Acts 20:26 Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. 27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. 28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. 32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. 33 I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. 34 Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. 35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

The emphasis of Paul's ministry was to declare unto them all the counsel of God, not just part of it. He taught night and day, with tears, warning them. Finally he commended them to God and His word when he could be with them no longer.

The emphasis of any ministry or expert should be to build people up in the word of God while giving Jesus Christ the place of preeminence. John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. The Holy Spirit wants to guide us into all truth and we are told that God's word is truth, John 17:17. If the Holy Spirit is really leading these experts how come they are not trying to point people to Jesus Christ and His word?

If the expert is always talking about money or the great work they could do if they just had the funds, they are coveting man's silver, and gold. I don't care how spiritual they are supposed to be, or if they are "great, godly," Independent Baptists! They are covetous. 1Corinthians 5:11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. If we are not to eat or keep company with covetous brethren, then we certainly should not be allowing them to teach us how to live our lives!

Some experts' main problem is that they have a lopsided ministry. They are obsessed with one subject, and they teach that to the exclusion of all others, thus depriving their avid followers of the instruction they need for a Biblical life in all areas. There are many subjects they will do this with - courtship, home schooling, health, family, the King James Bible, creation, government, the new world order, street preaching, prophecy, etc. Many of these have a useful place, and some experts do an admirable job with what they do deal with, but he problem is that they will neglect other important subjects. Worse, they will even have areas in their own lives where they are grossly unfaithful to the word of God because they are spending so much time on their own particular hobby horse. Their followers will then do likewise, neglecting some areas of life and living in sin in others.

Examples:

Texe Marrs is obsessed with the Illuminati, the new world order, hate for the Jews, and prophecy; but he offers little for growing in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ..., 2Pet. 3:18. Kent Hovind really has some useful presentations on creation, yet he refuses to pay tribute to whom tribute is due (Rom. 13:7) and was asking his followers to help pray for him in his resistance of government. Lester Roloff emphasized vegetables so much that he contradicted the scriptures and gave out advice that proved false. Instead of just believing the Bible like he claimed to, he interpreted it in light of his own health ideas and made an idiot of himself to thinking people.

[By the way, beware of those who become experts on a subject, especially health, because "it worked for me." Different people's bodies react differently to different things. That is not hard to figure out. Just because some special diet helped one person with their health problems it does not follow that everyone should use that diet, nor that that same diet will help someone else with different health problems, or even the same problems. Beware of doing this to people too. We might be able to help each other some, but we are called to be saints (Rom. 1:7), not to cure the world of its' diseases.]

There is more than one woman that has a ministry on one subject or another that will go and speak before groups of mixed men and women. One lady speaks on courtship, Elisabeth Elliot speaks on varied subjects, Gail Riplinger speaks on the King James Bible, and Mary Pride speaks on home schooling. Their emphasis has become more important to them than obedience to the word of God. We should not excuse this kind of disobedience because the woman is so "good" on her particular subject. 1Timothy 2:11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

Some street preaching experts talk and act as if there was nothing in the world but street preaching and if you do not participate you are ungodly or an inexcusable wimp. They can not prove that from scripture, and sometimes there are folks in their cliques that will make you wonder what their measure of godliness really is. Some neglect other subjects and so they will avoid dealing with sin in their own lives and those of their followers. A friend of ours went street preaching with a famous street preacher and was appalled at the way the man treated his wife. If the gospel of Jesus Christ is good enough to save souls, it is also good enough to change the way we live. If the word of God is good enough to be shouted on the street corner, it is good enough to be shouted down into the grimy, ugly corners of our own wicked hearts. 2Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

James Dobson's real emphasis is mixing psychology with "christianity" and making it palatable to as many as possible. He tends to emphasize his own great wealth of wisdom(?). As "Grandma" Irene Eisenhart used to say sarcastically, "How did we ever raise our children before James Dobson came along?" Good question. It seems like a pretty fair number of kids have been raised without his "wonderful advice" over the centuries. I wonder how Enoch's mother ever managed to raise such a godly son without "Hocus Pocus on the Family"? It's almost frightening to think of having to rely totally on the Lord for wisdom, isn't it? For some of you, I'm afraid it is.

2Corinthians 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

Any expert that has a high regard for themselves should automatically be called in question. I don't care who it is. If they emphasize themselves, their information should be used at best with caution. Perhaps they should be totally disregarded. We would probably be better off if they were most of the time.

Examples:

We had the displeasure of sitting through a sermon once by a pastor that was so full of his and his family's holiness that it was nauseating. He was the prime example of following the Lord at all costs. His family was the prime example of sacrificial service to the Lord. They had sacrificed all family time for "serving the Lord," and according to him it was so wonderful. Anyone who didn't follow their example sounded basically worthless to him. His self-glorification was perfectly sickening. He literally mocked elderly Christians for letting their physical struggles keep them from "serving the Lord.". My dad and mom said they had never in all their lives heard anything like it. That is saying something for them considering their many years among the Lord's people.

Jack Hyles was full of Jack Hyles, not Jesus Christ. How can I say that? Besides all the Hylesites running around with their "100% for Hyles" buttons and his highly self-serving style of preaching...I have talked to 3 ladies who were present at "Ladies' Meetings" at the great mosque in Hammond. All of them were horrified at the way he was worshipped by the women. One young woman told me about her experiences at Hyles-Anderson College at one of his "talks" with all the female students. Her description sounded like bunch of hormone struck females, not Christian young ladies at a conservative college. Any man who would accept and appreciate that kind of reaction from a group of women is sick. His emphasis was not the Lord Jesus Christ. His emphasis was sexual gratification.

Ladies, beware. When someone exalts themselves above measure as a spiritual example for you to follow, something is wrong. We all should to be the servants of the saints for Jesus' sake, and that includes the great experts. Jesus Christ should be the one set forth in all things. (More later on that.) Paul was given some tremendous revelations to deliver to the saints, yet the Lord made sure he had a thorn in the flesh to keep him from being exalted above measure. 2Corinthians 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. If the Lord did not want the Apostle Paul exalted that way, certainly He does not want Elisabeth Elliot, Bill Gothard, Phil Kidd, Sam Gipp, and a whole menagerie of other people exalted that way! 1Peter 1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Also, beware of "ministries" that overemphasize "women's issues." Christianity is not a women's religion. The Bible is not a women's Book. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that it is a man's religion either, nor that the Bible is a man's Book. It is God's Book. But, some women will become obsessed with helping women when the Bible says clearly in Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. As we read in Rom. 16:17-18, we are to mark and avoid those that cause division. Dividing the men from the women obsessively is wrong. Certainly there are some things that women prefer to talk to women about and should only talk to women about, but that does not justify making a woman a different kind of a Christian from a man. [A woman also is not "to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man," (1 Tim. 2:12); so though there is neither male nor female, women are still to learn in silence.]

graphics by mary vannattan