[ Click here to go back to the main page ]

Dan Betzer and the EPs

September 9, 2008
Dear Dan Betzer,

A while ago Dan, you wrote to me at my web site and said that you "read [my] article with interest." Nothing else. Neither pro or con. Nothing.

I hope you read this article with even more interest than the other one. This article has nothing to do with you and me. Your recent actions have caused me to wonder about you and God. In fact, they have caused me to wonder about the entire Executive Presbytery of the Assemblies of God. That is, if you are representative of the leadership there, is it any wonder that the AG is lost and wandering dangerously down "the broad path that leads to destruction and many there be that go in thereat"?

I still remember purchasing a set of "Dan and Louie" tapes from a traveling evangelist in Minot, North Dakota many years ago. The reason we purchased them was rather simple. The evangelist said they contained nearly all the classic Bible stories and that you conveyed them in such a way -- with your humorous sidekick Louie -- that our sons would never forget them. And it was important to us that they remember all their Bible stories and the lessons that they each held for us as Christians. Finally, with you enjoying such a fabulous reputation as a Gospel preacher, we gladly paid what was a hefty price for us at the time.

So, imagine my excitement when I learned that you were going to be a guest speaker at CBC. All I had to do was walk across campus from my office, plop down in a front row seat, and I would get to hear the great Dan Betzer live and in person!

Instead of hearing a Scripture-laced sermon about how rewarding it is to serve God despite the trials that may await a minister or missionary of the Gospel (this being your only audience at CBC), I heard the following: First, you said "I'm not even sure what ministry is anymore." Second, I heard you, very humorously for the unlearned, portray Moses as a tottering old fool just before Israel entered the Promised Land. This is an exceptionally loose interpretation of Scripture for an EP to be making in front of hundreds of Bible college students! God very explicitly records of Moses -- at the time of his death -- that "his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated." Deuteronomy 34:7. And finally, you bragged about bringing an adult alligator right into your Sunday school class of elementary-aged school children. Had it come across as how important it was to you to get the children to pay attention to God's Word in Sunday school, I might have overlooked the fact that you placed these children in great danger (What if the tethers on the alligator had snapped? What if the alligator holders had slipped or been knocked over by the alligator's extremely powerful tail?). Of course, you are Dan Betzer and had thought of all these things and had them under control. I'm sure you even asked all the kids' parents if it was okay to bring a live alligator into the church where their kids were. I'm assuming all this on your behalf because you never bothered to mention it in your "sermon." No, what really bothered me about this last thing was that your words and tone of voice came across like some old man trying to prove to a bunch of college kids that he still "had it."

What bothered me the most was an EP telling Bible college students that he didn't even know what ministry was anymore. I have thought for several years on that and kept asking myself, "Why would Dan Betzer say that? Why would someone as senior in the AG not affirm what these kids felt they were called to do? Why would he throw a question into their minds about whether there was even such a thing as ministry? Or that it could be defined? And why would he sound so indifferent and bored with ministry?"

I never could resolve those questions until I read a quote from you the other day. If I remember correctly, it was right off your own web site! You said, "IsnÕt it a shame that the world loves Jesus but they don't love the church?" First, this quote is false logic at face value. Jesus told his disciples, "If you love me, keep my commandments." Do you even remember that this verse is in the Bible Dan? Consequently, the world--being defined as sinners or those not Christian--cannot love Jesus since they aren't keeping his commandments by definition. Secondly, they are rejecting Jesus' suffering and death on the Cross. Finally, your quote happens to be awfully close to the title of a book by a New Age author named Dan Kimball and the title of the book is "They Like Jesus but not The Church." In this book, Kimball interviews a homosexual girl. He asks her to explain how come she loves Jesus but doesn't love the church. Sorry. Homosexuals don't love Jesus. They are in direct rebellion of his work at both Creation and the Cross. NOTE: just in case you happen to be quoting from Steve McCranieÕs book "Love Jesus Hate Church," that would be just as bad since Mr. McCranie is an Emerging Church proponent. Same thing as New Age.

Dear Homosexual: Jesus does love you. And so do I. But, He won't let you into Heaven unless you accept the fact that He died on the Cross to pay for your sin of homosexuality. Just like He died to pay for my sins. Accept this gift and your life will be changed for the better forever. Please don't stay trapped in homosexu-hell-ity. It is not who you are or the way you were born. That is a lie from the pit of Hell. See the Gospel of John, Chapter 3, verse 16. "Whosoever" includes you!

So Dan, why are you quoting from this heretical book? Perhaps you really don't know what ministry is any more? Perhaps you are following authors like Dan Kimball, Robert Schuler, Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, Bill Hybels, Earl Creps, Brian MacLaren, and others rather than the Author of Life, Jesus Christ, the Son of the Almighty God?

As we say in the United States Air Force Dan, you'd better check your six o'clock! Is that the Devil pushing you from behind through the Gates of Hell?

Still love those "Dan and Louie" tapes, Dan! And I love you as a fellow human being. I pray that you start remembering the lessons from some of the tapes you recorded back in the day real, quick-like. The reason all those folks werenÕt allowed on the Ark with Noah would be a great place to start.

So... are all the EPs just like you?

Brother Mike



[ Click here to go back to the main page ]