J. Dale Massengale: Barnabas Wanted to Break Away From Paul's Authority

[@KingsBishopChess]

This argument from silence ignores the fact that Paul admitted to being wrong in 2nd Timothy 4:11 "2 Timothy 4:11 Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry." Do you know how Mark became profitable for the ministry? Humanly speaking, the same way Paul became profitable for the ministry: Barnabas!

[@kenwillispodcast]

God forbid someone studied out the full context….😂

[@IFBPreachers]

It's important to note that the Bible does not lay the blame of the separation of Paul and Barnabas at the feet of either one of them individually, but rather states, "And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other." (Acts 15:39) It's not saying Barnabas left Paul, but rather they went their separate ways, which sounds like a mutual decision to me. Also note that though the Bible doesn't talk about Barnabas much afterwards, it doesn't talk about many people much other than Paul, especially in the book of Acts. That's because the book of Acts focused on Paul's missionary journeys. The preacher's insinuation is that the Bible would have talked about Barnabas more if he had continued with Paul and that it's Barnabas' fault that he isn't mentioned more. But that's not something we can know. The Bible says what it does because that is what God wanted to give us. Paul does mention Barnabas when writing to the Corinthian church, so there is evidence that Barnabas continued to minister and travel. Church tradition states that he was martyred in Cyprus.

[@JimmySonny]

Amen. Again, as asusual with IFB preachers, they make a lot of arguements from silence. It's a shame because you can tell this man was gifted with a good voice to preach about important things, yet he chose the IFB tradition.

[@dailydoseofthescriptures]

Friend this Man of God is one of the Greatest Men of God that's ever walked in shoe Leather. You will Sir stand before a Holy God for your foolishness. Let me ask you WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR GOD ? Are you Saved ? Have you Repented of your Sins ?

[@SimpleManGuitars1973]

There is a case to be made that Paul might have been in the wrong in this situation because he later insisted that Mark be brought along to him because he said he was "profitable". Not to mention the whole...ya know... GOSPEL OF MARK being written by him. LOL!

[@princybella5386]

As they ministered to the Lord and fasted,The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them Act 13:2 They were called into this work together nowhere does it say that Paul was given Authority over Barnabas.

[@TheProverbsmom]

Oh, that these preachers would attend to the sermons they preach! His own teaching is blind darkness- but he would have sharp contention were anyone to tell him so. The sword of scripture is double edged, it cuts both ways, and I very seriously question anyone who would preach something who had not been wounded by it first. Paul and Barnabas disagreed, without sin, and separated, only to once again agree later. In my estimation, Barnabas did what he did best, both for Paul and John Mark, he strengthened, encouraged and built them up to become the godly leaders they were. We need more Barnabas type men, strong encouragers who support and uphold others in their service to God.

[@IFBPreachers]

Exactly right. Here is a passage that shows two godly men in a mutual disagreement, each choosing to go his own way, and the preacher turns into a matter of rebellion against authority. Nowhere in the passage does it give any indication or even a suggestion that this was an authority issue. But that's the culture of the IFB churches I've been in. Everything is seen as an authority issue. Even suggestions or opinions from the pastor are viewed as having the same level of authority as the Bible, and I don't say that lightly. Pastors will give lip service to the idea that we the plebs in the pews are to take his opinions that are not found in the Bible as mere opinions. But in preaching, teaching, and practice, the doctrine is you obey the pastor in all things or you undermine his authority and risk losing your kids over it. It's made clear in sermons over and over again the expectation of obedience. I remember times when our pastor would say things that were opinions, not founded in the Bible; and my children would say, "Are you going to obey the pastor?" That was the implication. We even had a pastor say that a person shouldn't study the Bible in Greek, shouldn't read commentaries, and should bring all their questions to him first because if, "You develop a view that is contrary to his, it would be harder for him to convince you of his views." The kids wanted to know if I was going to obey him, because that's the expectation. Doesn't matter if he's meddling in areas that aren't his to meddle in. The idea is all areas are his to meddle in.

[@TheProverbsmom]

@@IFBPreachers I am so sorry you experienced that, and what a tragedy that to actually study and know the Word of God for yourself is turned into something to be avoided. I daresay that the translators who gave their lives so we could each have a Bible in English would disagree with those attitudes. Many is the time I have personally benefited from the personal study of a dear Christian friend. The absolutely stunning thing to me is that these same Pastors will then place an American flag, and Christian flag behind the podium and commence to hoot and holler about freedom and liberty and democracy and American values and family and apple pie and coon dogs and every sort of American flapdoodle they can generate while exercising absolute despotic authority like the petty fundamentalist potentate they are. They are ignorant, and keep their pew members ignorant, or gaslight them into submission. Tyrants one and all. I appreciate your posts, they should spur some critical thoughts amongst the pew sitters, and encourage them to declare their independence from the ignorant lies and abuse of the fundamentalist independent Baptist (in name only) churches. I also really appreciate your pinned discussions to help those who might not see why there is a problem with the featured clip. Thank you- what you are doing is so necessary and not often appreciated, but helping others to see errors and grow IS to be encouraging, just like our beloved brother Barnabas.🌻👍

[@IFBPreachers]

That's very kind of you to say. It was experiences like those that really made me take a hard look at what the culture of the churches was that I had been involved with for decades. Though I was enamored to a degree with Jack Hyles, as many were, I also was unaware of the scandals when I had attended HAC. Things were kept under wraps, and you only heard rumors. But those were easy to dismiss. I did take a lot of what Jack Hyles said as gospel truth, but there was always a nagging in the back of my mind regarding the lack of Scriptural context and the constant judgment based on how well you performed. I questioned a lot of things in my mind, but vocalizing those questions was verboten. Years later as I attended other churches, the questions only grew. I couldn't really reconcile the teaching with the actions, especially in regards to the way people looked at the pastor. Basically, it was the pastor could do what he wanted, because in their minds, he was answerable only to God. Then came the bombshells, issues like Cameron Giovanelli. The way IFB pastors attacked Pastor Shiflett, many of them Jack Hyles' close friends, was horrendous. And to this day I know of none of them who ever retracted what they had to say, though Cameron Giovanelli confession came by way of him stating the relationship was "mutual." Another one was the affidavit that Wendel Evans gave in regards to the Dave Hyles/Joy Evans Rider situation. By that time, the façade was beyond cracked. So, I began to really look into what created the culture that allows for these types of horrible things to happen. There are many things that contribute to the culture that is driving people from the IFB, and so many pastors and people refuse to even consider that they could be the reasons why folks are leaving. Victim blaming is one of those things, and I truly believe the victim blaming is ingrained in the culture because of what is taught in the pulpit.

[@TheProverbsmom]

@@IFBPreachers I have my suspicions that the men involved are a part of a larger organized effort to discredit Christians and Christianity, while simultaneously deflecting and destroying real Biblical knowledge and doctrine. As has been pointed out, the Independents aren't so independent as they usually have a point of contact around a school or particular church and they network together. They engage in the dance of the lemons and usually run interference for one another. We here in America have forgotten the pernicious ways of the enemies of Bible believers and dissenters of past ages. The 19th century saw the rise of many Christian cults, and mega churchianity with the likes of Moody and Spurgeon and concurrent with the Oxford Movement and Bible Revision. Both Moody and Spurgeon are masonic in their teaching/ties, but they are hyped to the hilt. Scofield also is a charlatan and tool to deflect away from real prophecy, and his material is considered sound. Billy Graham further baits the trap, with smaller operatives like Hyles running as supporting cast, down to today with all the corporate mega church pastors running conferences and book sales through the publishing houses. The interesting fact is- their doctrine is mainly the same, whatever the denomination! I had an IFB pastor say that the Pope was a good man! The lump is about leavened, with every sort of heresy, abuse, and lie labeled as Christian. Jesus said the gates of Hell would never prevail over His church, so we can be pretty clear, these are not His. Bless you for having the courage to step away, and it does take courage, because it is quite a lonely road to stand for truth and accountability and not to just go along. My hope is that people caught up in these things might see, really see, and repent! Our Lord is gracious to forgive, and He stands outside the church door, knocking to come in.

[@SimpleManGuitars1973]

@@IFBPreachers It's hilarious how many of these men call themselves "doctors". When, in reality, they're like the man Jerry Vines joked about when he said "there was a fire in his library and it burned up BOTH his books..." That's the sad truth for a TON of men in this movement.

[@nathanwhite5671]

I've seen several videos of yours, and I understand what you're trying to do, but I feel this is taking it too far. I listened to the whole sermon myself, and what he was talking about is exactly what you're doing here in this video. He said that people will try to take clips of a sermon and use it against the preacher because they want to find something wrong with what the pastor or evangelist said. I personally consider Bro Massengale to be my online pastor. Many of his sermons I have listened to and God has dealt with me and continues to deal with me on sins that I have been struggling with in my personal life. Posting videos like these can hurt the cause of Christ because it could be a turn off for unbelievers, and I truly believe that that is not your intention here. No preacher will ever be perfect. There's no denying that. Like I said, I've listened to many of his sermons, and I do not agree with everything he preaches, and it's fine if you don't agree with everything he preaches. But instead of being picky with Bible-believeing preachers, why not expose the Joel Osteens, the Kenneth Copelands, and the Benny Hinns? Those men are leading people to Hell, and they are probably not even saved themselves as opposed to men like Bro Massengale who I personally believe will be greatly rewarded at the Judgment Seat of Christ. I apologize if this has come across as hateful because I really don't believe your intentions are bad.

[@IFBPreachers]

I appreciate the response. I do understand what you are saying, and I don't take the comment as being hateful. Thank you for the spirit in which you approach the conversation, and I hope that you likewise don't see my response in anyway being hateful either. I appreciate the fact that you listened to the whole sermon. I think that's important. I hope that in so doing you then caught where Pastor Massengale misused the scripture to make a point the Bible doesn't make. He uses Proverbs 18:19 to claim that the person in the wrong is the person offended, and then connects that to Barnabas to claim that Barnabas was in the wrong. He claims the Hebrew word for "offended" is the equivalent of the word "transgress," and therefore the brother "offended" is really a "brother transgressing" or sinning. He is correct that the word is the Hebrew word for "transgress," but he's wrong about the tense. The tense in this verse is passive, meaning the person is not actively transgressing but rather receiving the transgressing. The passage should be understood as, "A brother transgressed upon is harder to be won than a strong city," not, "A brother transgressing is harder to be won than a strong city." I find similar patterns of teaching from a lot of the IFB pastors that I have listened to and been under. They often exhibit poor Bible interpretation skills and therefore teach poor applications of the Scripture. In so doing, they make unbiblical connections and in reality do harm to Biblical truth. I further believe pastors say things like, "People will criticize me," as a way of mitigating, at least in the minds of those who listen to them preach, the impact of any type of criticism. If I were to say, "People will hate me for saying the truth," I can say almost anything to my listeners, and they will believe me over any criticism because I have already conditioned them to think that way. But the test of truth shouldn't be what a pastor says or how he says it. It should be the what the Bible says and how it says it. The Bereans were complimented in the Bible for searching the Scriptures to see if what the Apostle Paul was telling them was true or not. We, as God's children, should do the same with everything a pastor says, even one who we look to as being a spiritual mentor (as I'm sure Paul was to the Bereans). As to exposing the folks you mentioned, there are many who already do that, and do it quite well. But again, I do appreciate your response, and I hope my reply sheds some light on this particular clip and the tactics pastors use to protect themselves from criticism.

[@dailydoseofthescriptures]

You dont study much huh. He is once again 100 % correct. First be willing to Repent of your sins and ask Jesus to save your Soul before its too late. Read the King James Bible.

[@IFBPreachers]

I love presumptive personal attacks. They reveal that the person who uses them cannot deal with the content of a person's point. I pinned my own response to the video in these comments, but I'm always willing to hear someone out if they can put together a cogent argument. So, pray tell, enlighten us. In all your study of the Bible, where does God say that Barnabas was wanting to break away from Paul's authority. If you can show that from the Bible, I will be happy to concede the point.