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I appreciate your candor and again agree with your assessment that some churches, particularly in those of the Reformed tradition, are sadly lacking in preaching the whole counsel of God. I would also agree that the majority of contemporary churches are stuck in the mire of a mindless religion and whose members have been deceived into thinking that they are united to Christ, due to this incipient Sandamanian "gospel". So, there we are in full agreement.

Now, as to your slight criticism of pastor Cole. From the little correspondence I have had with the man, I cannot speak with any assurance that he is guilty of what you have suggested. However, I do believe you have allowed your zeal to blind you to certain things. Pastor Cole's article was written to address a specific issue; i.e., "Christian Counseling". And it is to that issue he devoted himself. It was never meant to be a full orbed dissertation of the entirety of his ministry nor of his views on preaching. I might be prudent, if you are duly concerned about the "imbalance" you fear he might have in his preaching, that you e-mail him personally. Just click here to do so: scole@safeaccess.com.

Lastly, you again refer to the "old writers" and how they were bold in their preaching and addressed the very important issue of self-examination so that those who professed to believe on Christ could discern whether or not they actually had been united to Him by faith. Two points I think, you should bear in mind. My library contains many, many Puritan works. I am very familiar with most of the more popular writings and some of the not so well known ones. Without doubt the space which my library not is housed could be filled 10 times over with such works. However, what we must realize is that what works we have in writing are but a very small representation of all that these men preached. They are but a sampling which were considered worthy of preserving for posterity. Thus, you and I will never read the mundane sermons they preached, nor of their errors they held to, for the most part. The Holy Spirit, in regard to His book, the inspired Scriptures only chose those things which He wanted us to know.

"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen." (Joh 21:25)

Thus, it must not be assumed that what we do have available in writing is representative of every sermon and/or lecture that these men gave. Secondly... As I tried to make note of before, there is a distinct difference between the audience you are seeking to gain attention and a congregation which attends worship and hears the same man several times weekly. A Pastor often will take weeks and even months to preach through a series or a book of the Bible. This must be taken into consideration. I hope you can appreciate the uniqueness between these two situations. [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/grin.gif" alt="grin" title="grin[/img]

In truth, I think that for every "conservative" church you find where there exists a "dead orthodoxy", you will find 10 more "evan-jelly-cal" churches that are steeped in emotional "feel-good" religion. As anyone who has been in the ministry for any length of time will surely tell you, it is not one or two issues that need to be address, but all things are in need of attention. Many of us have been overwhelmed by the myriad needs of those who we have been given charge. Yes, some are in need of more expediency than others. But the greatest need is that the whole counsel of God be set forth in a clear way.