblical pastor.
I know because I tried to meet with him regarding questions about what he said from the "stage".
He would not be available. He never answered my letter. He is a "celebrity leader" that receives "messages" from God. None of this is in Scripture.
Meanwhile, his position is widely understood as "Zionism" (the idea Israel is a national favorite of God) and a dispensationalist (reading the Bible from a current-events prophetic lens).
My personal observation is Jack is very impressed with himself. He spends more time talking about his accomplishments, ideas, jokes, etc., rather than "preaching Christ".
Sad.
Alice-
I have never heard Jack Hibbs claim to receive personal messages from God, but I have heard him denounce this idea many times. A pastor / teacher can use the term " God spoke to me" referring to the reading of scripture or an eye opening experience that points to the truth of scripture- but that is not equivalent to what the so called modern day apostles, prophets and authors are doing. God speaks to us through the supernatural power of His word everyday.
Hibbs does not teach that Israel is a "national favorite" – he teaches that God is not done with Israel and that the physical restoration of Israel, as plainly presented in scripture, is to be rightly taken literally and NOT turned into a metaphor that now means "the church". This replacement theology is a man made doctrine and is found nowhere in scripture. God loves all of His chosen equally, but He has a unique relationship with this ancient people and the unique promises to them have nothing to do with the eternal salvation of the church but are abo-ut them only. To suggest that this implies "favoritism" is troubling. His ways are higher than our ways (Isa 55:8-9) and He is not seeking our approval of His will, only submission to it.
Israel's rejection is temporary, "until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in" (Rom 11:11).
Read the full 11th chapter of Romans and the prophecy of Jeremiah chapter 31. Israel's unique relationship with God is clear in scripture.
Alice, due to strict rules for Calvary Chapel pastors and staff, a pastor (male, obviously) does not meet privately with a female; if there is a meeting, the Biblical issue can be addressed either with a leader of the female outreaches or women's retreats and the female with a question, or it's addressed publically in a group setting so not even an appearance of impropriety can be suggested. All the Calvary pastors I have been blessed to study with in church (5 churches from East coast to West coast) say the same.
All Calvary Chapel pastors are taught not to answer letters (criticisms especially) unless the letter is mailed with a return address, phone number, and personal signature of the sender. Otherwise, if a person will not own his or her criticism, no letter will be responded to. As I said above, if the sender is a female with a question to be answered by a male, it may be done in writing, but no personal contact will be made unless any chance of misinterpretation of the contact could be eliminated.
No Calvary Chapel pays its staff and pastors as much as they could earn in the private sector so Calvary Chapel pastors are not in it for the money (unlike "megachurch" pastors who drive limos and wear Prada).
Others who seem to be long time attendees of a Calvary Chapel (long enough to know what is actually taught and what church doctrine is instead of reading a website) can speak to the Biblically sound teaching and conduct. There have been isolated problems with a church and a guest speaker or a church and a staff member that in fact conducts himself in an inappropriate or illegal manner, but I have not seen such occurrence that was not quickly and without gossip, resolved Biblically. All staff and pastors are human, after all, and are called to repent and grow just as they lead their church attendees to repent and grow. Judgment can only be done in person and over years.
I never move from one location to another as I personally need to unless I know there is a Calvary Chapel where I am going next. As jobs change, my Bible does NOT and I will not have a church that does not require me to open my Bible and go verse by verse book by book Genesis to Revelation from the original languages with historic context and internal Biblical continuity and verification.
Would that we judged ourselves as harshly as we judge (unfairly and not Biblically) others, especially those who carry a greater burden for the growth and welfare of Christians. If your Internet is causing you to sin by judging on a website and not in person and over time, turn off your computer and open your Bible.
He is always in the main area of the church answering questions after service. If he isn’t there then it means he had to leave to lax. He even says he will be there and come up to meet him & answer questions.
Pastor Jack Hibbs is most certainly solid in his preaching. He is currently teaching on Bible doctrine on Sunday mornings as he felt led by the Holy Spirit to do so. Guess what he said was the first word of the gospel?
REPENT!
So, to the one who put it out there that he does not teach repentance really needs to go back and listen to pastor Jack and stop bearing false witness against this God fearing man. Listen to his actual sermons, to hear what he believes the Bible is saying, You can even email him or for that matter call the church.
Jack fearlessly proclaims the gospel. And has come down hard on American churches and the pastors of those churches that are choosing to not preach "repentance" for fear of offending. He just said in his Sunday morning sermon that there is no salvation without repentance. Repentance is vital for your salvation.
I too am concerned about posting generalizations and mis-truths. In full disclosure, I am now attending Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills where Pastor Jack Hibbs is the senior pastor. The do have female ushers, and they do collect the money… so that is not correct.
Pastor Jack's message today was about Repent, believe and be saved… yes their is a choice to accept Christ, in that you can reject Him or Accept Him by deciding to change your direction.. but it is a work of the Holy Spirit to regenerate you.
Calvary Chapel Chino Hills does do an offering and it is for those who want to give… It is not a tithe or set amount, although some use the 10% in the OT as a guide… it is not a mandate… As you know the New Testament wants us to be joyful givers as we are led by the Lord. I am not in the ministry or affiliated with the church, beyond I attend there, so if there are mistruths, please share the specifics….
Fred, what a blessing that you are going to be able to attend this Church. If I lived closer that is where I would be attending, for sure. He preaches the whole counsel of God's Word without compromise. Very few and far between churches can say this about their Pastor.