"Johnny Robertson and James Oldfield can't be the real church of Christ because they aren't obedient to Romans 16:16."The writer is of course referring to local cultist Johnny Robertson and his lackey/second cousin James Oldfield, the leaders of what they proclaim is the "Church of Christ" (no relation to the real Churches of Christ). The two men who have been harassing the legitimate churches in this area, and even committing slander against some (like when Johnny Robertson accused one church in Kernersville, without evidence, of child pornography).
And in case you're wondering what Paul instructs in Romans 16:16, here it is from the King James version...
Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.You know, for all their demanding of "obedience" to the Bible, and their insistence that their own obedience makes them out to be the "one true church", I have never heard of Robertson and Oldfield saluting anyone with a "holy kiss". And they've been on television together plenty enough times: why haven't they kissed each other yet, as the Word of God clearly commands?
Maybe it's time for Robertson and Oldfield to give each other that holy kiss on live television, for everyone to witness, so that we can all see without a shred of uncertainty that they really do "practice what they preach" and that they honestly believe that they truly are in "the church that you read about in the Bible". The commandment to greet brethren with a "holy kiss" appears four times in the King James Bible... which is far more times than any scripture dictating that those who are not water baptized will go to Hell (which is none at all).
Hey, that's not necessarily my own opinion. I'm just the reporter here folks. I'm only sharing what a lot of other people have also been wondering.
6 comments:
The holy kiss is just one of many biblical commands that the local church of Christ ignore and throw aside for reasons they would laugh at were they to come from any other denominational group.
The holy kiss, they claim, is something that was tradition for the time of the early church - like handshaking now. They're on record saying this many different times and in different places.
So, because they declare that command (like Chris wrote - found at least four times in the NT) is tradition, then it is! Just because they said so.
That's a pretty neat trick. Rather like making up a fictional multi-media company and trying to convince everyone that it is a real, valid organization.
As George Costanza told Jerry once, "It's not a lie if you believe it."
Its a very good question.
Johnny Robertson will not be square with us and answer it of course.
"The holy kiss, they claim, is something that was tradition for the time of the early church - like handshaking now."
That doesn't hold water at all. Because the Bible is unequivocally commanding that the brethren greet each other with a "HOLY KISS". Nowhere does it say to greet each other with a "holy handshake".
If Robertson and Oldfield dare to claim that the kiss was just a "tradition", then logically they are also admitting that other things which can also be claimed as "tradition" are equally valid. Such as using musical instruments in worship, etc.
It also means that they have chosen, on their own, to deviate their worship from the pattern established in the Bible for the New Testament churches. And by extension of logic, per their own definition this can only mean that their own congregations are not New Testament churches at all.
But as Anonymous #2 alluded above, I doubt Robertson or Oldfield will do anything but shuffle and stammer away from this issue instead of addressing it head-on. And they'll probably accuse anyone raising it of being in league with Benny Hinn, etc.
If they don't have to kiss then we don't have to do anything they tell us we have to do.
Chris, if they are ignoring the kiss to make the world happy, then they are of the world and not of Christ.
That means that Johnny Robertson's church is a denomination like all the ones he hates. He is making his church like one of the world.
This is the point of bringing up the holy kiss - to show that these men, who claim to be leaders in the One True Church, are cherry-pickers as much as anyone in any denomination.
The good news is the Good News - that ultimately it doesn't come down to what WE do, but to what Jesus did.
Robertson and Oldsfield can holy handshake to their hearts content, and that's not going to change Jesus' work on the cross.
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