Showing posts with label Office of Watchman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Office of Watchman. Show all posts

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Some Misapplied Verses By ODMers

Read the following posts by The Protestant Pope ... hear ye, hear ye!

Ezekiel 3:17

2 Timothy 3:12

And here's another update by the Protestant Pope himself.

Even more skeletons found in Daniel Chew's closet. Truth will out!

PS: The secret lives of ODM-ers ...

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

One of These Things is not Like the Others

Do you folks remember the Sesame Street song, "One of these things is not like the others?"

It's a fond little game we play when we're younger.

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?


Now, which of these quotes belong to the label "Christian," and which of these do not?

A) Gollum, aka Mr Smeagol's preciousss - "They cursed us. Murderer they called us. They cursed us, and drove us away. And we wept precious, we wept to be so alone. And we forgots the taste of bread, the sound of trees, the softness of the wind. We even forgot our own name. My preciousss."

B) A Christian's Preciousss - "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field. Which a man having found, hid it, and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls. Who when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way, and sold all that he had, and bought it." Matthew 13:44-45

C) Daniel Chew Huicong, aka Watchman Chew's preciousss - "They criticized us. Watchman they called us. They blogged about us. Hypocrites they called us. They criticized us, and blogged about us all the way. And we wrote precious, we wrote on our blog while being alone. And we forgots the taste of love, the sound of humility, the softness of the heart. We even forgot our own name - 'Christian'. My preciousss blog, papers, book and theology. My preciousss facade before Man."

Thursday, November 12, 2009

A Tiny Note On A Narrow Mind


Note: This is a note on this post by Watchman Chew.

My friend Ivar has written an excellent post here regarding religious hypocrites. Ivar makes the excellent points that:

1. Hypocrites want to be honored by men. (Matthew 6:2).

2. Hypocrites love to pray standing in the Synagogues (and I guess Churches), and street corners. (Matthew 6:5)

3. Hypocrites want to boast of their religious duties, and tell others they are fasting (Matthew 6:16)

4. Hypocrites do not admit their own faults, but look for faults in others. (Matthew 7:5)

5. Hypocrites give a tenth, but neglect justice, mercy and faithfulness. (Matthew 23:23)

6. Hypocrites build tombs for the righteous, but denies that they themselves would have taken part in shedding the blood of the prophets. (Matthew 23:29)

7. Hypocrites honor Jesus with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him. (Mark 7:6)

In like manner, we can discern religious hypocrites from the blogosphere by the following characteristics:

(1) Religious hypocrites are desperate for recognition and want honor from Man. For example, they would appoint themselves with many offices (like author, apologist and watchman), and are desperate to be a teacher of others when they should be students of the Word;

(2) They love to pray (and blog) in full view of their followers. For example, they would pray to God for the anathematization of fellow Christians, pray to God to strike them dead and/or to send them to burn in hell forever. They would then be praised for their “discernment” and encouraged to fight the good fight of faith by fellow watch-bloggers;

(3) They love to boast about their religious duties and/or skills (e.g. watching and exposing errors, leading discipleship classes, attending violin lessons, spouting Greek words/grammar for which they have little knowledge of, etc);

(4) They do not admit their own faults, but constantly seek out the faults and errors of others (hence the office of Watchman). They abhor “watcher of watchmen” watching and exposing them, but they love to watch others. They detest advice from others suggesting that they are self-righteous and/or self-deluded;

(5) They might give a tenth of their income as tithe or a tenth of their precious time for blogging, or even a tenth of their time to publish a book so as to make a name for themselves, but neglect justice, mercy and faithfulness. We would neither hear of them visiting the orphans and widows in their afflictions, nor see them giving their lives to the mission fields in third world countries. We might read about them traveling to nice spots for holidays in the name of “mission” though;

(6) They honor Jesus with the lips (and blogs), but their hearts are far away from Him. These hypocrites are self-righteous, ostentatious, and love pre-eminence amongst Man. They are not after God’s heart, but are really craving for men’s admiration.

IMO, Ivar's post has successfully navigated between two extremes in this regard.

On one extreme is the self-righteous, self-deluded, self-perceived infallibility and parochialism of self-appointed “watchmen” and their blogs (e.g. Daniel Chew Huicong) "which litter the Internet like so many sewer pipes choked full with libel, all initially started mainly to defend some false teaching(s) or teacher(s) but which degenerates into the stinks they now are." (quote taken from Daniel Chew's post)

On the other extreme is the broadmindedness of religious syncretism and the likes of it. We hereby thank Daniel Chew for his thoughtful comments, which are perhaps better suited to describe his Watchman blog site. Typical of self-righteous, self-deluded "watchman" sites, the false teacher and watchman Daniel Chew failed to realize that he had likewise castigated all "watcher of watchmen ministries" with his recent post (cf. Daniel's comment on the Christian blogger, Tim Challies). Thanks Ivar for your excellent article.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

In Praise of Satire – A Response To Daniel Chew Huicong


Note: This post is a satirical response to this post by Daniel Chew Huicong. To show the kind of liar Daniel Chew is, here he writes, “This would be my last word on the cyber-terrorist, liar and anti-Christian watchblogger anonymously called "Antithesis".” But just two days later, he writes about “Antithesis” again. Does he even have a single iota of integrity as a self-professed Christian?

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” Matthew 23:23-28

Nope, I am not praising Watchman Chew, and I am not out of my mind. I am merely praising the art of satire.

In our struggle against the flesh and the world, nothing ever comes close to practically surfacing the sinful desires of the flesh than trials and tribulations, especially when others wrong us and slander us without cause and without truth e.g. Watchman Chew’s relentless condemnation and anathematization of a multitude of churches, pastors, elders, worship leaders, and fellow brethren-in-Christ.

What shall we do then? We can attempt to fight fire with fire, and attack those who anathemathize us even more harshly and vociferously. After all, don't we all have a right to protect ourselves and defend our reputations, especially when the venerable Watchman Daniel Chew Huicong condemned so many of us to hell fire and called us heretics? Since the truth is on our side, victory is all but assured and we can thus steamroll all opposition, can't we?

To tackle this question, we must look at what the Scripture teaches about the topic of satire and mockery. In fact, there is an entire book written to defend satire within Christian writings and polemics. The problem with the usual approach is that it doesn’t go through the head of hidebound hypocrites like Watchman Daniel Chew Huicong.

But what is “satire” according to the Bible? It is written in this book, “A Serrated Edge: A Brief Defense of Biblical Satire and Trinitarian Skylarking,”

“Satire treats the foibles of sinners with a less than perfect tenderness. “Satire is the exposure of human vice or folly through rebuke or ridicule. … It might consist of an entire book (e.g. Amos), or it can be as small as an individual ‘proverb.’” But nevertheless, if a Christian employs satire today, he is almost immediately called to account for his “unbiblical” behavior.” [1]

Hence, satire is defined as the “exposure of human vice or folly through rebuke or ridicule.” “Ridicule” would include the usage of mockery, humor, sarcasm, derision, teasing, scoffing and scorn, while “rebuke” would involve chastisement, criticism, censure, and castigation.

One biblical approach to dealing with our enemies is to follow the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of course, his use of satire and mockery:

“The disciples were worried about the effects of the Lord’s rhetoric. Did you know the Pharisees were offended when they heard this? (Mt. 15:12). Yes, I did, He replied in effect. His mission was accomplished (v. 13). The Lord attacked the scribes and Pharisees for their long robes, sanctimonious geegaws, prayer habits, tithing practices, their ways of greeting, their seating arrangements, their hypocrisies, and so on. If the Pharisees had funny hairdos, like they do on TBN, we would have heard about that too.” [2]

In replying an opponent, the satirical exposé exposes the hypocrite for who he is, warts and all. This hypocrisy would include Daniel Chew’s two-faced notion of naming a post, “In Praise for AT,” and then turning around, pretending that he is a little god, and pronouncing eternal damnation upon my soul:

“He as a Neo-Orthodox heretic is not saved. Yet, to desire for his good means to desire for his salvation from his vain way of life. Seen in this light, I pity him. His emptiness has generated only hatred in him which he spews at people like me who proclaim the truth. He has nothing to offer; no Gospel to save him from his sins and he is on the road to perdition.”

This kind of “praise” would probably be the kind of praise Daniel Chew offers to God when he sings, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow” – the utter hypocrisy and his “fair show in the flesh” is clear to those who have eyes to see.

It is not within the scope of this post to discuss Daniel Chew Huicong’s long robes and graduation gown, his sanctimonious gewgaws, prayer habits, tithing practices, his ways of greeting (for example, he would commend you as a brother-in-Christ, then nitpick on your writings, call you a heretic, and condemn you to hell like he is God Himself), his seating arrangements in church (especially when he is late for service on the Lord’s Day – his pastor would know this), his hypocrisies, and so on. If Chew had a funny, twisted smile on his face – like he does on his graduation photograph – we would have heard about that too if this were a satirical exposé.

The English Puritan, George Swinnock, writes:

Sin reigning in the heart, is oftentimes more hurtful
than when it rages in the life. Such civil people go to
hell without much disturbance, being asleep in sin.
They are so far from being awaked that they are many
times praised and commended.

Example, custom, and education, may also help a man
to make a fair show in the flesh. They may prune and lop
sin, but never rip it up by the roots. All that these can do,
is to make a man like a grave, green and flourishing on
the surface and outside, when within there is nothing but
rottenness and corruption.

One purpose of satire is to awake such “civil people” who “go to hell without much disturbance, being asleep in sin. They are so far from being awaked that they are many times praised and commended.” Being constantly praised and commended by fellow bloggers for condemning so-called heretics and churches to hell, it is little wonder that such hypocrites or fools continue to be asleep.

The Bible discussed many ways of answering a fool. Sometimes, we answer not a fool according to his folly, lest we be like him (Prov. 26:4), but “in other situations a fool must be answered according to his folly lest he become wise in his own conceits. “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit” (Prov. 26:5). In other words the Bible says that answering a fool does provides a temptation to the satirist, and so he must watch out. But not answering provides a temptation to the fool and allows him to marinate further in the juices of his own vainglory.” [3]

Indeed, the marinating juices of vainglory has got to one’s mind and soul, that it seems an almost impossible task of coating the slippery body with a crunchy, tasty breadcrumb crust of “Christ-likeness” so as to fry the fool within the oil of sanctification. Just look at what the Watchman Chew has written about himself:

“Through AT, whatever things that can be used against me has been dug out somehow, thus showing me my weak spots. Although all of AT's commentaries are outright lies, yet because he is by nature an enemy, he would endeavor to collect as much dirt as possible to smear my reputation. In this regard, I am thankful for how little he can actually find, thus requiring the manufacture of entire sets of lies in order to malign my character.”

What a self-deluded individual he is! Whatever little we have done, we do it out of our own leisure and free time. We have not even started dabbling in his appalling writings at Credo 500, his self-acclaimed “papers,” and his long blog posts – we simply do not have the time (like Daniel Chew has) to critique such unedifying “papers” and narcissistic blogging attempts. Of course, if we get paid a lucrative salary for doing it, we might just spend our precious time performing a thorough critique of all his writings. But it will not be an enjoyable task. And of course, Daniel’s assertion that we are lying is, indeed, a lie in itself (please refer to our previous post).

Daniel laments, “But whatever happens, the main thing we should remember is that faithfulness to God and His Word counts more than our reputations. Jeremiah's reputation wasn't very great in his entire life time [sic], and he was imprisoned many times for the truth. We should care less about our own reputations and more about the honor of God's name. Rather that we be despised by the world than for God to be dishonored.”

What an honorable aim in life for Daniel: to call down hell fire upon his opponents, to relentlessly pick on pastors, elders, teachers, church leaders and various denominations in order to condemn them as heretics. What do we say to Watchman Daniel Chew’s attempt at being a Watchman? This is our answer:

“Consequently, prophetic rebukes should come from seasoned prophets, from men called to the ministry of guarding those people who belong to the Lord. The work should be done by men of some age and wisdom, and not by novices, firebrands, and zealots. The work should most certainly not be done by the kind of man who practices on his mom, wife, or kids. … A man who has a need to cut others is a man who ought to be silent.” [4]

In conclusion, in our dealings with the enemy, let us seek to emulate the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us have the courage to call the charlatan for who he truly is – a hypocrite. Towards a hypocrite who demands the Matthew 18 methodology in approaching a brother-in-Christ when we deal with him, while he himself indulges in calling down hell fire upon his opponents without ever bothering to even contact them, we would plead for the use of satire as laid out in the Word of God. God will judge in the end, and His judgment will be perfectly just according to the sins committed. May we learn therefore how to desire the ultimate good for our enemies, even through the use of biblical satire. Amen.

References

[1] Douglas Wilson, A Serrated Edge: A Brief Defense of Biblical Satire and Trinitarian Skylarking (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2003), p. 12, quoting Leland Ryken et al, eds., Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1998), p. 762.

[2] Ibid., 101

[3] Ibid., 103

[4] Ibid., 104-5.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Watchman Daniel Chew Says God Appointed Him!

Watchman Daniel Chew Huicong’s effort to discredit, slander, and destroy Pastor Joseph Prince’s reputation and ministry has resulted in almost one thousand comments on Chew’s personal blog.

I will not dwell further on his asinine post, but I would like to focus upon his most recent reply to a poster called Staub1212.(comment dated 14 March 2009 12:44AM)

The following is an abstract of the conversation:

Staub1212: Daniel, your proclamation of who is going to hell and who is condemned is frightening.

Watchman Chew: Really? Do you believe that non-Christians are going to hell if they continue to reject Christ? If so, then I think you should have a good look in the mirror. Your proclamation of who is going to hell (non-believers) and who is condemned (non-believers) is frightening.

Watchman Chew here makes a deliberate logical fallacy – a false analogy.

Staub1212 commented on Chew's perennial efforts in calling down fire and brimstone upon PROFESSING CHRISTIANS. Chew appointed himself as watchman, and then goes around judging who is saved and who is unsaved.

Here Chew attempted to retort Staub1212 by making a “judgment” analogy with PROFESSING UNBELIEVERS.

If someone claims that one is a Christian, WHO ARE YOU DANIEL CHEW HUICONG TO CALL THEM REPROBATES OR UNSAVED? You may suspect a person to be a false believer, but how dare you pronounce judgment upon a fellow brother or sister in Christ, calling down eternal damnation and reprobation upon this person?

Are you thinking that you are God?

On the other hand, unbelievers do profess themselves as non-Christians, and it is rational and reasonable to judge that these unbelievers are – unbelievers. At least for now, these are unbelievers, and that is what they claim to be.

But the most exciting comment from Daniel has yet to be displayed.

Perusing the conversation between Staub1212 and Watchman Chew a little further:

Staub1212: Be careful Daniel about how you "appoint yourself" as one to watch the watchmen

Watchman Chew: I do not appoint myself. God is the only one who appoints a person. If you have a problem with that, find God.

This is it! Do we need anymore evidence that Chew is probably mentally ill? Chew, plainly and clearly, makes the following proposition:

“I do not appoint myself. God is the only one who appoints a person. If you have a problem with that, find God.”

Chew claims the following:

1.He did not appoint himself as Watchman;

2. God did; and

3. “If you have a problem with that, find God,” which can be interpreted as, “If you do not believe that, then look for God and ask Him.”

Chew appointed himself as Watchman Chew. Then he turns around and claims that God had appointed him!

Logically speaking, this is called a bare assertion (which is a logical fallacy. Period.). Anyone in the mortuary or the mental hospital can claim that God “appointed” him as whatever (e.g. Pope, Watchman, Archangel Michael etc).

However, according to shrinks, this is clinically called visual and/or auditory hallucinations which occur in patients with mental problems like schizophrenia or paranoid delusion. It seldom occurs in patients with Asperger syndrome, but it is not considered very rare, especially if one is on medications.

Questions for Watchman Chew-The-Appointed-One

Watchman Daniel Chew Huicong, for Pete's sake, if God appointed you, was your Pastor Paul Goh there to witness your ordination as Watchman?

Were photographs taken with, say, a graduation gown-like thingy and a fatuous smile?

Did God appear on those photographs?

Most importantly, is Pastor Paul Goh and the elders from CERC under your spiritual "watching" as well?

Hear ye, hear ye, Watchman-Apostle-Pope Daniel Chew Huicong claims that God came down to earth, and anointed him as grand master Watchman!

“This is my beloved Watchman; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him.”

- Memoirs of Watchman Chew

PS: Dear Daniel, this is my last question for today, "What medicine are you on?"

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Threefold Office of the Venerable Watchman Daniel Chew Huicong – Prophet, Pope, and Punisher



Blogging: Never before have so many people with so little to say said so
much to so few.
The venerable Watchman Chew has written a brand new post on Hebrews 13:17. Little did he know that this will indict him further as Pope, God, and Watchman. What do we call this? It’s called backfiring – backfired by his immense hypocrisy and pretention. Let us examine his short post. (This is not a verse by verse commentary of Pope Daniel Chew’s writings.)

Chew: “I am NOT arguing that we should rebel against our leaders nor am I am arguing for forcing our personal preferences down the throats of church leaders and expecting everybody to conform to our idea of orthodoxy and orthopraxy. It is expected that my enemies would slander and libel me as stating any of such errors, but this is totally not the case, and I disavow believing any of these errors.”

Oh yes, oh yes, Watchman Chew reminds us that we shouldn’t rebel against our leaders, and not to force our personal preferences down the throats of church leaders. This he does extremely well via calling down hell fire and brimstone upon those who disagree with him (all of whom are church leaders), anathematizing those who differ from him in theological views (all of whom are church leaders), and by criticizing pastors, elders, churches, church organizations and fellow bloggers for their differing theological views.

And yes, the venerable Watchman Chew does not rebel against “our leaders.” He only anathematizes them to eternal damnation and hell fire. That’s all.

What Chew Does Not Say

1) Watchman Chew is Pope and Apostle

Chew: “This line of argument is better known by its "sacred" form: "Thou shall not touch the Lord's anointed!" That Heb. 13:17 is not against criticism of churches, church leaders, Christian organizations and entire denominations can be easily deduced from Scripture.”

Oh yes, oh yes, I suppose by careful exegeses of relevant texts, we can deduce that we are called by Scripture to pronounce anathemas upon those we criticize, appoint ourselves as “watchmen” and pretend that we can decree anyone we “like” to eternal damnation and reprobation.

Chew: “The context in Hebrews already gave us one solution to this problem as it talks about Christian leaders who are keeping watch over our souls, and of speaking the Word of God. Therefore, those who are not keeping watch over our souls (in the sense of shepherding it) but are instead lording over the flock, and those who do not speak the Word of God, cannot be considered true Christian leaders (Modus tollens).”

What? Modus tollens of what proposition?

If P, then Q.

If P = Leaders teach the Word,

Then Q = They are true Christian leaders.
Modus tollens is:

If P, then Q.
¬Q
Therefore, ¬P.

Watchman Chew is perhaps saying, “They are NOT true Christian leaders, therefore these leaders do NOT teach the Word.” So, by using modus tollens here, he makes a bare assertion i.e. that these leaders are “NOT true Christian leaders.” That is, not Q, therefore not P.

Another formulation is as follows:

If P = They are true Christian leaders,

Then Q = Leaders teach the Word.

Ah, this looks better, doesn’t it? If P, then Q; modus tollens would be:

"These leaders do NOT teach the Word, therefore they are NOT true Christian leaders."

Again, there would be much difficulty in accepting the Watchman’s formulation without further definitions and discussion.

What do you mean by the clause “teach the Word?” Do you mean an infallible interpretation of the Word, with the assumption that true Christian leaders teach the correct interpretation of the Word? If so, with so many Christian leaders out there within the orthodox and evangelical realm teaching so many different interpretations, all of them couldn’t be TRUE Christian leaders. John F. MacArthur and John Bunyan cannot be both true Christian leaders, because they both differ in some areas of interpretation of the Word, and two differing interpretations cannot be both true. Either MacArthur or Bunyan is a true Christian leader, but not BOTH. Is that what Watchman Chew is teaching here with his “modus tollens” formulation?

Furthermore, if the Watchman judges as to who is the “true Christian leader” according to their (the teachers’) interpretation of God’s Word, doesn’t it then suggest that the Watchman has access to the infallible or “correct” interpretation of the Word of God? This makes the Watchman Chew an evangelical Pope.

Isn’t this what the Watchman Daniel Chew Huicong has insinuated all along in his blogs? That “I am right, and you are wrong?” That “I know the truth, and the other leaders are in error or heretical?”

Chew: “We are exhorted in Scripture to judge and discern false teachers and false "christs" (1 Jn. 4:1; Jude 1:4), and such people will indeed enter the church (Acts 20: 29-30, 1 Jn.2 :18). We can see such episodes in the narrative of the early churches most especially seen in Paul's strong denunciation of the Judaizers in the epistle to the Galatians, and most certainly the Judaizers were calling themselves Christians, and Christian teachers and leaders at that!”

How Chew extrapolates those verses to his practice of pronouncing decrees of reprobation, anathemas, and in fact, calling ME (and my friends) a son of Satan, is most bewildering.

Furthermore, the fact that Chew had expressed the same or similar spiritual authority as the Apostle Paul means that Chew does think that he IS an apostle in the likeness of Paul of Tarsus, especially in the way he reiterates ad nauseam how the Apostle (and hence, Chew) had pronounced anathemas upon the Judaizers of old.

2) Watchman Chew is Prophet and Punisher of God

Chew: “To a certain extent, such has often been the case in the early church and the history of the church. Criticism and charges of heresy etc were often made by leaders within the institutional Church.”

In the early Church, charges of heresy were not made by self-appointed Watchmen acting independently, apart from the supervision of church bishops, elders, leaders or pastors. Heresy charges and trials were never made and decided upon in the early Church by lay individuals. There were events called church councils. There were proper administrative procedures guided by Scripture, orderly manners whereby charges of heresy were brought up to the appropriate church leadership, studied intensely by spiritual leaders and scholars, and then decided upon – not by self-appointed individuals with large egos – but by godly ordained men and spiritual leaders recognized by the Church.

Chew: “When one looks through the Scriptures and the historical record of the Church, one finds quite a few people who are not church leaders in the proper sense of the term. Old testament prophets like Amos were not of the priestly order for example, Amos being a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs (Amos 7:14). In church history, Peter Waldo was certainly not a church leader, while during the Reformation era, besides Luther, Zwngli and Calvin and maybe a few others, almost none of the non-Anglican reformers were ever Christian leaders until they started preaching and planting churches. An extreme example of such would be the Baptist preacher John Bunyan, who became a pastor simply by preaching and planting a church as people turned to Christ through his preaching. Yet he was never seminary trained or ordained in his entire life. This view is therefore not biblical and in error.”

The examples given by Watchman Chew are fraught with difficulties. Amos was an Old Testament prophet communicating the word of God to His people. Is Chew insinuating that he, likewise, hears God directly and communicates His infallible Word to His people? Are the Watchman’s words infallible like Prophet Amos’? Should the Watchman Chew act like he’s some Old Testament prophet pronouncing curses and damnations upon others?

Peter Waldo was accused of heresy and excommunicated, but as far as history goes, he did not pronounce curses, anathemas or damnations upon others. So what’s the Watchman’s point? That Peter Waldo’s charge of heresy justifies the Watchman Daniel Chew’s pronouncement of curses and damnations upon others (non sequitur)?

Chew says, “ … almost none of the non-Anglican reformers were ever Christian leaders until they started preaching and planting churches.”

This is again a non sequitur. Which “Christian leader” – be it Bunyan, Calvin, or Zwingli – was born a Pope, Bishop, Pastor, Elder or Deacon? All were “laity” prior to ordination or entry to “clergy-hood.” So what’s the Watchman’s point? That the fact that clergy was laity before becoming clergy justifies the Watchman Daniel Chew’s pronouncement of curses and damnations upon others?

Furthermore, John Calvin was involved in the indictment and burning of Michael Servetus, so in the tradition of “Calvin,” Watchman Daniel Chew Huicong is justified in his pronouncement of curses and damnations upon others? Should we then be grateful that he didn’t burn his enemies and “heretics” to death? Oh, how great thou art! How great is thine compassion, that thou wouldest spare us from thy wrath on the stake!

3) Watchman Chew Signs Church Membership Agreement So As To Disagree With The Leaders?

Chew: “To follow God's Word even in defiance of the dictates of any Christian leader is never a violation of Heb. 13:17, if we are indeed following God's Word and the leader is not. If however, both are within the bounds of Christian liberty, then we should of course obey our leaders in that respect.”

When Christians join a church as members, they sign a membership agreement stating that they will agree with the church’s teachings, obey their spiritual leaders, and at least acquiesce to their teachings. When Chew signs such a membership agreement, he is stating that he will do the aforementioned. If for any reasons you feel that the leaders are in error, and you cannot acquiesce to their doctrine, why then did you sign the membership agreement?

Is that a lack of integrity or willful prevarication? Is the membership agreement written in a tongue you do not understand? Did the leaders deliberately hide their convictions from you?

If you disagree and if you cannot acquiesce to the leader’s teachings, then simply refuse to join as member. Who is coercing you to join?

Conclusion

We have seen in some detail the teachings and the possible abuses of Heb. 13:17. May we therefore learn to properly apply this verse and have a heart to avoid pronouncing anathemas, eternal damnations and curses upon those we deem as being doctrinally in error. Most of all, let us acquire a spirit of humility, knowing that our interpretation of Scripture is not infallible like the Pope-cum-Watchman Daniel Chew Huicong. Let us refrain from pejorative comments and judgments like “Anathema Sit!” Amen.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Watchman Chew Is Watching You!

I came across this hilarious post when I was enjoying the Puritan-Reformed fellow’s antics on his blog. (Update: Watchman Chew has since deleted his previous post, but he seems to have forgotten that the post is replicated in his personal blog diary here. Enjoy it before he deletes the evidence AGAIN!)

It seems that he has an official name-card.

He is not a pastor, elder, deacon, bishop, archbishop, or the pope (I think you would have guessed).

But he has an important office in the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This office puts him above all other offices. And his responsibilities are great and grievous.

No, he is not just a pastor.

No, he is not just the pope.

He watches over all pastors, elders, deacons, bishops, archbishops, and the pope himself.

Daniel Chew is the Watchman. More specifically, Watchman Chew.

A commentator on the post of his (by the handle of “MarkBark”) wrote:

Dear Watchman Chew (author AND apologist as well),

Your humble commentator here acknowledges your spiritual authority in pronouncing oracles against those whom you deem as heretics and deviants-in-Christ.

Watchman Chew (can I call you WC for short?), yours is a position of great responsibilities. As the uncle of Spiderman (in Spiderman fame) has said, "with great talents come great responsibilities."

So, WC, may you be encouraged as a Watchman to watch over and guard the universal church of God against deviant pastors, elders, bishops, and archbishops from every denomination, church and diocese on this planet.

What an awesome responsibility, WC!

yours-in-agreement,
Watchman of Watchmen,
Mark B.

In response, Watchman Chew (the most reverend, most high) pronounced a warning (ex-cathedra) to our friend MarkBark:

“I exhort you to repent of your pride and turn to God in humility for forgiveness of sins, otherwise I can tell you that you will face the wrath of God when Christ comes again, and contrary to what some may believe, it is NOT a pleasant thing. While you still have time, and while it is today, repent of your prideful attitude, name-calling and rebellion against God (Heb. 3:7-11), and do not spurn the kindness of God towards you.”

Oh, hide us from the wrath of Watchman Chew!

Oh, thou art most holy, Watchman Chew!

Oh, thou wouldst grant us mercy, thou most reverend Watchman Chew!


On retrospection, I have realized something concerning watchmen.

Watchmen like to watch over everybody else, but they abhor anyone watching them.

Watchmen watch over even the writings and pronouncements of the Pope, but he himself is above all such “watching.”

In other words, these watchmen put themselves above the Pope in terms of spiritual authority and office.

They watch over the pastors, elders, deacons, bishops, archbishops, and the pope himself, but nobody is supposed to watch over the watchmen.

Best of all, watchmen are self-appointed.

They are appointed by their conceited, narcissistic, vainglorious pride. And who are we to disagree?

But I have given myself a dreadful responsibility.

I would be watching over these watchmen, including the most reverend Watchman Chew.