AS SBC ATTEMPTS TO BURY REVOICE AND AFFIRM ALLBERRY SSA NARRATIVE -PCA KELLER PROTEGE SCOTT SAULS PROMOTES FALSE UNITY GOING INTO DALLAS .
By Rev Thomas Littleton 6/23/2019
SBC and PCA grassroots efforts to stem the tide of false LGBT+ Christianity in their denominations are further exposing Evangelical Deep State roots and support of the movement against biblical orthodox standards of sexuality ,identity and gender.
BRIEF ERLC/TGC BACKGROUND
Joe Carter works for Acton Institute .Actons co-founder has a long history of radical gay faith activism. Carter also works for The Gospel Coalition as writer and editor and is the “Communications Director” for the SBCs Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission which is headed by controversial progressive Russell Moore. Carter’s boss at ERLC has had some problems being forthright related to the ERLC Revoice ties . Moore denied any knowledge of Revoice when questioned in the SBC 2018 Dallas annual meetings even while he defended ERLC Fellow Karen Swallow Prior who endorsed Revoice. ( Note -this writer discussed concerns over Revoice with Russell Moore the day before his denial .) Moore also ignored exposure of a key ERLC consultant Branden Polk who is both a leader and speaker at Revoice as well as his own alma mater and former employer SBTS ties to the Founder of Revoice Nate Collins.
NEW REVELATIONS OF ERLC RELATIONSHIPS TO A KEY REVOICE LEADERS
Joe Carter and ERLC Research Fellow Paul D. Miller have involvement with the Revoice “Pre- Conference ” and leadership Council member Matthew Lee Anderson .Carter’s work with Anderson has a long history while Miller works as a guest writer for just aired an interview with Anderson DURING Revoice 2019.
Matthew Lee Anderson works in leadership roles of LGBT / Gay Christian organization Spiritual Friendship .
He also works with Revoice Leadership Council with TGC affiliates Mark Yarhouse and Nate Collins
https://revoice.us/our-leadership/
Joe Carter and ERLC Research Fellow Paul Miller have several things in common besides their work with Russell Moore. Both are publically outspoken anti- Trump mercenaries writing for a variety of publications.But it is their common bond with Revoice and Spiritual Friendship Leader Matthew Lee Anderson that is most unsettling .
Millers podcast “Awkward Conversations” just hosted Anderson on June 7th .
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/awkward-conversations/id1459702697
Interview with Matthew Lee Anderson, co-founder of Mere Orthodoxy. We talk about tattoos, among other things. Matthew’s book The End of our Exploring: A Book about Questioning and the Confidence of Faith.
Paul D Miller works at Georgetown University and in the recently aired interviewed with Anderson jokes about being an “evangelical Jesuit “. Anderson and Miller discussed Anderson’s work on sexuality ,marriage and gender and the nuanced talking points on political and cultural engagement. Anderson says he seeks to speak to young Christians who find their parents “Christian Right” views abhorrent and problematic . The pair then offer a variety of personal insight into the “needs” of this disenfranchised evangelical subset and on essentially how not to be like typical Christian Conservatives. Anderson wants to help young evangelicals ” question ” their parents Christian Right views without “doubting ” their own faith. The consensus appears to be point young evangelicals to the mushy middle so their faith has relevance to the current culture. These are hardly cutting edge discussion points after TGC/ERLC have been using them for years .
WHO IS PAUL MILLER ?
Paul D Miller biography from Georgetown website says Miller ” IS a research fellow at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, a member of the advisory board for the Philos Project, and a member of the Texas Lyceum.” And notes that Miller “worked as an intelligence analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency; and served as a military intelligence officer in the U.S. Army.” Today he also works with the Atlantic Council and a variety of global think tanks and publications. No mention of Miller’s religious affiliation is made. Is he Southern Baptist ?
( photo from Churchleaders.com )
Why would the ERLC engage a former Intelligence officer turned anti-Trump political pundit as part of Southern Baptist Chief ethics and lobbying arm?
https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/00336000015aqRIAAY/paul-miller
Revoice19
ERLC Fellow Paul D. Miller interviewed (or at least chose to air) Revoice leader Matthew Lee Anderson WHILE the Revoice 2019 event was going on . SBC / TGC were burying stories exposing Revoice 2019 ties to the SBC . Only PCA related issue stories were in limited outlets. Denny Burk / CBM&W stopped talking Revoice 2019 after his mid March story on CTS President Mark Dalbey who made efforts to distance CTS from Revoice. It seems brazen that an ERLC Research Fellow is interviewing a Revoice /Spiritual Friendship key player while the SBC leaders prepare to refuse to denounce Revoice in the following weeks SBC meetings.
Given the grassroots efforts to condemn Revoice by Southern Baptist pastors like Steve Kern of Oklahoma -and the SBC leaderships denial of Kern’s resolution condemning it , Millers choice of Anderson for the June 7th interview is either a result of poor research or intentional backdoor endorsement .
MILLER /ANDERSON HISTORY
Miller also included links to the blog interview on his website . Anderson’s own website /blog is called Mere Orthodoxy where Miller is a guest writer .
http://www.pauldavidmiller.com/4-matthew-lee-anderson-on-christian-ethics-nationalism-and-tattoos/
JOE CATER ERLC /TGC LEADER’S LONG HISTORY WITH REVOICE MATTHEW LEE ANDERSON.
Before Joe Carter found his niche coordinating the messaging of the ERLC and TGC with his day time employer /Catholic libertarian think tank Acton Institute – Cater began a blog called “The Evangelical Outpost “. Current Revoice / Spiritual Friendship leader Matthew Lee Anderson was Joe Carter’s partner as “Senior Editors ”
https://web.archive.org/web/20090718220749/http://evangelicaloutpost.com:80/contributors
Contributors
Senior Editors:
Joe Carter
Joe Carter founded Evangelical Outpost in 2005. He is the web editor for First Things and an adjunct professor of journalism at Patrick Henry College. A fifteen-year Marine Corps veteran, he previously served as the managing editor for the online magazine Culture11 and The East Texas Tribune. Joe has also served as the Director of Research and Rapid Response for the Mike Huckabee for President campaign and as a director of communications for both the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity and Family Research Council. He is the co-author of How to Argue like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History’s Greatest Communicaton. Click here to read posts by Joe.
Matthew Lee Anderson
Matthew Lee Anderson founded MereOrthodoxy.com in 2005. He is currently a financial planner, and has worked as a writer, educator, and editor. As an advocate of new media, Matthew was influential in organizing the first convention for Christian bloggers. Matthew contributed a chapter to The New Media Frontier and has been published by The City. He and his wife of four years live in St. Louis, where they enjoy classical music, reading, and spending time together.
EVANGELICAL DEEP STATE
This Thirty Pieces of Silver author coined the phrase Evangelical Deep State in widely published 2017 articles.
During the height of one of the most controversial revelations prior to Revoice and just as the Revoice movement was organized and planned – The Deep State articles detailed the little known connections of Acton Institute / TGC/ ERLC and funding behind growing concerns over Social Justice distortions of the Gospel impacting evangelicals. Among those revelations was the key funding and curriculum partnerships and how that funding was being implemented on conservative , many of them TGC affiliated, seminaires across America . Anderson used his Mere Orthodoxy website to “parody ” the existence of the Deep State and feature longtime friend Joe Carter.
REVOICE LEADER ANDERSON QUICK TO DEFLECT ATTENTION OFF DETAILS .
Part One and Two of The Evangelical Deep State can be read here –
http://sbctoday.wpengine.com/is-this-the-evangelical-deep-state/
and here-
The cheeky low brow parody of Anderson featuring his friend Joe Carter can been read here –
https://mereorthodoxy.com/7-things-know-evangelical-deep-state/
This kind of effort mirrors the work of Right Wing Watch and other anti- conservative Christian groups
Anti-LGBTQ Pastor Fears An ‘Evangelical Deep State’ May Be Making The Church More Tolerant
ERLC LEADERS CARTER AND MILLER SHARE THESE COZY TIES TO REVOICE AND CONTINUE ANTI PRESIDENT TRUMP/ ANTI CHRISTIAN RIGHT RHETORIC .
Paul Miller -sample
Joe Carter -sample
PCA SCOTT SAULS KEEPS REVOICE ON LIFE SUPPORT- CELEBRATES SSA HIGH COST OF OBEDIENCE AND EAVY CROSSES .
Covenant Theological Seminary and Memorial PCA church hosting of Revoice 2018 has made the Revoice movement a front burner issue going into the PCA annual meetings in Dallas this week,
Scott Sauls is a TGC and ERLC contributor /progressive thought leader and protege’ of TGC co-founder Tim Keller. Sauls endorsed Revoice 2018 openly on its website. As the PCA annual meetings near- Sauls set out to promote a lengthy justification for Revoice and his own endorsement of it. Sauls opens his discussion with the SBC’s recent handling of the (Revoice related ) issue which was in fact only the affirmation of the Revoice Yarhouse talking points promoted by TGC since 2010 and ERLC since 2013. ( much more to this part of the story is to come)
Scott Sauls
“At the risk of speaking too soon, I thought I would share a few thoughts as my denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America, heads into its annual General Assembly gathering in Dallas (think Southern Baptist Convention, but for Presbyterians).”
“Speaking of the SBC, earlier this month our Baptist friends debated and approved a resolution regarding human sexuality and marriage. This resolution was spawned by an ongoing debate within the SBC that is similar to the one happening currently in the PCA. It’s a big conversation these days, not only for us but for the entire Church in the West.”
https://scottsauls.com/blog/2019/06/21/thoughts-on-revoice-unnecessary-division-and-the-pca/
Pressing every emotional button and calling for unity – Sauls ends his exhaustingly tedious diatribe with these words…
“So, what if we put the semantics and mortification discussions—which are indeed important discussions that should be had—inside the bigger, weightier context?”
“An easily-lost, and supremely significant reality is that the people we are talking about are denying themselves daily for the sake of Jesus. Like Greg Johnson and Stephen Moss, some of them are foregoing romantic involvement altogether because they love Jesus. In this, they join the company of the apostle Paul and of Jesus. In this, they share a certain fellowship with the angels.”
“We are also talking about people who, like the same-sex attracted Nate Collins and Johanna Finegan, pursue and enter marriage and have children with a person of the opposite sex because they love Jesus.”
“As we have these discussions, let’s also consider how we might celebrate and support these valiant, exemplary, self-denying, obedient souls in their ongoing pursuit of holiness.”
“Along the way, let’s also consider what we might learn from them.”
DESPERATELY SEEKING REVOICE VALIDATION
REVOICE CAME FROM THE MAINSTREAM OF TGC/ERLC /SBTS/CTS AND OPERATIVES OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS ARE STILL SEEKING TO KEEP IT AFLOAT
Conclusion
The SBC refusal to condemn the Revoice movement promoting “LGBT+ thriving in historic Christian tradition ( like the SBC and PCA) speaks volumes . The quiet reality is the SBC refuses to call to question the SBTS and ERLC ties to Revoice .
Now we know those ties that bind are even stronger and go to the very heart of the SBCs ERLC . They also run deep into The Gospel Coalition through it’s Chief editor Joe Carter and Scott Sauls- protege of the TGC co-founder Tim Keller . Little remains to be determined except whether grassroots efforts to expose and expel the activist “LGBT+Christian ” movement from the SBC , PCA and other historically biblical conservative groups will succeed or fail . Those in the SBC and PCA who understand what is happening in this era of LGBT+ compromise have a very long road ahead either way .
The inside Deep State effort to revoice/ rethink one of the most the black and white issues in the Word of God – proves that cultural currents, funding opportunities, and two- faced leadership have combined to form a monumental challenge to people of God, their faith, their families and their religious freedoms .
Todays ERLC and TGC employ some of the worst of the co-conspirators in this unthinkable campaign the confuse and confound the simple truth that “God made them male and female” .It proves that wisdom from the child-like faith of babes and sucklings no longer resonates in the hearts and minds of some our most self promoting Christian thinkers and leaders. The flavor and standard of the day is nuance – not the plain speech of God’s everlasting Word. SBC and PCA people need more of the Wisdom that comes from above and far less of the coordinated messengers of our in house faith pundits.
Genesis 5:
1 This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.
Psalm 8:
1 O Lord, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth,
Who have set Your glory above the heavens!
2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have [b]ordained strength,
Because of Your enemies,
That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.
thirtypiecesofsilverdotorg 