One Simple Question

Over the years of working with people who have either left the Rock of Northwest Arkansas or who have family/friends who attend, I have learned that a simple question unravels any concern as to whether or not the teachings at the Rock can be trusted:

Can both egotistical ideas and a pure Word from the Holy Spirit come out of someone?

Or as James put it: "Can both fresh water and salt water flow out of the same stream?" (James 3:11)

The obvious answer is a resounding, emphatic "NO!"

Other questions arise...

This begs other questions. How do we know what "egotistical ideas" are?

Is it Holy Spirit that needs a title, like "Apostle", or the ego?

Is it Holy Spirit that needs a large house, or the ego?

Is it Holy Spirit that needs fancy suits and clothes, or the ego?

Is it Holy Spirit that needs expensive cars, or the ego?

Is it Holy Spirit that needs to label other people as "sons", or the ego?

Is it Holy Spirit that needs to hear an entire group of people speak in tongues, or the ego?

Of course, there are dozens of more questions that could be asked and the answer to all of these questions, and many more, is that an ego is masquerading as the Holy Spirit.

Is that to say every idea that comes out of the pulpit at the Rock of Northwest Arkansas is actually completely false? No way! But what can you really trust in the context of an ego?

The Holy Spirit can use someone with an ego. But consider this scenario: if a person stood in front of you and claimed to be speaking on behalf of Holy Spirit, as an oracle - to use Todd's term, and in the same breath spoke in egotistical terms, would you trust what they were saying to be of Holy Spirit? I would hope you could not.

It always come back to the same, simple conclusion: Todd mixes his ego up for the Holy Spirit and in this confused state he preaches. While most people can walk in and hear and see what is so obviously a huge ego, the people of the Rock have been blinded.

Like someone you catch staring off into the distance while you're talking to them and they suddenly wake up and come back to the conversation; my hope is that one day the people of the Rock, too, will wake up from the distraction that Todd is and get refocused on the Holy Spirit.