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Open letter to Mark Ashton,pastor of Christ Community Church(Omaha, NE)
Intro
On November 1st I was contacted by a member of Christ Community Church, an Omahachurch of more than 3,000 pastored by Mark Ashton, to see if I was aware that posters of Pope John Paul II and Mother Theresa were adorned on the church walls. I was not. I went to theofficial church website to confirm this news. Just one day earlier, Christians across the world celebrated Reformation Day to honor the menand women who risked their lives and reputation to say Roman Catholic gospel was dead wrong.The timing could not have been more ironic. News that a Protestant church would pullsomething like this on Reformation Sunday spread across the blog world. But I wanted moreinformation.I wanted to learn more about the denomination (The Christian and Missionary Alliance) and togain more insight into the doctrinal position of the church. I listened to Mr. Ashton’s teachingsand read his books. For a short time, I opened this blog up for comments on the issue. This pastweek has given me much time to think through the span of implications involved in his recentdecisions and listen to Ashton’s public response to the criticism (Nov. 12, 2006). I, too, am readyto go public with my conclusions.If I had personal conflicts with Mark Ashton, one of the leaders of Christ Community Church,or the Christian and Missionary Alliance, I would have dealt with that conflict on the personallevel. I do not. My concern was and is with printed materials, and because they were publishedpublicly (on banners and on the Internet), I have chosen to address my concerns publicly as well.I have also chosen to make these concerns public because the issues strike at the heart of someimportant questions for any church:
How do we define the most perilous spiritual dangers? What isthe role of a pastor in confronting those dangers? Beyond the creed, how important is the gospel message? What can we expect from a church where the gospel is central to every ministry decision?
And certainly these are of public concern because the vision, priorities and actions of ChristCommunity Church impact the entire city of Omaha and its churches.My prayer is that Christ Community Church be – under the direction of Mark Ashton, itspastors, elders and denomination (The Christian and Missionary Alliance) – a Cross-boastingchurch where believers are fed from the depth of the gospel and protected from false gospels.Any attempt to make me into an enemy of the church is unjustified (Galatians 4:16).It is from this conviction that I am compelled to write, not out of fondness for controversy. Theconclusion of these letters is left to the conscience of the reader. I welcome all comments,questions or clarifications for the sake of accuracy.
Tony S. Reinke
Omaha, NEThursday, November 16, 2006
http://spurgeon.wordpress.com
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