Being a longtime friend of Mark Rohde, and being a Bible teacher and pastor for 4 decades, I was saddened to see how a local pastor chose to respond to Mr. Rohde’s “Bible Truth or Tradition” articles.

In undergraduate work, I took a class in Logic where I learned about “Ad hominem”, a fallacy in logic where an individual attacks their opponent’s character instead of addressing the arguments presented. Pastor Hedman chose that route — getting malicious on a personal level. That’s common when someone can’t make a valid argument based on truth. It’s similar to the fallacious attacks made on John the Baptist and Jesus (Matthew 11:18-19).

Knowing by experience how time is precious for any leader, it’s alarming how Pastor Hedman took valuable time away from pastoring his flock in order to count the # of words in a newspaper article. I wonder if he took the time to count the scriptures Mark referenced on the sovereignty of God (12), and then count the Scriptures he referenced in his response (zero!). That’s called diversion.

In Pastor Hedman’s response, he says “we need the wisdom and guidance of Creeds, Councils, Confessions, and Catholicity”, and yet he cites no specific Scriptures. That says a lot about his doctrinal priorities when he’s preached from the pulpit. In Matthew 15, Jesus confronted leaders about the traditions of men being exalted above the commandments of God. It’s still happening.

On the Garwin Valley Community Church website, their legal By-laws (hid behind a link) include adherence to the “Apostles Creed, Nicene Creed, Athanasius Creed”, and says “we commit to following and teaching the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England….we retain the English-Methodist tradition”. However, their pastor and website claim they are an “independent, non-denominational church”. The Bible calls that “hypocrisy”. It’s the NT Greek word “hupokrites”, used in that culture to refer to an actor with a mask on, playing to the crowd while covering up who they really are.

I pray Pastor Hedman chooses the path Christ taught — take the mask off, look in the mirror, get the obstruction out of his own eye, and call Mark to get face-to-face to ask for forgiveness for his un-Christian attacks. Then perhaps those two dedicated brothers-in-Christ can peacefully and scripturally discuss the sovereignty of God. Romans 15:5-6 and 1 Corinthians 1:10 say it’s doable. It’s every man’s free-will choice.