(All Scripture references are from the KJV unless otherwise stated. I do not advocate "KJV Only", but rather "KJV Preferred".)
(Matthew 23:9 forbids calling people on earth their "father". This I struggle with, because how else am I to honor Douglas Crawshaw SR? Thus, the asterisks. I do not deny he is so, it is only because of Matthew 23:9. [Besides, when Jews use asterisks to refer to God, as in "G*d", they're not ashamed of him, they don't want to use his name in vain. Now, that's not what I'm doing here. I'm just trying to obey Matthew 23:9. Correct me if I'm wrong.])
I wanted to talk about something that's been on my mind for quite a while, and it's going to eat at me unless I let it out publicly, so here goes.
Firstly, I profess faith in Jesus Christ. That's not what's been eating at me. I'm gladly willing to share my faith with anyone and everyone. In fact, I highly encourage everyone to look at my Christianity page at http://www.thesweepingdeveloper.com/christianity.php
Secondly, for about ten years now, my faith has been shaken by the wild west of the Internet. Years earlier than that, I started having intrusive blasphemous thoughts, and I greatly feared that I was going to Hell. This began my taking Christianity and The Bible seriously. Anyway, this really got into high gear with some particular extreme preaching, basically saying that practically every denomination and every preacher is false and leads people to Hell. There are many small groups of people who say this, and I just came across one of them (whose name is Darwin Fish of A True Church, it took me years to finally reveal who he is, but please read on).
Anyway, this led me to stick my nose to the grindstone and read the Bible for myself, because I wanted to really find out for myself. That, and I wanted my discovery of theology to be MY OWN, and not that of the likes of Darwin Fish, even if we're both in agreement. Also, see Psalm 118:8, Jeremiah 17:5, and James 2:9, all of which are in this post, and all of which condemn partiality.
I indeed found many false teachers within today's Christian world. And yes, false teachers (Galatians 1:8-9) and their followers (John 10:5) are going to Hell because they don't follow Christ (Acts 4:12), the Word of God (John 1:1, John 1:14, I John 1:1-2, I John 5:7, Revelation 19:13). And yes, there were the obvious ones like Kenneth Copeland, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, and the like. And there are obvious false churches, like Catholicism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism, and the like. But upon investigation, I found heresy in Billy Graham (look up “Billy Graham Denies Christ”, it shows him speaking a heresy with Robert Schuller on Hour of Power), Dave Ramsey (advocating building up treasure for yourself), James Dobson (advocating self-esteem), Greg Laurie (I've read his study Bible, it's full of 'God didn't really mean that' stuff), John Calvin and his followers (advocating limited atonement), J. Vernon McGee (examples of his heresies include age of accountability and twisting of Hebrews 10:26), and many others. Those are just some of the people whose stuff I've examined.
Then there's D*d. First, an introduction: As you've guessed, his name is Douglas Crawshaw Sr., and he, at the time, preaches at First Baptist Church of Waverly, KS. He and this church are American Baptist, the denomination I grew up in, which I later renounced (Click here for what I've learned about ABC-USA).
I know what you're thinking: You're not really going to expose (Ephesians 5:11) YOUR OWN D*D, are you? Don't you believe in honoring him (Exodus 20:12)?
On the first question, no, this is not meant to be an official exposure. I'm just sharing my main thoughts on a couple of sermons, and letting Scripture speak for itself. There are other sermons of his that seem to differ from plain Scripture, I'll talk about those in brief at the end of this piece. If this actually ends up exposing him as not teaching the Truth, then so be it.
On the second question, yes I do. I would never intentionally, personally say a harsh word towards him. After all, didn't Jesus repeat this verse to the Pharisees:
Mat 15:4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
(Update: I saw the Greek word for "curseth". It means to "revile". Young's Literal Translation renders this as to "speak evil of", the Hebrew of Exodus 21:17, the source text Jesus was using, renders "curseth" as to "make light of", YLT renders that as "reviling")
Yet, there is also this verse:
Jas 2:9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
(respect to persons meaning "partiality")
Despite trying to avoid partiality, in light of Matthew 15:4, do you see why I'm not so quick to denounce d*d's teachings as false, even if Scripture proves it true? However let me say this: He is not alone in these teachings. I have heard these teachings from many mainline pastors. So if Scripture proves d*d a false teacher, then Scripture also proves similar pastors as heretics.
Now, no one must ever simply denounce someone because someone else said they were false. Again, James 2:9.
On the same token, no one must ever simply take them at their word because they're family (or an extreme preacher), says the following:
Jer_17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
Psa 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
So, now that all that's out of the way, here's one thing I found in D*d's teaching, which since March 2020, has been posted on YouTube. In fact, it's the very first sermon in the series.
D*d started posting video sermons since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that was exactly what he was talking about in his first sermon. The sermon was based on Luke 13:1-9. The idea was that many Christians say awful things right after a disaster. "Here are some of the worst offenders:"
- "They didn't deserve this."
- "It's part of God's plan."
- "They're in a better place."
- "It's punishment for the sins of our nation. / It's a reflection of how far we've fallen away from God."
I take absolutely no issue with the notion of not saying empty words to a hurting soul right after a tragedy. Does not the Golden Rule apply here?
Mat 7:12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
Speaking from personal experience, during hard times, one's mental RAM is drained. Any one of these things Christians say after a disaster would only serve as salt to the wound of the hurting. Sometimes, the best way to comfort someone is to let them grieve, and in their own way.
Now, the issue I do take is when D*d explains that God doesn't will, intend, or plan on, disaster. Here are some actual quotes from his sermon:
“Excuse me? If something bad or good happens, then God always intends it to happen? What about Sandy Hook Elementary? And Parkland High School? And this whole worldwide coronavirus pandemic? God willed these things to happen?”
“Evil and suffering are part of God's plan? Hello! Madness, mayhem, and murder are never part of God's plan. Does God have a plan for your life? I believe so. But is God going to orchestrate a Murder Death Kill crisis as part of His plan for your life? Is that who we worship and serve?”
“I do believe that God judges nations, churches, people. But do you really think that a good, beautiful, and true God would raise up a shooter to kill children to make us repent or to condemn a specific sin? Do you really think that God honestly and truly sent this worldwide coronavirus pandemic as a way to punish a lost and wayward humanity people like whom Jesus said 'don't know the right hand from their left'...Acts of God are not hurricanes and murders and pandemics. Acts of God are love, compassion, and mercy...Let me repeat: Acts of God are not hurricanes and murders and rapes and disasters. Acts of God are love, compassion, and mercy.”
Now, before I was more familiar with the Bible, I would totally agree. Why would God be responsible for school shootings, or 9/11, or Pearl Harbor, or the Challenger Explosion, or COVID-19, or even the insurrection of January 6, 2021? In fact, many others would say the same thing.
But what does the Scripture say?
Job 2:10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
("evil" being "calamity", not moral evil)
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
("evil" being "calamity", not moral evil)
Isa 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise [Christ]; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
God causes everything. He causes the Kansas City Chiefs to win their Super Bowls, He causes a TV doctor to make me feel like I might have a heart attack (in a good way), and He also causes 9/11, Pearl Harbor, January 6, the Challenger explosion, The Great Depression and Recession, COVID, Hamas to attack Israel, and yes, even school shootings.
Finally, what other teachings of D*ds do I take issue with (which, as I will show, is not unique to him, but rather common amongst many preachers)? It's mainly issues of how literal and how far we are to take Scripture, especially difficult parts of Scripture. For example, the teaching of "turning the other cheek":
Mat 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Mat 5:40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
Mat 5:41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
Mat 5:42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
Many people have said that this doesn't mean "becoming a doormat". D*d has said this too, many times. On September 13, 2020, D*d said the following about Matthew 5:38-42:
Now Jesus is obviously using some hyperbole here. So Jesus is not saying that we should become doormats and let people just walk over us. He's not saying, women, that you should just stay there and take it when a man is beating you. He's not saying that we have to allow ourselves to stay in a situation that is harmful to us.
Firstly, I don't single d*d out for this interpretation of Matthew 5. He's not alone in this. Many people would come to the same conclusion, as would the notion that God doesn't cause disasters. The problem is that they're both heresy.
As for the latter doctrine, this is why that is heresy: Didn't not verse 39 of the "turn the other cheek" passage clearly say "resist not evil"? Isn't fighting back "resisting"? Now, don't get me wrong. Pay attention: I do NOT condone, encourage, nor accept, abuse of any kind, by man or woman. Such abuse violates I Peter 3:7, Ephesians 2:5, and the like.
However, the Word of God is the Word of God. To say that Jesus is not saying that women (or men) should just take it when someone is beating you is twisting Scripture! (similar to Proverbs 30:6)
Am I saying that the victim (woman or man) should never ask for help? Of course not! Jesus certainly never said that you can't seek help. There is certainly a time to seek help (see Deuteronomy 22:25-27 and Ecclesiastes 3:1). In the Matthew 5 passage, Jesus is simply saying "do not resist". If that means take abuse, then take abuse. I'm sorry, the Scripture is clear.
I am willing to be corrected if I am wrong in any of this. (Proverbs 6:23)
That's pretty much all I got. (I Corinthians 13:9). Don't take my word for it. Look it up yourself. (Acts 17:11) Just remember: Trust Jesus, the Word of God, for He is the only one who can save you from the fires of Hell.
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