Cornerstone Bible Church in Lilburn

Wayne — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 13:01:52 -0500

Today we visited Cornerstone Bible Church in Lilburn. First, here are some impressions we got just from their website, prior to visiting them:

The website lists the pastor's training as Dallas Theological Seminary. Zola Levitt established well the problems with Dallas, especially their Replacement Theology, which demonstrates their highly errant interpretation of Scripture. I'm not sure when Dallas started to stray, and since the senior pastor of Cornerstone graduated Dallas in 1971, there's a fair chance his training preceded Dallas' apostasy.

The senior pastor has been with Cornerstone since he graduated seminary. This could be a good thing, since he's more likely to have faced the consequences of his choices at Cornerstone. This could also be a bad thing, since it can--and often does--imply an empire mentality; that is, the church could be viewed as the pastor's little empire, imply self-worship, megalomania, or merely control issues. Our one visit was unable to prove this out one way or the other, except that I got the distinct impression the senior pastor was indeed an egotist.

The associate pastor is the one responsible for actual pastoring, caring for the flock, discipleship, etc. I am forced to wonder what the role is for the senior pastor. Clearly, "pastor" doesn't fit him. Often, such an arrangement means the senior pastor is the "visionary" (as if the pastor's vision trumped the Lord's).

The associate pastor, children's pastor, and administrator were all raised at Cornerstone. This may be an excellent testimony to Cornerstone, or it may be a problem of "inbreeding", doctrinally speaking.

Altogether, the website's description of the staff paints a picture that just might say "control freak" and "pastor worship". Our brief time there did not suggest anything better.

The sermon, delivered by the senior pastor, was quite bad structurally and aesthetically. It was poorly delivered, monotone, and almost put the whole room to sleep. While the sermon was presented in the notes as being connected to a Scripture lesson, the pastor's anecdotes and "profundities" seemed very disconnected. What points he did make were clearly baby food. It was scattered, almost random, and he seemed to really work to stretch his desired point to make it come anywhere close to the Scripture he was supposedly preaching. He quoted many big names in church history, though, and these quotations were certainly good even if isolated and disconnected.

The only doctrinal question I could see was when he said we are rewarded "precisely to the degree" we suffer (presumably for His sake). It's true that we are rewarded for our suffering, but I don't believe Scripture says that suffering is our only source of reward or that our reward and suffering are "precisely" linked. The way he said it, especially emphasizing the word "precisely", he seemed to imply rewards were only for suffering and only insomuch as we suffer. Obviously, Christ did not want us to become masochists for His sake, let alone forsake all the other good deeds we do out of obedience.

The church was quite packed. I'd estimate over 300 people attended the one Sunday worship service. I'm not sure even a single seat was open. They were generally friendly to us, even if they didn't seem to recognize us as visitors. One of the elders finally caught on that we may be visitors and asked us so on our way out. (He seemed to have a gentle, humble spirit.) The music, a good mixture of hymns and contemporary, was mostly familiar--I think two of the eight songs were unfamiliar to me--even if not lively. In fact, the whole service was much less than lively. Leaders and congregants alike seemed to be merely going through the motions. There was certainly no charisma.

Overall, they were friendly even if seemingly spiritually dead or comatose. I believe they suffer from the usual malady of pastor-worship, and the senior pastor doesn't seem to discourage this. While doctrinally reasonable at first glance, given our short exposure, their stated and preached doctrine don't seem to have substance. Cornerstone almost seemed like the skin of a church without much in the way of living organs. I don't think we'll be returning.

Trackback URL for this post:

http://tuscanycircle.net/trackback/1280

Church Reviews

Wayne — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:17:59 -0400

Welcome to Church Reviews at TuscanyCircle. As my family searches for a church home, I'll be reviewing the churches we visit and recording my observations here. These observations include how alive in the Spirit they are or not, their doctrine and how close to or far from Scripture it is, and some mundane things like the style of worship, organizational structure, etc.

Anyone who knows us knows we have long struggled in trying to find a church home. All we ask is that the Word not be compromised in major ways. Some churches scream apostasy right away, but others require deeper investigation. The best seem to take about six months before all the dirty, ungodly secrets are revealed. Some reviews, then, will be quick, one-time articles clearly spelling out what's horribly wrong with the church. Other reviews will take weeks or months to explore the pros and cons of a church. We have little hope of finding a church home, really, but we'll do our best to find one nevertheless.

Churches will be clearly named. I'll explain why in a moment. I'm inclined to name pastors and teachers, too, but I'm counseled by trusted friends not to do so. I still need to await the Lord's leading on this point. Here's the reason I'm naming anything: I intend to reveal evil lurking within God's sacred church, wolves in sheep clothing, twisting His Word into perversions designed to hurt His disciples and even cost them their salvation if they follow these evil spirits. I have consistently found today's churches in America to be sickenly corrupt, doctrinally and ethically, so much so that I can no longer lead new believers to any congregation at all for fear of them being led away from the Lord. I have no illusions that my small voice will fix these churches, but I intend to name evil for what it is anyway. I'm also open to constructive dialog with any church seeking to be restored to the Lord and His eternal Word, though I doubt such an offer will ever be accepted. None of this is new to me. I've done this many times but only privately up till now. No more. The light will shine on the evil lurking in churches' shadows, even if it's in the pulpit--especially if it's in the pulpit!

Here is a good article on the dangers of allowing evil to take root in the church:

The fact that God may be doing good things in some people's lives is not a valid reason for allowing the bad to prosper alongside the good. The counterfeit must always be discerned, exposed and dealt with. Otherwise, in the eyes of the sheep, the bad is validated by the shepherds, as if it is good. That is how deception and counterfeit spirits are given license in the Body of Christ - whether it is the deception of false signs, false miracles or false prophecies, all of which we are warned about in Matthew 24. Jesus began this critical discourse on the end-times with these telling words, "Watch out that no-one deceives you."
...
As Derek Prince said, "the Bible gives us no liberty to tolerate the incursion of evil into the church."

I ask my readers to hold me accountable in my reviews. I desire to remain factual in writing even while I may be privately angered while embroiled in a battle with evil. I want to leave the door open always to earnest discussion and reconcilation; infested or not, congregations and individuals can be restored to the Lord if they so desire Him rather than their own paths. I also want to be ever mindful of the Gospel, that all may come to the Lord. Feel free to write me privately or comment publicly if you believe I'm missing the mark. In the end, I pray the church may someday be purified. I don't expect perfection in the church, even though it's asked of us all, but I do expect a general trend toward Biblical holiness rather than the common trend of self-serving evil. I pray these reviews may be helpful, even if only by raising awareness in my readers of the dangers of allowing evil into the church.

Trackback URL for this post:

http://tuscanycircle.net/trackback/1278