AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION / AFA/AFR IS PARTNERING WITH THE GOSPEL COALITION LEADERS TO SUPPORT A  ” CONSERVATIVE VIEW OF THE BIBLE” WHILE TGC IS DRIVING RACIAL DIVISION AND PRO LGBT MOVEMENTS .

Rev Thomas Littleton                                                                                         10-23-2019

American Family Association (AFA) and it’s American Family Radio have been popular resources and gathering places for Conservative Christians who are politically engaged. However things look to be changing at AFA  as it has yoked itself with The Gospel Coalition .

Biblical conservative Christians began to realize that Tim Keller and D A Carson’s organization The Gospel Coalition (TGC) had huge and growing problems as revelations of Cultural Marxist ideologies like Social Justice, Critical Race Theory , Intersectionality , Gender -Feminine -Queer theory had made their way DEEP inside the TGC. The infiltration has spread like a socially transmitted disease to TGC’s affiliated Seminaries and ministries . By April 2018 the TGC/ ERLC cosponsored MLK/50 Conference came around -all jaws dropped – ears perked -and all hands came on deck to push back against the flood waters. The Social Justice alarms went off throughout the conservative Christian world . AFA looks to have missed the alarm on the Social Justice invasion.

At the fountain head of the Social Justice floodwaters was progressive funding like that of Kern Family Foundation and Templeton Foundation flowing through TGC . The funding is flowing in by the millions into conservative Seminaries that affiliate with TGC like those led by Ligon Duncan and Albert Mohler and others . TGC is not a victim of but a primary source of the Social Justice false gospel and massive infiltration of Cultural Marxist  ideology into the church today .

HOW DID AMERICAN FAMILY FOUNDATION MISS THE TGC SELL OUT TO MARXIST?

AFA and its radio outlet American Family Radio have been a source trusted by many Conservative Christians for decades. WHY ARE THEY PARTNERING WITH TGC ?

“THE GOD WHO SPEAKS”  -FILM PROJECT AFA AND THE TGC SPEAKERS

Launched in 2018 at the same time the TGC / ERLC shocked the evangelical conservative world with MLK/50 -AFA introduced their film project to support the Bible’s authorship- reliability and foundational role in Christian faith using  many of TGC leading compromiers .

AFA is still heavily promoting the film today .

https://thegodwhospeaks.org/

“There is a war raging around us – in society, in our churches, and in our homes. It is not a battle over marriage, race, or the sexual revolution. Rather, it is a battle for the truth. Is God real? Does He speak, and if so, how would we know? While many churches are faithfully proclaiming the truths found in Scripture, others have lost confidence in the Bible’s divine authorship. “

“The God Who Speaks is a 90-minute documentary that traces the evidence of the Bible’s authority through interviews with some of the world’s most respected biblical scholars. This film answers common objections about the Bible’s reliability and equips believers to confidently base their lives on the power of God’s Word.”

“The God Who Speaks was produced by American Family Studios, a division of American Family Association. “

AFA CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE MANY TGC KEY CULTURAL MARXIST ECHOS 

AFA Speakers also include many people from social justice funded/infiltrated seminaries like Dallas Theological Seminary, Asbury besides SBTS and RTS

Contributors

Alistair Begg – Senior Pastor, Parkside Church (Cleveland, Ohio)
Darrell Bock – Senior Research Professor of New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary
D.A. Carson – Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Gareth Cockerill – Academic Dean / Professor of Biblical Interpretation and Theology, Wesley Biblical Seminary
Kevin DeYoung – Senior Pastor, University Reformed Church (East Lansing, Michigan)
J. Ligon Duncan III – Chancellor & CEO, John E. Edwards Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary
Norman Geisler – Distinguished Senior Professor of Theology and Apologetics – Southern Evangelical Seminary
Karen H. Jobes – Professor of New Testament Greek and Exegesis Emerita, Wheaton College
Michael J. Kruger – President and Samuel C. Patterson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity, Reformed Theological Seminary
Erwin Lutzer – Pastor Emeritus, Moody Church
Conrad Mbewe – Pastor, Kabwata Baptist Church (Lusaka, Zambia)
Josh McDowell – Apologist, Josh McDowell Ministries
Alex McFarland – Apologist, Alex McFarland Ministries
R. Albert Mohler – President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
William D. Mounce – President, BiblicalTraining.org
John N. Oswalt – Visiting Distinguished Professor of Old Testament, Asbury Theological Seminary
Vern Poythress – Professor of New Testament, Westminster Theological Seminary
R.C. Sproul – Founder, Ligonier Ministires
Carl R. Truman – Professor of Church History, Westminster Theological Seminary
Frank Turek – Apologist, Cross Examined Ministries
Daniel B. Wallace – Senior Professor of New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary
Jarvis J. Williams – Associate Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Southern Baptist Theological  Seminary
Ben Witherington III – Jean R. Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary

CURRENT AFA MEDIA PROMOTION OF “THE GOD WHO SPEAKS” FILM

THE GOD WHO SPEAKS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER IS AFA HEAD TIM WILDMON

AFA FILM INVOLVES TGC LEADER SBTS PRESIDENT ALBERT MOHLER 

https://www.facebook.com/TheGodWhoSpeaksMovie/

The God Who Speaks

October 1 at 1:20 PM · 

(PHOTO FROM AFA LINK SOCIAL MEDIA ARTICLE)

ALBERT MOHLER ABOVE IS SPOKESPERSON IN AND FOR THE AFA MOVIE 

Albert Mohler has taken the progressives funding into his seminary Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) IN THE “COMMONWEAL PROJECT “. Now SBTS  has become a regular praticisioneer of Critical Theories and is busy indoctrinating a new generation of disciples in the Cultural Marxist tools of social change and Social Justice false  gospel.

(PHOTO FROM AFA “THE GOD WHO SPEAKS MEDIA )

Mohler fully embraced the TGC narrative on LGBT+ Flourishing in the church via his acceptance of the APA and TGC compliant narrative on the supposed reality of “Homosexual Orientation ” which is said to be unchanging – according to the narrative- even by the Gospel and saving faith. Mohler even apologized  for “being wrong about       ( denying )  homosexual orientation” at a 2014 conference by TGC partner the ERLC on Homosexuality and “the Future of Marriage” conference . ALL TGC top leadership would have signed onto this position in 2010.  More on that in a  moment .

Mohler has shown radical views on race and engaged in a two year  “racial purge” at SBTS  and in the 2015 activist effort to “Rid the SBC of Racism ” while himself sitting on the theological chair named after a anf reputedly vicious Civil War racist. Also Mohler  raised eyebrows with his endorsements of  leader Nelson Mandela of South Africa

Albert Mohler : “When it comes to human rights and human dignity, Nelson Mandela has to be put on the side of the heroes, not only of the 20th century, but of any recent century.”

https://albertmohler.com/2013/12/07/nelson-mandela-and-the-ironies-of-history/

REVOICE “LGBT+CHRISTIANITY” AND TGC/SBTS 

Mohler’s seminary produced the leader of the radical LGBTQ+ Christianity conference called Revoice. The movements head is Nate Collins who was teaching New Testament at SBTS while launching Revoice and published his book “All But Invisible “. Collins Dissertation at SBTS is informed by his studies of Gender , Feminine and Queer Theory at SBTS and deals with “Virgin as a Third Gender” in the NT. The dissertation makes the case that other gender options exist besides male and female while Genesis makes clear only two exist. “God made them male and female .” Collins assertions of gender options comes from twisting of biblical text through the critical theory lens .

The shocking reality is that Revoice founder Nate Collins actually writes for and does book reviews on the LGBT+ topic FOR The Gospel Coalition .

Is God Anti-Gay?

Is God Anti-Gay?

MORE HERE OF REVOICE -COLLINS /HIS DISSERTATION AND JARVIS WILLIAMS 

REVOICE FOUNDER’S SBTS CRITICAL THEORY DISSERTATION:TGC TIES PART 2

MORE on Mohler compromise with Cultural Marxist ideology .

JARVIS WILLIAMS OF SBTS IN THE AFA TGC LINE UP 

Jarvis Williams has been teaching at Mohler’s SBTS since at least 2014 . A close look shows Williams mentored the Nate Collins dissertation that birthed the LGBTQ+ Christianity movement of Revoice. More recently Jarvis Williams has emerged as a key leader in the open promotion of  Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality into the Southern Baptist Convention. The controversial “Resolution “in the SBC 2019 annual meeting is still raising serious concerns and have Baptist scrambling to understand the concepts of Cultural Marxism and tools like Critical Theory which Jarvis , Mohler and others have introduced into their churches and institutions .

(PHOTO FROM AFA “THE GOD WHO SPEAKS ” MEDIA )

Jarvis Williams  has been one of the most vocal advocates for the use of Critical Race Theory – a “cultural Marxist” tool -as  a “useful tool with the Gospel” in his Social justice efforts against “White Privilege ” and his view of “rampant racism among white evangelicals “.

Black Christians call for closer look at white supremacy

Jarvis Williams and other CRT advocates are spearheading a divisive movement -instead of biblical unity in the Body of Christ . The talking points are plowed by specialist in the SBC like Williams for years now yet some have been scrubbed from the internet with the removal of and renaming of “Reformed African American Network” to”the Witness” .

https://thewitnessbcc.com/

JARVIS WILLIAMS WORDS IN THE INTERVIEW LINKED ABOVE 

“Jarvis Williams, associate professor of New Testament interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said in an article posted earlier on the Reformed African American Network website it is impossible to talk about the legacy of white supremacy without discussing “white privilege” — advantages that people have done nothing to earn and may not even know they have, simply because they are white.”

“Christians cannot seriously talk about race, racism, or pursue Christ-centered reconciliation in this country and Christian spaces without having a serious conversation about the privileging of whiteness or without working to leverage the privilege(s) of whiteness in Christian spaces,” wrote Williams, who is black.”

“Williams said one example of white privilege is the assumption in American history that blacks would serve whites because of their belief in white superiority. After slavery was abolished, white supremacists “created a whole system that marginalized black people and kept them at the very bottom of the social order.”

“While many Christians rightly condemn overt expressions of white supremacy, covert expressions of white supremacy are often allowed to flourish in Christian spaces and in society at large because they are either denied or unnoticed,” Williams said.”

TGC COFOUNDER WITH TIM KELLER -D.A. CARSON OF TRINITY EVANGELICAL DIVINITY SCHOOL IS A SPEAKER

D. A. Carson

Deerfield, IL
Research Professor of New Testament – Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

(PHOTO FROM AFA”THE GOD WHO SPEAKS WEBSITE )

D. A. Carson is the co-founder of TGC and it’s President. Carson Signed on to the Mark Yarhouse LGBTQ+ ideology in 2010 when Carson commissioned a White Paper on Yarhouse homosexual orientation narrative and Carson adapted it for TGC, for TEDS and for TGC’s Christ on Campus initiative  for campus ministries.Many campus ministries bear the damaging marks of this influence today.

https://sexualidentityinstitute.org/sample-page/dr-mark-yarhouse/

“Dr. Yarhouse is currently the Chair of the task force on LGBT issues for Division 36 (Psychology of Religion and Spirituality) of the American Psychological Association. He was recently invited to write the featured white paper on sexual identity for the Christ on Campus Initiative edited by Don A. Carson for The Gospel Coalition.”

TGC’s Carson also endorsed the book “Single Gay Christian” by Gregory Coles . Coles is  the “worship leader” for the Revoice LGBT+ Thriving conference and is involved in the Revoice leadership.

Gregory Coles bio

About the Author

“”To say this book is important is a painful understatement. It is the candid, moving, intensely personal story of a gay young man who wants to live his life under the authority of King Jesus and who refuses to accept the comforting answers proffered by different parts of the culture. Superbly written, this book stands athwart the shibboleths of our day and reminds us what submission to King Jesus looks like, what it feels like. This book needs to be thoughtfully read by straight people and by gay people, by unbelievers and by Christians. It is not to be read with a condescending smirk, but with humility.” (D. A. Carson, president, The Gospel Coalition, research professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School)”

LIGON DUNCAN OF REFORMED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IS A TGC LEADER AND NOW AFA SPOKESPERSON IN THE AFA MOVIE 

(PHOTO AND GRAPHIC FROM AFA “THE GOD WHO SPEAKS ” MEDIA )

Ligon Duncan is a TGC Council Member and head of the PCA’s Reformed Theological Seminary of Jackson MISS with over a dozen locations around the country. These locations  include NYC in co-operation with TGC co-founder Tim Keller . RTS Orlando location -in partnership with CRU (formerly Campus Crusade) -along with current leaders of  Keller’s Redeemer City to City formulated a blueprint for the Lausanne movement’s “City Reaching “. The plan promotes Urbanization and Faith Based Partnerships aka Peter Drucker socialism for the church partnering in “Community Development .  RTS plan also includes the pro LGBT urban ideology of Canadian professor “urban-ologist” Richard Florida. Reformed Theological Seminary is at the heart of the Social Justice indoctrination taking place in the PCA as Ligon Duncan boast defiantly  “Lig Duncan ain’t groovin with no Cultural Marxism “.

If that were truly the case he would have to leave the TGC and RTS to escape the groove.

DUNCAN AND THE ANGLICAN GAY PRIEST HE /TGC ENDORSE 

Duncan also endorses the Gay Anglican Priest Sam Allberry and his ministry Living Out who preach “Gay (but celibate )  Christianity “. In 2018 TGC’s Tim Keller and wife Kathy joined Allberry speaking at the Living Out London conference .Allberry and  company introduced an “LGBTQ+ Church Inclusion Audit” and training for local congregations to encourage the open welcome of the LGBTQ community into the fellowship of the church. Also the audit encourages hiring of and including in family functions and even “Sharing Children” with LGBT+ people in the church .

LIVING OUT INCLUSION AUDIT 

https://www.livingout.org/resources/the-living-out-church-audit

“How biblically inclusive is your Church?”

“At our Identity in Christ conference with Tim & Kathy Keller in June 2018 we launched our Living Out Church Audit – a tool to help church leadership teams answer this key question: how biblically inclusive is your church? Unsurprisingly our focus is on those who might identify as LGBTQ+/ same-sex attracted: Jesus included all in a counter-cultural way and we hope this audit will help our churches follow his lead.”

STILL -LIGON DUNCAN ENDORSES  SAM ALLBERRY AND LIVING OUT .

“I, I, think if you want to get a, a, a, a, wise, careful biblical take on identity and sexual attraction, either Kevin DeYoung’s book on homosexuality or Sam Allberry’s book, Is God Anti-Gay, will give you a better take on how identity ought to relate to issues in relation to Same-Sex Attraction than the kinds of opinions that were shared at the Revoice Conference, which I find to be unhelpful…”

TGC AND LIVING OUT’S SAM ALLBERRY

Sam Allberry- despite tons of controversy a writer and the editor of LGBTQ+ issues for The Gospel Coalition .

KEVIN DE YOUNG TGC FAVORITE AND LONG TIME RISING STAR IS AMONG AFA SPEAKERS 

Kevin DeYoung

Matthews, NC
Senior Pastor – Christ Covenant Church

(PHOTO /GRAPHICS FROM AFA “THE GOD WHO SPEAKS” WEBSITE)

DeYoung was purchased out of the Reformed Church in America  by powers within the PCA , Keller and Duncan’s denomination. In 2017, the RCA ordained the first openly gay and married pastor who was ‘out’ when he began the ordination process. Perhaps prior knowledge of this  prompted De Young to join the PCA / TGC  yet his father remains in the RCA in denominational leadership.

https://www.rca.org/news/lee-deyoung-elected-synod-vice-president

Having DeYoung in TGC has provided the old guard with a slightly younger spokesperson but the “talking points” are all the same . DeYoung factors in large in the AFA film  “The God Who Speaks ” including providing the closing words at the ending of the film. If TGC is doing anything – a response to controversy- a conference – or a book promotion  -Kevin DeYoung is at the center of it- just as he is in this AFA film.

TGC AND THE LIVING OUT LGBT INCLUSION CHURCH AUDIT 

Living Out introduced it’s LGBT Inclusion Audit to high praise . Kathy Keller called it Brilliant ” while – TGC pastor Mark Dever and his 9MARKS churches in the NE region announced the Audit and Inclusion training would be held stateside in three of the Dever/ TGC affiliate churches .

AFA social media boast the photo below with TGCs Duncan and Dever among others with AFA at a recent event where “The God Who Speaks ” film is being promoted.

(PHOTO from AFA “the God Who Speaks ” media with TGC leaders including RTS Ligon Duncan and Mark Dever whose editor for his 9MARKS org is a graduate of the Fabian Socialist London School of Economics )

MARK DEVER IS NOT APPEARING IN THE FILM BUT IS A KEY TGC LEADER .

Part  the TGC effort with Dever and his LSE Editor Jonathan Leeman is their “THIRD WAY” Christian political engagement which advocates for Christians NOT to be “Single Issue ( i.e. pro life ) Voters”. Others in the TGC / ERLC loop are working to expand “pro life ” support to mean inclusion of a range of distracting  issues from progressive open borders immigration -to refugee settlement -to adoption and foster care . Diluting the definition of pro life ideals away from stopping abortion is a progressive tactic not a helpful narrative to strengthen the cause.

Devers former staffer Thabiti Anyabwile is in the AFA film list of credits . Anyabwile was associate pastor for years at Dever’s Capitol Hill Baptist -a TGC church from which 9MARKS church planting organization operates.Thabiti has been helping lead the charge on CRT and was one of the more brazen speakers at the MLK/50 event blaming all whites for the death of MLK and calling for apologies . Thabiti is also mainstreaming the call for financial reparations in response to “racial injustice” in the church.

WHY WOULD AFA PARTNER WITH TGC WHILE TGC SEEKS TO UNDERMINE CONSERVATIVES OPPOSITION TO ABORTION AND CORE CONSERVATE CONVICTIONS ?

9MARKS DEVER AND FABIAN SOCIALIST TRAINED EDITOR :HOW TO DITCH YOUR PRO-LIFE VOTING HABIT .

JOHN MACARTHUR IN THE CREDITS FOR AFA FILM 

John MacArthur does not appear in the final cut of the AFA film BUT is named in the Credits. It is not sure if Macarthur did not provide an interview or if his interview ended up on the cutting room floor after his many recent troubles . These include Master’s Universities scandals related to abuse / intimidation / nepotism /and sexual abuse , some of which resulted in Master’s suspension and potential permanent loss of TMU’s accreditation .  MacArthur is a long time TGC leadership Council Member as well. His appearance in the credits for the film remains a  mystery beyond his TGC connections .

AMERICAN FAMILY RADIO ?

WHAT’S UP WITH AFR DUMPING PROGRAMING ?

Also SOMETHING is going at at AFA ‘s American Family Radio . Even Progressive news outlet Media Matters pick up on recent AFR changes.

https://www.mediamatters.org/american-family-association/why-anti-lgbtq-american-family-radio-losing-hosts-and-shows

“A prominent AFR host has resigned just a few months after American Family Association shuttered its outreach ministry for Christian communities of color.”

WRITTEN BY ALEX PATERSON

More resources on the GVC exposure of Revoice and TGC leaders here:

GOD’S VOICE CONFERENCE RESOURCES

God’s Voice Conference 2019 was NOT only a denunciation of the false Revoice LGBT+ Flourishing / TGC movement in our churches – it offered Biblical GOSPEL HOPE for individuals and families who have been impacted by LGBT+. Testimonies and preaching at GVC affirmed the power of Jesus to transform lives from any and all sin.  God’s Voice Conference 2019 was NOT an attack on LGBT people or their families -rather offering a Biblical response to TGC error and providing Biblical HOPE to victims of LGBT+ movement .

TGC CHURCH BRIARWOOD PCA RETALIATED AGAINST GOD’S VOICE CONFERENCE

It seems ironic that the AFA project using TGC partners is entitled “The God Who Speaks ” when the day following God’s Voice Conference 2019  a local TGC MEGA- CHURCH in this authors hometown of Birmingham Alabama -retaliated against Littleton / Mefferd and God’s Voice by REMOVING  Mefferd’s American Family Radio program from its regional Briarwood Radio programing lineup.

This was not the only TGC leadership persecution of God’s Voice Conference as other actions took place BEFORE GVC similar to the action against Mefferd’s AFR programing the day following the event . That was late February 2019 . By the end of August Janet Mefferd and AFR/ Radio outlet of AFA had parted ways entirely.

You can read about the TGC church Briarwoods efforts against God’s Voice Conference and backlash against Littleton and the Mefferd AFR related programing at the link below under the section entitled : “PARKS BROTHERS CONSPIRE AGAINST GOD’S VOICE CONFERENCE-A BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO REVOICE WHICH STILL THREATENS TO DIVIDE THE PCA AND SBC.”

BRIARWOOD PCA’s CHRISTIAN MEDICAL MINISTRY ALABAMA TARGET PRACTICE

THE AFA/AFR AND TGC COLLABORATION LEAVES MANY QUESTIONS 

Are these things related? Does the end of the Mefferd programing at Briarwood in retaliation against GVC have impact on the AFA ‘s unwillingness to denounce the TGC pro “Homosexual Orientation”  narrative? Has AFA allowed the TGC compromise on LGBTQ+ to impact it’s stance on LGBTQ+ movement ?

AFA has had a strong voice against the LGBT agenda . TGC’s message  is very soft and welcoming and aims to appease and include the activist agenda in the church . Is AFA moving left of center on this important faith and family issue ?

Time will tell. Meanwhile those outside the church and the media speculate while CHRISTIANS ARE LEFT TO WONDER WHAT IS UP WITH AFA.

MEDIA MATTERS SEES GVC IN A DIFFERENT /EXTREME /NEGATIVE AND FALSE LIGHT

Media Matters

“Mefferd also used her AFR show to promote the God’s Voice conference, a convening of evangelical Christians providing a “biblical response to the queering of the church.” God’s Voice was created to oppose the Revoice conference, an LGBTQ-inclusive Christian conference that seeks to “support and encourage gay, lesbian, bisexual, and other same-sex attracted Christians.” While promoting God’s Voice, Mefferd said that the LGBTQ activists organizing Revoice are trying “to move toward LGBTQ+ Christianity, not that there is any such thing” and told her listeners that they should be worried because LGBTQ advocates “care about changing you, and changing your kids, and changing your churches, and changing your denomination.”

AFA/AFR ALLIANCE WITH TGC LIKELY SPELLS MAJOR CHANGES AND A TROUBLING FUTURE FOR CONSERVATIVE BELIEVERS IN AMERICA.

WHERE WILL IT END -AS MORE AND MORE CONSERVATIVE ORGANIZATIONS EITHER DO NOT DISCERN – CHOOSE TO YOKE WITH TGC FOR NAME RECOGNITION -OR PARTNER WITH THE PROGRESSIVE FUNDING  BEHIND THE GOSPEL COALITION AND IT’S EMERGENT  THEOLOGICAL /LEFT WING PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL MOVEMENT ?

ALBERT MOHLER IS A TGC COUNCIL MEMBER AND SBTS IS A MAJOR SPOKESPERSON  IN THE REALM  OF TGC’s INFLUENCE.

AFA HOW DID THIS ESCAPE YOU ?

(PHOTO FROM AFA “THE GOD WHO SPEAKS MEDIA )

Many Conservative believers look to organizations like American Family Association for guidance and protection from the progressive tsunami . TGC inroads look to be spreading across conservative Christianity- even in these former places of refuge.

Psalm 118

⁸ It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in man.
⁹ It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in princes.

WHERE DOES IT END ? DO BAPTIST HAVE ANY DISCERNING LEADERSHIP LEFT ?

Rev Thomas Littleton                                                                                                10-21-2019

Interfaith Dialog , Camel Method evangelism , Christlam – these are all terms fairly new to most evangelicals and Southern Baptist . Many are not paying close attention to the advance of the ideologies behind them or of the players involved on the “interfaith stage”.

BOB ROBERTS LEADING THE ORCHESTRA

“Bob Roberts Jr. is the founding pastor of NorthWood Church in Keller, Texas. Known around the world as an evangelical pastor who loves people from every faith, he has pioneered relationships with those that are usually shunned by Christians.”

http://globalfaithforum.com/bob-roberts-jr/

“Wanting to serve the people of Vietnam, Bob developed a relationship with leaders in Vietnam and created an Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Glocal Ventures, to work in country to provide humanitarian aid and other resource”

“Bob lead a team from NorthWood Church to Afghanistan where he once again was greeted by Muslim leaders who were willing to work together and sought help to provide schools and other resources. Overcoming his own fears about Muslims, he has developed a great respect for those who hold strong beliefs in differing faiths.”

“As other opportunities have presented themselves, Bob has tirelessly worked to purposely draw together coalitions of leaders who would not ordinarily work together. And he’s brought that philosophy home to Texas. He, along with Rabbi Schneider and Imam Zia, put together DFW’s first Multi-Faith weekend. Celebrating each distinct faith, members from the church, mosque and temple visited each location to observe each others traditions cultivating a strong common respect.”

“Now, that relationship is being nurtured through community projects and other programs that show we can still hold strong beliefs but work together to improve not only our neighborhoods, but make a difference around the world.”

BOB ROBERTS AND THE ALLIANCE OF VIRTUE “FOR THE COMMON GOOD “

https://onenewsnow.com/perspectives/guest-commentary/2018/08/23/alliance-of-virtue-common-good-or-grand-deception

“Today, there are three principal individuals who are the recognized faces of the AoV movement. They include Pastor Bob Roberts, who is based in Dallas, Texas; Imam Mohamed Magid Ali, who is based in the Washington, DC, area; and Sheikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah, who is based in Saudi Arabia and serves as the global leader of the AoV.”

“Meanwhile, many within the faith community today are familiar with what is known as A Common Word, a global Islamic outreach effort that was inaugurated in 2006 “

“Eight years after the “A Common Word” document was first introduced (in 2007), an Islamic conference entitled “Reviving the Islamic Spirit” was held on December 23, 2015, in Toronto, Canada. This appears to be the first time the Alliance of Virtue concept was introduced to the West. As described by event organizer Summayah Poonah, the theme of the event was “Alliance of Virtue,” which “speaks to a need to [form] cross cultural alliances in order to aid and facilitate social justice.”

MORE

Islam’s olive branch?

“Issued October 13, 2007, “A Common Word Between You and Us” stressed the need for peace between members of the Christian and Islamic faiths.”

“The document impressed numerous Christian leaders, including evangelical heavyweights like Richard Cizik, Bill Hybels, Brian McLaren, John Stott, Jim Wallis, and Rick Warren – who added their signatures in a response that said evangelicals needed to “ask forgiveness of the All-Merciful One and of the Muslim community around the world.”

THE BIG QUESTION

HOW FAR CAN THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH GO WITH MULTICULTURAL INTERFAITH EXCHANGES AND ALLIANCE AND STILL BE DOING THE GOSPEL ?

This is the unanswered question for many. Evangelism was said to be the goal at one time but now collaboration and common good seem to be the only aim of the ever broadening movement . Was Evangelism with groups in nations that prohibit it ever possible ?  Clearly not so what is the goal ? Why has the SBCs missions focus gone almost exclusively to the AREAS  of the world where seeking to convert those of other religions is a criminal  offense. Much of the “Church Planting ” abroad is also being done in these areas where possible but again they cannot  evangelize people of the native religions.

TIM KELLER AND TGCs COMMON GOOD NARRATIVE 

Tim Keller’s work is saturated with the same narrative of seeking the ” Common Good ”

Keller’s work with Civilitas and Lausanne Movement is driven by the Common Good narrative .

Click to access civilitas_vsp_paper.utv.pdf

Civilitas
“Civil Conversations
for the Common Good”

Oiknomia Network- the Kern Family Foundation funding for Keller and others “Faith and Work” economics is a “common Good” narrative.

Home

The Faith Based Partnerships Reforms outlined under the Obama administration are called “Partnerships for the Common Good ”

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/03/15/working-together-common-good

“Working Together for the Common Good

Keller’s The Gospel Coalition and the Common Good

http://resources.thegospelcoalition.org/library/a-counterculture-for-the-common-good

Counterculture for the Common Good

Timothy Kleiser | June 27, 2016″

Aslo -One example of books Keller is promoting with his city Gospel in Life website

https://gospelinlife.com/downloads/counter-culture-for-the-common-good-9192/

BLENDING MULTICULTURAL WITH INTERFAITH IN THE NAME OF COMMON GOOD 

Interfaith dialog is clearly not marketable to many in the evangelical church in the US but “multicultural ” outreach is all the rave. Bob Roberts is a key leader in the multicultural movement as well.

THE MOSAIX CONFERENCE

NOVEMBER 5TH IN DALLAS TEXAS THE FOURTH US BASED MOSAIX CONFERENCE IS TO BE HELD

https://www.mosaix2019.com/

“Founded in 2004 by Mark DeYmaz (D.Min.) and George Yancey (Ph.D.), Mosaix is a relational network of local church pastors and planters, denominational, network, and ministry leaders, educators and researchers, alike, that exists to establish healthy multi-ethnic and economically diverse churches for the sake of the gospel throughout North America and beyond.”

“Believing that healthy multi-ethnic and economically diverse churches must be established on sound theology for the sake of the Gospel, Mosaix seeks to reconcile diverse men and women to God and to one another, through faith in Jesus Christ, by establishing churches according to the principles and practices of New Testament churches such as existed at Antioch, Ephesus, and Rome; churches in which diverse men and women walked, worked, and worshipped God together as one so that the world would know God’s love and believe (John 17:20-23).”

“For nearly 15 years, Mosaix has served to organize, mobilize and catalyze the Multiethnic Church Movement by casting vision, connecting like-minded leaders, conferencing, coaching, cohort learning, curriculum development, church planting and transition. In that time, and since 2001, the percentage of churches having at least 20% diversity in their attending membership has risen from 7.5% to 13.7%, and to 14.4% among Protestant Evangelical churches. According to sociologist Michael O. Emerson, co-author of Divided By Faith, Mosaix has played a preeminent role in driving the statistical change. Our ongoing goal and vision remains to see 20% of churches throughout the United States achieve 20% diversity in their attending membership and leadership by the year 2020, and 1,000 multi-ethnic churches established through planting or transition by the year 2025.”

https://www.mosaix2019.com/general-info/mosaix-global-network/

“Over 1,500 multiethnic church pioneers and practitioners – including church planters and pastors, network and denominational leaders, authors and educators – are expected to attend Mosaix’ 4th National Multi-ethnic Church Conference  November 5-7, 2019, in Dallas, TX.”

“This triennial event is among the most anticipated, exciting and encouraging pastoral leadership conferences of the year! Plan now to bring your entire team, and don’t miss this next historic chance to experience the people and passion driving the Multiethnic Church Movement today!”

WHAT?

“The Multiethnic Church Conference is being held for only the fourth time in the United States, and for just over 48 hours will represent the epicenter of the growing Movement.”

https://www.mosaix2019.com/general-info/

https://www.mosaix2019.com/general-info/conference-history/

The Conference organizer is Bob Roberts – the template is from Leadership Network who brought us a variety of influences into the mainstream of the evangelical church from the “Emergent Movement ” heresies to Warrens “PEACE Plan Community Development /Faith Based Partnerships ” to recently  sponsorship of the 2019 radical “Revoice LGBTQ Thriving in historic  (conservative ) Christian Tradition “.

Ron Edmondson, President
Leadership Network • Dallas, TX

https://www.mosaix2019.com/sponsors/

Lifeways Ministry Grid is among the event sponsors

Chandler Vannoy, Brand Manager
LifeWay Leadership • Nashville, TN

As are a host of seminaries and Christian educational institutions like Wheaton and Dallas Theological Seminary

PLUS TGC/TIM KELLER PARTNER

AND A FULL GAGGLE OF PROGRESSIVE CHURCHES IN THE LEADERSHIP NETWORK STABLE

MOSAIX SPEAKERS INCLUDE 

BOB ROBERTS OF COURSE

ED STETZER

Wheaton College

JOHN M. PERKINS

JVMP Foundation

AGAIN WHERE DOES IT END?

This present trajectory has the church aimed at the heart of ” Global Spirituality ”

https://charterforcompassion.org/global-spirituality

“By spreading a global spirituality, a spirituality that transcends and includes (but does not compete with) the past and present religions and spiritual traditions, this project wants to contribute to join humans in a global family.”

“Eight representatives of different religious and spiritual traditions have come together to write an “Invitation to Global Spirituality.” An association supports them in sharing and spreading the message, creating an open space for discussion, and developing the project further, so that Global Spirituality becomes visible in the lives of many people around the globe.”

“We have the ability to become global citizens in thoughts, words and actions so that we can work together for peace, justice and sustainability. A world culture of respect, compassion and solidarity can emerge and reshape the planet into a place of wisdom and beauty, harmony and love.”

ERLC NEW POLITICAL PARTNER IN GLOBAL SPIRITUALITY AND THE POLITICS THAT WILL LEAD US THERE 

It should not be shocking to Southern Baptist that its own Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission is leading it into oblivion . Russell Moore it current president is a very progressive and politically driven individual. For him to provide an ERLC Fellow for this Mosaix Conference is very much tracking with the movement he is committed to. Besides the overlap of Bob Roberts with the Multi-ethnic and Interfaith movement – the ERLC recently published its “Civility Report ” for Political Engagement with Global Spirituality partner Fetzer Institute helping draft the document and collaborate on its research with ERLC/ Moore .

Where did this partnership of ERLC and Global Spirituality develop? According to the Fetzer Institute Global spiritualist – at his attending ERLC/ TGC cosponsored MLK/50 event .

“By Sharif Azami

Read more on the ERLC “global spirituality ” partner here

RUSSELL MOORE/ERLC NEW AGE POLITICAL PARTNERS

And here

RUSSELL MOORE/ERLC NEW AGE PARTNERSHIP SPRANG FROM MLK/50

NOT A GOSPEL ISSUE BECAUSE IT IS NOT THE GOSPEL 

Evangelism in obedience to the “Great Commission ” of Jesus is the Call of the church and of every Christian

Mark 16

The Great Commission

^“14 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. ¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. ¹⁶ He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned”

Nowhere does Jesus call His church to interfaith dialog- community development – bridge building of even conferencing to train leaders for such. He does not call us to draft documents for civility or for the common good. He does call us to be separate – set apart and not unequally yoked with unbelievers and to avoid idolatry with other gods who are in fact not God at all.

BELOVED THESE MOSAIX STYLE MOVEMENTS SIMPLY NOT THE GOSPEL OR THE CALL OF GOD FOR THE CHURCH BUT SOMETHING VERY OPPOSITE IF IT .

A valued history lesson from the Kings of Judah who made bad alliances is awaiting every TRUE believer in the Word of God . Just read it .

Thomas Littleton                                                                                                   10/ 14 /2019

Betrayal today is so commonplace it is often unnoticed . Perhaps it is because it has become expected and we no longer care.We respond with little more than a shrug. This may even be an acquired skill to ensure survival. It is correctly stated “Those who expect little will not be disappointed.” Yet not all betrayal is equal.

Spiritual leaders who betray the trust and position they are assigned by divine appointment sell short not only the flock of God under their care but the Good Shepherd Himself. Judas betrayal was foretold -even on the night it took place but that did not lessen his guilt or accountability or alter his fate. Judas paid a high price for his thirty pieces of silver and so too will the modern evangelical sell outs -those followers of Judas whose spines have turned to rubber ,hearts have grown cold ,and convictions either never existed or have become like silly putty left exposed to the sun.

Some may only be going along with the prevailing winds of culture but others are enemies of the CROSS of CHRIST. They know who they are . Betrayers as used here mean evangelical leaders who allow themselves to be taken for biblical conservatives but drive narrative that undermine the very values their hearers take them as espousing . Hiding progressive politics behind historic theological positions is a betrayal of the kind of trust invested to those who play this game . If the narratives were coming out of true Biblical conviction by these leaders then there would be no need to source or coordinate them from progressive political and social science think tanks. Would there ?

FIVE TURNING POINT FOCUSES OF BETRAYAL 

There are five major areas of betrayal rising on the evangelical horizon today. Take the time to look a them in this writers VIEW -of deepening order of importance and decide for yourself about the gravity of each and the long range error these betrayals bring with them.

*POLITICAL BETRAYAL

*HUMAN AND SEXUAL “RIGHTS ” BETRAYAL

*SOCIAL JUSTICE FALSE GOSPEL BETRAYAL

*”FAITH AND WORK” BETRAYAL :GOING AFTER A GENERATIONS ACHIEVEMENTS AND THE NEXT GENERATIONS FUTURE MAKING YOUR CHILDREN AND GRAND CHILDREN INTO JUSTICE WARRIORS FOR THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY .

*COLLECTIVE FAITH BETRAYAL :USURPING INDIVIDUAL SAVING FAITH AND THE PRIESTHOOD OF EVERY BELIEVER.

EVANGELICAL POLITICS OF BETRAYAL 

In this article we will look at Evangelical Political Betrayal.

Political life is , at its core ,a life of betrayal . This is universally true because political life requires making promises its betrayer cannot keep and endless efforts to be all things to all constituents . Today we see spiritual leaders forming a whole new type of political betrayal.  This one is framed around a false gospel and laced with talking points from the social sciences and left wing think tanks. This betrayal is made to sound Christian with the overuse of hybrid theological jargon which people like Tim Keller seem willing to simply make up along the way as needed. The political engagement stew is then salted with some bible verses tossed in and then published like a global VBS lesson for spiritual children and made to especially appeal to the idealism of the next generation.It really appears to be more like  a set of cheap shots and sucker punches to the intellect and biblical foundation of believers . And yes- they do appear to assume that we are all too stupid to notice .

Example of the rhetoric : (stop when you have had enough )

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/can-evangelicalism-survive-donald-trump-and-roy-moore

https://www.premier.org.uk/News/World/Tim-Keller-says-being-a-US-evangelical-is-harder-under-Trump

https://hds.harvard.edu/news/trump%E2%80%99s-evangelicals-inconvenient-teachings-christ#

https://www.newsweek.com/2019/08/23/rebel-evangelical-dismantling-loyalty-christian-trump-supporters-1452681.

htmlhttps://www.cnn.com/interactive/2017/politics/state/russell-moore-donald-trump-southern-baptists/

https://www.russellmoore.com/2018/04/06/signposts-evangelical/

HERE IS A LOOK AT THE LATEST POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT GUIDE FROM SBC CIRCLES .IS IT A BETRAYAL ? YOU BE THE JUDGE .

ERLC- DEEP STATE MANUAL FOR 2020 POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT

RUSSELL MOORE/ERLC NEW AGE PARTNERSHIP SPRANG FROM MLK/50

RUSSELL MOORE/ERLC NEW AGE POLITICAL PARTNERS

DISOWNING CHRISTIAN IDENTITY

There was a gathering of LEADING EVANGELICAL THINKERS called by Doug Birdsall because, in his words he was ” fearful that this association with Trump now threatened the focus on personal salvation”. Nice of him to be concerned about other believers salvation just because he does not like how the vote. Over 50 leaders gathered secretly at Wheaton to discuss these issues. One blogger likened  the closed door meetings to a Bilderberg Group approach for solving evangelicalism problems .

https://www.newyorker.com/news/on-religion/at-a-private-meeting-in-illinois-a-group-of-evangelicals-tried-to-save-their-movement-from-trumpism

“Doug Birdsall, the honorary chair of the Lausanne Movement, an international evangelical organization, decided to move ahead with a two-day “consultation” for evangelical leaders that he had been mulling. According to Birdsall, its aim would be to revitalize Graham’s original mission and to discuss the future of the faith.

In the e-mail invitation Birdsall sent to participants, he wrote that the meeting was “prompted by the challenges of distortions to evangelicalism that have permeated both the media and culture since the 2016 election.” He recruited Harold Smith, the president of the Christianity Today ministry, which publishes the evangelical magazine of the same name founded by Graham, in 1956; Claude Alexander, a respected pastor in North Carolina; and Philip Ryken, the president of Wheaton College, in Illinois, to help host the gathering. Jenny Yang, a vice-president with World Relief, a refugee-resettlement group, and Gabriel Salguero, the president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, were asked to co-chair. (I was invited to attend because for several years I was the managing editor of Christianity Today.) Like many other young Christians, the 2016 Presidential election left me with an acute sense of abandonment.

Birdsall’s invitation stated that the “support of ‘eighty-one per cent of self-identifying white evangelicals’ for Donald Trump is a call to self-reflection on the current condition of Evangelicalism.” Nevertheless, he insisted, “Our purpose . . . is neither political nor centered on public policy.”

Last week, more than fifty pastors, scholars, and college presidents converged on the Billy Graham Center, at Wheaton, for the meeting. Participants included the Presbyterian pastors Timothy Keller and John Ortberg, and also Mark Noll, a historian of American evangelicalism who is perhaps best known for his book “The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind,” a critique of the movement’s anti-intellectual bent.”

( Photo from Christian Post article https://www.christianpost.com/books/tim-keller-evangelicals-politics-social-justice-how-churches-should-treat-non-christians.html) 

ONE THING IS CERTAIN -WITH 2020 LOOMING IN THE NEAR FUTURE EVEN MORE SUCH MEETINGS AND STATEMENTS ARE GOING ON AND FORTHCOMING  .

Why are the “conservative evangelical ” leaders who found great joy in being in the company of the Obama administration so upset about Trump being President ?

THE PRESIDENCY TRUMP IS NOT THE ISSUE

Love him or hate him Donald Trump altered the US political landscape forever. Presidential politics are a billion dollar industry since the 2008 election and now it is likely to become more and more a billionaire’s game. What is really at issue is the future of Conservative Christian conviction reflected in voting patterns .

Leadership in the Old Testament times was a mixed bag. Leaders often are. Moore and Keller and others desire to shame Christians for voting the best they can. The goal goes beyond voting habits to Christian public identity . Betrayers want American Christians to disown their convictions reflected in their political stand but also call openly for evangelicals to disown the very name or label “evangelical ” along with the very identity . The call is repeated over and over but the goal is not to find a Gospel stance in political engagement but rather to move believers left of center on EVERY

Ironically the spiritual political betrayers are everywhere and seldom even try to hide their betrayal . “Never Trumper Evangelical” leaders like Russell Moore and Tim Keller appear willing to brazenly feed themselves without fear among the flock while they sell you the snake oil of progressive political talking points and assert them as “gospel values ” reflected in the “justice policies” of the Democratic Party. All this takes place while one of the most honest people in the Democratic loop Cecile Richards will plainly tell you “you cannot be a Democrat unless you support ABORTION”. Worst of all your children are being sold this bill of goods at every hand.Even in Christian media , educational institutions ,(where parents are often paying the tuition ) and in your very own churches .  Soon it is likely  Planned Parenthood will have no problem finding even more support from “conservative Christians ” . Liberal churches are already devotees at these pagan alter fires.

HONEST INJUN /SCOUTS HONOR/READ MY LIPS 

So who is HONEST here ? Is it the woman whose organizations budget reached over a billion dollars a year by 2015 by being faithful to its supporters who want to promote “women’s rights to choose” and control “global birth rates ” ? Or is it the SBC “ethicist “Russell Moore and the PCA’s new C S Lewis Tim Keller who wrap their narratives in theological packaging and offer answers and responses to the Christian masses which undermine one of the most black and white convictional issues of our time or any time? Sadly the former head of Planned Parenthood – perpetrator of global child slaughter that would make the priest of  Moloch blush – is more honest than our evangelical talking heads in their political talking points.

This art of theological deceit is practiced across the realm of those leaders in network with Moore and Keller. They cover a range of issues in their casting the vision of a new liberal Christianity with conservative dressing but none more revealing than in the issue of abortion . You can read at this link as Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman or The Gospel Coalition/ 9MARKS / ERLC practice the talking points calling out Christians for being “single issue voters”. How dare we think the value of life can be distilled into a single issue i.e. saving babies from slaughter ?

9MARKS DEVER AND FABIAN SOCIALIST TRAINED EDITOR :HOW TO DITCH YOUR PRO-LIFE VOTING HABIT .

If we have been slain it was either by the hand of our own or the willingness to deliver Christians  up to their slayers. David did not escape his betrayal of Uriah the Hittite even though it was a hand other than Davids who did the deed. Guilt will find the shedder of innocent blood. It is  had and fast rule of life in God’s economy .Betrayal  results in death .If not  death of the person betrayed – Betrayal does bring about the death of Hope and Trust and often the Hope of the Future .In the worst of cases it brings about the death of the most precious commodity -the FAITH of the betrayed. This is the worst of all possible results. Many are being and have been so betrayed by spiritual leadership today that their very faith in God and His Word are in crisis. While modern day betrayers count their thirty pieces of silver , build their etifacies and organizations and write endless books and conference -many do so over the scattered dry bones of their victims .

We must ask and answer again the question “can these bones live?”. Our reply must be “O Lord thou knowest” for it is beyond human capacity – but nothing is too hard for the LORD of Host.

As far as politics and us regular Joe believers …the 2020 election cycle is well inplay . So are the betrayers of your faith and ,if the have their way… the betrayers of your vote and of life as we know it in America. Perhaps that is less of a Kingdom issue but The world still looks to America for personal freedoms like Religious Liberty . It is certain those who hate our way of life have no commitment to such personal values. Do our spiritual leaders or are they just saying that they do?

ERLC/SBC ABUSE PREVENTION MOVEMENT LOOKS TO EMPOWER WOMEN AND ITSELF.

(Part 2 of the ERLC “Caring Well ” reality check report )

Rev Thomas Littleton                                                                              10-9-2019  

Last weeks ERLC Caring Well Conference has raised some eyebrows as it promoted women’s empowerment as an answer to sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention . With speakers like Beth Moore attacking the historic SBC views of  Complementarianism and blaming it for sexual abuse and the cover up of it . This movement has been been in the making for over a year  and follows on the heels of the SBCs own internal #MeToo efforts which took out conservative icons like Paige Patterson. Now the ERLC offers “empowerment “as the answer to the SBC abuse issues. But make no mistake there is far more to be lost and gained than addressing abuse in the SBC for the “Caring Well” movement .

UNFRIENDLY -UNCOOPERATIVE AND WHISTLEBLOWERS NOT WELCOME 

The issues of sexual abuse, race and same sex attraction (LGBT+ rights )  – as defined or redefined by the politics of Russell Moore and his ERLC regime and the empowerment of the newly tasked SBC “Standing Credentials Committee” to determine a churches standing in the SBC are central to the “Caring Well” ideology. Church Autonomy in the SBC is likely a thing of the past -as ARE  “the Priesthood of the Believer ” and “Freedom of Conscience” . In the future – SBC “Whistleblowers” and “unfriendly ” and “un-cooperatives”  BEWARE ! The ERLC operatives appear to be out to “Search Identify and Destroy” in the name of driving “cooperation ”  and protecting the “vulnerable” as it defines them .

CARING WELL IS THE ERLC’S BABY -IT’S REACH GOES TO THE CORE OF SBC LIFE

CARING WELL MOVEMENT LAUNCHED BY GREEAR PARTNERING WITH ERLC

http://www.sbclife.net/article/2634/sex-abuse-prevention

“Following his June 2018 election as SBC president, Greear formed a presidential initiative, working in partnership with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), to consider ways to combat the evil of sexual abuse in a church setting.”

“At its Fall 2018 meeting, the Executive Committee, acting on behalf of the Convention ad interim, approved up to $250,000 in Cooperative Program gifts to fund the initiative.”

“At the Winter 2019 meeting, Greear called on Southern Baptists to ten action steps in response to sexual abuse in a church or ministry setting.”

Season of Sorrow and Lament

“Greear called on Southern Baptists to enter a season of repentance of allowing a culture “that has made abuse, cover-ups, and evading accountability far too easy.” He called for a “season of sorrow” to “culminate at the 2019 SBC annual meeting as we have a time for prayer and lament on the subject of abuse.”

“In “Five Updates on the Sexual Abuse Advisory Group,” an ERLC update posted on May 14, Phillip Bethancourt, the Commission’s executive vice president, said that the Sexual Abuse Advisory Group will “lead a time of prayer and lament as well as present a report on its work” during the ERLC’s presentation on Wednesday afternoon at 2:45 p.m.”

BACKGROUND CHECKS -TIGHTENING ORDINATION -CHURCH REVIEWS -DATABASE

Background Checks Considered

“In his February remarks, Greear asked the Executive Committee to “strongly consider requiring background checks, at a minimum, for all SBC standing committees and trustee appointments.”

“The Executive Committee officers have placed consideration of requiring background checks for members of all boards and committees of the SBC on the agenda for the Committee’s September 2019 meeting.”

“Executive Committee staff amended the nominations form completed by Committee on Nominations’ members. Each person nominated to serve in an elected role on SBC boards and committees will be asked to provide written affirmation of the nominee’s willingness for background checks to be conducted on him or her upon their election to serve.”

Ordination Practices Reviewed

“While ministerial calling and ordination continue to be a function of each local church, associational leaders are beginning to review ways to strengthen the process through their local network of churches.”

“Jason A. Lowe, an associational mission strategist in Kentucky, began polling pastors and other Baptist leaders across the Southern Baptist Convention on ways to enhance the ordination screening process, according to a May 10 Baptist Press news story about the survey.”

“In the resultant report, “Above Reproach: A Study of the Ordination Practices of SBC Churches,” Lowe noted that “very little study” has been done on this topic and that no one has a good snapshot of what is actually happening across the SBC when it comes to ordination practices.”

“No one knows how thoroughly candidates for ordination are being examined,” wrote Lowe, who serves as associational mission strategist for the Pike Association of Southern Baptists in southeastern Kentucky as well as executive pastor for First Baptist Church in Pikeville.”

“No one knows how many ordination councils require candidates to complete a background check,” he wrote. “No one knows how many ordination councils examine a candidate’s sexual purity.”

“The 555 survey responses Lowe collated included pastors (60 percent), associational and denominational leaders (17 percent), deacons (9 percent), retired or former pastors (5 percent), and others (9 percent) from thirty-four states, Baptist Press reported. He released his findings in a 42-page report and noted five significant points of interest:”

1. SBC ordination practices have significant room for improvement.
2. Discussions regarding a candidate’s sexual purity are sparse, but on the rise.
3. Ordination practices are changing in both positive and negative ways. For instance, more churches are requiring theological training, and more are conducting background checks and asking candidates about sexual purity. But on the other hand, the role of the ordination council seems to be decreasing in importance. Screening periods have gotten shorter as a whole, and councils involve fewer ordained pastors.
4. Ordaining churches in more populated areas set higher standards for their ordination candidates.
5. Larger churches are more thorough in their examination of ordination candidates. Churches with a larger membership are more likely to cover more topics during the screening process, require a background check, and require training.

The full report is available at https://jasonalowe.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/sbc-ordination-practices-report.pdf.”

ACP Questions Considered

“In his May 14 update, Bethancourt noted that there is no expected change for this fall’s Annual Church Profile report churches are asked to submit beginning this summer and throughout the fall. ”

“Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research, who oversees development of the Annual Church Profile in concert with pastors, state convention representatives, and SBC leaders, told Executive Committee staff in a May 2 email that the 2019 report had already been finalized and distributed to states and associations for them to begin the annual process of collecting responses from more than fifty thousand churches and church-type missions across the United States and its territories.”

Annual Meeting Activities

“During the SBC annual meeting in Birmingham, a beehive of activities will highlight sexual abuse prevention in a church setting.”

“The central element of this focus is a scheduled presentation during the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission presentation, part one, at 2:45 on Wednesday afternoon, June 12. ”

“In addition to the report to messengers, the Sexual Abuse Advisory Group and the ERLC “will partner together for a Monday night event on ‘Sexual Abuse and the Southern Baptist Convention,’” according to Bethancourt’s May 14 update. The event is scheduled for Monday, June 10, and will meet in the South Exhibit Hall, Level 1, in the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. Space is limited for the event.”

Panelists include ERLC President Russell Moore; SBC President J. D. Greear; author and Bible study teacher Beth Moore; attorney, advocate, and educator Rachael Denhollander; and Susan Codone, a survivor of sexual abuse in a Birmingham area Baptist church, Bethancourt wrote.

The ERLC booth in the exhibit hall will serve as a hub for information, resources, and conversations about abuse.”

Database Possibility Explored

“In his February 18 presentation to the Executive Committee, Greear raised the possibility of a “database of offenders.” He noted that the “subject of a database is complicated and will take time to evaluate.”

“This update was compiled from numerous sources by Roger S. Oldham, executive editor of SBC LIFE and member of Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee.”

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED AT SBC 2019?

SEXUAL ABUSE RACISM -HOMOSEXUALITY

“BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) — Sexual abuse and racism would draw heightened action within the Southern Baptist Convention under recommendations to be considered during the June 11-12 SBC annual meeting in Birmingham, Ala.”
“A key recommendation, approved by the SBC Executive Committee in its June 10 meeting, calls for repurposing the SBC Credentials Committee to field claims against churches in regard to sexual abuse and discrimination based on ethnicity as well as matters such as homosexuality that would call their relationship with the SBC into question.”

”
“The Executive Committee also approved recommendations to amend the SBC constitution to specify sexual abuse and racism as grounds for declaring a church as “not in friendly cooperation.” The SBC amended its constitution in regard to homosexuality in 1993.”
“SBC President J.D. Greear, in his greeting to EC members, said Southern Baptists are “at a defining moment” in how they respond to some of the challenges before them.”
“I want to be careful not to overblow this … [but] how we respond to some of these things that are ahead of us will not only shape our witness in the present, it will also shape who Southern Baptists are for generations to come.”

THE COMMITTEE -WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS IT FOR?

WHY RE-PURPOSE AN EXISTING CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE ?

….”to field claims against churches in regard to sexual abuse and discrimination based on ethnicity as well as matters such as homosexuality that would call their relationship with the SBC into question.”

REALITY CHECK –

SO THE STANDING CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE IS A RE-PURPOSED GROUP FOR CREDENTIALING MESSENGERS TO THE ANNUAL SBC CONVENTION MEETINGS TO NOW DETERMINE IF A CHURCH IS FRIENDLY COOPERATION WITH THE ERLC’S PROJECTED VIEWS AND STANDARDS ON SEX ABUSE- RACISM -HOMOSEXUALITY AND MORE -“NOT LIMITED TO ” ADDRESSING SEXUAL ABUSE  ALONE 

ERLC PROVIDED A guide to understanding the Credentials Committee proposal

A guide to understanding the Credentials Committee proposal

“May 2019  “The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention will consider a significant proposal to establish a standing Credentials Committee. This committee will be tasked with handling disputes that arise related to whether churches are in friendly cooperation with the SBC, including concerns with churches over their handling of sexual abuse. The full text of the proposal is available at the end of this article. If this proposal is approved by the Executive Committee and then passed by a two-thirds vote at the annual meeting, the Credentials Committee will immediately become the Southern Baptist denominational body responsible for this process.”

FRIENDLY COOPERATION OR ELSE 

WHAT DID HE JUST SAY ?

In reality this Credentials Committee about.; “This committee will be tasked with handling disputes that arise related to whether churches are in friendly cooperation with the SBC, including concerns with churches over their handling of sexual abuse.”

The issue here is then “whether or not a church is in friendly cooperation with the SBC”. This might also be stated as “is a church in compliance with the leadership of the SBC in a friendly posture .” The Credentials Committee might better be understood as a “Compliance Office” who is empowered to review churches .

What is the proposal?

“This proposal would establish a standing Credentials Committee that would be empowered to “make inquiries of a church” in instances where a dispute regarding friendly cooperation arises. This committee would now be responsible for handling issues arising from churches that act in a manner that is inconsistent with the Convention’s beliefs regarding sexual abuse. The committee would not just address issues of abuse but other subjects such as homosexuality or racism, in accordance with Article 3 of the SBC Constitution.”

“REVIEW “AKA SEARCH AND DESTROY UNFRIENDLY NON-COOPERATIVES

“The Credentials Committee can conduct an inquiry process in which it would “consider the matter and review any information available to it” to assess if a church is in friendly cooperation with the convention, as established in Article 3 of the SBC Constitution. If an inquiry process is completed between annual meetings, the Credentials Committee could make a recommendation to the Executive Committee who would then “determine whether the church is in cooperation with the Convention.” While the Convention and the Executive Committee retain their authority to make final determinations regarding whether a church is in cooperation with the Convention, this committee is authorized to assess and recommend action to the larger body.”

What is the purpose of the proposal?

“The purpose of this proposal is to establish a stand-alone committee that is empowered to assess and address issues such as abuse that could warrant disfellowshipping a church. It attempts to comprehensively address the composition and purpose of this committee. As J.D. Greear described it in the Baptist Press article, “This committee would be charged with handling any issues that may arise as to whether a church is in cooperation with the SBC, including (but not limited to) complaints of sexual abuse.” The proposal is a proactive step taken by the Executive Committee to position the Convention to more effectively address the abuse crisis. The Credentials Committee would carry out responsibilities currently handled by the Bylaws Workgroup of the Executive Committee.”

AGAIN ACCORDING TO THE SBC PRESIDENT GREEAR 

“As J.D. Greear described it in the Baptist Press article, “This committee would be charged with handling any issues that may arise as to whether a church is in cooperation with the SBC, including (BUT NOT LIMITED TO ) complaints of sexual abuse.”

OK THEN – WE THINK WE GET IT !

We got now. So the Credentials Committee deals with “unfriendlies” and ” non-cooperative types.

DUTIES OF THE RE-PURPOSED CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE 

“The repurposed Credentials Committee, if approved by a two-thirds vote of messengers as an amendment to the SBC’s bylaws, would be a nine-member standing committee. A constitutional amendment, meanwhile, requires a two-thirds vote at two consecutive annual meetings.”
“EC members approved the proposed Credentials Committee and sexual abuse constitutional amendment by voice votes, with several members in the negative; the constitutional amendment involving racism passed unanimously.”
“Specifics of the EC’s recommendation for a standing Credentials Committee include:
— A composition of the SBC’s registration secretary, the EC chairman and, for three-year terms, three members nominated by the Executive Committee and four members nominated by the Committee on Nominations for approval by messengers to serve staggered terms at the committee’s outset.
— An assignment to review any information available when an issue arises during annual meeting whether a church is in cooperation with the convention. The Credentials Committee shall either (a) consider the question and, when prepared, make a recommendation to the Executive Committee or (b) make a recommendation to the convention at the earliest opportunity, which will be immediately considered. One representative of the church and one representative of the Credentials Committee shall be permitted to speak to the question, subject to the normal rules of debate.
— An assignment between annual meetings when an issue arises to review any information available. If the committee deems that a church is not in cooperation with the convention, it shall submit a report to the Executive Committee with the committee’s reasons. The EC, at its next meeting, shall consider the report to make a determination. The decision can be appealed to the convention at least 30 days prior to the annual meeting, when the matter will be considered as part of miscellaneous business on the afternoon of the first day of the convention.
— An opportunity for a disfellowshipped church to seek reconsideration by the Credentials Committee if the church asserts it has addressed the matters which led to its removal as a cooperating church, subject to a vote by the Executive Committee.
— Instruction that its queries to a church should never attempt to exercise authority over the church in violation of Article IV of the SBC constitution.
— Creating a Registration Committee, modeled after the manner the Credentials Committee has operated in the past, to continue being appointed by the SBC president for each annual meeting to be involved with the registration process of messengers.”
“Pending messengers’ approval of the Credentials Committee, the Executive Committee voted to nominate its three members for the standing committee: Linda Cooper, president of national WMU; Stacey Bramlett, the EC’s outgoing secretary and senior vice president of Independent Bank in Cedarville, Tenn.; and Mike Lawson, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Sherman, Texas.
Repurposing the Credentials Revisions would entail revisions to SBC Bylaw 8 regarding Messenger Credentials and Registration; SBC Bylaw 15 governing the Committee on Nominations; and SBC Bylaw 29 on Participation in Convention Affairs.
The proposed constitutional amendments entailed revising into more succinct wording the proposals as adopted by the Executive Committee at its February meeting.”

ERLC REVIEWS THE CARING WELL TAKE AWAY 

ERLC’S BETHANCOURT REVIEWED THE TOP 10 TAKEAWAYS

Top 10 takeaways from the Sexual Abuse Advisory Group Report

SOME CURIOUS CONSIDERATIONS

2. The report gives voice to survivors of sexual abuse within Southern Baptist churches.

(How does the Report give Voice to survivors if no contact to REPORT ABUSE exist ?)

IS ERLC /RUSSELL MOORE SOUNDING FAKE ABUSE OUTRAGE? SBC VICTIMS STILL HAVE NO WAY TO REPORT ABUSE .

(In FACT NO SUCH contact to report ABUSE to the SBC exit after over a year of “Caring Well” efforts .)

4. The report acknowledges that failures in responding to sexual abuse have occurred in many ways, including:

(Interesting wording on some of these points !)

• Failing to adequately train our staff and volunteers—on the national, state, and congregational levels—to be aware of and respond appropriately to abuse
• Using church autonomy improperly to avoid taking appropriate action
• Failing to care well for survivors of abuse
• Failing to take disclosure seriously and to believe the survivor
• Failing to report abuse to civil authorities
• Recommending suspected perpetrators to new employment
• Promoting political, institutional, and congregational leaders whose language and behavior glorifies mistreatment of women and children

6. The report acknowledges the way the Southern Baptist doctrine of church autonomy has been misunderstood and misapplied. 

(Two things characterize the historic Baptist faith – The Priesthood of the Believer and Church Autonomy . Both are being lost at the ERLC/ The Gospel Coalition brand of Neo-reformed faith is taking over leadership.)

7. The report acknowledges that some Southern Baptist churches have prioritized institutions over the vulnerable.

( No one has prioritized his institution over people more than Russell Moore has his change agent agenda in the ERLC)

IS CARING WELL  NOW THE BRAND FOR ERLC ABUSES OF POWER?

Then ERLC “promotes the BRAND

Home

Click to access SBC-Caring-Well-Report-June-2019.pdf

SBC 2019 RESOLUTIONS SHUFFLE 

DRIVING RACIAL NARRATIVES NOTHING NEW FOR SOME IN SBC -NOR IS HYPOCRISY OVER RACE

THE GLARING RACIAL HYPOCRISY OF AL MOHLER AND RUSSELL MOORE

Resolutions contend for vulnerable, Gospel

2019 RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE CHAIR IS AN SBTS/ERLC INSIDER KNOWN FOR HIS RACIAL ACTIVISM

http://kentuckytoday.com/stories/kentucky-baptist-woods-named-chairman-of-so-baptist-resolutions-committee,17369

“Kentucky Baptist leader Curtis Woods has been named chairman of the 2019 Southern Baptist Convention Resolutions Committee, said SBC President J.D. Greear.

Woods, who served on the 2018 SBC Resolutions Committee, will be only the second African American to chair the committee, according to Baptist Press’ review of SBC records. Norris Sydnor, an African American, chaired the committee in 1982.”

“Woods holds a doctor of philosophy degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he also serves as assistant professor of applied theology and biblical spirituality. He was on the six-member committee that released in December a report on the institution’s history of slavery and racism.”

SBC HELD ITS 2019 MEETINGS IN BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA TO USE THE CITY AND ITS CIVIL RIGHTS HISTORY AS A BACKDROP FOR RACIAL RECONCILIATION DRIVE

http://sbcannualmeeting.net/sbc19/news/53090/racial-reconciliation-focus-of-pastors-conf-panel

CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND INTERSECTIONALITY VALIDATED AT SBC 2019 

https://christianindex.org/resolutions-contend-for-vulnerable-gospel/

“Curtis Woods, chairman of the 10-member Resolutions Committee, told reporters the “overarching theme” of the panel’s report “would have been protection – protection of the unborn as well as protection of those who could find themselves vulnerable to sexual abuse, as well as just keeping the Gospel of Jesus Christ first, advancing the Gospel, being concerned about the Great Commission.”

CRT

“The resolution affirmed the Bible as “the first, last, and sufficient authority” regarding how the church tries to amend social evils and said critical race theory and intersectionality should only be used in submission to Scripture. The resolution described critical race theory as a set of tools to explain how race functions in society and intersectionality as the study of how various characteristics overlap.

Tom Ascol, senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Florida, sought to amend the resolution, including with language to say critical race theory and intersectionality are “rooted in ideologies that are incompatible with Christianity.”

Woods told the messengers in response, “What we are saying is that this can be utilized simply as an analytical tool, not a transcendent worldview above the authority of Scripture, and we stand by the strength of this resolution.”

THE RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE ACTUALLY TOOK A RESOLUTION CONDEMNING CRT AND INTERSECTIONALITY AND CONVERTED /REPURPOSED IT AFFIRM .

SBC RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE “REVOICING RESOLUTIONS” -SUBVERTING SOUTHERN BAPTIST

REVOICE LGBT + MOVEMENT FROM SBTS “STILL THRIVING ” IN SBC

THE RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE ALSO  REJECTED A CONDEMNATION OF THE CONTROVERSIAL “REVOICE LGBT THRIVING” MOVEMENT AND PUT FORWARD A RESOLUTION OF THEIR OWN PROMOTING SAME SEX ATTRACTION /ORIENTATION

According to the Report the Resolutions Committee also presented these issues for the SBC messengers who acted upon them

“Messengers also approved resolutions in which they:”

(Thirty Pieces of Silver Commentary provided on many of these actions )

• Reaffirmed the doctrine of local church autonomy under Christ’s lordship and rejected its use as a way to conceal the sins of pastors and others in the church who are guilty of abuse. ( interesting that affirming church autonomy while establishing means to dismantle it for lacking “Friendly Cooperation”)
• Urged Christians who battle same-sex attraction “to forsake any self-conception or personal identity that is contrary to God’s good and holy purposes in creation and redemption” and commended the “faithful witness” of such disciples who walk in obedience to Jesus. ( While refusing to Condemn Revoice LGBT+ movement born at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary while founder Nate Collins was teaching NT at SBTS )
• Promised to oppose “a divisive spirit” and to develop a “cooperative culture” for the fulfillment of the Great Commission.( By virtue and authority of the new repurposed Credentials Committee pressure toward cooperation and compliance with less than “friendly persuasion” can be exerted to force compliance with ERLC views on Sex Abuse- Race and Homosexuality /those with SSA)
• Committed to respond to injustices by Gospel proclamation, advocacy for oppressed people, acting with justice personally, and demanding that “spheres of society” function righteously, truthfully, and lovingly. ( Justice is a RED FLAG term in this era of “Social Justice ” false gospel infiltration on the seminaries of conservative denominations like the SBC)
• Renewed their commitment to the Great Commission and encouraged the convention’s seminaries, entities, and churches to enable pastors to understand “how culture and contexts shape ministry methods and strategies.”
• Called for the president and Congress to refuse to extend the military draft to include women.
• Denounced human germline editing and called on Congress and international policy makers to make it unfundable and illegal.
• Confirmed their commitment to Christ over a political party and acknowledged the various political affiliations and viewpoints in the convention’s churches. ( While ERLC promotes the Democratic party and attacks conservative candidates
• Expressed gratitude to God, as well as Southern Baptists in the Birmingham area and all others who helped with this year’s meeting.

REALITY CHECKS WHISTLEBLOWERS GIVEN NO QUARTER 

AGAIN NO PROTECTIONS FOR PEOPLE COMING FORWARD TO REPORT ABUSE WERE PROVIDED AS A “WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS” RESOLUTION WAS REJECTED.

“The committee chose not to act on proposals submitted on the moral character of government officials, reconciliation with Jewish people because of a lack of concern by the SBC during the Holocaust period, peace between the United States and Iran, and the freedom of conscience of whistleblowers in the SBC.”

THE RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE CHOSE NOT TO ACT ….  on a resolutions supporting “freedom of conscience of whistleblowers in the SBC”

YET we are to believe the ERLC/ The SBC leadership and the (Re-Purposed ) Standing Credentials Committee are committed to “PROTECTING THE VULNERABLE ” .

THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: WHY CRITICAL RACE THEORY, WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT AND LGBT+ ARE THRIVING IN THE SBC

Jeremiah 5

The Justice of God’s Judgment

CONFIRMED ON OCTOBER 8TH AFTER THE ERLC “CARING WELL CONFERENCE ” NO HOTLINE OR ENTITY OR CONTACT IS AVAILABLE  FOR ABUSE VICTIMS IN THE SBC.

Rev Thomas Littleton                                                                                              10-8-2019

( Recently a person of color in the SBC who has been repeatedly abused by superiors and who has watched the Caring Well Conference be planned and executed -asked this writer  how they could report the abuse they had suffered . After an extensive search of SBC websites- the ERLC – The Caring Well Report and web site – and combing through a long list of press releases on the topic of addressing abuse and protecting the vulnerable in the SBC (and the Gospel) -no place for reporting or even contacting the proper channels to report abuse in the SBC exist.

The SBC Executive Committee , SBC President J D Greear  and ERLC head Russell Moore have been talking about SBC abuse since 2018 but to date NO MECHANISM EXIST THAT IS IN PUBLIC VIEW FOR VICTIMS OF ABUSE TO REPORT TO SBC AUTHORITIES . The compelling question is “WHY?” . How can they address or prevent further  abuse with no reporting mechanism in place?

This writer was informed by the Executive Committee that no such place for contact or method of reporting has been established .

Part TWO of this report will examine what IS being accomplished by the Caring Well  effort and how it is being used to promote women’s empowerment and eventual leadership roles of women in the SBC .The effort is also working to empower top down authority overriding  local church autonomy in matters the SBC Abuse Advisory Board  deems under the authority via the newly approved Committee on Abuse from the SBC    2019 meetings in Birmingham June 2019  repurposed “Standing Credentials Committee”.)

CARING WELL OR CARELESS PLANNING ?

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED EXCEPT THE VOICE OF THE VICTIMS 

Russell Moore has been planning and scheming -wishing and and hoping to address sexual abuse in the SBC for over a year .The ERLC has now done a profitable conference, brought  famous victims of abuse with books to sell and even helped draft a 52 page document to go along with the effort – YET to date -NO phone number- abuse hotline or even contact email for victims to report sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention exist . NOTHING

https://erlc.com/upcoming-events/2019-erlc-national-conference

The issue of sexual abuse in the SBC  hit the Houston Chronicle in February 2019

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/Southern-Baptist-sexual-abuse-spreads-as-leaders-13588038.php

HEADLINES READ

The ERLC and SBC work with Caring Well makes it appear the denomination is responding for victims – Still there is no method to report ABUSE.

MOORE MAKES IT SOUND HEART FELT 

“If you think responding to sexual abuse in the church is a distraction from the mission of the church, then you don’t understand the mission of the church.” –

#CaringWell

Normal response would have set up a victims hotline from day one .

The “Caring Well Movement ” is in full swing with no pathway for the victims to report .

Click to access SBC-Caring-Well-Report-June-2019.pdf

CARING WELL -WELL ATTENDED 

SBC PRESIDENT GREEAR ON ABUSE IN SBC 

SBC President J D Greear is up front and highly visible .

http://www.sbclife.net/article/2634/sex-abuse-prevention

“During his remarks at the SBC Executive Committee winter meeting, J. D. Greear told EC members and guests, “I think we recognize, with brokenness, that our culture needs to change when it comes to our response to sexual abuse.”

Noting that the SBC has passed numerous resolutions “making clear how we feel about abuse,” the SBC president said it is time for Southern Baptists to “back up our words with actions that demonstrate our commitment to this.”

“We serve a God who laid down his life to protect the vulnerable,” Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, said in his February 18 remarks. “How dare we proclaim that Gospel with our mouths and turn a blind eye when the vulnerable in our midst cry out for help?”

Following his June 2018 election as SBC president, Greear formed a presidential initiative, working in partnership with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), to consider ways to combat the evil of sexual abuse in a church setting.

At its Fall 2018 meeting, the Executive Committee, acting on behalf of the Convention and the interim, approved up to $250,000 in Cooperative Program gifts to fund the initiative.

At the Winter 2019 meeting, Greear called on Southern Baptists to ten action steps in response to sexual abuse in a church or ministry setting.”

BUT TALK IS CHEAP JD GREEAR  -SINCE 2018 THERE IS STILL NO HOTLINE FOR VICTIMS 

ROLLING OUT RESOURCES BUT NOT WAY TO REPORT

“Rollout of New Church Resource”

“In the same post, Bethancourt announced that Becoming a Church that Cares Well for the Abused will be ready by the SBC annual meeting. The resource, introduced by Greear in his February 18 EC report, has been developed by a team of survivors, advocates, and experts and is designed to prepare pastors and other leaders to respond well to any reports of sexual abuse within the church setting.”

“Becoming a Church that Cares Well for the Abused is “a free video-based curriculum to equip churches to provide holistic care for abuse,” according to Bethancourt. The twelve-part video series will include a companion written curriculum and will be available in both English and Spanish, he wrote.”

“A handbook by the same title has been published by B&H Publishing and became available for individual purchase for $4.99 on June 4 at LifeWay.com. Discounts are available for bulk orders in increments of 10–49, 50–99, and 100 or more.”

“The B&H website states, “Though the most comprehensive training is experienced by using this handbook and the videos together, readers who may be unable to access the videos can use this handbook as a stand-alone resource.”

SOME OF THE QUOTES FROM THE CARING WELL CONFERENCE 

ERLC VP PUTS THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ABUSE ISSUE

ERLC @ERLC Oct 5

BUT APPEARS TO ACKNOWLEDGE A REALITY STILL ENTRENCHED IN THE SBC “FAILURE ”

ERLC SPEAKER DENHOLLER HITS THE ISSUE HARD

CARING WELL SPEAKER -HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION ENCOURAGES VICTIMS NOT TO GO AWAY YET FAILS TO  NOTICE THEY HAVE NO WAY TO CONTACT THE CARING WELL PARTNERS !

https://www.ijm.org/team/gary-haugen/

BUT NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE NOTICED THERE IS NO WAY FOR VICTIMS TO REPORT ABUSE.

Something else besides victims themselves is occupying the minds of Russell Moore / J D Greear and the SBC anti- abuse /Caring Well Movement . What is on their minds? What goals exist that take priority over the victims access to help?

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE FOR ERLC /SBC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND CARING WELL BRAND TO DO WHAT IT SHOULD HAVE DONE IN THE FIRST PLACE…? HOW LONG BEFORE THE SBC ABUSE HOTLINE IS OPEN AND AWAITING THE VICTIMS CALL?

DR Moore – Once more  the people in the SBC who pay your salary and are told to look to you for leadership -are waiting . If this “Caring Well Movement ” with its documents , authority , materials and conferences is about victims of abuse then the victims need the first consideration – not the last.

MORE ON ERLC “JUSTICE SEEKING “WITH GLOBAL NEW AGE PARTNER FETZER 

Rev Thomas Littleton                                                                                                    10-5-2019

The current exposure of Southern Baptist and PCA leaders full embrace of the false “justice gospel ” and its efforts to turn Evangelicals toward being “justice voters ” really began in April 2018 when ERLC and Tim Keller’s The Gospel Coalition co-sponsored the MLK/50 Conference in Memphis TN. The Conference was awash  with”White Guilt ” “White Privilege” and blaming the White  Evangelicals for the woes of the world and the church . The answers provided by the TGC mob of speakers ranged from reconciliation to redistribution and then on to reforming the politics of white conservative Christians to better reflect “justice ” considerations of Christians of color.

Just a short time after these revelations the Dallas Statement condemned this Social Justice approach . The madness continued as the reality  surfaced that TGC affiliated seminaries had been filled with CRT and such like for years. By the 2019 SBC annual meetings the SBC passed a resolution promoting the use of Critical Race theory and Intersectionality as an “aid to the Gospel”  and the battle front for Biblical conservatives to preserve the historic Biblical Gospel against the TGC progressive political machine has not let up since.

So the latest manifestation of the Russell Moore , ERLC and TGC  progressive political activism came out of the closet on September 26th 2019 as the POLITICS  of the justice gospel did their full monty .

Note this Fetzer Institute partnership places ERLC and the many TGC “interviewees” in the report in league with the following organizations according to Fetzer’s Azami.

“And while Fetzer’s immediate concern might be political and social polarization, in the long term, we understand our challenges in American democracy as fundamentally spiritual. To that end, Fetzer is committed to exploring diverse perspectives from multiple angles to inform our learning and support for a flourishing democracy. In addition to our work on this report with the ERLC, for example, we are also working with groups like:

• Interfaith Youth Core and their IDEALS survey on interfaith perceptions among college students,
• Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement’s work to explore the ways faith communities can support democracy and civic life,
• The Inclusive America Project of the Aspen Institute.”

You can read about the full set of issues with the ERLC “Civility Report” here:

ERLC- DEEP STATE MANUAL FOR 2020 POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT

And the New Age partner here:

RUSSELL MOORE/ERLC NEW AGE POLITICAL PARTNERS

NOW MORE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE 

The ERLC New Age Globalist partnership emerged from the ERLC/TGC MLK/50 Conference according to the Fetzer representative who attended it and was “inspired by Moore’ speech at MLK/50 “.

The full article is below from the Fetzer website.

https://fetzer.org/blog/faith-and-healthy-democracy-report-explores-how-american-evangelical-christians-might

DOUBTLESS THERE IS MORE TO COME FROM THE PROGRESSIVE  MINDED RUSSELL MOORE AND HIS ERLC REGIME .

AT LEAST THIS TIME DR. MOORE NEED NOT TELL SOUTHERN BAPTIST THAT WORKING WITH A NEW AGE GLOBALIST PARTNER LIKE FETZER IS “A GOSPEL ISSUE ” UNLESS OF COURSE YOU ARE WILLING TO ADMIT TO THE FACT YOU ARE PROMOTING A DIFFERENT GOSPEL THAT THE SBC .

TO THE SBC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE : WHY ARE SOUTHERN BAPTIST HAVING TO PAY FOR THIS TRIPE ?

“This report was supported by the Fetzer Institute to contribute to a healthy democracy in America. The Fetzer Institute is devoted to “helping build the spiritual foundation for a loving world.”

OBTAINING CHRISTIAN CIVILITY BY ALL MEANS INCLUDING NEW AGE SPIRITUALITY .

By Rev Thomas Littleton                                                                                   10/2/2019

The ERLC just released its “Civility Report ” called the “Faith and Healthy Democracy”  in Sept 26th 2019 . The White Paper is by ERLC Fellow Paul Miller a professor of the Practice of International Affairs Georgetown University and a long time Intelligence Analyst working in international affairs, political theory, culture, and theology. Before coming to Georgetown Miller worked for Rand Corporation .

The Civility Report is based on polls and research conducted by Lifeway and its “interviewees ” reads like a who’S who from The Gospel Coalition and the usual suspects of Russell Moore “cultural and political engagement” ideologist . Guys like Michael Wear, Jonathan Leeman , Jemar Tisby , Bruce Ashford, Colon Hansen  and others from TGC grace every page with the standard TGC political rhetoric .

You can find more information on the Civility Report of the ERLC and its Georgetown author here :

ERLC- DEEP STATE MANUAL FOR 2020 POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT

THE MISSION OF THE CIVILITY REPORT 

“This report explores how American evangelical Christians might contribute to healing political and cultural divides in America. It also aims to identify gaps in Americans’ civic education and civic practice and to suggest ways to fill that gap. We hope to engage Christians on what healthy democratic participation looks like: how do we love our neighbors politically, and how might our faith lead us to advocate for human flourishing in the public square?”

IN LAYMEN’S TERMS MINUS THE HUMAN FLOURISHING 

The Civility Report is to encourage civility in and to rethink how Christians engage political discussion . It also shows great concern over where Christians source their news and discourages reading internet and social media or commenting on politics on social media or worst of all- listening to talk  radio or TV interviews. Well given these are the main source of exposure and enlightening the public on the state of the ERLC and TGC progressive politics – it is not hard to understand the reports discouragement of their use.

LIFEWAYS ROLE IN ASSESSING THE BAD POLITICS OF AMERICAN 

“LIFEWAY’S CIVILITY INDEX”

“American political life has seen marked deterioration in recent decades, what has changed? One way of answering that question is through our proprietary poll commissioned through LifeWay Research. LifeWay polled over 1,300 evangelicals nationwide to gauge our views on politics and religion (see Appendix A on methodology and definitions). We share those results throughout this report. (We acknowledge polls are declining in accuracy because of falling response rates and changing technology, but they still provide a useful, if rough, gauge of public opinion). In addition, analysts at LifeWay created a civility index drawn from several questions on the poll and ran multivariate regressions to determine what other observable factors might be associated with higher and lower civility scores”

(The Civility Index is similar to the Human Rights Campaign’s “Corporate/ Health/ and Municipal Indexes”  and provides a sort of “litmus test ” for compliance to the goals asserted.

LIFEWAY WAS NOT THE ONLY PARTNER-ENTER FETZER INSTITUTE 

“This report was supported by the Fetzer Institute to contribute to a healthy democracy in America. The Fetzer Institute is devoted to “helping build the spiritual foundation for a loving world.” It is not a Christian organization, but it shares with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) a concern for a healthy public square, which we both believe is informed by the unique resources of faith communities. The ERLC is devoted to, “engaging the culture with the gospel of Jesus Christ and speaking to issues in the public square for the protection of religious liberty and human flourishing.” The Fetzer Institute sought to learn more about how American evangelical Christians might contribute to healing political and cultural divides in America. Secondly, and relatedly, this initiative also aims to identify gaps in Americans’ civic education and civic practice and to suggest ways to fill that gap. We hope to engage Christians on what healthy democratic participation looks like: how do we love our neighbors politically, and how might our faith lead us to advocate for human flourishing in the public square?
The ERLC commissioned a public opinion poll (see Appendix B). A team of researchers conducted several dozen interviews with evangelical thought leaders (see Appendix C) and consulted academic and historical work on evangelicals and American politics (see Appendix D). This team talked and debated amongts one another. And we prayed for wisdom .”

THE REPRESENTATIVE FROM FETZER INSTITUTE IN ERLC EFFORTS

Faith and Healthy Democracy

SHARIF AZAMI
“As the Lead Program Officer for the Fetzer Institute, Sharif Azami manages a portfolio of projects in the areas of democracy, faith, and spirituality. Additionally, he provides general support to develop the strategies of Fetzer and build the networks of the organization. Prior to joining Fetzer, Sharif served with CIDA, Oxfam GB, and the United Nations World Food Programme. Sharif earned a master’s in International Development Policy and he holds a graduate certificate in Peace and Conflict Resolution.”

WHO IS FETZER INSTITUTE 

“Our work to realize a more loving world is guided by the development of a new conceptual frame—our Theory of Change—that articulates the need for a global movement. We continue to examine and evolve this theoretical approach, even as we make common cause with all who are working toward a shared and transformative sacred story for humanity in the 21st century.”

“Our work today is in collaboration with inspiring partners as we all work to reveal, inspire, and serve this movement. Learn more about our priority initiatives below and engage with the work through stories, events, resources, and other opportunities to add your voice.”

Click to access Fetzer%20Theory%20of%20Change%201.14.19.pdf

THE CENTRALITY OF
SPIRIT IN OUR THEORY
OF CHANGE
Since our core goal is spiritual
transformation, at the core of
our Theory of Change must be
our understanding of how this
transformation occurs.
The opening words of our
Guiding Purpose—To awaken
into and serve Spirit for the
transformation of self and
society—capture the heart of our
theory of transformation. We are
transformed by awakening into
and serving Spirit.

NOTE FITZER INSTITUTE IS NOT SPEAKING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

By “Spirit” we mean that
“something more” within and
beyond physical reality that
binds us together with each
other and with all things in
a deeply interconnected,
meaningful, and sacred reality,
and that calls us to a life of love.
Some traditions conceptualize
this “something more” as God;
other traditions conceptualize it
in nontheistic terms.

The shared experience of Spirit
is the spiritual common ground
for our Fetzer community,
and we believe it can be the
spiritual common ground for
the global community.
In affirming the existence of
Spirit, we are making a profound
ontological affirmation about our
understanding of fundamental
reality—namely, that meaning,
purpose, and love are part of the
very fabric of reality.
This ontological affirmation
informs all aspects of our Theory
of Change and all elements of
our strategy.

GOALS OF FETZERS “THEORY OF SOCIAL CHANGE” 

• Spiritual transformation. As
noted above, awakening into
and serving Spirit is at the
heart of our understanding of
spiritual transformation.
• New Narrative. The
affirmation of Spirit is central
to the ontological foundation
of the New Narrative and
infuses it with deep
existential hope.
• Global movement. Spirit is
both the guide and the “wind
beneath the wings” of the
global movement.
• Spiritual communities. The
shared experience of Spirit
provides the foundation for
our Community of Freedom, as
it does for many life-affirming
spiritual communities within
the faith traditions, and for
many new forms of spiritual
communities emerging outside
the traditions.

*Engagement with science.
We hope to support the
emergence of a scientific
paradigm that opens
space within the scientific
understanding of reality for
Spirit, free will, purpose, and
objective value.

“Conceptual Framework For The New Narrative’s Overarching Meta-Narrative”

BUDDHIST
CHRISTIAN
CONFUCIAN
HINDU
INDIGENOUS
INTERSPIRITUAL
ISLAMIC
JEWISH
TAOIST
OTHER

“ALIGNED NARRATIVES
GROUNDED IN
PARTICULAR PATHS
BUILDING BLOCKS OF
THE NEW NARRATIVE”

FETZERS “NEW NARRATIVE FOR A GLOBAL MOVEMENT “

“The Emerging New Narrative
A far better and more complete
account of the nature of existence
and the human condition is
beginning to emerge, brought
forth by a stronger epistemology.
Recent advances in science and
the philosophy of science are
pointing toward an emerging
scientific paradigm that opens
up space within the scientific
understanding of reality for the
possibility of the independent
existence of consciousness, free
will, and Spirit.

“The Role of the New
Narrative in Awakening
and Empowering the
Global Movement
As noted above, myriad
spiritually grounded change
movements are emerging around
the world but are not yet aware
of being part of a comprehensive
global movement for spiritually
grounded personal and social
transformation. Because the
New Narrative provides a
comprehensive vision for
this global spiritual
transformation, it has the
potential, if clearly articulated
and broadly disseminated,
to awaken this global
movement consciousness.
The Role of the New
Narrative in Aligning
the Movement
As discussed below, the global
movement will necessarily be
a decentralized web of highly
autonomous individual and
organizational actors. The
New Narrative can provide the
movement with the worldview
that organically aligns the
independent initiatives of these
autonomous actors so that they
add up to a comprehensive and
coherent movement strategy.
The Role of the New
Narrative in Growing
the Movement
Finally, by providing a rationally
and emotionally compelling
personal and global vision, the
New Narrative will become a
powerful force drawing new
members into the global
movement.”

John E. Fetzer spent a lifetime inquiring into the interconnectedness between science and spirituality for the transformation of self and society. His search integrated his inner practice (meditation and other mystically oriented practices) to “wake up”, with his outer work in the world. Although one of the most successful persons of his time, He chose not to be constrained by convention, or status, which led him into some of the most controversial fields of his time. Had he lived until now, he would have pushed even further into new frontiers. The reader then is encouraged to re-imagine for themselves where the frontiers lay in current times.

Fetzers biography

John E. Fetzer and the Quest for the New Age

“John E. Fetzer. Wilson’s biography reveals the journey underneath Fetzer’s worldly achievements. Very few people knew that he attributed his personal and professional success to his spiritual practices and awareness of a higher consciousness. Driven by the belief that personal happiness, positive morality, and peace on earth could be achieved by adherence to a pathway and connection to a greater intelligence, he funded top-flight research to validate mankind’s ability to access that infinite intelligence for personal and global good which continues through his endowments today”

FROM FETZER INSTITUTE BIOGRAPHY 

“In his private life, John Fetzer had an intense intellectual curiosity about the “unseen elements” of life. He studied various forms of meditation, prayer, philosophy, and positive thinking, and explored other ways of healing. Throughout his life he was also passionately interested in baseball, an enthusiasm that led him to purchase the Detroit Tigers baseball club. In his later years, the sale of the team and his media holdings resulted in the endowment of the Fetzer Institute.

The interests that shaped John Fetzer’s life can be seen as the seedbed for the questions that define the work of the Fetzer Institute: How can the secular and sacred elements of life be better integrated? How can the insights of science and the powers of technological innovation be utilized to explore the capacities of the mind and spirit? How can the wisdom and insight gained through inner exploration be used to better our individual and collective health? And how can the entrepreneurial spirit and financial resources gained from the American business sector be used in the service of creating a better world?”

ERLC PROMOTING BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES FROM NEW AGE SCIENCE ?

How is the Southern Baptist Convention to survive the politics and the partnerships of Russell Moore and his ERLC regime ?

Not many Baptist are paying close attention to what the influences like TGC and other outside partnerships and funding are doing to their denomination and its associated churches. That needs to change if the denomination is the regain its true Gospel focus. If not then the SBC is bound for the same fate as the mainline denominations and will be little more than a blip on the history of the church in America.

Why is Russell Moore, the ERLC and the TGC  so concerned about the politics of Baptist ? Because they are agents of change and are using “Theories of Social Change ” on the church every day . In some ways they appear desperate – desperate enough to engage partners like FETZER INSTITUTE . For now the mission of this Civility Report and the daily shame fest of evangelical believers for their ” conservative voting ”  habits is to prevent President Donald Trump from a second term in office at any cost -by whatever means possible .

Be Holy

2nd Corinthians 6:

¹⁴ Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what ^[d]fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what ^[e]communion has light with darkness? ¹⁵ And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you^[f] are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”

¹⁷ Therefore 

“Come out from among them 

And be separate, says the Lord.

Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”
¹⁸ “I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the Lord Almighty.”

“IT IS  KIND OF A FREAK SHOW PEEP SHOW INTO THE COLLECTIVE MIND OF ERLC”

Rev Thomas Littleton                                                                                                      9/30/2019

Things just got creepy on September 26th 2019 when the Southern Baptist offices of the Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission under Russell Moore published its “rules of engagement ” for the 2020 election cycle. Besides the obvious discomfort of taking political civility and engagement advice from the guy who ranted his “never Trump ” nastiness until it actually caused then candidate Donald Trump to call out Russell Moore in a public tweet , the rest of the story here is even MORE strange . The ERLC has just released a White Paper drafted by ERLC REsearch Fellow Paul D Miller .(More on Miller in a moment.) The White Paper is a  shocker coming right out of Georgetown University and aimed at Baptist Voters. It would  appear Baptist are taken for being  too dumb to understand it’s profound Deep State connections. Some tail is waging several dogs in the ERLC kennel on this one.

Even if politics is not your bag – it all  just began feeling really creepy .

WHITE PAPER

Faith and Healthy Democracy

BY PAUL D. MILLER

Sep 26, 2019

Faith and Healthy Democracy

“These sporadic incidents of political violence are still thankfully rare, and civil war is unlikely. But the violence is a warning sign, a dramatic indicator of a broader breakdown in the American public square—in how Americans perceive their neighbors, their government, and their opportunities for civic engagement. The American public square, as our interviewees unanimously told us, is caustic, toxic, ignorant, and corrosive. The level of polarization, mistrust, and tribal animus is not unprecedented in American history—the 1790s, 1860s, and 1960s were worse—but the 2010s rank close to those decades as among the least flattering to the aspirations of American democracy. We hate our politicians, and we hate each other.”

DOUBLE DEALING?

Ironic concerns coming from the same SBC that is now pushing Critical Race Theory and White Privilege and every divisive and polarizing identity politics in the playbook.  While playing heavily on Baptist guilt buttons and pushing voter shame over the 2016 election of President Trump  the SBC leadership has been sowing discord in the name of “reconciliation ” and “Gospel Unity” to the point of embarrassment. So how do they now think to advise Baptist on Civility  while warning of  unrest they have made every attempt to help create?

MISSIONS STATEMENT …MORE OR LESS

“This report explores how American evangelical Christians might contribute to healing political and cultural divides in America. It also aims to identify gaps in Americans’ civic education and civic practice and to suggest ways to fill that gap. We hope to engage Christians on what healthy democratic participation looks like: how do we love our neighbors politically, and how might our faith lead us to advocate for human flourishing in the public square?”

So the ERLC White Paper is to educate us . So listen and learn but reader beware there is a virtual litter of activist puppies from the SBC Seminary kennels in this little document .

Click to access ERL9025_CivilityReport_092619.pdf

1. The State of Public Discourse…………………………7
2. A Christian Political Agenda?……………………….24
3. Initial Recommendations ……………………………..52

” We want to engage our friends, supporters, and critics across the range of issues covered here. We also hope to develop materials for use in churches based on this research, helping equip church leaders to teach their flock about how to love their neighbors politically. ”

REEDUCATION SBC VOTERS?

SEBTS Kern Funded Social Justice Provost Bruce Ashford is quoted straight out of the gate. JUSTICE is number one but “Civility is the Canary in the Coalmine”

“Civility is not the most important virtue of public life: justice has a good claim to that.
As several of our interviewees told us, there is a time and place for incivility when
fighting injustice (war is uncivil yet, sometimes, just). But civility is a proxy variable, an
indicator of the health or illness of the body politic. “The essence of civility is not spinelessness but self-control,” according to Bruce Ashford, professor, dean, and provost at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, “it is the capacity to show love and grace particularly when we disagree with others and even when we dislike them.”3
Civility is especially important because we live in a pluralistic democracy: we share government with people with whom we disagree. In normal times, we can and should expect civility from our fellow citizens. The absence of it is a warning, a symptom of some broader and deeper ailment. Civility is the proverbial canary in the coalmine:
when it dies, we know there is poison in the air.”

NASTY CALLING OUT NASTY 

The White Paper declares the toxic nature of the SBC/ Christian Body Politic while ignoring its leaders  own contribution to the “dumpster fire ” .

“Our interviewees were unanimous that the canary is dead: they told us the American public square today is caustic, compromised, confrontational, corrosive, demoralizing, discordant, dismal, dispiriting, divided, dysfunctional, emotionally exhausting, a frenzy of political rage, hostile, heated, inflammatory, incendiary, low, nasty, pathetic, polarized, phobic, self-aggrandizing, shocking, strained, superficial, terrible, toxic, unfortunate, unsympathetic, violent, vitriolic, and (our favorites) marked by circumambulatory imbecility and a dumpster fire.”

“LIFEWAY’S CIVILITY INDEX  ”  Really?

“One way of answering that question is through our proprietary poll commissioned through LifeWay Research. LifeWay polled over 1,300 evangelicals nationwide to gauge our views on politics and religion (see Appendix A on methodology and definitions). We share those results throughout this report. (We acknowledge polls are declining in accuracy because of falling response rates and changing technology, but they still provide a useful, if rough, gauge of public opinion). In addition, analysts at LifeWay created a civility index drawn from several questions on the poll and ran multivariate regressions to determine what other observable factors might be associated with higher and lower civility scores. Their model found, for example, that women are more civil than men, and seniors more civil than youth”

“Lifeway’s model found several variables that were associated with lower civility. Some are not surprising, but they are sobering. Those who believe the stakes of our political disagreements are existential are less civil. ”

ENTER CHRISTIANITY TODAY’S FORMER EDITOR AND REVOICE LGBT+ FLOURISHING LEADER INTO THE RESEARCH NARRATIVE .

Christians scoring low on the Civility Index are just getting their news from the wrong sources RIGHT?

“Those who primarily get their news from social media or other online image- or video-based sources, especially YouTube, scored lower on the civility index. Text-based media is, by comparison, more informationally dense and thus closer to education and further from entertainment; it is “a very cool medium emotionally speaking,” in Andy Crouch’s words, Partner for Theology and Culture at Praxis, a medium almost designed not to engage us emotionally. Discouragingly, those who say that prominent Christian leaders have influenced their political views scored lower on the civility index.”

” Those who are comfortable with their self-imposed bubbles have lower civility scores on LifeWay’s index, including those who say they prefer to follow others on social media with whom they agree on social and political issues and those who prefer to get their news from someone with whom they already agree. When we root ourselves in a homogenous environment—cultural, informational, or socio-economic—we become dull to the needs of others.”

INTERPRETATION – THE PROBLEM IS BEING AROUND PEOPLE WHO THINK LIKE US MAKES US POOR JUSTICE WARRIORS ?

YEP!

” We need to encounter difference: different people, different backgrounds, and different ideas. When the Bible commands us to love our neighbors, it does not give us permission to choose the neighbors most like ourselves. The Good Samaritan was a lower-class, despised ethnic outsider”

THE PROBLEM IDENTIFIED ACCORDING TO ERLC 

“TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL MEDIA”

“Other factors emerged as drivers of incivility in our research, including the poll and our interviews with evangelical leaders. Our interviewees were extraordinarily concerned about the influence of  technology, especially social media and smartphones (the “glowing rectangle,” as Andy Crouch called it). They believed that social media often replaced actual human-to-human relationships. They cited studies that social media increased anxiety and loneliness, especially for teens. They echoed widespread concerns that social media gave its users a false sense of collective solidarity with a fictional “us,” and that it becomes a surrogate community. ”

ENTER ROSARIA BUTTERFIELD OF ERLC LGBT+ “EXPERTS”

” “We have become ogres through this social media infused world,” in the words of Rosaria Butterfield, author and former professor at Syracuse University.

Thabiti is the not so rogue practitioner  of Critical Race Theory in the TGC/ ERLC /SBC  Thabitis wife factors in ” Author and speaker Kristie Anyabwile was concerned about “The freedom that people feel like is available to them to engage publicly” on social media. Because of that freedom, “social media makes everyone an ‘expert,’” ready to speak out on any issue with confidence that may not be well grounded. It also “makes us forget that there are people on the other end of our words.”

SO FAR THE WHITE PAPER RELIES ON SBC IN HOUSE  ACTIVIST , JOURNALIST AND , LIFEWAY TO VALIDATE  ITS POINTS.

” In these “echo chambers,” as Marvin Olasky, editor of World Magazine ( likely the kind of print media the white paper is pushing us toward as it vilifies other sources  of news) , characterized them, “we all tend to pay attention to our own set of facts and not facts that are not accommodating to our viewpoint.” Andy Crouch suggested that the increasing availability of all forms of media “changes the scale of what counts as public,” shrinking our willingness to engage with our real-life communities and distorting our perception of what is actually going on around us. ”

BAPTIST PRESS /TGC BLOG GOOD – CHRISTIAN ALTERNATIVE  NEWS/ FACEBOOK /YOUTUBE /TWITTER BAD 

“We suspect this dynamic may help explain why respondents in our poll who said their political views were influenced by prominent Christian leaders scored lower on the civility index. In the contemporary media environment, “prominent Christian leaders” are often those most successful at reaching a wide audience through television and social media. Their influence is thus impersonal, commodified, and packaged in a format that rewards emotional rather than intellectual engagement. We hold out hope that Christian leaders might still exercise a helpful influence in local settings, print media, and face-to-face encounters.”

“Three-quarters of our survey respondents said they regularly got their news from television—half from Fox News alone—and almost 40 percent from news websites (again, with Fox News’ website the leader by a wide margin) and from social media websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, compared to just over a quarter from a print newspaper or magazine. Half of our respondents check Facebook several times per day and one-quarter visit YouTube with the same frequency. Despite that, the respondents were extraordinarily negative about the impact of TV, websites, and social media.”

CREEPED OUT YET THAT ERLC IS TELLING YOU WHERE YOU SHOULD FIND INFORMATION? IT GETS MUCH MORE DISTURBING .

THE LOSS OF MORAL CONSENSUS
“One reason we so readily immerse ourselves in our media bubbles is to find reassurance amidst a morally confusing world, which points to another major factor in the breakdown of the American public square: the loss of moral consensus in American society. The United States has experienced a profound religious and cultural shift in the past century or so.”

WE HAVE DONE IT TO OURSELVES?

“America’s Protestant cultural heritage has slowly evolved, first in the 19th century from the influx of Catholic and Jewish immigrants, the split of white Protestant churches into northern and southern components, the formation of separate black Protestant churches, and the rise of theological liberalism. The fundamentalist-modernist controversies of the early 20th century and a general cultural and political disillusionment after World War I further contributed to the erosion of Protestant cultural hegemony, setting the stage for dramatic cultural changes in mid-century.”

OBAMA FAITH COORDINATOR TURNED TGC COMMENTATOR FACTORS IN

“As Michael Wear, a former Obama administration official and Founder of Public Square Strategies, told us, “we don’t even share a common moral language anymore.” We not only disagree on which immigration policy is most just; we cannot agree on what “justice” means, or even if there is such a thing.”

9MARKS FABIAN SOCIALIST TRAINED EDITOR GIVES TWO CENTS WORTH

“The breakdown in moral consensus heightens the temperature of public debate. Jonathan Leeman, editorial director of 9Marks, told us, “There are increasingly divergent conceptions of justice, animating our public square engagement—and those competing understandings of justice and morality broadly lead to raise the volume and make the stakes feel higher for everyone such that civility in those conversations is more and more under threat.” Because we lack shared meanings, reasoned discourse seems impossible, and thus public discussion deteriorates into a shouting match, a performative exercise, or a joust rather than an exchange of ideas.”

ANOTHER LGBT+ THRIVING /REVOICE LEADER OFFERS AN OPINION 

“Matthew Lee Anderson, a Research Fellow at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion, shared a similar concern: “Part of the problem with public discourse is that we don’t have a common history about how we arrived here. We start our histories at different points and as a result we tend to select different heroes and villains from within those histories.”

LEEMANS BOSS FACTORS IN 

Mark Dever, Senior Pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, hoped Christians would
“Learn American history better; learn the experiences of people who disagree with them better.”

RACIAL COMMENTATOR AND ACTIVST TISBY MAKES AN APPEARANCE
“Jemar Tisby—president and co-founder of The Witness: A Black Christian Collective—exhorted Christians to study history because it helps “develops empathy for people, particularly for folks who are experiencing an injustice.” The problem is that each tribe wants to believe in and propagate a simple moral narrative in which they are the good guys, rather than recognizing that human history, even at its best, is filled with paradoxes, and contradictions, and ironies—which is what we should expect given our belief in human depravity.”

“THE ATROPHY OF CIVIL SOCIETY”-    (Again it is all our own fault .)
“With the loss of shared meaning, citizens are far less apt to gather together in voluntary associations for a common purpose, or even a common hobby. Sociologists have raised alarms for decades about how Americans are increasingly “bowling alone.”12 In our survey, it was notable how few evangelicals are engaged in any type of non-religious civic activity. ”

“The decline in civic associations is both cause and consequence of the deterioration
of the public square. Civic associations mediate non-political friendships among citizens with diverse backgrounds. Outside of public schools and the armed forces, they are probably where citizens are most likely to befriend others of a different income level, religion, or racial or ethnic background. Such friendships, as we saw, are associated with higher levels of civility. ”

FEELING THOROUGHLY CRITIQUED ? YOU TRIBAL ANIMAL YOU !

“POLITICAL TRIBES AS THE NEW FORM OF RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY”
“Human beings are social and political animals. We are made for community. When we lose one kind of community, we invent others to take its place. We have lost forms of community with the decline in civil society, the decline in church membership, and the loss of moral consensus. We have invented new forms of community through social media and self-selected information bubbles, often reinforced by different historical narratives. But that is not the only substitute we have invented for ourselves.”

“Our political tribes are bad for democracy. Because we isolate ourselves from information or news from the other side, we harden and accelerate political division and fuel polarization. We encourage ourselves to think the worst of our opponents and actively cultivate distrust in our fellow citizens. We blind ourselves to our own faults, listening to echo chambers that confirm our existing biases. ”

THUS FAR WE HAVE A GROUP OF IN HOUSE SBC CHANGE AGENTS OFFERING CRITIQUE OF OUR SELF IMPOSED POLITICAL EXILE .

WHAT IS MORE WE ARE GETTING A WINDOW INTO THE COLLECTIVE MIND OF THE ERLC.

IT IS  KIND OF A FREAK SHOW PEEP SHOW INTO THE MIND OF THE ERLC !

RUSSELL MOORE NOT ANOTHER IDOL …PLEASE 

“In our current moment,
we cannot escape the
conclusion that political
tribalism is idolatry.”

” Several of our interviewees believed that we are treating our political tribes as idol or substitute churches, looking to them to be our primary locus of meaning, community, and fulfillment. Jemar Tisby said, “we have made a god out of a political party or a
political agenda and we look to that party or that agenda for salvation.”

“Michael Wear worried about our increasing tendency to look to the public square for “emotional validation” and “cultural affirmation.”

IS THERE NOT A PROPHET BESIDES THESE TGC/ERLC/ SBC REGULARS?

“Jonathan Leeman criticized “our implicit utopianism,” in which “we set about to create heaven on earth now as if our salvation and the blessing of the nations depended on it.” Samuel Rodriguez argued that “We drink the Republican and Democratic Kool-Aid,”
and that we listen to our pundits as if “they were messengers from heaven.” He called our political tribes “quasi-cultic,” and compared our devotion to our favorite pundits to Jim Jones’ followers. Trevin Wax, Director for Bibles and Reference at LifeWay Christian Resources, worried that we have lost the ability to engage in “self-critique” because of the “religious fervor” with which we hold our political opinions.”

SECTION 2 A CHRISTIAN POLITICAL AGENDA ?

“Evangelicals are comfortable with the idea that their faith informs their politics. Between 75 and 85 percent said the Bible informed their political views; that they look for biblical principles to apply in political issues; and that their faith influences how they engage others politically. Over half said that the teachings of their local church or a prominent Christian leader influenced their political views”

“Democrats appear hesitant to call themselves “evangelical” even when they profess evangelical beliefs, corroborating that the label carries political and cultural connotations unpopular with the left. Consistent with national trends, older and
whiter evangelicals, especially in the South and West, were more likely to identify as Republicans; Northeastern and African American evangelicals were (far) more likely to identify as Democrats. The God-gap is real: weekly church attendance is correlated with Republican identification.”

NO DISCUSSION COMPLETE WITHOUT TIM KELLER’S POLITICS (TIM IS NOT SBC)

“In particular, our interviewees consistently warned that we are mixing our faith with our politics in the wrong way. Tim Keller, Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, wondered if evangelicals have become more apt to let politics and partisanship drive their theology rather than the other way around.”

“The biggest story
about evangelicals and
their political concerns
is the obvious and
troubling racial and
ethnic fault line.”

YES THE ERLC IS PLAYING THE POLITICAL RACE CARD 

“But the biggest story about evangelicals and their political concerns is the obvious and troubling racial and ethnic fault line. White evangelicals have a different set of political priorities than nonwhite evangelicals. White evangelicals are far more likely to list abortion, religious liberty, national security, or immigration as a top concern than African American evangelicals or black Protestants. African Americans are more likely to list helping the needy, healthcare, and racial injustice. Evangelicals who attend church most frequently are least likely to say that helping the needy is a top concern. At 11
percent, white evangelicals are the least likely to say racial injustice is a top concern.”

OK ENOUGH WITH THE NUMBERS AND THE ACTIVIST AND THE ACCUSATIONS ..WHAT IS THE ANSWER TO ALL OUR SELF INFLICTED WOES?

THINKING ABOUT POLITICS
“In this section, we begin to sketch out the outlines of an approach to politics that we hope can appeal across these divides. What should a Christian public witness look like? How can evangelicals work to improve our public witness, love our neighbors politically, and seek the prosperity of our city? ”

“In this interpretation, we might exhort conservative white Christians to be a stronger voice against racial injustice and poverty in the Republican Party and left-leaning non-white Christians to be a stronger voice against abortion and for religious liberty in the Democratic Party. Regardless of whether consensus is desirable or possible, we note the fact that whites are comparatively less concerned about racial injustice or poverty, and blacks about religious freedom, is evidence that we need to do better articulating the underlying principles that should animate concern for all of the above.”

“Focusing on human dignity would also improve how we make our arguments. Peter J. Wehner believed, “You can be extremely strong and passionate in your convictions and your criticisms, and speak the truth in a prophetic way, and still not be uncivil. You don’t have to engage in ad hominem attacks, you don’t have to try and diminish people as human beings.” No matter what our position on immigration policy, we should speak of immigrants (legal and illegal) as human beings who deserve respectful treatment. ”

ABORTION

“Those who prioritize anti-abortion activism as their primary political concern do so in the belief that it is the frontline of a broader battle against a worldview antithetical in its essence to the Christian understanding of the world and of human life. Anti-abortion activism opposes abortion but also the entire worldview from which it springs.”

NO NO NO -DON’T SAY “SINGLE ISSUE VOTER” YOU JUST DID !

“But other interviewees told us that the prolife movement has sometimes failed to apply the movement’s underlying reasoning to the full spectrum of public policy issues. There is a sense among evangelical leaders, especially non-white leaders, that the prolife worldview has in fact oftentimes become a single-issue campaign.”

” Mark Dever believed both prolife vantage points were morally defensible: “I do think it can be okay to be a single-issue voter on abortion, I do think it is also morally defensible for the person who thinks abortion is murder to not be a single-issue voter on the question of abortion.”

RACE, ETHNICITY, AND THE GOSPEL

THE OVER WORN QUOTE

“Sunday morning
is still the most
segregated hour
of the week.”

“Rather, the gap is over what constitutes racism and racial injustice. As Michael Emerson and Christian Smith have argued, whites define racism as personal animus while non-whites tend to define racism as systemic or structural inequality. Whites do not feel they are motivated by personal hatred of non-whites, and do not hear expressions of such hatred, and so they believe that racism is not a major problem in the United States today.”

“Whites may be unaware of how their actions help reinforce racial inequalities in American society, and they probably would not even be aware of any racial animus in their own motives if such motives were present. Jonathan Leeman believed that, “whites, at best, have been negligent in empathizing and showing concern for the issues felt acutely by our minority brothers and sisters in Christ and minorities more broadly”

FINALLY TO THE REAL PLACEMENT OF BLAME..TRUMP 

It is important to note that Trump did not make an explicit appeal to white identity (though somE of his advocates and campaign staff did)—he more often made an appeal to Christian identity— but equally important to note that his political movement is overwhelmingly made up of whites, while non-whites overwhelmingly suspected what they believed were the racial and ethnic implications of his campaign. Thabiti Anyabwile shared that “I’ve never seen a cultural event like the 2016 election that divided the church.” White evangelicals who supported Trump did not believe he was racist or that their support for him was support for racism. But it became increasingly difficult for
non-white Christians to give their white brothers and sisters who supported Trump the benefit of the doubt. Bruce Ashford suggested “a number of white folks don’t understand,” non-whites’ fears about Trump, “because they never had black people in their home or Hispanics in their home”

“The racial and ethnic dynamics surrounding the Trump campaign and presidency are complicated because, again, Trump rarely, if ever, has spoken explicitly about racial issues or appealed to whites as whites. Instead, he directed his appeal to Christians. In June 2016 he told the Faith and Freedom Coalition “We will respect and defend Christian
Americans.”31 In August 2016, he told a group of Christian pastors in Orlando, “Your power has been totally taken away,” but under a Trump administration, “You’ll have great power to do good things.” In September 2016, Trump told the Values Voters
Summit, “[In] a Trump administration, our Christian heritage will be cherished, protected, defended, like you’ve never seen before. Believe me.” Trump’s appeal to Christianity did not resonate with all American Christians, but it appears to have resonated strongly with a subset of them: white evangelicals. Why did the appeal to Christian identity appeal to that group?”

YES IT IS ALL TRUMPS FAULT IN THE END …ACCORDING THE ERLC !

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

“We should also ensure
our advocacy for religious
liberty is truly principled,
not only deployed when
our particular interest is
at stake.”

“Ancient Israel is a model for the church, not the state; its practice of punishing heresy is an example for churches to enforce membership and practice discipline, not for the state to privilege Christianity or punish atheism or Islam). Religious belief is not within the rightful jurisdiction of the government or its police powers, as authorized and commissioned by God. There are other, pragmatic reasons to support religious liberty. We enjoy the freedom to meet openly, preach the gospel, proselytize, and organize good works to serve the community through our churches, and we pray for that freedom to continue. We can also agree with some (not all) of the Enlightenment justification for religious liberty, including that we all benefit from a free marketplace of ideas.”

IRONICALLY THE ERLC IS EMPLOYED TO ENSURE RELIGIOUS LIBERTY OF BAPTIST WHILE RUSSELL MOORE  MOST OFTEN SEEMS TO BE ATTEMPTING TO TALK BAPTIST OUT OF THEIR EXPECTATION OF IT .

THE LGBTQ+ THREAT

“Some evangelicals and Catholics have warned about the erosion of religious liberty in the United States.43 We are especially concerned by recent moves among progressives to reframe and circumscribe the First Amendment, claiming that evangelicals are abusing or “manipulating” it toshield our supposed “bigotry” against the LGBTQ community.”

THE CULTURE OF DEMOCRACY
“A final issue, or two tightly connected issues, surfaced in conversation with some of our interviewees: the overall culture of democracy in America, coupled with evangelicals’ misunderstanding of the relationship between the United States and the Kingdom of God.”

REPEATED NARRATIVE “NATIONALISM IS ALL BAD” !

“Trying to root American
democracy in one particular
identity, even a Christian
identity, fundamentally
misunderstands the ideals
of the American experiment”

“But even the more benign form of this argument, emphasizing Christianity rather than British culture, results in a kind of Christian nationalism that ends up harming, not helping, democracy in America. It is harmful in several ways. This viewpoint can end up harming the principle of religious freedom by trying to give Christianity a legal preference—which is helpful for neither the church nor the state. This view can also devolve into a form of identity politics for Christians, which is a fundamentally selfish form of politics: if Christians should be known for loving their neighbors and working for the common flourishing of all, asking for privileged status for ourselves does the opposite.”

NOW THE BIG FIX- THE “ANSWERS ” FORM THE ERLC BRAINTRUST OF ACTIVIST 

“INITIAL RECOMMENDATIONS ”

(THEY MIGHT SEEM OVER SIMPLIFIED BUT ARE ACTUALLY MORE OF OVERREACH OF ERLC ACTUAL JOB DESCRIPTION )

“FOR THE FAMILY AND THE INDIVIDUAL”

“1. Get news from print media.
It is good civic hygiene to stay informed about current events. TV and social media are very bad at this. They seem better suited to entertainment and superficial connection with friends, respectively. Avoid TV news and talk shows, subscribe to a newspaper or news magazine, and do not debate politics over Facebook or Twitter.”

(INTERPRETATION -GET ALL NEWS FROM ERLC AND TGC WEBSITES )

“2. Put down your smart phone, and don’t give them to kids.
Smart phones are powerful and useful devices. They can also be addictive, overpowering, and ruinous to human interaction because they are a source of constant distraction.”

(ONE THING IN THE HYPED REPORT WE MIGHT AGREE UPON )

“3. Teach your children the importance of gracious social interaction, even if it seems
old-fashioned. Lessons such as “remember your manners,” “be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry” (James 1:19)

(ACTUALLY TEACHING A CHILD TO BE A PRO LIFE VOTER IS A GOSPEL ISSUE )

“4. Get involved locally, and drop roots, for however long you can.
Go to your local parent-teacher association, city council, or home owner’s association. Join a veteran’s group, a bird-watching club, or a neighborhood chess night. Join or coach a sports team. Do something that physically gets you out of your house and into face-to-face contact with people who live in your immediate vicinity. ”

“5. Seek out difference.
If your friends are of the same race or ethnicity, the same political party, or the same income and education level as you are, you live in a bubble and are depriving yourself of the opportunity to grow. Go make friends and seek out those from whom you might learn something new. ”

(HOW MUCH TIME IS RUSSELL MOORE AND ARE  ERLC EMPLOYEES DEDICATING TO THIS ONE ?)

“6. Try not to have opinions about everything.
We are blessed to live in a country where we can believe and say anything. That doesn’t mean we should. Nor does it mean that whatever we say or believe has automatic validity. Learn and study before forming an opinion; if someone disagrees, ask why and listen. Do not rush to ascribe malice, foolishness, or stupidity to someone just because they disagree with you.”
“7. Join a church, pray for the nation, and remember they are different.
Our churches are our most important communities outside of our families because they are the company of saints helping us along our pilgrim path to the Celestial City. If you spend more time worrying about America than about the family in the pew next to you, you are doing it wrong.”

FOR THE CHURCH AND SEMINARY

“1. Seek out difference.
If your church members or seminary students are all of the same race or ethnicity, the
same political party, or the same income and education level—and especially if your demographic makeup is disproportionate to your neighborhood or your city—you have created a bubble and are depriving yourself and your members of the opportunity to grow. Ask a fellow believer of a different background to examine your church to see if you have wrongly conflated your culture with biblical teaching. Consider changes in your church’s or seminary’s programming, liturgy, music, service, or outreach to better reach people from all backgrounds.”

PARDON ME BUT ISN’T THIS SOUNDING LIKE A LOT OF THOUGHT POLICING AND SOCIAL ENGINEERING ?

“2. Talk about politics—but talk about it holistically.
The gospel has political implications. Do not avoid politics and do not avoid controversy.
Doing so only cedes the ground to secular sources of commentary. Your members and students will hear about politics somewhere, so you should be a part of the conversation. When you address controversial issues, you are likely to be the only or the best place that models to your congregation how to talk about such issues with truth, grace, wisdom, and compassion. But be careful of talking about only your favorite political issues. If abortion or religious liberty are the only political issues you ever mention from the pulpit or in the classroom, you probably have a blind spot.”

“We are blessed to live in a
country where we can believe
and say anything. That doesn’t
mean we should.”

“3. Don’t just talk about politics.
The mission of the church is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, to reflect the character of God, and to carry out his mission of reconciliation and renewal to the world. If political activism has become your primary focus, you have lost your focus and your political talk will eventually become shallow, partisan, or uncharitable.”

“4. Experiment with different methods of teaching.
For many churches, the Sunday morning sermon is the only means by which it seeks to transmit knowledge, wisdom, and exhortation to its members. But a 30- to 60-minute lecture once per week is inadequate to help form the worldview and lifelong habits of a people. ”

“5. Foster civil society in and around the church, but don’t let it replace the gospel.
Form partnerships with local organizations, or create your own, like veteran’s groups, scouting organizations, neighborhood schools, tutoring programs, prison ministries, homeless shelters, and others. Advertise their events and encourage your members to get involved. Offer the use of your building as a meeting space, if you have one. ”

“6. Model the life of the mind.
Teach your members what it means to love God with our minds. Preach against anti-intellectualism. Hold up wisdom as a model and an aspiration. Have a bookstall or library stocked with quality books. If you have the resources, consider programs to fund seminary studies for your members. ”

“ABOUT THE RESEARCHERS”

HERE IS WHERE THE ERLC DEEPSTATE FEELING COMES IN..WHERE IS FEELS CREEPY AND OVERWROUGHT .THE LEAD RESEARCHER OF THE WHITE PAPER IS :
DR. PAUL D. MILLER, LEAD RESEARCHER

https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/00336000015aqRIAAY/paul-miller

“Paul D. Miller

By Rev Thomas Littleton                                                                                         9/13/2019

In early July of this year the pastoral staff of Briarwood PCA church under the leadership of Harry Reeder targeted the wife of this writer because of articles addressing the LGBTQ+ movement “flourishing ” in the PCA . You can read the article below which inspired the attacks coordinated through  Briarwood , Christian Medical Ministry of Alabama and it’s director Bobby Parks . Now it has surfaced that a Briarwood pastor is celebrating the organization driving LGBTQ flourishing on the UAB campus where Littleton and his wife worked as part of the CMMA / Briarwood ministry. What do these mixed messages mean for the flock at Briarwood and the future of its ministries  like CMMA? What does it mean for the PCA itself? Many younger ministers who our institutions have educated for ministry  fail to discern the threat or the goals antithetical to the Gospel represented by these concerns.

PCA GENERAL ASSEMBLY REVOICE HOSPITALITY SUITE

 THE AGGRESSIVE ACTIONS OF A DOZEN COWARDLY GUYS AGAINST KAREN LITTLETON 

In retaliation for the above article Briarwood staff and CMMA Board leaders engaged an all out and coordinated assault on Dr. Karen Littleton – the only female and only minority on the CMMA Board leadership. It is discussed in detail in the link below:

BRIARWOOD PCA’s CHRISTIAN MEDICAL MINISTRY ALABAMA TARGET PRACTICE

ENTER THE GLARING IRONY 

Reeder’s team at Briarwood and CMMA determined Littleton’s wife was not qualified to represent the church nor the ministry on the UAB Campus while just weeks later a Briarwood minister discovered and pointed out that a long time BRIARWOOD PASTOR  and now youth mentor and church planter was celebrating his spouse on facebook as the “Director of Diversity and Inclusion ” in her new department position on the UAB campus .

FROM FACEBOOK SENT BY BRIARWOOD MINISTER TO THE LITTLETONS

Jason Williams

August 9th at 8:57  “Huge shout out to my rib who excels in all things, wife, mother, and career. Congratulations on receiving promotion and tenure as an Associate Professor. She has also been appointed as Director of Diversity and Inclusion within her department at…. @UAB, which by the way is the #1 school in the Nation ….”

“Rev Thomas Littleton                                                                                       9/10/2019

Many Christians remain in a state of shock from the perversion of  the Gospel by the Social Justice movement flooding conservative seminaries and media . One clear fact is that the movement is largely driven in these institutions by partners  Kern Family Foundation and Acton Institute .  NOW it is surfacing that these same “justice ” partners are paying for and driving the POLITICAL “SOCIAL JUSTICE VOTER “movement among once conservative evangelical institutions as well.New information allows us to see that it is not just the Southern Baptist Seminaries , ERLC -the SBC ethics organization  lead by Russell Moore that are impacted , but even the SBC publishing arm B & H Group is partnering to help spread the “JUSTICE VOTER ” political message of Kern and Acton .

Kern Family Foundation ,now operating offshore in the Cayman Islands (since at least 2014) , makes it impossible to track who and whose money is actually driving this effort to SHIFT conservative Christians away from Biblical / Convictional voting patterns toward “Justice Voting” .

THE ENDLESS STREAM OF JUSTICE THINKING FOR VOTERS

The justice spill over into Christian political thinking is no mere inevitability but a carefully crafted outcome. Tim Keller , Russell Moore, Joe Carter, Greg Forster ,Jonathan Leeman and many others have manifested demonic like obsession with guilting and persuading the conservative Christian that his/her voting is problematic. We are “too conservative ” and not reflecting a “justice” or “principled pluralism ” in a “post Christian world” by their justice measure -mind and value set. The assertion is that Christians “harm the Gospel ” when they hold to and vote as “single issue” (anti -abortion) voters or reflect convictions that appear uncaring for the issues of Social Justice.

NOW WE CAN SEE THE MONEY TRAIL THANKS TO BRUCE ASHFORD OF SEBTS

The Provost of Southeastern Baptist  Theological Seminary is Bruce Ashford . Ashford works on campus with the “Insterset Project” which is funded by Kern Family Foundation and overseen by Kern’s Oikonomia Network headed by Greg Forster. In 2018 Ashford released his book “Letters to an American Christian ” in which he approaches the subject of political engagement with the progressive “third way” messaging typical of Acton / Keller / Moore and others. The book is written  as a letter offering advice to a young American named Christian  (cheesy ? Yes-but of course ! ). The book is predictable in its message but offers ONE very interesting INSIGHT in the acknowledgements section.

Kern Family Foundation funding/support  made the book project possible . Kern is not only funding the curriculum development for the seminaries like SBTS and SEBTS but is in fact funding and “making possible ” the political engagement” book by SEBTS Provost.

” THANK YOU KERN FAMILY FOUNDATION “BRUCE ASHFORD 

The Coordination of the Progressive Political narrative out of the Kern funded /Acton backed affiliates is glaring ;

Ashford wishes to thank:

“I wish to thank Devin Maddox and Combs of B&H Publishing Group for their commitment to this project and the Kern Family Foundation whose encouragement and support enabled this project to become a reality .”

Ashford also list these Action and Kern thinkers and employees :

“for critical feedback , research editing and proofreading

Joe Carter- longtime Acton Institute editor , TGC editor , ERLC message man under Russell Moore.

Hunter Baker – Acton employee, TGC contributor ERLC Research Fellow, dean of arts and sciences at Union University and an Affiliate Scholar in religion & politics at the Acton Institute. Baker also helped in editing a politically driven book by Greg Forster (Oikonomia Network leader/ TGC contributor ) and Anthony Bradley (Acton Institute ) on Justice Voting via the “Rawlsian paradigm ” . More on that later

Dennis Greeson – SEBTS graduate and Kern funded “Intersect Project ” contributor . He promotes ERLC trans narrative by Andrew Walker . http://intersectproject.org/faith-and-culture/truth-compassion-review-god-transgender-debate-andrew-t-walker/

Chris Martin -Social Media facilitator for Lifeway counseled Ashford on the book.

Ashford final manuscript was edited “prepared for submission by :

Chris Pappalardo –  works for J D Greear, current SBC President / Summit Church pastor’s as his chief editor. ( Ashford is also an elder at Greears Summit Church.)

Ashford thanks “ethicist and public theologians “-

Daniel Heimbach-SEBTS Kern Funded “Intersect Project”contributor ,  Research Fellow of the SBC’s ERLC, chairman of the Christian ethics planning unit for the Evangelical Theological Society, general editor of the B&H Christian Ethics series, referee for the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society and contributing editor for the Journal of Faith and War.

Craig Bartholomew – SEBTS Kern Funded Intersect Project contributor .

Jonathan Leeman – 9MARKS editor ERLC Research Fellow, TGC contributor, London School of Economics ,openly “third way ” SBC influencer and “political theologian” .

INORDINATE INFLUENCE – WHERE AND WHY?

Kern Family Foundation is THE primary partner of Acton Institute in bringing the Social Justice false gospel filled with critical theories on race,gender, sexuality, and Intersectionality into SBC seminaries . But from Ashford’s book project we learn Kern is also partnering with the SBC publishing arm B & H Publishing Group. The SEBTS provost book is advising poor young “Christian” how to  grasp politics and how the poor uninformed young believer ought to vote – through the “justice lens” of course. Why is such influence being aimed on how Baptist and evangelicals in general  VOTE if Biblical conviction drives most Christian Voters? The progressive SHIFT toward being a  “Justice Voter”  is underway and perhaps irreversible because it is taking place virtually undetected .

B&H PUBLISHING -& THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST 

Ashford Thanked two B & H Publishing employees

Devin Maddox- at B & H Groups” has been elevated to Publisher of Leadership Books. Prior to this position, Maddox served as Associate Publisher for Strategic Partners at B&H.Research Assistant to the Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary”

B & H Publishing group is a publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Conventions Lifeway

https://www.bhpublishinggroup.com/about-us/

“B&H Publishing Group , an imprint of LifeWay Christian Resources, is a team that believes Every Word Matters®. We seek to provide intentional, biblical content that positively impacts the hearts and minds of people, cultivating lifelong relationships with Jesus Christ. We publish (print and digital) in the trade, church, and academic markets, as well as the CSB translation”

It is not really news to point out that employees of a Libertarian think tank like Acton Institute are driving their political narrative in partnership with a politicized Foundation like Kern. Nor is it news that the two partners are  providing curriculum for the seminaries “justice “studies . But it is another issue entirely that SEBTS provost Ashford’s book on political engagement published by the SBC publishing arm B & H Publishing is FUNDED / “MADE POSSIBLE BY KERN FAMILY FOUNDATION.”

“What does it mean to be an American Christian?

“In Letters to an American Christian, Bruce Riley Ashford, author of One Nation Under God, addresses overarching issues of the relationship of Christianity and politics, speaks to the way historic Christian belief informs specific hot-button political issues, and challenges readers to take seriously both our heavenly and earthly citizenships. Written as a series of letters to “Christian”—a young college student who is a new believer—Letters to an American Christian will help every reader think carefully about how Christianity informs what it means to be an American.”

“In the midst of a rapidly changing national and political landscape, Letters to an American Christian reminds us of two important truths: we cannot afford to shrink away from our earthly citizenship, and we cannot afford to lose sight of our heavenly citizenship.”

Link to Ashfords book

https://books.google.com/books?id=WJZcDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT7&lpg=PT7&dq=hunter+baker+,+kern+family+foundation&source=bl&ots=2Iw9bKQRvq&sig=ACfU3U04TUgKHbOldQn4XGu7re2q5vGaNg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiu88uq58PkAhVBba0KHfQqDfcQ6AEwA3oECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=hunter%20baker%20%2C%20kern%20family%20foundation&f=false

MORE ON SEBTS PROVOST BRUCE ASHFORD’S VIEWS  HERE

SEBTS PROVOST ,ERLC FELLOW, KERN/ SOCIAL JUSTICE LEADER ENDORSES REVOICE FOUNDER & PROMOTES BISEXUAL ATHEIST PHILOSOPHER

HUNTER BAKER – MORE ON HIS KERN /ACTON ASSOCIATIONS AND POLITICAL  JUSTICE WORK

https://acton.org/about/people/hunter-baker

Hunter Baker whose help Ashford mentions -co-edited /contributed to  THE 2014 book with Kern Family Foundation/ Kern Pastors Network/ Oikonomia Network / TGC contributor Greg Forster and Acton Institutes Anthony Bradley .

The subject of the book is

” John Rawls and Christian Social Engagement ”

“This book critiques the Rawlsian concepts of “justice as fairness” and “public reason” from the perspective of Christian political theory and practice. The Rawlsian paradigm has become pervasive in multiple disciplines outside political philosophy and is unconsciously embedded in a great deal of Christian public discourse; this calls for a new level of analysis from Christian perspectives. This is the first volume to examine Rawls based on Christian principles drawn from theological ethics, social thought, political theory and practical observation. In addition to theoretical perspectives, the book connects its critique of Rawls to specific hot-topic practical questions in three areas: social issues (abortion, marriage, etc.), economic issues (wealth creation, poverty programs, etc.), and the increasing difficulty of political compromise and peaceful coexistence in the context of the culture war. The book includes some of the leading Christian political theorists in America.”

JOHN RAWLS THEORY OF JUSTICE 

https://arcdigital.media/a-theory-of-justice-by-john-rawls-e71ea5df44f2

“The aim Rawls expresses from the outset of Theory is to devise a “theory” of justice that can better systematize people’s judgments about it. In his view, existing political societies are “seldom well-ordered” simply because they are characterized by disagreements about justice. An agreed-on theory of justice is needed, in addition, in order for individuals’ “life plans” to be “fitted together” so that nobody’s “legitimate expectations” will be “severely disappointed.”

John Rawls “A Theory of Justice ” is a favorite of the political left . He later wrote “Political Liberalism ” as  a follow up to Theory of Justice ”

JUSTICE GOALS OF COMMON GOOD POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT 

Oikonomia Network is striving to redefine the theology , work ethic , economics , vision and future of the church by social justice. Now we see that the effort is undeniably reaching beyond the church walls and aiming for the Christian when he/she enters the voting booth of their hometown  polls. Making social liberals of their pastors is a sure pathway to success for liberalizing the conservative church. The effort centers around the Kern/ Acton promotion of economics in the Faith and Work movement /curriculum but the mask for its BOLD political outcomes is wearing extremely thin.

Faith and Work ideology sets out the following goals :

Click to access Theology-that-Works-v2-FINAL.pdf

• THEOLOGY: Preaching the Trinity, incarnation, imago Dei, biblical narrative, and more
illuminates work and economics.
• PASTORAL CARE: Pastors need to be equipped to console and counsel those affected by
economic change.
• COMPASSION: Our ministry to those in need should cultivate hope, dignity, and growth
instead of dependency.
• COMMON GOOD: Churches that understand the economy will be equipped to help their
communities flourish.
• YOUTH AND FAMILY: A flourishing life starts in early childhood with a culture of vocation and responsibility.

We might also add -HELPING JUSTICE VOTING PATTERNS FLOURISH  to the list of Kern/ Actons outcome measures for faith and family .

Conservative Christians LIVES/ INSTITUTIONS/ CHURCHES / THEOLOGY /FAITH /VOTING CONVICTIONS are being invaded- overwhelmed – manipulated – and sold down the proverbial river by the host of insiders who have opened our institutions doors to partnerships driven by progressive political operatives masked as partners in the faith.

There is no Biblical or godly reason to work this hard to unhinge Christian voters from pro- life- pro-family- pro Biblical marriage, sexuality and gender norms . NONE. Instead Paul warns Timothy of the very opposite in 1st Tim 4 .

^“16 Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.”

When your church interviews it’s next hire from one of the Kern /Acton affiliated Schools or you choose your next childrens /teen / college curriculum  -be aware of these agendas and influences and the funding behind them. Take Heed to yourselves and make careful staffing and curriculum decisions .

Christians need to vomit out the lukewarm false justice gospel and cleave to the Lord for the power and transformation promised in the everlasting Gospel committed into the hands of believers everywhere. If we want to engage/ influence culture -we need the one thing that alone offers real answers and true change.That is the Christ Crucified – buried and risen in power. No denomination can offer lasting , godly , biblical change from those whose own heart have not been changed.

If you vote- and you should – you should NOT be shamed by these political operatives pretending to be “political theologians ” ( not in the list of the five fold ministries to the church ) while behaving  like progressive hirlings out to condemn your voting habits and redefine your FAITH.

IF this effort were  driven by the Gospel – it would not need to going into hiding on our seminary campuses ? These partners have no business in the voting booths or the collective conscience of evangelical Christians .

WHY IS KERN, THE LEAD EVANGELICAL VOCATION /SOCIAL JUSTICE FUNDER, GOING INTO HIDING AT SEBTS?

AL MOHLER -YOU MISSED A SPOT :SOCIAL JUSTICE FUNDING GOES INTO HIDING AT SBTS

Matthew 7:

You Will Know Them by Their Fruits

¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

1st Timothy 4

1.Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, ² speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, ³ forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴ For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; ⁵ for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

A Good Servant of Jesus Christ

⁶ If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. ⁷ But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. ⁸ For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. ⁹ This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. ¹⁰ For to this end ^[c]we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. ¹¹ These things command and teach.

Take Heed to Your Ministry

¹² Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. ¹³ Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. ¹⁴ Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. ¹⁵ Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. ¹⁶ Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.