A BRIEF LOOK AT TIM KELLER’S METEORIC RISE IN GLOBAL CHRISTIANITY. WHERE HE CAME FROM- WHO MADE HIS CAREER- AND WHERE HIS LEGACY WILL CONTINUE TO TAKE MANY IN THE CHURCH.

By Rev Thomas Littleton

5/19/2023

Photo from TGC memorial to Tim Keller

(This author confirming that we join the saints in praying for Kellers family and his very sad illness and death.)

KELLER’S MINISTRY ORIGINS AND SAD LEGACY

Christians seldom know where their Christian celebrity preachers come from.

In Kellers case- his meteoric rise from obscurity in 2008 came from the powers behind the Christianity Today machine and Lausanne operatives promoting his book The Prodigal God.

KELLER WAS EMERGENT -TGC WAS HIS VEHICLE OF INFLUENCE ON YOUNG PASTORS.

Keller was actually part of the Emergent Movement in a series of events and curriculum called “Mission Shift” with Brian Mclaren, Doug Hirsh, J D Greear, Ed Stetzer and other progressives.

By 2010 He was a keynote at Lausanne South Africa and soon dubbed “the new John Stott”- even speaking at Stott’s North American memorial. The Gospel Coalition (TGC) was he and D.A. Carson’s outlet for progressive Christianity straight into the heart of the reformed camp via TEDS CAMPUS / TGC offices and the “Center for Transformational Churches”. TGC hosted huge conferences for pastors and church staff since its 2006 founding and maintained a massive media footprint via its website- blogs and book promotions.

TGC was admitted to be a progressive political organization founded to influence how Christians vote by Colin Hansen its main editor in an ABC interview in 2017. However the deceptive mask for TGC has remained it’s espousal of orthodox “Calvinist/Westminister Confessional Reformed Theology”. TGC/Keller / John Piper / D A Carson etc. used the momentum of Hansen’s writings and labeling of a “Young Restless and Reformed” generation to launch TGC. This generation of young progressive -post modern minded Christians were wanting to escape the ” Moral Majority” ” identites of their parents and grandparents.TGC took advantage of the youthful agnst behind this social/ faith/ political identity crisis to promote a Kuypersim based a “Neo Calvinist” emergent social and political movement. Most who follow it to this day believe it to be an historic, biblical theological movement. TGC marketing has been very successful in achieving its progressive and political goals.

THE TGC CONTAMINATION OF SEMINARIES

The TGC team also helped Oikonomia Network and Greg Forster (out of offices at TEDS) -invade our seminaries and churches with the false “Faith and Work” socialist economics “for the common good”. Keller launched his own Center for Faith and Works at Redeemer Church pushing the social justice/socialst economics. Keller and others in the Faith and Work circles espouse made up ideologies like “Theology of Vocation ” and “Theology of Cities”. Kern Family Foundation has funded much of the invasion of this error and likely funds TGC – but this has never been confirmed nor has the other funding been revealed behind TGC.

KELLER’S SOCIAL GOSPEL AND DIVISIVE FALSE TEACHINGS ON LGBTQ

Keller worked through RTS Orlando in 2009 helping lauch “Seeking the Welfare of the City ” social justice community development “driven model which is also the basis for his “City to City ” planting organization. This city focus is part of the Lausanne /Mission American Coalition’s “City Reaching” strategy which is custom made to fit the United Nations and globalist vision now called Agenda 2030. POLIS INSTITUTE was born out of this RTS Orlando effort which also included CRU-formerly Campus Crusade. POLIS was later to reveal that it is a project of the Institutes for Advanced Studies in Culture ( more on that in a moment ) and funded by Kern Family Foundation. The Seeking the Welfare/ City Reaching/ POLIS INSTITUTE masterplan also included the pro gay ideology of Richard Florida and the assertion of a “gay creative class” needed to do successful urban planning , renewal and community redeveopment.

LEADERSHIP NETWORK, PETER DRUCKER AND TIM KELLER

Before his death -Leadership Network founder Bob Buford- who flooded the church with socialist /Frankfurt /Vienna Circle ideology of Peter Drucker -stopped to check in on Keller’s NYC church. Buford boastfully wrote about Keller’s church which Buford and a billionaire friend Phil Anschutz had heavily invested in. .. helping plant over 300 churches with Keller’s organizations. In the Buford blog he reported and celebrated that a full 40 % of Kellers church members did not profess Christian conversion. But that they were fully committed to Bufords “Half Time ” socialist “common good-give back ” scheme at younger and younger ages. . Amazing ..think about that. Unsaved but dedicted to serve the machine.

KELLER , BUFORD -GLOBALIST VISION AND YOUR MONEY -FOR”THE WORLD WE WANT”.

Keller joined in as a major player in the Lausanne driven “Generosity Movement ” and with high level hedge fund managers from groups like Black Rock to focusing on Christian giving and philanthropy. Buford had boasted to globalist leaders working with the United Nations in “The World We Want ” power grab for control of global philathropy that he had “primed legions of wealthy Christians to become big time philatropist “. These Christians were literally corraled to be harness for their vision. Bufords Halftime brand which is dubbed in its foreword as “picking up where LGBJ’s Great Society (by architect John Gardener) leaves off ” became a well placed tool to prime giving for justice driven domestic and global ” faith based partnerships” (FBP). Keller was a significant part of the “priming ” through his “Theology of Generosity” and role with Lausanne and Buford’s media machine.

Another player -now under the new management of Buford attorney Jay Bennett was the National Christian Foundation which previously took over 24 years to give away $1 billion to Christian ministries but by 2009/2010 was and is giving away well over a $1 billion plus per year with its “donor advised funds”. These efforts have many probelms in part because Christians and ministries to not know where these massive additional infusions of funding have come from and no list of donors or specific exhaustive list of ministries supported is provided. The funds are “donor advised” but not earmarked or committed only to those ministries the donor selects from a pre approved list( not available to the public) by NCF. When contacted for a list of donors -especially of large or foundation donors to NCF and for a FULL list of ministries supported -NCF refused to provide any such list. NCF also does produce income from and looks to be retaining part ofthe funding into its own capitol invetment portfolio. A key figure formerly at Black Rock is also on the board of Lausanne’s Generosity Movement and multiple Keller Boards in NYC.

“CHRISTIAN ECONOMIC FORUM ” AND THE “OTHER 90% OF CHRISTIAN WEALTH”

Not satisfied with the billions in Christian giving , the founder of Crown Financial invisioned a “Davos For Christian Leaders” when launching the “Christian Economic Forum”.It is openly based on the principles and social justice /equity economics of the globalist organization World Economic Forum. This effort targets the TRILLIONS in wealth held by Christians. Aided by “Faith Drivne Investors” (FDI) wealth adivisors – this Davos for Christian Leaders soon recruited Lausanne figures like Tim Keller and David Platt and (then) Southern Baptist Convention President JD Greear as spokespersons along side Black Rock and other leaders in the industry. The effort has been boldly following WEF to lure Christian investing (openly referred to as the other 90% by FDI website pitch ) and justice driven – global vision based investing. It appears that believers having long been primed to merge globalist visions into their giving would hopefully do the same with their investments with trusted pitch men like Keller and Platt providing the theological case for it.

MORE SPECIFICS ON KELLER’S INABILITY TO CONDEMN HOMOSEXUALITY

By 2011 in a Columbia Univesity Veritas Forum event Keller would no longer plainly say that homosexuality was a sin.TGC published all the SSA /Sexual minority activist and hired one of them, Sam Allberry , as editor for TGC on the LGBTQ issue. By 2018 The Keller’s spoke at Allberry/Living Out’s London Conference promoting the Side B narratives and introducing an “Audit ” questionaire for churches on “LGBTQ Inclusion”. Kathy Keller called it “brilliant “and boasted “we are taking it back to our church”. Revoice LGBTQ Thriving in conservative Churches movement was also promoted by this Living Out event and Allberry. Keller continued to promote the Social Justice, Racial , and LGBTQ shift inside Christianity outlined by Lausanne in the 2010 meeting through his considerable-global influence.

KELLER’S POLITICS AND GLOBALISM

Keller was a dominionist theologically who teaches “Christians must redeem culture”. His politics were left. He visited Obama in the Whitehouse on multiple occasions including his efforts to promote “Good Faith “- third way compromise in the church for the Obama administration horrific second term. Keller admitted to being a registered Democrat and his narratives about “Human Flourishing/Thriving Cities” etc all came from his close association with admitted Frankfurt School inspired Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at UVA.

KELLER’S WORK WITH FRANCIS COLLINS AND BIOLOGOS

Keller has long and often be criticised for his warped views on Genesis 1-11 and creation. The source of his position is better understood in light of his role launching BioLogos first ever event in his Redeemer church and being one of Francis Collins thought leaders in BioLogos. Theistic Evolution is the term used to describe the efforts to merge Faith and Science- specifically false evolution “science”. THIS effort is funded by The Templeton Foundation which is putting over $150 million dollars annaully into promoting this merger among all faiths. Again this means it is an interfaith or multi faith effort by Templeton to force all faiths to abandon full reliance on their sacred text to embrace the modern whims and trends of science . This deception has been “flourishing” ,to use Kellers favorite virtue term, inside the church while organizations like UNESCO have long sought to drive a wedge between faith and science. Darwinian evolution and the origin of the species were promoted by UNESCO founder Julian Huxleys grandfather into the mainstream of science in order to counter the influence of Christianity in education . UNESCO also committed in 1946 to “merge Christianity and Communism” using the dialectic tools in education. Most of TGC and Kellers writings are a form of formating information to complexify issues and walk the reader through a dialectical process appealing to both sides while seeking to move the right toward the middle ground and “consensus”.

Keller is in disturbing company with Francis Collins who was a key player in putting forth false information about his agency NIH funding of “Gain of Function research” at the Wuhan lab leading to the Covid 19 pandemic . Collins was also part of the harmful roll out of and mandating of problematic and politicized vaccines which are now part of the ever growing revelations and controversy surrounding the 2020 Pandemic. Keller participated with Collins and Ed Stetzer is spreading propaganda during the crisis.

KELLER AND THE PCA

Keller was ordained a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America ( PCA) .This is the conservative movement born out of the exodus of Presbyterians from the PCUSA and other groups a generation ago. This exodus took place because of PCUSA compromise over homosexuality and THE VERY SAME “social gospel ” Keller has helped flood into the PCA moving it toward the same failed fate today.

In the last two weeks a long time Keller protege’ Scott Sauls was removed from his church pulpit in Nashville for a creating a “culture of abuse ” among his staff and church members. Sauls had helped plan and endorse Revoice from Fall of 2017 and openly endorsed it and stood with gay activist PCA pastor Greg Johnson who hosted Revoice at his Memorial PCA church. This controversy and Saul’s support of it have continued to divide and conquer and split the PCA. TGC favorite emergent Mark Driscoll had been removed years ago after being exposed for a culture of abuse at his church.

THERE IS A PATTERN HERE WITH THE TGC/KELLER INFLUENCE AND THE PENDING COLLAPSE OF HIS OWN MOVEMENT.

Long time TGC Council member and Keller supporter Harry Reeder of Briarwood PCA was killed in an automobile crash the day before Keller passed away from cancer after a multi year battle.

Reeder pastored Briarwood Presbyterian Church follwing founding pastor Frank Barker. Briarwood is one of the two flagship churches which founded the PCA. The other was D. James Kennedy’s Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A major TGC influencer Tullian Tchividjian and favorite emergent spokesman followed Kennedy as pastor and split Coral Ridge Church even excommunicating Kennedy’s family members and daughter for resisting his emergent, antinominan ,cheap grace gospel. Soon afterwards Tchividjian was exposed for deeply troubling immorality himself.

Briarwood Church was suffering from the WOKE invasion of the false justice teachings in its school and ministries under long time TGC leadership Council member Pastor Harry Reeder. Reeder was also under investigation by the Evangel Presbytery in Birmingham Al. for similar issues as Keller protege’ Scott Sauls.

Because of TGC influence and an unbridled ,unaccountable growth of the Keller legacy among young pastors in the PCA- the movement and its churches are seeing splits and massive repartures of long time members. The negative impact on his own movement by Keller and his TGC are measured in both lost members and fading influence in and of the church.

MORE ON IASC AND CONCLUSION

IASC drafted the Lausanne “Civilitas” documents -a movement to push Third Way Fabian Socialism in the churches globally. Keller was a committed globalist and worked within the Big Eva machine he was a product of in order to move the church toward alignment with “Global Goals” deceptions. … BUT because he could appear thoughtful and contemplative as he polished THEIR talking points- he will forever be remebered by many as one of the “most influential Christians of modern times”. At this stage only a powerful move of the Holy Spirit can bring about a turn around from the damaging harvest the church is now reaping from the seeds sown by Keller , TGC and similar groups and ministers.