Collapsing Conservative America

Will Evangelical Leaders Succeed in Selling Out the American Church?

( This article is as important today it it was when written in the Summer of last year as we move into the 2020 election cycle -More to come on this important subversive effort from article posted June 2018 )

President Barack Obama & SBC’s ERLC President Russell Moore

By Rev Thomas Littleton
June 21, 2018

Last April, a group of self-appointed, self-important Evangelicals met at Wheaton College for what some have called a “Trump Bashing” and to determine the future of the Church. The list of attendees was not made available to the Evangelical community, whose future they are deciding, however, one attendee seems to be the designated spokesman. Jim Wallis was in his college days an activist in the radical left Students for a Democratic Society. Wallis later became spiritual adviser to President Obama and served on the Advisory Council to Obama’s Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Wallis’ lifelong political commitments are revelatory. Barack Obama was mentored by none other than William Ayers who was the leader of the 1970’s domestic terrorist Weather Underground, the revolutionary faction of the Students for a Democratic Society, which was discovered to be a Communist front by the FBI.

Hillary Clinton, Jim Wallis & Barack Obama

Following the Wheaton conference, Wallis wrote a revealing piece, which actually clarifies that the intended “bashing” was not for President Trump but for those Evangelicals who voted for him. Of the three main points discussed at the gathering, all three do mention Trump, but the problem as they see it are the Evangelicals who support or even voted for Trump. This political action, in their view, represented a “collective backsliding” (a term seldom used these days even by Baptists). Evangelicals have embarrassed us, they said, and are too dumb to know it. We owe “people of color” and the international community an apology and must explain ourselves. Because of Trump’s personal character flaws, we are then warned of the danger of “losing an entire generation of young people to the Christian Faith” and they, of course, have the statistics to prove it.

In fact, the use of the very word “Evangelical” continues to be called into question as the effort to further stigmatize it ramps up of late. At one time “Evangelical” described Christians who “evangelize” or share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the lost, however, we are now at the point where churches in the US and UK are abandoning evangelism altogether.

UK megachurch pastor: “You don’t have to evangelise anyone, just love accept and serve people. I didn’t build my church on evangelism (in fact I banned the word) but on love and service and we flourished.”

Jim Wallis: “The question this meeting is asking about the future of evangelicalism has been answered by the voices of color and women in this room (pointing to several of them). They are pointing us to the evangel, the good news Jesus said he would bring to the poor in his opening statement in Luke 4. That’s our future, let’s listen. As one of the white evangelical leaders in the Wheaton meeting had said to me before, ‘American evangelicalism is destroying the evangel.’ It is time for the evangel to turn white evangelicalism in America upside down.”

This Evangelical Monster Mash Began Years Ago

By 2014, Cultural Marxism was in full swing and, by 2016, was doing the full monty – flaunting its university erudition and cultural relevance in the Southern Baptist Convention and Presbyterian Church in America, both conservative denominations. Ed “numbers cruncher” Stetzer partnered with his “out” LGBTQ activist journalist friend, Jonathan Merritt, (and some companions) to discuss The Future of Evangelicalism on The Gospel Coalition blog. They assured us that, on cultural issues that face the Church – like where we stand on abortion, homosexuality and gay marriage – we were “like unbaked cookies that need to be placed back in the oven for 3-5 more years and then taken out to see where we are.” Well, it has been 3 1/2 to 4 years, so here we are looking at the cookies.

Assault on the Southern Baptist Convention

Stetzer and Merritt began their long-awaited cookie inspection by attacking one of the main ingredients in the SBC and Evangelicalism – the conservative movement and a leader of the conservative resurgence, Paige Patterson. Merritt called out Patterson on rather flimsy assertions for a MeToo moment, based on twisted narratives of pastoral counseling which Merritt, who is no position to call anyone out, sees as abusive. Stetzer joined the fray on the same day. Anyone who does not see the coordination is simply not looking. Merritt doubled down in The Atlantic, even though airing such grievances, if valid, in the secular press violates the Word of God (1 Cor. 6:1-7). Stetzer clearly received some feedback as he boasted and invited more “Hate Mail” following a shaming session of those in the SBC who dare to not agree with him and his “research.” What Christian leader likes to boast or joke about the amount of hate mail they receive? Perhaps the evil servant of Matt. 24:48-49 and Evangelical leaders who are paid to be nasty and abuse the body of Christ.

Of late, Russell Moore has chimed in on the MeToo allegations against the SBC conservatives by promoting his “Gospel Sexuality in a MeToo Culture” meetings at the upcoming conference in Dallas. Notably, young Merritt’s father is among the speakers.

So, what is this exhibition really about? Is it about the future of the Church? Well, in many ways, absolutely it is! But is the problem that Christians voted for and support the President? The professional shamers claim we are too political, but the fact is that we are too conservative for THEIR leftist political agenda. It simply cannot be allowed again for the Christian fold, in today’s culture shift, to break ranks with their valued leaders and vote en masse for someone they have not endorsed. In a nutshell, they view the Church as their property and this movement is nothing more than a long, forced march toward the progressive slave labor camps that others have been forced into for decades. Our leaders have also placed a for sale sign on the property THEY DO NOT OWN.

Assault AT the Southern Baptist Convention to Hide the LGBT+ Sell Out.

Making the Church fully LGBT-compliant appears to be a primary contingency for the sale property to the new progressive ownership and years of subtle efforts have gone into meeting that required “upgrade.” Now it appears the agents of change must finish the project and massive efforts to complete those renovations are underway. In early May, Gay Christian advocate for Tim Keller and Russell Moore and the combined efforts of TGC and ERLC, Sam Allberry, began promoting a radical LGBT+ Christian conference scheduled for July known as Revoice. This radical conference was heralded as the U.S. counterpart to Tim Keller’s upcoming London appearance at Allberry’s “Living Out” ministry to discuss “Identity in Christ” for Homosexuals. Allberry’s social media promo for Revoice boasted that it is “Promoting LGBT+ flourishing in historic Christian tradition.”

Revoice openly talks about Queer Christians, LGBT+ Christians, Sexual Minorities in the Church and in ministry; the churches becoming safe spaces for LGBT+ people, building allies for LGBT+ in the Church; and the virtues of Queer Theory, Queer Culture and Queer Literature that the Church has missed when tossing out its vices. Revoice also hails the “Treasures that Queer Theory, Culture and Literature will bring into the New Jerusalem at the end of time.” This radical conference has close ties to both Keller and ERLC’s Russell Moore besides the fact that Sam Allberry is promoting it. Those ties include long time preaching staffer and disciple of Keller, Scott Sauls, who is promoting Revoice as well. The Revoice Conference is being held in a PCA church (Memorial Presbyterian in St Louis) and has nearly a dozen strong ties with PCA’s Covenant Seminary there. The PCA’s June General Assembly saw Revoice become a topic of concern and the issue remains a priority.

Dr. & Mrs. Russell Moore at Obama White House Christmas Party in 2016

Equally disturbing are the Southern Baptist ties of Revoice with ERLC head and long time SBTS Dean, Russell Moore. ERLC Fellow, Karen Swallow Prior, promoted Revoice alongside Scott Sauls on the website, and doubled down on her support of the controversial event /movement in a recent interview with Dr. Robert Oscar Lopez. Another person involved as a speaker at Revoice is Brandon Polk, whose Arrowhead Advisors LLC is a consultant with Russell Moore’s ERLC for conferences like the ERLC 2017 “Christ Centered Parenting,” their recent work on prison reform and the racially-charged ERLC/TGC Memphis MLK/50 Conference. Polk is also a friend and huge fan/promoter of Todrick, a judge on the panel for the RuPaul Drag Race Drag Queen program on LOGO TV.  Deeper Southern Baptist leadership ties to Revoice exist in the Founder and President of the conference/movement, Nate Collins, who carries two degrees from Dr. Albert Mohler and Russell Moore’s Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where he taught New Testament and online course.  Dr. Mohler replied to questions about Nate Collins and ERLC connections to Revoice in an interview for Worldview Weekend which is available at the end this article.

You can read more about the Revoice conference, its American Psychological Association DNA and connections to the PCA, SBC, TGC, ERLC, Tim Keller, Russell Moore, Albert Mohler and the new president of the Southern Baptist Convention, J. D. Greear, at these links.

My Experience of ABUSE at the Hands of SBC/ERLC Leadership Over Revoice Concerns

The ERLC and the Southern Baptist Executive Committee reacted strongly to this journalist when I traveled to the SBC 2018 convention on behalf of Southern Baptist members to report on the convention and feature concerns about Revoice to leaders there. On Tuesday afternoon an ERLC employee, Brent Leatherwood, attempted to physically restrain me from interviewing ERLC head Russell Moore in what Texas law would classify as a Class C Assault. Leatherwood, a former Tennessee Republican Party executive director, was hired by Moore at the ERLC after being exposed for his counter offensives as a “never Trumper” while at the Tennessee State GOP. A quick internet search will provide more than the average person will care to read about Leatherwood’s history at the Tennessee Republican Party.

On Wednesday afternoon, June 13, Leatherwood spotted me across the halls of the Exposition building just hours before the ERLC annual report was to be given at the main hall of the SBC Dallas meetings. Within two minutes I found myself face to face with two uniformed Dallas policemen and being removed from the building and the event without covering the main story I had remained for a third day at the Dallas meetings to cover. I was informed by Dallas PD that a complaint had been reported by someone in the event leadership, that I had “Threatened Someone.” Leatherwood met the officers and me as they began the long trek out of the massive Dallas Convention Center before thousands of fellow SBC messengers and attendees. Leatherwood came alongside the officer to my right and taunted me to provoke and escalate the situation he appeared to have set in motion. More details of this ABUSE and the history of dishonesty and false assault threat charges of Russell Moore, dating back to 2000 as a reporter for Baptist Press.

Exposure of Revoice has clearly inspired fear and reaction at the top level of the SBC and ERLC. Within 24 hours a totally false version of the above events was published in the Christian Post by a writer who never contacted me for comment. The false version from ERLC Press Secretary, Liz Bristow, was echoed by The Southern Baptist Executive Committee Member, Roger Oldham. You can find the false version of events here.

The Backstory: Peddling the Sheep to Obama

Early in the Obama administration, a cohort of progressive “thought leaders” took it upon themselves to auction off the Evangelical Sheep farm, and its conservative voting Christian sheep, to the lowest bidder. What we see now is that the listing has turned into a fire sale of whatever vestiges remain of the old conservative Christian right. The auctioneers are selling it cheap and fast, without giving notice to the sheep.

To market the Church, these hirelings must persuade the sheep that they go with the property and not to their Shepherd (spoken of in John 10). That is, they belong to the collective “Community.” Though hirelings are not the title holders by any stretch, per John 10:12, gatecrashers like Tim Keller, David Kinnaman of Barna, and a really relevant-looking 40 something with a skateboarder haircut, Gabe Lyons of “Q Commons,” set out to close the deal on the Third Way fire sale to the Obama White House early in his second term. (Reclaiming Hope, p. 186)

(“Third Way” is a political strategy to reconcile right-wing and left-wing positions by advocating a synthesis of center-right economic and center-left social policies.)

The Evangelical leaders’ desperation liquidation was a miserable failure as discussed in the book Good Faith: Being a Good Christian When Society Thinks Your Irrelevant and Extreme (a self-assertive title no doubt) by Kinnaman and “skater” Lyons. Moving further left by the hour, Tim Keller, who enjoys unchallenged protection in the very conservative Presbyterian Church of America, followed Gabe Lyons and other Obama-friendly pitch men who wrote a letter of intent to the President. This led to a presidential invitation to discuss the terms of the sale.

Who Are the Players?

Tim Keller appears to be the senior Evangelical statesman in this visitation committee. Keller is little known outside his denomination (PCA) and the slightly broader footprint of his Gospel Coalition organization. He erupted on the Evangelical scene in 2008 with his book The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. Keller had come from an obscure church in Virginia to head the denomination’s flagship church plant, Redeemer City Church in New York City. In 2010, Keller launched his Emergent Missions movement called “MissionSHIFT” in partnership with the likes of Brian McLaren, Alan Hirsh, Dan Kimball and the ever edgy Ed Stetzer of Lifeway Research. This brazen effort, including a not so best-selling book aimed at redirecting the Church, faded with little notice. What was noted by the global audience was his address that same year at the Lausanne Consultation’s South African Congress. Subsequently, Keller has risen to the top of the Evangelical leadership ladder and is said to have filled the shoes and received the mantle of John Stott, the framer of the Lausanne Covenant, as one of the “great Christian intellectuals” of our time.

Don’t feel bad if you have taken little notice of Tim Keller. Secular journalists in NYC love him and he does run in all the right circles. Along the way, however, Keller has become wobbly on the issue of homosexuality, significantly since his meeting(s) with Obama. In a 2015 interview at the Veritas Forum he was unable to say in plain speech that homosexuality is a sin. Prior to that, in a 2013 forum with journalists, Keller said “Christians can support gay marriage in the culture, just not in the church.” Besides lacking Biblical support, this position reveals ignorance or disregard of the impact that the legalization of gay marriage would have on religious freedom and the spiritual institution of marriage. Is Keller ignorant of the dissenting opinions of the judges on the Supreme Court who protested the Obergefell decision? Or is he feigning ignorance to bring about social change? Not only is Keller vacillating on sexuality, but also on the authority of Scripture as a speaker and author for Bio-Logos. This postmodern think tank challenges the Bible with the authority of “science,” so we silly little believers can have a place at the table with the real thinkers.

David Kinnaman is now president of Barna Group which specializes in number crunching for mega church pastors’ growth strategies. These numbers are also used to remind average Christians through compelling data that they have either missed the latest trend or have no clue how to respond to it.

Gabe Lyons is a disciple of John Maxwell, the leadership guru of the corporate and Christian worlds. In addition to Good Faith, Lyons also wrote The Next Christians: The Good News About the End of Christian America and unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity…and Why It Matters. To facilitate the “end of Christian America,” Lyons founded “Q Commons” – which according to the promo “works to educate and mobilize Christians to think well and advance good in society.” “Q Commons” is more easily understood as a loosely “Christian” version of TED Talks or a quasi-Christian Dialectic. The New York Times describes “Q” as “Sophisticated and Orthodox representing a new generation of Christians.” Perhaps it is more appropriate to say “Q” is Progressive and unOrthodox, but we will pass on the word games and labeling for now.

These men, therefore, are the main players at the center of the “Good Faith Movement.”

On to the Oval Office

With hat in hand and armed with Barna statistics, these pillaging prophets made their way to the Oval Office to persuade President Obama that a new, more worthy kind of believer now populates the American pews. It is, as the book title asserts, the “Good Faith Christian.” These are those who are concerned about Social Justice and would “vigorously defend the rights of our Muslim neighbors to practice faith beyond the neighborhood mosque and of our gay and lesbian friends to publicly express pride in their identity” (page 105). The offer was placed on the table in exchange for some tokens and trinkets comparable to the $12 in beads to purchase Manhattan Island from the Native Americans. The team of “global thinkers” promised Obama that, if he would toss in a few assurances of exemptions guaranteeing religious freedom, then THEY were positioned to assure delivery of the “Good Faith” voting bloc as a “Third Way” hors d’oeuvre to the most ravenous progressivism our nation had ever seen in Washington, D.C.

The impetus of the Oval Office meeting had been President Obama’s sudden (?) change in support of gay marriage. Posturing as agents of “Principled Pluralism,” our self-styled leaders implored the Constitutional Professor / President to offer a classically defined assurance of Religious Freedoms. What he in fact offered was the most limited “in house” protections he had come to be known for, assuring only that Americans will always be free to worship in their houses of worship. The pretense of expecting the President to offer Religious Exemptions, especially on the LGBTQ/ marriage agenda, conceals the fact that the Human Rights Campaign and all “Equality advocates” fight any and all exemptions as “license to discriminate.” Or perhaps our Evangelical hirelings were messaging that Obama could low ball the asking price for the Third Way listing of the Church and acquire it for an even better deal – ZERO assurances. Either way the sale was never completed and the Principled Pluralists returned to the sheepfold hoping to keep the flock from scattering while they plotted a new strategy to make the sale.

Trumped Intentions

Meanwhile back on the farm the sheep got restless as the primary season kicked into full swing. The flock had tired of the brown and dried out hay of the stable and began to graze in greener pastures. A field of GOP Presidential hopefuls came into the corral. Could Keller and company yet prove their worth to whoever it was that commissioned and funded them? Could they make good on their promise to deliver us all up as “Good Faith Christians,” fattened for the slaughter by Third Way hirelings to be counted on to abide by the conditions of sale, even though no buyer had yet agreed to the purchase?

Suddenly out of nowhere the unthinkable happened, causing total widespread panic. Though a stable remnant of “Good Faith” types remained devoted, like Deadheads at a rainbow gathering in the local national forest, the mass of the sheep herd bolted and voted for Donald J Trump, a brash New Yorker, casino owner and billionaire with a breathtaking beauty for prospective First Lady. The cabal of Evangelical sheep shearers had a collective cardiac arrest. This could not happen, they thought, and now they had to work even harder to liquidate the assets, lower the price and fire sale conservative Evangelical voters lest they act on their traditional values and dare to make “The Donald” President of the United States of America.

Loose the Prophets of Shame on Unsuspecting Sheep

What happened next is one of the most pathetic displays in modern Christianity. Third Way leaders like Tim Keller and Southern Baptists, Albert Mohler and Russell Moore, joined a host of their trainees in progressive groups like The Gospel Coalition and the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission in a concerted effort to poison the waterholes of the wayward flock and take cattle prods to the sheep. A relentless “Christian” media storm contrived to beat the wayward sheep back into submission continues to this day and has also impacted other elections like the conservative Southern Baptist Roy Moore’s Senate bid in Alabama. The agents marketing the Church to the lowest bidder were pleased as punch with Roy Moore’s defeat which in turn led to the election of a far-left candidate, Doug Jones, as U.S. Senator. The predictable outcome is that Sen. Doug Jones’ ties to the LGBTQ lobby were paraded as a trophy at a recent “big donor” fundraiser for the Human Rights Campaign, at which event it was announced that Senator Jones was a co-sponsor of the radical LGTBQ “Equality Act” in the U.S. Senate.

What is Wrong with “Good Faith”?

To see what kind of fruit this Third Way-Good Faith movement has produced, let us look at some of the influence stream and contents of the book itself. Among the Acknowledgements on page 264 of those who “helped round out the rough edges and articulate why this book matters for today’s Christians” are some very left leaning and in some cases, radical leftists, posing as Christians. Examples include Preston Sprinkle who is attempting to move the conversation into the creation of safe spaces for LGBTQ in the Church which mirrors fully that of the progressive most hard core “gay faith activist” organizations. To this end, Sprinkle is pushing a Third Way dialog on the Church.

Another fruit is former Wheaton Chaplain office counselor, Julie Rodgers, who jumped the shark in her “untidy story over gay marriage” just hours after the announcement of Obergefell in June 2015. Rodgers, a once “celibate Christian Lesbian,” promptly abandoned her celibacy for full on gay affirmation in the Church while no longer advocating celibacy. She admitted that she had “quietly supported same-sex relationships for a while now,” though representing herself as committed to celibacy (all a false argument proliferating the progressive conversation like weeds in an untended garden). Rogers cited her concern for “the gaybees” (young LGBTQ “Christians”) in the pew who would be harmed by the condition of abstaining from gay sex in order to be accepted in the Church. Her untidiness is asked to be excused because Julie can find no way to make the Bible and its orthodox teachings on sexuality fit her newfound “conviction,” but she still expects full acceptance of it by the Church. Julie has clearly helped “round out the rough edges” of the Good Faith book and has maintained the approval of its authors and endorsers, including Tim Keller, throughout her untidy journey. She is presently engaged to be married to Amanda Hite who heads the organization Be The Change and according to Amada’s bio on its website, serves on Leadership Committees for the Human Rights Campaign. Julie is herself a friend, hero and mentor to many of the speakers at the upcoming Revoice Conference, including founder Nate Collins.

Likely the MOST telling progressive INSIDER involvement in the Good Faith Acknowledgments is that of Michael Wear, who was Barack Obama’s Faith Outreach team leader. At age 23, the boy wonder of the Obama Faith message came into the White House to help coordinate, with the President, the greatest advancement of LGBTQ and interfaith dialog in history. This was in large part facilitated by the overhaul and funding of the Faith Based Partnerships programs which placed Christian leaders of all stripes in close communion with a flood of tax dollars to work together for the common good. Funding is the FUEL of the Third Way strategy. Wear helped coordinate the Obama Faith-Based Partnership program with public and private funding – whether taxpayer dollars used for activism or the wealth of global giants in the corporate world of foundations sphere, the Evangelical landscape was flooded with cash.

Today it is fair to say that Wear now finds a home in the Tim Keller stable, as contributor of the “Good Faith” concept and as an editor and writer at Keller’s organization, The Gospel Coalition, which also promotes Wear’s memoir of his work with Obama, Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America.

Tim Keller played no small role in the production of Good Faith or the Third Way messaging of these visitors to the Obama White House, by offering to sell out the Church at bargain basement prices. According to Gabe Lyons, Keller’s “mentorship over the years has made me (Gabe) smarter, stronger and more confident that, no matter what happens in the broader culture, our faith (the Good Faith brand of faith) will last.”

New Age guru, Dallas Willard, is cited often in Good Faith as is James Hunter Davison and his concept of “Faithful Presence” which was born out of his Frankfurt School-inspired Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. Also frequently quoted is Kirsten Powers, a progressive journalist with Friends at FOX News and a convert of Tim Keller who turned to Catholicism. Powers was among the journalists who interviewed Keller in 2013 when he asserted that Christians could support gay marriage in the culture, again advocating an impossible exemption for the Church if gay marriage became law. It does get worse.

Good Faith authors sympathetically and inclusively interviewed Gene Robinson (page 168), who was the first openly gay Bishop to be ordained in the Episcopal Church in 2003. This ordination forced MILLIONS of faithful Christians out of their denomination and took the once strong conservative membership from over 5 million to under 1.8 million, and declining by the day. Former Bishop Robinson, who went on to work in leadership roles for the Human Rights Campaign, was invited by the authors to share his emotional “experience” and trials for inclusion for them to determine what makes a “Good Faith Christianity” fit for the auction block of the Third Way.

In Chapter 13, titled “The Gay Conversation” (page 170), Good Faith statistics other than Barna’s are presented from a very messy source to support what constitutes Good Faith Christianity. Cited are Gary Gates of the Williams Institute statistics which specialize in “Queering the Census” and tracking LGBTQ / Same-Sex demographics in the U.S. Gates himself is the protégé’ of Marxist Lesbian “urbanologist“ Jane Jacobs’ protégé’ RICHARD FLORIDA, whose ever creepy Gay Indexes and pro homosexual urban theories have found themselves at home with Tim Keller, Q Ideas, the SBCs Albert Mohler and a host of Good Faith (by their definition) Christians. The Human Rights Campaign then uses the wild assertions of Gates/ Williams and Florida to market the Municipal Equality Index to your mayors and city councils and county commissions.

Tim Keller and others in his Gospel Coalition have been long time devotees of the Richard Florida “inclusion” ideology with its Cultural Marxist roots in Jane Jacobs, which includes Keller’s Social Gospel project in Orlando with Reformed Theological Seminary that birthed an Urban movement, Seeking the Welfare of the City, around the “Polis Institute.” ‘Good Faith’ Christians must love Florida’s LGBTQ inclusion ideas because Tim Keller’s certainly does. The book’s endorsement and use of Gary Gates’ Williams Institute research is simply further indication of the inclusive approach to the ideology of Good Faith Christianity. In the quote they do admit to the low stats on LGBTQ population – 3 to 4 % – while at the same time asserting that “some Christians and churches have had a cruel homophobic streak.” This is the typical victim narrative for devaluing the Church in the conversation and applying pressure to make amends by becoming Good Faith partners with Keller and Crew.

In Chapter 14, “We Cannot Live Without Intimacy,” there is a sympathetic overview of the Bruce / Caitlyn Jenner saga. Good Faith followers are reminded that “Christians must not be hard hearted toward those who seek alternative identities. Their quest is a signpost pointing to deep desire to be truly, profoundly known.” (page 189) So the gender confused person or the cross dresser who wants non-binary access the bathroom of choice in Target or your child’s public school is a victim as well. A person whom Good Faith folk recognize as just wanting their true selves to be seen and known. Never mind their rebellion against God’s design and sovereignty (supposedly a core doctrine of Calvinist Tim Keller). To be truly Good Faith you must look beyond the emasculated Gold Medalist Bruce to see the inner Caitlyn and understand her need. That is the Good Faith Christian and those who buy into all the above make a tidy package for the sheep herd of the Evangelical farm being offered to the lowest progressive bidder and the Democratic Party.

Stellar job of hosting this OPEN HOUSE to sell off God’s HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH for the very enemies who want it removed from hindering the progressive agendas of the Left. If that is the call of God in Evangelicalism – if this is what it means to be GOOD in the Faith – then let the rest of us find the exit before the Fire falls! In no way are these Good Faith assertions of Keller, Lyons and Barna compatible with Biblical Christian faith and living in these or any other times. If Kinnaman finds mega church pastors and church retailers like Lifeway interested in statistics and polls then so be it, but neither he nor Lifeway Research nor Pew or any other change agents will change the mind and heart of Jehovah, Who we are reminded in Hebrews 12:29 is a HOLY and consuming FIRE. He does not put a holy finger out to determine the prevailing winds of culture nor is He undecided about the gender He made the victims of the latest Trans-fad. Acquiescence to the tactics of Keller and his Obama-friendly hirelings to sell the Sheep farm is NOT Good Faith. At best it is self-deception and, at worst, self-aggrandizement, arrogance and apostasy.

Thanks for Nothing – Reality Check

Though Biblically Conservative Evangelicals may have been willing to follow hirelings onto the Progressive plantation, a full-scale awakening now threatens the Cabal. The sting of the cattle prods continues by the increased amperage of the recent Revoice Conference for LGBT+ Flourishing in the Christian Church, Cultural Marxist rhetoric, Critical Race Theory, open borders Immigration advocacy, accusations of White Privilege, canonization of MLK and Malcolm X in our seminaries, Transgender bathroom rights, and even disowning the Evangelical identity, thereby changing the name of the Sheep farm. Hopes are high to finally bank their 30 pieces silver.

Wishful Thinking from a Weary Flock

In conclusion – the sale is not even pending. The value of the conservative Evangelical has proven steady, is likely appreciating and did help accomplish the impossible, preventing a Hillary Clinton regime. Sorry to disappoint Tim Keller, Albert Mohler, Russell Moore and other desperate Evangelical leaders. Your Third Way fire sale has failed and exposed massive fault lines between the Blue-Collar saints and your Elitist clique. Please, stop pointing fingers and blaming the sheep. Call off the dogs and tell the manure spreaders to cease and desist. Take YOUR “For Sale” signs off the property. It is NOT yours to sell. Don’t bother trying to act as spokesmen for us or for the Good Shepherd; just fulfill your obligations to those who bought you out and do it preferably somewhere else. Leave our institutions and our pulpits and stay out of the voter booth with us and, please, no more convening meetings to decide the future for us or our children. Stop having conferences and talking issues like Racial Reconciliation (something you, in reality, know nothing about…but only the crass language of division) and fake news MeToo feminist-driven revenge masked as the Gospel. Enough with your efforts to talk the Bride of Christ into embracing Homosexuality as “Christian.” No more Revoice Conferences or endless pro LGBT+ “celibate” victims events staged by ERLC/TGC or The Nines. Stop talking in muddled language about things the Word of God says in plain language. And no more dialoging or sleeping with the enemies of God in the name of “principled pluralism” or any other false virtue signaling labels some social sciences think tank has provided for you. Let us be done with you and leave us to follow our Lord, while you follow the destructive path you have chosen.

Leaders like Tim Keller and Russell Moore – Stop the madness of your empty rhetoric and false concerns and pseudo intellectualism. The poorly disguised progressive political agenda you serve wrapped in an ever-thinning veneer of false compassion and gospel integrity just does not ring of truth. It no longer passes the smell test but resembles the sour milk of aging men growing bitter at having been exposed as change agents, deceiving the easy mark on the planet – the trusting, loving flock of God.  Stop abusing us.  Stop using minorities and race and women and gays.  Stop diverting the money and resources of the Church to your globalist views of human flourishing and a sustainable world.  Stop the fake concerns for us hurting the Gospel.

Do Your One “Good Faith” More and Just Cease and Desist Already

And finally, though many of you love the sound of your own voices and the “chief seats” in the Temple, please BE QUIET and JUST LEAVE — and let us enjoy the golden silence and be still, knowing that the Lord is God and we are His People and the Sheep of His pasture. (Psalm 100:3)

Thomas Littleton Reporting from the SBC Annual Conference to Worldview Weekend

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ALBERT MOHLER “APOLOGIZES ” WHILE HE SOLD THE FARM, ABUSED OTHERS AND IGNORED REAL VICTIMS

Rev Thomas Littleton                                                                                                      2/16/2019

The recent Houston Chronicle story about  sexual abuse followed by years of cover up in the Southern Baptist Convention was the saddest commentary possible on the state of affairs in the church today. The scandal is smoking out leaders who have been part of the cover up . This includes Dr. Albert Mohler head of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in multiple rounds of apology .

https://www.chron.com/houston/article/Leading-Southern-Baptist-apologizes-for-13618120.php

http://news.sbts.edu/2019/02/15/statement-r-albert-mohler-jr-sovereign-grace-churches/

VICTIMS IGNORED

What is striking in this long , now exposed, history is the oppression of the voices of the innocent and harmed- by the people who are in the position to prevent it or at least who had the voice to expose it.

GOOD OLE BOYS FILL THE PULPITS

Part of what feeds the cultural underbelly among evangelical leadership is the  “frat house ” mentality among a competitive and often egocentric group of good ole boys. The ties that bind tend to run along theological camps, alumni , and mentor/mentee relationships . Few ministers will speak against their friends with whom they conference and in whose circles they align or against someone whose influence might be needed for their own advancement . This holds true for some – it would seem- no matter how ugly the hidden realities are or how others may have been harmed or stand to be harmed .

A new wave of heavy handed authoritarian local church governance is also playing a role in intimidating and silencing those who report abuse. The faith of many in the circles in which Albert Mohler operates is now firmly under the thumb of both denominational/coalition and local church policy and polity .

BEHIND THE SCENES IN THE MOHLER SPHERE OF INFLUENCE

As this abuse cover up apology came forward – yet another example of Mohler’s own abuses surfaced. This one was in fact the abusive use of  his position and authority to aid in the cover up of the abuse he has now apologized for . It involves Christian radio host Janet Mefferd for one -who tells her own story here.

https://janetmefferd.com/2019/02/al-mohlers-incomplete-apology-my-story/

“I began covering the Sovereign Grace Ministries scandal in 2012, on my previous nationally syndicated Christian radio show. As I dug more deeply into sexual-abuse victims’ accusations in a class-action lawsuit, spoke with some of those affected and began to conduct interviews to glean more information, I stated that the SGM scandal was American evangelicalism’s biggest sex scandal to date.”

“My assessments back then are no more significant than the parallel or subsequent assessments made by many others along the same lines. But as a Christian radio host who was covering the story, I was subject to strong and uncomfortable pressure behind the scenes, which others may not have experienced in the same way.”

“And Al Mohler was at the center of that pressure.”

“In 2013, several months after I had been covering the SGM scandal, I was blindsided by two executives from my former radio network’s corporate headquarters on an extended conference call.”

“They told me that they had received a call from “Al Mohler’s office” that expressed “concerns” over my radio interviews with Detwiler, who had weighed in on the class-action lawsuit filed against Mahaney and others. They communicated to me that Mohler’s office did not believe Detwiler was a good guest choice.”

“Knowing that Mohler served on our company’s editorial board, I said, “‘Mohler’s office’ didn’t call you. You mean Al Mohler called you.”

“Neither executive denied it.”

(Read the rest at https://janetmefferd.com/2019/02/al-mohlers-incomplete-apology-my-story/  and the 2012 story where Mefford and others were attempting to bring attention to the growing poblem of abuse/ cover up among evangelical leaders.  https://baptistnews.com/article/radio-host-says-evangelicals-ignoring-abuse/#.XGgcOOhKjIV )

VERY TELLING MOHLER INVOLVEMENT BEHIND THE SCENES

Janet Meffords story is well worth your time to understand the efforts Mohler made to continue the cover up  and protect his friends. These kinds of unseen forces and pressures are part of what some call the “Evangelical Industrial Complex “or “Big Eva” and what this writer has dubbed “The Evangelical Deep State”. The wider the window opens into and the longer one looks at this underbelly – the more disturbing it becomes .

MOHLER’S APOLOGY HABIT – WHILE COVERING UP SEXUAL ABUSE -HE DROVE THE ADVANCE OF “GAY CHRISTIANITY ” INTO THE SBC IN 2014

In 2014 Albert Mohler advanced the homosexual agenda in the SBC by asserting / accepting and apologizing for being “wrong about homosexual orientations” on behalf of all Southern Baptist and Evangelicals. Sexual Orientation is an American Psychological Association “discovery ” and priority with zero biblical basis

ERLC 2014: Aftermath; Ministering in a Post-Modern Marriage Culture

Mohler was only too eager to make this apology, ( unlike the sex abuse cover up issued on February 15th 2019 ) ,and thus  allow for this set of “victims” in the LGBT activist community to be given voice in and against the mainstream evangelical church. By doing so Mohler launched an ongoing  conversation totally outside the context and bounds of the Word of God and steeped in the language and ideologies of activism for  “Social Change” in the church.

Mohler knew what was at stake when he apologized . He knew that allowing for the “discovery ” of “sexual orientation ” to be viewed as an undeniable reality would  take the Christian Conversation outside the realm of Biblical authority .

 

MOHLER PREFERRED VICTIMS

Again Albert Mohler ignored and discounted real victims of abuse and sought to silence them and those who spoke up for them in the church while using  an apology in 2014 to launch the promoting the of  LGBT+ “victim narrative” into the SBC and evangelical mainstream.

He says so VERY plainly  in 2005 comments below .

THE 2005 MOHLER ASSESSMENT OF THE “ORIENTATION ARGUMENT ” AGAINST A SOLID BIBLICAL BACKDROP

Homosexuality in Theological Perspective, Part Two

“As is the case with most ideological campaigns directed to the Church, the Homosexual Movement comes complete with a well-defined hermeneutic. In fact, politico-ideological crusades which aspire for influence within the churches must develop and articulate what I will term a hermeneutic of legitimation, designed to provide at least the appearance of biblical sanction. Thus, biblical interpretation becomes contested territory between rival worldviews.

The Homosexual Movement has employed a well-documented hermeneutic suspicion toward biblical texts which address homosexuality. Their efforts have been to prove that the actions proscribed in biblical passages (notably Genesis 19 and Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13) do not refer to consensual homosexual acts, but to homosexual rape and prostitution.

The net result of this hermeneutic of legitimation has been confusion in the churches. It has become the standard and politically-correct perspective assumed in most sectors of the academy, and it is increasingly prevalent among members of the mainline Protestant denominations. Disappointingly, a number of evangelicals have been taken in as well.

The revisionist hermeneutic, as applied to Romans 1:26-27, has been employed to argue that the text means something quite different from the Church’s traditional interpretation. By employing circumventions, circumlocutions, and contortions, the text’s meaning is revised so as to negate its judgment upon homosexuality.”

( Most important point he makes in 2005 is that accepting orientation argument takes the discussion totally outside Biblical framework )

“The critical issue used as a hermeneutical device by the revisionists is the concept of sexual orientation. The modern “discovery” of sexual orientation is used to deny the truth claim clearly and inescapably made within the biblical text. For example, in regard to the Romans text, Janet Fishburn of Drew University Theological School argues: “Yet, some biblical scholars point out that this passage can only refer to the homosexual acts of heterosexual persons. This is because the writers of the Bible did not distinguish between homosexual orientation and same-gender sexual acts. If this distinction is accepted, the condemnation of homosexuality in Romans does not apply to the sexual acts of homosexual persons.”

WITH A WELL TIMED APOLOGY MOHLER SOLD THE EVANGELICAL FARM TO THE FALSE VICTIM LGBT NARRATIVE

Mohler makes it very clear the high cost of allowing “orientation ” to be taken as factual in 2005 but then -as seen below – admits to the unproven / APA based assertion concluding that those with homosexual desire are in some way “born with it ” and therefore cannot be expected to change. Once this 2014 apology was made then Dr Mohler and his protege’ Russell Moore began to rebrand the SBC and to force a public rethink of LGBT  in its ” conversations”.

MOHLER AND MOORE WELCOME NATIONAL LGBTQ+ ACTIVIST

This 2014 meeting not  only included many SBC pastors/ staff and ministers but also a host of LGBT+ activist organizations and their leaders who met behind closed doors after hearing the self assumed  head of the SBC apologize on all our behalf and settle the conversation on LGBT and Marriage firmly within the activist playing field . These conversations advancing the activist talking points continue to this day .

Sexual Orientation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ

I recently addressed a major national conference on “The Gospel, Homosexuality, and the Future of Marriage” held by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.”
One of these issues is sexual orientation. As I explained in my address, I had previously denied the existence of sexual orientation. I, along with many other evangelicals, did so because we did not want to accept the sexual identity structure that so often goes with sexual orientation. I still reject that notion of sexual identity. But I repented of denying the existence of sexual orientation because denying it was deeply confusing to people struggling with same-sex attraction. Biblical Christians properly resist any suggestion that our will can be totally separated from sexual desire, but we really do understand that the will is not a sufficient explanation for a pattern of sexual attraction. Put simply, most people experiencing a same-sex attraction tell of discovering it within themselves at a very early age, certainly within early puberty. As they experience it, a sexual attraction or interest simply “happens,” and they come to know it.” 
(You may want to read the remainder but his reasons for his apology and repositioning on Orientation need to be measured in his own words below from 2005  in the next section below  when he clearly outlines what is  at stake over this VERY issue. Here are other 2014 quotes  )
 Of course, those of us whose sexual orientation is directed toward the opposite sex are also sinners, but the sexual orientation is not itself sinful.”
The concept of sexual orientation is not only helpful, it is in some sense essential. Even those who argue against its existence have to describe and affirm something tantamount to it. There is a pattern of sexual interest and attraction that is discovered in early adolescence. It is not something that is, in itself, freely chosen. That does not mean that the individual is not completely responsible before God for how that orientation is then handled.”
CAUTION
(Remember that  sexual orientation is still an assumption and assertion from the APA and other secular organizations . Mohler is deeply in the sand here and seems to know it but he is not really backing up or backing away from what he said in the video. He then goes into the Ex Gay Therapy issue )

MORE MOHLER BACKSTORY – AND IT AIN’T PRETTY

Sam Allberry was introduced to a stateside audience at these 2014 meetings and took his “SSA but celibate” talking points into the bold beyond. Now Allberry’s ministry Living Out,based in the UK, has introduced a radical LGBT Inclusion Church Audit which will “regulate” or “police” private conversations, our pulpits , and calls for the ordination and hiring of SSA staff in our churches . The Audit also says that Christians need to go along with “sharing our children” with SSA in the church .In November 2018 Mohler pal Mark Dever introduced the radical Allberry/ Living  Out  Audit stateside in 3 of his churches- his own Capitol Hill Baptist  and two affiliates .

Allberry spoke at the 2018 ERLC family conference near Dallas  and has since  been advocating for churches to support him as an SSA /gay priest in promoting   “singles adoption and foster care”. It just keeps getting more bizarre and it was all launched by the  Albert Mohler Sexual Orientation “apology ” and timed with an abandon of “Ex gay therapies”.

MOHLER AND REVOICE LGBT+ FLOURISHING IN OUR CHURCHES MOVEMENT

At the same  time Russell Moore was planning the 2014 ERLC conference -a Mohler / SBTS student and teacher/father and son team were working together with Exodus International  leadership as the organization collapsed from within and public support of ex- gay therapy with it. Once Exodus news hit the media it helped to vilify all efforts to help people out of unwanted homosexual desires. That SBTS student / teacher was Nate Collins who founded the Revoice Conference /Movement and who is now working  to take the Mohler apology to the next level. The unbiblical / activist sexual hermeneutic Mohler described in 2005 in now in full swing in the evangelical community and Albert Mohler both educated the leader of the newest most radical element of it in the SBC / PCA/ Evangelical circles and launched it all with his 2014 “Apology”

Conclusion

Albert Mohler’s teammate Russell Moore seemed way too poised in advance for the Houston Chronicle Story .

https://www.russellmoore.com/2019/02/10/southern-baptists-and-the-scandal-of-church-sexual-abuse/

“The report is alarming and scandalous, the courage and grace of these survivors is contrasted with the horrific depravity of those who would use the name of Jesus to prey on them. So how should Christians think about this latest revelation?”

Nothing is worse than the use of the name of Jesus to prey on the vulnerable.

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“The first is to see with clear eyes what is before us. Some have ridiculed this concern as being some irrational sweep into a secular #MeToo moment, implying that the problem is “political correctness” over an issue that is no real problem within church life. Others have suggested that the church should not concern itself with questions of “justice,” and that preaching the gospel itself will resolve matters of injustice. Others have implied that the horrific scandals we have seen in the Roman Catholic church are due to the theology of Catholicism, the nature of a celibate priesthood and so forth. All of these are not only wrongheaded responses, but are deadly dangerous both to the lives of present and future survivors of these horrors and to the witness of the church itself”

DOES A CONFUSED RUSSELL MOORE CONTRADICTS HIMSELF THREE DAYS LATER ?

More denies the SBC abuse issue is part of the secular #MeToo movement BUT then looks to be writing that it is exactly that -just three days later.

https://www.russellmoore.com/2019/02/13/southern-baptists-face-their-metoo-moment/

After years of racial apologies and advocating for “victim narratives” while ignoring and accusing actual victims – and abusing /threatening those like radio host ,reporters, researchers, bloggers and other who speak up – the apologies themselves are wearing thin and are totally lacking in credibility .

The greater danger ahead for people in our churches is the possibility that  the current talking points and open door policy of  Russell Moore/ Albert Mohler etc. to this sexual activism  in our houses of worship will prove to be an invitation to more abuse .

Dear Al

Perhaps this apology was just another strategic launching pad to further the SBC into the #MeToo movement after all. It could be another set up for spiking the ball like your 2014 orientation apology or your recent SBTS racial purge apology in order to move us deeper into the Social Justice false gospel. Sorry Al but many of us out here in the pews are not buying it.

 

 

THE GOSPEL COALITION AND THE ANTI- GOP POLITICS OF TOMORROW

HOW THE “NEVER TRUMPERS” WILL NUANCE CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN POLITICS IN THE RUN UP TO 2020.

Rev Thomas Littleton                                                                                                2/10/2019

Conservative Christians need a wake up call to the political and social activism going on in our midst. We need to know who is trying to influence our “worldview”, our view of social issues and our vote. Christians need to know who and what influences those people and publications who are writing and editing and advocating a “Rethink “of all that defines us. In short we must first know and THINK  about the forces attempting to redefine Americans and Christian Faith. There are real reasons behind the often bizarre and confusing discourse of men like Tim Keller and Russell Moore and the organizations they head. This article seeks to shed some helpful light on what is shaping up to be one of the main  “conversations ” for change being marketed as a “fire side chat” or “thinking in public” for the run up to the elections of 2020.

AN UNHAPPY CAMPER AT THE DALLAS 2018 SBC CONVENTION

During the 2018 Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas as Vice President 9MARKS editor and council member of the  ERLC Jonathan Leeman tweeted out his displeasure over the SBC invitation to the Vice President of the United States Mike Pence. Leeman quickly penned an article about his feelings which was published by TGC here . https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/truth-power-pence-sbc/                                     “I’m sitting here at the Southern Baptist Convention. Earlier today Vice President Mike Pence addressed the convention. We were told he initiated the offer to speak. I wish we had not accepted.” He goes on to give his “four reasons why ” while acknowledging that TGC (ERLC for that matter ) justify their own invitations to politicians to speak.

Leeman wrote another article on the reasons why he thought inviting the Vice President to Speak at the SBC meetings in Dallas 2018 was” Controversial” which was published in The Washington Post ,a favorite outlet of progressive political voices in the SBC.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/06/14/why-the-southern-baptist-convention-shouldnt-have-allowed-mike-pence-to-speak/?utm_term=.e9643d3a488a

Leeman says “Permit me to remain neutral on Pence himself. Whether you love or hate him, reason one our churches and associations of churches should ordinarily not receive political leaders to address their assemblies is that it goes against the pattern of the entire Bible. You never see Jesus asking the Roman centurion to make an appearance at his next speaking event to “share a word from his heart,” even after the centurion proved to have “great faith.” No, Jesus had a different mission. He taught us to keep church and state separate.”

Leeman’s use of the interaction – or fictional non interaction – between Jesus and the Roman centurion is hardly a contextual one for the TGC expository hardliners.

HILLARY CLINTON INVITED TO SBC BY RUSSELL MOORE IN 2015

There was no outcry when ERLC head Russell Moore invited Hillary Clinton(who did not accept the invitation ) to the SBC 2015 meetings as reported in this TGC 2018 article. The pushback appears to be over office holders or candidates from the GOP being invited .

Politicians Speaking at the Southern Baptist Annual Meeting: A Brief History

” In spite of his Baptist background, Bill Clinton never addressed the SBC. George W. Bush addressed the SBC in 2002. President Obama never addressed the SBC. It was not hard to see a pattern that had developed. In spite of SBC leaders’ routine insistence that the convention was and is not affiliated with any political party, the SBC had become firmly aligned with the GOP. (Russell Moore did invite Hillary Clinton to speak at an ERLC forum in 2015, but she declined.)”

LEEMAN’S UNKNOWN BACKGROUND AND THIRD WAY MESSAGE INCLUDING PRO-LIFE

In an interview from the 9MARKS meetings at the same SBC 2018 meetings,  Leeman discussed his book with a group of SBC pastors who got a heavy dose of nuancing on the problems of being a “single issue (pro-life) voter “. In the interview Dever boasted in the Q &A that Leeman holds a Masters degree from London School of Economics. This fact is not part of Leeman’s biographies on TGC/ ERLC/ 9MARKS or other organizations Leeman works with. When recently asked about this omission he responded that the did not want it to seem boastful. Problems with the influences from liberal globalist politics and economics as well as the Fabian Socialist founding of LSE make non disclosure problematic by an influential member of the SBC writing books , teaching, working in our Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission ,and on a national tour promoting “Rethinking” our political engagement . More on this issue and the nuancing of the pro life discussion with Mark Dever is discussed in the link below .

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

LEEMAN WILL NOT ANSWER A QUESTION ABOUT HIS PAST EMPLOYMENT

On January 22nd of 2019 this author asked Jonathan Leeman if he would identify the name of a global economics magazine he worked as an editor for in DC which is included but NOT NAMED in his bio . Leeman responded -showing displeasure – but would not answer.

“Jonathan . Hello we spoke on twitter. I have your book “How the Nations Rage” and am finishing it soon. I saw in your bio  that you ” worked as an editor for an international economics magazine in Washington, D. C. ” Would you say which publication. Thanks . Thomas”

Response – “Thomas, Forgive me for adopting a severe tone, but I’m not sure why you would expect me to trust you…. If I were to give you the benefit of the doubt, the best I can say is, you maligned me in your first article in sincere ignorance (not that I understand why one Christian would ever malign another w/o due diligence; non-Christian reporters do better). But for you to continue as you’ve begun, having been corrected several times, is for you to choose deception. Let me encourage you to take a better route”

– Leeman would not disclose the name of the publication while he accuses the author of “choosing deception” . In the same way he does not disclose his London School of Economics political education in his biography . He does discuss the LSE background briefly in this interview . https://www.bhacademicblog.com/an-interview-with-jonathan-leeman-on-baptist-foundations/

TGC 2019 LECTURES ON “THINKING IN PUBLIC” WITH ALBERT MOHLER “RETHINKING FAITH AND POLITICS ” FROM LEEMANS BOOK

http://www.sbts.edu/tgc/

“Join us for a live recording of Thinking in Public with Albert Mohler and Jonathan Leeman. Each attendee will receive a Southern Seminary mug and be entered to win a library of 100 books from Southern Seminary faculty.”

JONATHAN LEEMAN’S APPROACH TO RETHINKING FAITH AND POLITICS STRIKES A DISTINCT THIRD WAY TONE ADVOCATING CHRISTIANS HAVE A “POLITICAL REBOOT”

“Religious liberty feels in jeopardy today, as cultural power brokers grow ever more suspicious of Christianity. Meanwhile, Christians cannot agree with one another politically. Some want to strengthen the evangelical voting bloc. Others advise focusing on social-justice causes. Still others would leave the public square to get on with the so-called spiritual work of the church. Prominent Christian leaders criticize one another in the news. Members of church small groups find themselves divided and angry. Clearly, Christians in America need a political reboot.”

“Jonathan Leeman, a scholar of political theology who has taught at various seminaries, believes this restart begins in local churches. Before we can truly do good and do justice, we need to be a good and just people. We cannot talk with integrity about family values if our marriages are falling apart. Or advocate for tax policy changes if we’re not being generous with fellow believers. The restart needed is conversion. Conversion makes us first citizens of Christ’s kingdom and then puts us to work as ambassadors to the world. Our focus must shift from redeeming the nation to living as a redeemed nation. Only when we realize that the life of our churches now is the hope of the nation tomorrow will we be the salt and light Jesus calls us to be.”

LEEMANS BOOK IS ENDORSED BY SOME OF TGC’s LEADING “RETHINKERS” WHO CITE ITS ALTERNATIVE TONE

https://www.thomasnelson.com/p/how-the-nations-rage/

ENDORSEMENTS of “How the Nations Rage ”

“What has the church to do with politics? Is there a proper, biblically informed relationship between church and state? In How the Nations Rage, Leeman exhorts the church neither to withdraw from nor to dominate the political sphere, but to represent heaven to a world in turmoil. What timely counsel, especially to the American church! This work is highly accessible and deserving of praise.”

– John MacArthur, Pastor Grace Community Church Sun Valley California 

 

“The last 20 years, evangelical Christians have been politically mobilized in an outpouring of moral concern and political engagement. Is this a good development? To what extent should Christians be involved in the political process? In his new book, How the Nations Rage, Jonathan Leeman provides a careful and theologically compelling treatment of the relationship between faith and politics. This book is an urgently needed resource for Christians seeking to faithfully integrate their Christian commitments with their political engagement. Leeman is careful, cogent, and unflinchingly biblical in his presentation. This book deserves careful consideration by any Christian who seeks to walk faithfully in the public square.”

– R. Albert Mohler President of SBTS 

RACIALLY FOCUSED AND SOCIAL JUSTICE PROMOTER TISBY GIVES HARDY AND INSIGHTFUL TAKE ON THE POLITICAL RAMIFICATIONS -“SQUIRMING ”

Jonathan Leeman’s How the Nations Rage contains truths that will make any Christian—Republican, Democrat, Independent or otherwise—squirm, and that’s what makes it worthwhile. In this time of political polarization, Leeman offers an opportunity for people to step back from the headlines and the harangues to re-evaluate what it means to represent Christ in the public square and one’s local community. If read carefully, How the Nations Rage, can smooth some of the sharp edges of our current political discourse and move people of faith toward being truth tellers and peacemakers instead of mere partisans.”

– Jemar Tisby, President, The Witness, a Black Christian Collective; Co-Host, “Pass The Mic” podcast 

 FELLOW ERLC COUNCIL MEMBER AND FRINGE ACTIVIST GIVES A HARDY HIGH FIVE

“These are fraught political times, both inside and outside the church. The “culture wars” model of the previous century has proven inadequate in addressing the polarization of our current social climate. How the Nations Rage provides a more mature, deeply biblical, and much needed pastoral understanding of the relationship between the church and the public square. In these pages, Leeman balances correction and encouragement, as well as principle and wisdom.”

– Karen Swallow Prior, author of Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me and Fierce Convictions–The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More: Poet, Reformer Abolitionist

RUSSELL MOORE’S LEYLAND HOUSE (ERLC HEADQUARTERS IN DC) CREW IN DC INTERVIEW LEEMAN AT MIDTERMS

ERLC November 2018

How the nations rage with Jonathan Leeman

“Christians are rethinking their relationship with politics as American culture moves away from certain moral Christian principles. Jonathan Leeman, author of How The Nations Rage, joins Steven, Travis, and Jeff at the Leland House to talk about the church, the state, and how to have confidence in this divided age. From the conversation:”

“What I’m trying to help readers do is to understand what is the state, what is the church, how to read the bible politically, what is justice, and perhaps most importantly, envigorate, encourage, and inspire with a vision of the the church as this embassy of light, of justice and righteousness that shows a model to the nations of how we can move forward with a happy confidence of what God is doing, whether America gets better or worse.” – Jonathan Leeman

CONCLUSION

GET READY FOR TGCs TOUR OF THE NEVER TRUMPERS HIP HOP /SOCK HOP FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

Leeman’s book offers a rambling set of perspective enabling stories that cover a range of conflicted souls on their own journeys .The emotional discussion is laid out for Christians on the usual divisive topics  like” finding  solutions ” for modern positions on age old divisive issues between Christians and culture like abortion, homosexuality, race etc.etc.etc.

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE …WHATEVER THIS IS GOING ON

Christians  in the SBC and The Gospel Coalition must begin at some point to make lives easier on themselves as they attempt to understand what is taking place with their leaders like Leeman and those who endorse this book . Their leaders hate their predictable and conservative voting patterns. They hate Trump- or at least that he was elected. They are far more comfortable either appearing on CNN or at home watching it than you are with your Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. They must assume you are not very smart and assume of course that you will assume the best of them and their intentions. They would never want to think you believe they would act as if they set in a  room with someone offering them something in return for  using their influence ( and even your $$$ that pays their salaries) over you for something  like something  influence peddling . You would never think something like that could happen . Except perhaps the millions of Christian voters who were looking high and low for the source of the smell after the 2016 elections and the long endless moans of the Evangelical  Deep State elite. Do they really object that much to Donald J Trump or are they just disappointed Democrats ? Some are no longer asking the question about operatives like ERLC’s Russell Moore . By the end of the 2020 election the same will likely  be true of many more of our political thinkers and rethinkers .

The answers provided , though presented most often in theological terms ,certainly bear the greater, more defined marks of the authors political philosophy training and underlying disdain for classic conservative Christian political views. The discussion projects an assumed political spirituality and political /theological mixture including and espousing a mangled sort of collectivist thinking about Christian faith in the public square, a submission to authority that is requisite for both salvation and healthy identity for the believer .

Knowing some of Leeman’s other work on “Church Discipline”, pastoral and elder authority and the SBC 9MARKS review on the book focusing on “a plurality of elders” as the answer for the poor little lost Christian in Leeman’s world view creates some doubts. This author was made to feel as though we are being primed to not feel confident about living out our own “deeply held religious convictions ”  in the public square or in the voting booth. There is an unsettling notion indicating we will by some forces of natural and divine law be compelled to look to Leeman and TGC leaders like Moore/ Mohler / Keller/ Macarthur ….and dare we think it Karen Swallow Prior -for guidance on how to live and vote in the future.

Leeman starts off with pointing out the book’s opening was written on the evening of the 4th of July while he was filled with emotions and recalling the patriotic sights and sounds of PBS celebrations on the Mall in DC.  Perhaps from the start Leeman wants us to see him as a real Yankee Doodle Dandy or perhaps he simply wants to conjure up in us the sentiments he describes to make us pliable for what is to come, This is political philosophy in play here, not just patriotic emotions .The book book ends with several quotes in the last chapter from the current ERLC  favorite social justice and wealth redistribution warrior John Perkins His final quote in the book is from Perkins “True justice is wrapped up in love” .They are “intimately tied together “.

TGC /ERLC ARE FORCING THE CREATION OF A SOCIAL JUSTICE VOTER BLOCK

Leeman considered naming the book something like “Reboot” or “Rebooting Politics ”  which perhaps makes one think of Hillary again with her SOS office big with the BIG red RESET  button ( something that got lost in translation by the way). Leeman certainly intends his approach and the answers he provides to be or appear to be “heart-felt” and “Justice Driven ” . He frames his final thoughts in a “more robust practice of justice ”  and goes on to offer comments on “Love of Nation” and “Hope for the Nation”. In reality TGCs broader political narrative ,of which Leeman is a part, insist we must reconsider how deeply harmful our evangelical identity is to the Gospel. Christians who stand for conservative faith and family values about  abortion, gay marriage, secure borders, holding candidates and one another accountable are somehow suddenly so egregious and inflammatory that we should disown our identity and redefine ourselves. Otherwise the risk is to lose the hope of gaining the culture by acclimating to it . The harsh light of history and pure light of Scripture soundly disprove these foolish notions. We impact our world be being salt and light in it.

Matthew 5:13-16

Believers Are Salt and Light

13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

A REALLY BIG MESS – THE TRUE POLITICAL OVERHAUL – LEEMAN/ MOHLER/ PRIOR ARE ADVOCATING

The most compelling  part of Leeman’s discussion of his approach is in considering the outcome of his efforts in light of the word picture he paints for it. In his zero budget/ deconstructionist approach Leeman likens Joe Christian as having a big pot of stew containing chunks of meat and carrots and potatoes already in it. Leeman insists all these contents must be removed and seems to thoughtlessly suggest we ” dump it all out on the counter ” and “Start over” with just the approved- justified essentials allowed back in. All this author could see in this word picture or envision in the coming TGC / ERLC effort to force this political  RETHINK is the mess it is going to make. A picture of a young Leeman and the boyish looking Russell Moore  and kid sister Karen Swallow Prior – playing in the kitchen – under the watchful eye of big brothers Mohler and MacArthur and instigator middle child Mark Dever urging them on as the mess is made. These look to have ZERO consideration in their efforts for the mess OR they have the full assumption that someone else will have to clean it up. Wait until mom gets home – or the people in the pew who have already had enough Obamanomics and social justice policy. They are happy with their own STEW and voting decisions thank you very much.

Jonathan is quoting Perkins to sound like this effort is driven by love -while he should be looking at the fact that Truth is as important as Love and being motivated by BOTH is essential. “The Nations Raging TGC/ ERLC tour ” is on  and already going national . BUT-   Let’s get real TGC/ ERLC guys -the motivation here is political not spiritual.

Ephesians 4:12-16   (NKJV)

12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the [a]edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

BIG MONEY-OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS -AND THE TRANSFORMATION AGENDA IN CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.

 

Concerns over social justice driven forces in the church and among some of the most popular ministers in organizations like The Gospel Coalition have given rise to efforts to denounce those influences . However little has been done to address the source of these influences or answer the concerns presented by them.

THE DALLAS STATEMENT

The Dallas Statement names the problem and ignores the source (s) of it. It names no names and calls for no separation from the corrupting influences, the funding behind it or those who promote it. Part of the reason for the hush hush on the specific details may be rooted in the fraternal bonds of “Preacher Culture”. Many ministers today fall into circles or cliques like TGC / T4G / 9MARKS ETC. with their theological peers who agree with their views and run in the same conference circles. However, there may be another reason behind the John Macarthur presence in the Dallas Statement for example  and its failure to name names or point out the source of the problem. One reason might be John Perkins and his long -time friendship with John Macarthur. Perkins extremely close association with Russell Moore, David Platt , Albert Mohler , TGC, ERLC is far more understandable in light of the social justice controversy .

FROM 2013 SOCIAL JUSTICE CURRICULUM HAS BROUGHT WITH IT EASY MONEY – LOTS OF IT!

As reported in the Evangelical Deep State article 1 and 2 at SBC Today and recorded in the book “The New Evangelical Social Engagement “ The Kern Family Foundation provided funding in 2013 for the Acton Institute in  partnership with Kerns oversight organization The Oikonomia Network to implement curriculum driven by Faith and Works/ theology /economic policy and social justice on 13 ( now 21 and counting) US Seminary campuses .Their work is to “Transform Theological Education” .

The Oikonomia Network is a learning community of theological educators and evangelical seminaries dedicated to raising up church leaders who help people develop whole-life discipleship, fruitful work and economic wisdom for God’s people and God’s world.

(2018 impact report https://oikonomianetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ON-2018-Impact-Report.pdf )

The network is currently impacting classes with attendance of over 7,300 students each semester. Check out our annual impact report and learn more about what our partner schools are doing to transform theological education. See the list of Partner Schools at the link below.

A LONG LIST OF PARTNER SCHOOLS / SEMINARIES :read em Weep

https://oikonomianetwork.org/about/our-partners/

WHAT THE  NETWORK LOOKED LIKE BY 2015 -FOCUSED ON “FLOURISHING ” AND ON “FAITH AND WORK ” IN THE LOCAL CHURCH DIRECT MARKETING TO AND THROUGH PASTORS

 

Tom Nelson to Lead New Pastors Network

Editors’ note: 

“Future and current pastors who want to join or learn more about the MTF network can visit their site here. Also, to learn more about the role of pastors in connecting Sunday worship to Monday work, see Tim Keller’s talk, “Forming Fully Christian Workers.”

Teaching Churches

“Originally founded by KFF in 2014, MTF already has a membership of more than 500 evangelical pastors. Under the leadership of Nelson and new executive director Matt Rusten, MTF wants to dramatically increase that number by creating 50 city-based pastor networks.

“Using the ‘teaching hospital’ model,” Nelson envisions, “‘teaching churches’ will provide leadership and mentorship to ‘pastoral residents’—that is, current and future pastors who want to gain a more robust theology of vocation and help their congregants more fully integrate their faith and work.”

According to the press release, MTF will focus on three main objectives:

  • Building and nurturing a nationwide network of pastors and churches passionate about connecting Sunday faith to Monday work;
  • Convening pastors and marketplace leaders for on-site, laboratory learning;
  • Fostering collaboration among pastors and churches as they create pastoral residencies, develop marketplace leader internships, and plant churches.

“One of the biggest obstacles Nelson foresees is pastoral isolation. “Too often we think we’ve got it figured out,” he says. “This can lead to arrogance and insularity, which can significantly hamper our growth.” By connecting pastors to one another and to intellectual, social, and financial resources, MTF aims to overcome this obstacle and transform pastors’ understandings of how people in their churches and communities flourish.”

“Bethany L. Jenkins is Vice President of Forums at The Veritas Forum, a contributor at The Gospel Coalition, and a Senior Fellow at The King’s College. Prior to working with faith-based non-profits, Bethany worked in Congress, at the State Department, on Wall Street, and in Big Law. She received her BA from Baylor University and her JD from Columbia Law School. Bethany splits her time between New York and Boston and loves to run in Central Park and along the Charles River. She is an active member of Redeemer Presbyterian Church. You can connect with her on Twitter: @bethanyjenkins.”

The “MTF – Made to Flourish brand is to connect to pastors churches and the communities they are in with the community /communitarian model

https://www.madetoflourish.org/

Network

“Our network represents all 50 states and are joined together by one unifying vision: To take the gospel in all its fullness to all dimensions of human reality. By joining, you become part of a community of pastoral practitioners from across the country who are learning from one another how to equip their people to follow Christ in all of life”

https://www.madetoflourish.org/about/theological-foundations/

MORE FLOURISHING -ACCORDING TO THE VISION OF PETER DRUCKER

Tom Nelson gives a revealing insight to the source of his ideological DNA”Although MTF has brought on board Nelson and Rusten, they’re still building the team and spending a lot of time learning, observing, and adapting. “I’m taking the Peter Drucker approach—culture trumps strategy,” Nelson says. “We want a culture that’s teachable and humble, calling all of us—not just the pastors in our network, but our own team, too—to flourish.”

Jenkins now heads  TGC focus called  “Every Square Inch”

 

A SECULAR REPORTER EXPLORES AND EXPOSES CONCERNS with KFF

Kern Family Foundations growing influence and off shore banking in the Cayman Islands

https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2014/10/27/plenty-of-horne-the-rise-of-the-kern-foundation/

“In the volatile world of high-dollar charitable foundations, many variables can affect year-to-year assets, most notably investment returns. The Kern Foundation’s assets have ranged as low as $268 million in the recession year of 2009 to the 2012 high. Its 2011 assets of $583 million were actually $5 million greater than those of the Bradley Foundation that year.”

“The Kern Foundation employs some sophisticated investment strategies, including the creation of a Cayman Islands subsidiary. Not too many foundations get into off-shore accounts”.

“It paid some $813,000 for investment advice to five companies in 2012, including $224,197 to Fiduciary Management Co., Inc. of Milwaukee. Fiduciary founder and CEO Ted D. Kellner, like Robert Kern, has been a member of the MSOE Board of Regents.”

DISCUSSION – Kerns Directors and their salaries

“The foundation’s staff, besides Senske, includes James Rahn, a Director and President, who receives $332,727 per year for his services, while Program Directors including Karen WilkenRyan OlsonFredrick OaksGreg Forster ( of TGC and ERLC and Oikonomia Network ) and Kyle Bode receive between $89,423 and $124,908. These are nice, handsome salaries, but a bit shy of those offered by the Bradley Foundation, where Chairman Mike Grebe makes $481,000 per year. But then again, Grebe has to deal with a board of directors that includes George F. Will, and that cannot possibly be fun.”

Kern and Acton Institute OFFERING JIM WALLIS AND FATHER ROBERT SIRICO mentorship

https://www.tiu.edu/oikonomia/media/

Documented work in Evangelical seminaries on page 63 of “The New Evangelical Social Engagement “

https://books.google.com/books?id=kZqcAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=kern+family+foundation+acton+institute+curriculum&source=bl&ots=DKXzMJeJ49&sig=ACfU3U0gHV4Ue-XNWrsylo8hISqi1SysKg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi4j7bMj6ngAhWGmOAKHZUuCfsQ6AEwCXoECAEQAQ#v=onepage&q=kern%20family%20foundation%20acton%20institute%20curriculum&f=false

KERN FAMILY FOUNDATION AND FAITH AND WORKS PROGRAMS ARE DISCUSSED ON KFF WEBSITE

“The predominant mission of the Foundation in this program is to equip pastors with an understanding of the intersection of faith, work, and economics, and to empower them to lead their congregations in active application of this knowledge.” The foundation spent $289,203 on two conferences for 210 grantees and nearly $50,000 for a Pastoral Ministry Program in addition to millions of dollars granted to hundreds of Protestant theological schools and programs nationwide. The list takes up pages of fine print in the foundation’s tax return, and is there for your edification, should you have time on your hands.”

EDUCATION -Kern and Teach for America and the LGBTQ education agenda

“The Foundation “invests in the recruitment, selection, training, placement, and support of a new generation of principals.” It provided a $1 million loan to New Leaders for New Schools, a national group with a significant Milwaukee presence. The loan, at 2 percent annual interest, was to support a principal training program.”

https://www.greatermilwaukeefoundation.org/grants/grants-at-work/teach-for-america/

“Teach for America is one of a host of national programs designed to transform urban education that has entered Milwaukee over the past few years and one of several the Foundation has supported. In April 2009 the Foundation made a $150,000 grant, which enabled the program to expand its capacity to serve 40 teachers instead of the 30 planned for in the early stages of the program’s development. Corps members started in the fall at 24 schools. The program now has 120 teachers in 40 charter, choice and Milwaukee Public Schools and 220 alumni “

““Teach for America is not a silver bullet, but it is one important component to an overall educational reform strategy in a community,” said Jim Rahn, president at the Kern Family Foundation, which invested $1.3 million and helped bring the program to Milwaukee. “We are optimistic it will be an important step forward.”

TEACH FOR AMERICAS LGBTQ AGENDA IN EDUCATION

https://www.teachforamerica.org/stories/embracing-our-lgbtq-students-teachers-and-community

“In 2014, Tim’m West, who runs TFA’s LGBTQ+ Community Initiative, and I worked to organize the first Deep South LGBTQ Education Summit in Little Rock, Arkansas ( this is in one of the three states Human Rights Campaign began focusing on with it’s religious activism in 2014 with over 8 million dollars. That focus was titled called Project One America ) . What started as a two-hour event quickly escalated into a 10-region multi-day summit, as more and more people across the southern regions heard about it and said, “We need this too.”

KERN VISION TO TRANSFORM MEDICAL EDUCATION

If you are in medical, dental ,nursing or some other fields of training for the health care industry , the same Kern Family Foundation transformational designs are focused on you and your future that are being promoted in Christian Seminaries and understood to be part of the source of the social justice movement . The battle over socialized medicine began in earnest under the Clintons and was nearly lost completely during the Obama administration. Health care and careers in the medical industry have already seen a massive transformation. More is on the way now in the educational institutions.

https://www.medednext.org/MedEdNext/About.htm

“MedEdNext is an initiative of the MCW Kern Institute and the National Transformation Network.”

“In February 2017, the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Institute for the Transformation of Medical Education was realized in partnership and with support from the Kern Family Foundation, and Stephen and Shelagh Roell. Their support will help the Kern Institute expand and inspire partners with a shared vision of building a new foundation for medical education.”

“Seven medical schools from across the United States formed the National Transformation Network (NTN) to build on shared strengths, speed innovation and collaboration, and drive national impact.”

“The NTN founding partners are:

  • MCW School of Medicine
  • Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
  • Mayo Clinic School of Medicine
  • University of California San Francisco School of Medicine
  • University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School
  • University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
  • Vanderbilt University School of Medicine”

The Kern Institute and NTN founding partners named the national initiative to transform medical education MedEdNext.

THE STEADY CREEP SINCE 2013 INTO EVANGELICAL SEMINARIES AND CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITIES. EXAMPLES OF THE KERN INFLUENCE AND THE SOCIAL JUSTICE

SOUTHERN SEMINARY 2014 -2015 PRESIDENTS REPORT

http://www.sbts.edu/president/2014-2015-presidents-report/

“This report is more than a compilation of data — it is an important feature of our stewardship. While the life, work, and mission of Southern Seminary can never be reduced to any report or statistical analysis, we do recognize that there is a responsibility for us to look closely at markers and milestones that help us understand the blessings of God and the stewardship required of us in these times. I hope you will take the opportunity to look closely at this report. I believe you will be incredibly encouraged as you see what is happening on Southern’s campus in Louisville and, by extension, what is now reaching around the globe.” signed Albert Mohler

THE HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAMS ARE FEATURED BY ALBERT MOHLER IN THE SBTS REPORT.

A new partnership (internship) Is featured with the rebranded Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission under Russell Moore.Moore’s love for Perkins, avowed communitarianism, third way progressive politics, winsome response to LGBT, diluting of pro-life movement and general progressive political agenda are a matter of public record and shared concern among Southern Baptist in particular.

ERLC Partnership

“A partnership between Southern Seminary and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention will allow students to pursue a modular Ph.D. in Christian ethics with an emphasis in public policy; classes began in spring 2015.”

CAN SBTS AND OTHER SEMINARY LEADERS SERVE TWO MASTERS ?

Albert Mohler and John Macarthur partnered to focus on expository preaching while much of the remainder of the years activities and campus programs focused on the social justice movement which had little to do with or in keeping with the emphasis on expository preaching. In fact if anything has come from this mixture of these two “opposite attractions”, it has been the cover given to the problematic programs provided through the perception of the biblical and theological focus being espoused.

The fruit of this has been seminary graduates for the last half dozen years who may be great Bible expositors in some people’s view and trustworthy by perception when in fact their social, public and political ideologies are that of classic progressives and liberal humanist Christians who have tossed the Bible aside years ago.

THE TANGLED MANGLED FRUIT OF CONTRADICTION -FLAVORS MATTER!

Nothing betrays the problem more alarmingly and portrays it more vividly than a conversation with just about any recent graduate of one the infiltrated institutions. Postmodern unteachable attitudes, overconfidence wed with a reformers mantle and social justice vision of the Gospel make for a frightening bent toward driving change in the church and engaging whatever means at their disposal to obtain it.

The young minister described above will soon be hired on staff at your church if he /she is not there already. They may be teaching your children or grandchildren or picking your church curriculum. The toughest person to reach with the truth is this person who sees their distorted social justice driven mission through the lens of theology and a Divine calling. Your tithes may also be paying their salary to transform your church into something far from the House of prayer and worship Jesus has called and confirmed it to be.

EXPERIENCING EXPOSITORY MADNESS W/ SOCIAL JUSTICE GONE WILD

“SBTS  -“THE CENTER FOR EXPOSITORY PREACHING hosted the third annual Expositors Summit featuring John MacArthur, R. Albert Mohler Jr., and H.B. Charles Jr. Through SBTS Press, the center also reprinted B.B. Warfield’s The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible and launched the podcast Exemplary Exposition in October.”

 

 

JOHN PERKINS AT SBTS

Perkins Lectures on Theology and Race in American Christianity

“John M. Perkins led the Julius Brown Gay Lectures on Christian Ethics, Oct. 27, 2014. These lectures are among Southern Seminary’s most prestigious lectureships, and have brought some of Christianity’s most significant figures to the seminary campus, most notably Martin Luther King Jr. in 1961. Perkins lectured on “Theology and Race in American Christianity” and said that racial reconciliation and justice are fundamental aspects of Christ’s redemptive work.”

 

LGBTQQUIIAA CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN -OR CAN YOU ?

ERLC’S OWN IN-HOUSE NEWCOMER ,SSA/GAY ANGLICAN PRIEST SAM ALLBERRY PREACHING ON SAME SEX ATTRACTED AND THE CHURCH AND “CHRISTIAN ENGAGEMENT OF HOMOSEXUALITY “

THE CENTER FOR GOSPEL AND CULTURE hosted Sam Allberry for a lecture series about homosexuality and ministry. Allberry is associate pastor at St. Mary’s Church in Maidenhead, United Kingdom, and author of Is God Anti-Gay? And Other Questions about Homosexuality, the Bible, and Same-Sex Attraction. He shared his testimony, including his struggle with same-sex attraction, and lectured about Christian engagement with homosexuality in a series of lectures hosted by Boyce’s Center for Gospel and Culture.

 

KERN FAMILY FOUNDATION FUNDING AT SBTS DRIVING SOCIAL “FAITH AND WORK” IS OVERSEEN BY OIKONOMIA NETWORK’S AND THE GOSPEL COALITION’S AUTHOR GREG FORSTER

 

“THE COMMONWEAL PROJECT hosted its first annual conference Sept. 26-27, 2014, with Wayne Grudem and Barry Asmus lecturing on impoverished nations and free enterprise. The initiative also hosted a series of free lunch lectures through the academic year, featuring speakers like R. Albert Mohler Jr. and Owen Strachan. The Commonweal Project, funded by the Kern Family Foundation, is an academic initiative at the seminary to foster a theology of work and economics.”

ANOTHER SBC SEMINARY WITH KERN FUNDING AND INTERSECTIONALITY

SEBTS INTERSECT PROJECT IS THE HUB OF SOCIAL JUSTICE INDOCTRINATION ON CAMPUS

Intersect Staff

“Intersect educates you to engage the intersection of faith, culture, work and economics so you can equip others and be empowered to glorify God in all your life.”

FUNDING COMES FROM KERN FAMILY FOUNDATION

About Intersect

“Intersect is a project of Southeastern Seminary’s Center for Faith and Culture and the Kern Family Foundation. It exists to educate you to engage the intersection of faith, culture, work and economics so you can equip others and be empowered to glorify God in all your life.”

THE RADICAL REVOICE LGBT+ FLOURISHING INFLUENCES AT INTERSECT PROJECT

http://intersectproject.org/faith-and-culture/mark-yarhouse-minister-people-navigating-sexuality-gender/

“Mark Yarhouse, Professor of Psychology at Regent University, recently gave a lecture at Southeastern Seminary titled “Sexual Identity and the Question of Vocation.” The Bible gives us a framework for understanding sexuality, he said. How then can we minister to people within that framework?”

“Afterwards, Dr. Sam Williams and Yarhouse held a Q&A. They discussed sexual identity, reparative therapy, transgender issues and how pastors can minister to people with sexual brokenness.”

“You can watch the Q&A above. Here are a few key highlights:”

HERE IS THE BASIS OF THE JUSTICE NARRATIVE FROM THE YARHOUSE TALK- IF SEXUAL ORIENTATION IS TRUE AND DOES NOT CHANGE -HOW DOES THE CHURCH SERVE THE LGBT+ COMMUNITY ? ARE EFFORTS TO ALTER ORIENTATION WRONG ?

What about ministries that promise to change sexual orientation?”

“We studied people in ministries like that who were trying to change for seven years. People said [such ministries] were inherently harmful. We measured harm; on average, the data did not show it be harmful. If anything, there was a reduction in the number of symptoms [and] the strength of the symptoms a person was presented with. So the idea of being in a prayer group, praying, reading the Word of God, worshiping together — that does not seem to be intrinsically harmful based on the measures we used over many years…”

“However, does it help change? I think it helped people change their identity. I think it helped people change their behavior, and that was radical for a lot of people who did experience change. And for some people there was a report on average of meaningful movement on a continuum from same-sex attraction towards opposite-sex attraction.”

“But that significant movement along a continuum was average. For some people, there was greater movement. For some people there was no movement. Again, most people would have wanted more movement than they experienced, and that brings us back to how you minister when for most people [same-sex attraction] may be more of an enduring condition or experience.”

YARHOUSE SUPPORTED THE RADICAL REVOICE CONFERENCE

Another writer for the Intersect Project funded by Kern Family Foundation offers a heartfelt defense for Revoice and advocates for the church to be patient as sexual minority activist promote their own “Flourishing “ in their own terms to the church

http://intersectproject.org/faith-and-culture/hope-spiritual-friendship-revoice/

Conclusion

We are facing an uncertain future in the church over the trustworthiness of those institutions providing Christian education. What is not uncertain is that many forces are being brought to bear on Christian Institutions – on Christian education. One of those forces is “Social Justice “. Far more unseen sources of agenda driven funding are present than the average person or parent choosing a Christian college, university or seminary is aware of. Primary Christian education is being impacted as well. We need to examine  these institutions and make wise choices based of full knowledge of these forces and their potential to impact and corrupt the Gospel Mission of Christian Education and the Gospel itself. The Word of God provides all the basis we need to measure the quality and outcomes of a Christian Education.

Proverbs 22:6-8  (NKJV)

Train up a child in the way he should go,
[a]And when he is old he will not depart from it.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NKJV)

16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for [a]instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

LGBT+ REBELLION SPREADS IN THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA

ANOTHER PCA CHURCH PROMOTES LGBT+ FLOURISHING AND “QUEER CHRISTIANITY”

by Thomas Littleton

1/28/2019

On Sunday January 27th 2019 the spread of the the controversial Revoice conference movement “promoting LGBT+ flourishing ” in the PCA was confirmed .

Grace Church Seattle  (PCA ) proudly announced it was hosting  Revoice founder Nate Collins and Vice President Stephen Moss in its Sunday services .

Image may contain: one or more people, people standing and text

As announced in the church news section (see page 16 ) Grace Seattle planned a 3 day event hosting  the Revoice movement leaders

 

“Revoice Visit
January 25-27th 2019
The weekend of January 25-27th, Nate Collins and Stephen Moss—
two key leaders of Revoice—will be making a trip to Seattle and to
our church specifically. In addition to giving a brief snapshot
of Revoice during worship, Nate and Stephen will take part in a
panel discussion on Sunday during Christian Formation Hour on
Sunday, January 27th. This will be a great opportunity to hear from
them about their vision for how LGBT/Same-Sex Attracted people
can actually flourish in a church like ours. They will also be taking
time to answer some of the many questions I am sure we all have. If
y o u h a v e a n y q u e s t i o n s , p l e a s e c o n t a c t J o h n
john@graceseattle.org.”

Grace church appears to have given the Revoice duo its “Christian Formation ” or Sunday January 27th teaching hour and dedicated the entire Sundays focus to Revoice LGBT+ message

“Dear Friends,

We wanted to remind you that in order to allow more space for those attending the Revoice visit during Christian Formation Hour, there will only be one worship service this Sunday, January 27th, at 9:00am.

We hope you will join us at 10:45 am in the sanctuary for Christian Formation Hour to hear from Stephen Moss and Nate Collins!”

We hope to worship with you.

Grace Church Seattle”

https://mailchi.mp/316d8083d69c/reminder-only-one-worship-service-tomorrow-1096361?fbclid=IwAR1pVo4qn2Dy5U-GKaQ2Qurz-mRcQT5nOUD_wDAkvqEB7bfzymv3_WzfpwM

GRACE SEATTLE -THE TIE THAT BINDS THE CHURCH TO REVOICE

Clearly one major issue for PCA members who are not ready to embrace LGBT+ and “Queer Christianity” is the obvious infiltration of their flagship Covenant Seminary in St Louis . This infiltration is evident by both the number of recent Covenant graduates in the 2018 Revoice conference speaker lineup and the stealthy Covenant responses  to the controversy to PCA General Assembly inquires .

Also it would appear that the Grace Seattle PCA church bonds with Covenant would be one source of the embrace of Revoice as well  since it’s pastor is a Covenant graduate and a member of the Board of Trustees .

https://www.graceseattle.org/about/staff

“Rev. John HaralsonPastor
John is exceedingly grateful to be in his second decade as a pastor at Grace. An adult convert to Christianity, he loves being part of bringing the gospel to a skeptical and doubting city and seeing a congregation empowered to live faithfully and lovingly in such a context. Prior to coming to Grace, John served in congregations in Manhattan and San Francisco.Pastoral ministry is a second career for John. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and worked as an environmental engineer for 9 years. He earned a Masters in Divinity at Covenant Theological Seminary, and now serves on their Board of Trustees.When he’s not pastoring or helping his kids with their homework, John enjoys working out, reading, Seahawks football, and aspiring to be a Jeopardy contestant. John and his family live on Capitol Hill.”

 

IS THERE A COVERUP GOING ON IN THE PCA TO KEEP REVOICE HOPES AND MOVEMENT ALIVE?

Read  more here

IS REVOICE LGBT+ THRIVING THROUGH COVER UP IN PCA / MISSOURI PRESBYTERY?

 

Christians deeply committed to Biblical Sexuality in the PCA are quickly seeing their denomination nuanced  into “LGBT+ Flourishing ” in their churches . Sad days lie ahead  as strange days have found us !

Meanwhile what are  our nation and our churches becoming as the prophetic voice in our pulpits is silent and denominational leaders turn a blind eye and call for Christians to stand down, make nice and fail in their call to be SALT  and LIGHT ?

Revelation 18:2 (KJV) And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

 

 

 

WHEELS OF THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND AS TGC/ERLC BEGIN THE DRIVE FOR SAME SEX ATTRACTION ADOPTION AND FOSTER CARE.

BY Thomas Littleton

1/21/2019

In the Fall of 2018 The Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission held a Conference  called “The  Cross Shaped Family ” (CSF) in Dallas. The message centered around and provided a brazen promotion of Russell Moore’s book “The Storm Tossed Family” . As outlined in October 2018 story (on this site linked below) – a constant theme of the ERLC conference was that the “family has become an idol” and that the church needs to “redefine, rethink family ” in terms of the church as our massive inclusive family. This family shares it’s resources and children in a collective “community “much in the same terms as liberal feminist in the 90s who gave us the “Family Idol ” language  and to Hillary Clinton’s view in her book “It Takes a  Village ” .

Sam Allberry discusses his very odd and disturbing  views on this “Shared Children” experience in the video below . His ministry Living Out announced in June 2018 the church ” LGBT Inclusion Audit” . In it the  affirmation #9  ” included ,at the time ,the “sharing of children” in the church with people who as SSA . ( this language has now been altered to “sharing family time”) . Currently these expanded talking points are justifiably raising serious concern among conservative evangelicals who are listening .

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

 

You can read more about the ERLC / CSF conference controversial views on redefining family and including people  with “Same Sex Attraction ” as part a “Village Church” approach to rearing , sharing and discipling children in the link below.

ERLC FAMILY CONFERENCE REDEFINES FAMILY AS THE INCLUSIVE CHURCH

MARCH FOR LIFE THE BACKDROP FOR ERLC SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE CHURCH

The  annual March for Life event in DC provides the backdrop for the Evangelicals for Life meetings . Russell Moore of the ERLC is relentlessly working to dilute the focus of the movement against abortion by ever his expanding assertions of what being pro-life means to evangelicals . His growing list of inclusive issues hits on every progressive political issue for which the ERLC under his direction has become known. You can see these added causes in the quote below. This is an age old tactic to dilute and distract the base .

“Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, opened the second day of the annual Evangelicals for Life conference on Thursday (Jan. 17).
Photo by Karen McCutcheon”

http://www.bpnews.net/52266/moore-at-efl-dignity-gospel-needed

“Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, opened the second day of the annual conference sponsored by the ERLC. The two-day event at McLean Bible Church in Vienna, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C., continued with a full day of addresses, panel discussions and breakout sessions on such topics as abortion, adoption, disability, racial unity, immigration, Christian persecution and criminal justice reform.”

THE GOSPEL COALITION AND ERLC COORDINATED MESSAGING

TGC co-founder Tim Keller is infamous for his inventing of theologies to back his transformational /emergent messaging. He began earnestly  promoting his “Theology of Singleness ” a few years ago. He has also promoted his own notions of “theologies of vocation, work, generosity and so on- as it pleases him and serves the progressive agendas he is promoting to the church.

An Introduction To A Theology Of Singleness

“A THEOLOGY OF SINGLENESS” – Tim Keller

https://gospelinlife.com/downloads/singleness-the-biblical-guidelines-4631/

TGC, who works very closely with ERLC, has sent now forward its SSA editor Sam Allberry  to discuss “Singles who Adopt” and Single  Foster Parenting. In light of the Allberry role at ERLC/ TGC in advocacy for the LGBT lobby in evangelical circles – it might seem odd that he would be chosen to front this issue. However in the fuller view of recent activity and messaging by both of these organization – an obvious and ominous goal is surfacing .

Image result for sam allberry TGC

https://mobile.twitter.com/TGC/status/1087054652292554753

The Gospel Coalition

The Gospel Coalition
@TGC

New video:

@SamAllberry

explains the urgency not only of adoption and foster care but for churches to come alongside singles who feel called to adopt or foster. #SanctityOfLife

1:57
5.1K views

Sam Allberry on Whether Churches Should Support Singles Who Adopt

In this video, TGC editor Sam Allberry explains the urgency not only of adoption and foster care but also for churches to come alongside singles who feel called to adopt or foster.”


“It’s not going to be right for every single person to think about adopting, but some single people in our churches will be in a position where they can adopt, and they’re going to need help. And so, the church really should support and help people as they seek to adopt.”

“The sad reality is there are always going to be more children needing adoption than there will be two-parent families who can take them. And so, it’s a wonderful thing if a single Christian is able to adopt, but it’s going to take the backing and support of a church family to do it really well.”

” Psalm 68:6 says that God puts the lonely in families. And that’s not primarily just talking about a biological nuclear family, it’s talking about the people of God. A single person may be thinking that they can’t do the role of both parents. But with the support of a wider church family, that child should be growing up in a very, very healthy family context.”

“So I think it’s a great thing for singles to adopt. I think it’s a great thing if the church is helping. And there will be areas where the single person is limited, and the church can help fill those needs. And there will be people in the church who find it impractical to adopt but could really help someone else who does. Adoption should be something the whole church family rallies around and gets behind.”

“And just to say as well, kids who grow up in families where they’ve been born into the family need the support of the church family too. It’s not a unique category of parenthood where single parents need the church family. All parents need the church family.”

 

ALLBERRY  THE TGC SSA EDITOR IS MESSAGING SINGLES ADOPTION/FOSTER CARE. WHY?

In this TGC message released on the 20th of January 2019 pitching for churches to support “singles adoption and foster parenting”, the only possible reason Allberry could be seen as the appropriate point man for this message is his role in promoting SSA rights to the church and the segway for promoting  “Same Sex Attracted Parenting ” . Pitched from the backdrop of the March for Life event- the Evangelicals for Life meetings , the October ERLC Cross Shaped Family Conference  and Allberrys messaging since the introduction of his June 2018  Living Out  -Church LGBT Inclusion Audit- no other rational exist for the choice of Allberry on THIS topic and at this TIME .

Expanding LGBT adoption, foster care, and parenting rights are a major push by the gay lobby in cultures and courts around the world . The progressive agents driving social change in the church are rapidly bringing it to our doorstep and INTO God’s house . In all likelihood the script was already written before the TGC/ ERLC campaign began in earnest in 2013.

IN GOD’S WORD -GOD GIVES PARENTS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF CHILDREN – NOT A REDEFINED /INCLUSIVE /VILLAGE CHURCH WILLING TO PROMOTED GAY PARENTING .

Ephesians 6 (NKJV)

Children and Parents

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

 

 

ARE PCA PASTOR AND DAUGHTER TEACHING THE TRANSGENDER TWO-STEP ?

Rev Thomas Littleton

12/15/2019

In recent weeks social media has been abuzz about a PCA church in St Louis Missouri  hosting a transgender speaker in an event called  “Reclaim MLK2019 ”

https://www.faithforjustice.org/upcoming-events/2019/1/20/reclaimmlk

The event  was announced by the organization Faith For Justice and WAS to have been hosted by South City Church

Reclaim MLK 2019

Reclaim MLK 2019

Join us for this annual community-wide event featuring Faith for Justice, the City Ministry Initiative, Action St. Louis, and Close the Workhouse as they teach us how to carry and continue the legacy of Dr. King.

Free food and childcare will be provided.
Please consider bringing a side dish to share or donating to help with food.

See you all on January 20th!

#ReclaimMLK2019

South City Church

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA HOSTING TRANS – INSANITY ?

South City Church  pastor is Mike Higgins who is also Dean Of Students and teaches “Applied Theology” at PCA’s Covenant Seminary .

https://www.covenantseminary.edu/faculty/mike-higgins-2/

http://www.southcitychurch.com/home/staff/

Mike Higgins, Lead Pastor
Email Pastor Mike

Mike and Renee Higgins came to South City Church in 2012. Mike attended Covenant Seminary earned his MDiv in 1996 and served as a PCA pastor in Chattanooga, Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia before returning to Covenant Seminary as Dean of Students in 2011. He is also an army chaplain (COL) assigned to the Pentagon. In May 2012, Mike earned his DMin from Covenant where his focus was the “Experiences of African American Church Planters in the PCA.” He has been married to Renee for 33 years, has two daughters, Mary and Michelle and two grandchildren, Moses and Mattie.

Higgins daughter is the Worship pastor

Michelle Higgins, Director of Worship Michelle Higgins has been a choir director, event coordinator, youth ministry director, gospel-funk lyricist and lead singer. Michelle was born in St. Louis and has lived near Fairgrounds Park, Forest Park, Benton Park and Tower Grove Park. She currently serves the African American Leadership Development Conference of Saint Louis. She has served as choir director for various Missionary Baptist, COGIC, Non-denominational and Presbyterian churches. Michelle has deep roots in the African American pentecostal tradition, but her ambition is to encourage and participate in blended worship with all the nations. Michelle holds an M.Div from Covenant Theological Seminary

ADVOCATING DANCING WITH TRANSGENDERED .

Michelle is not a stranger to controversy due to her work with Black Lives Matter- espousing BLM to be a Gospel driven cause and for her assertions that “God- She is black”and “Jesus is a trans-person of Color”. She also talks about the “possibilities ” for the  church “if we can learn to dance with our transgender friends and recovering white supremacist friends and people we think are so different from us. ”

http://reformationcharlotte.org/2019/01/11/audio-worship-leader-at-pca-church-preaches-transgender-jesus/?fbclid=IwAR0xb0eE3K7h8tZsQnfHShmJk9A45WKHQ78bPLO2hTu5FUH8c-WgD2Kzm70

“Earlier today, we reported on a PCA church that is holding a Martin Luther King conference for the sole purpose of promoting transgender rights and activism. It has since been brought to my attention that Michelle Higgins, the “Director of Worship” and daughter of South City Church’s pastor Mike Higgins preached at the 2015 UCC Youth event and said some very disturbing things.

Reformation Charlotte has possession of the audio from Michelle Higgins’ and has noted the following very disturbing comments:

  • “Some of you know the shirt: ‘I met God. She is black.’ Does anybody have that shirt? I have got to get me one.”
  • “Have you met God? Do you know Him? She’s black.”
  • “Do you know Jesus? Jesus is a trans-person of color.”
  • “Remember, your God who is black, who is transgendered, who is differently able, who is non-English speaking is coming.”
  • “Your God is not heterosexual”

You can listen to the audio for yourself below. Many of the disturbing remarks start slightly before the 11:00 again at the link below or above these  quotes

http://reformationcharlotte.org/2019/01/11/audio-worship-leader-at-pca-church-preaches-transgender-jesus/?fbclid=IwAR3baMJLtheYzWZLtWIozwH76G4_JiROgEOQpYYunec-pfCU7tlG1HpNzQc

 

PCA CONTROVERSY TWITTER FRENZY

The event was  in part exposed on Twitter as having a transgender speaker .Here is the Faith for Justice event speakers bio .

https://www.musicfreedomdreams.com/about-1/

“As a musician & speaker carrying the message of their Black & POC trans & genderqueer siblings, Jay-Marie’s speaking and performing  engagements have taken place at Dartmouth College, Harvard University, American Repertory Theater, Stanford University, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, New Conservatory Theater Center (SF), and more. Their M.A. in education has enabled their work as an educator for young people (K-Universities) in classrooms and with adults through intentional learning spaces. Jay-Marie also prioritizes working directly as a mentor with countless cis, Queer & Trans/NB youth & young adults around the country. …

They have also been an outspoken advocate & organizer with movements such as Black Lives Matter, Black 4 Palestine, #NoDAPL and #SayHerName, among others. ..

Jay-Marie is originally from Oakland, CA. but now works out of St. Louis, MO building a very Black, very Queer life with their incredible partner, Kayla.”

 

THREAD: A PCA church is being taught by a woman in a lesbian relationship how to celebrate the lives of transgenders on an upcoming Lord’s Day.

SHUFFLE ACROSS THE FLOOR -THE COVENANT TWO STEP ?

South City Church announced on the 14th of January that is will no longer hold the event

A public statement from the Session of South City Church.

“Posted by on

In the past few days, the session and pastoral staff of South City Church became aware of details concerning an event that was to be hosted on its property on January 20th, 2019 sponsored and organized by Faith for Justice, a Christian advocacy and social justice organization. Upon being informed of the details of the event, the session and pastoral staff met and determined that some of the planned elements within this particular event appeared to be inconsistent with South City Church’s theological convictions. We have thus determined that South City Church’s facility should no longer be used for the Faith for Justice event originally scheduled for January 20th. At no point was the event a South City Church event or part of a South City Church worship service.”

Faith For Justice has announced the new venue – which is a PCUSA church .

💛NEW LOCATION💛

We will continue on with plans for our #ReclaimMLK2019 event, now at a brand new venue!! See you all Sunday, January 20th at 4pm at Oak Hill Presbyterian Church (4111 Connecticut St.)

Spread the word! See you all then! @ Oak Hill Presbyterian Church – St. Louis, Missouri

Image may contain: text
No photo description available.
WHO IS FAITH FOR JUSTICE ?

https://www.faithforjustice.org/who-we-are/

The website of Faith For Justice says that Michelle Higgins , the South City Church worship pastor is FfJ co -founder

IMG_0009.JPG

Michelle Higgins

Michelle Higgins is a founding member of Faith for Justice. She is an organizer, administrator and worship leader. She serves with Action Saint Louis, the Electoral Justice Project of the Movement for Black Lives, and directs worship for South City Church in Saint Louis. Michelle can also be heard on the podcast Truth’s Table. She earned an M.Div at Covenant Theological Seminary and currently works for campaigns centering Black radicalism in prison abolition and building political power. She lives with her family in Saint Louis.

Mike Higgins Pastor of South City Church is the on the board of Faith For Justice with his daughter .

OUR BOARD MEMBERS

IMG_0054.JPG

Mike

Also on the Faith for Justice board is  First Light Ministries  employee and controversial LGBT+ conference Revoice speaker

IMG_0039.JPG

Dawn Jones

You can read about the apparent  cover up of the Revoice ” investigation in the Presbyterian Church in America by  the chairperson of the investigation who is also listed as the Principle officer of First Light –

here

Is Revoice LGBT+ Thriving Through Cover Up In PCA / Missouri Presbytery?

And here

IS REVOICE LGBT+ THRIVING THROUGH COVER UP IN PCA / MISSOURI PRESBYTERY?

Take a breath

 

Again here is the statement from  South City Church staff WHICH INCLUDES Mike and Michelle Higgins and the Session of elders at SSC  about why they have canceled out on  hosting the Faith For Justice “Reclaiming MLK2019″

” Faith for Justice, is a Christian advocacy and social justice organization. Upon being informed of the details of the event, the session and pastoral staff met and determined that some of the planned elements within this particular event appeared to be inconsistent with South City Church’s theological convictions. We have thus determined that South City Church’s facility should no longer be used for the Faith for Justice event originally scheduled for January 20th. At no point was the event a South City Church event or part of a South City Church worship service”

ONE VERY HONEST QUESTION –

HOW CAN THE HIGGINS WHO OPERATE ON THE BOARD OF FAITH FOR JUSTICE NOT HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THE CONTENT OF THEIR  OWN EVENT WHEN THEY THEMSELVES ARE BOTH STAFFERS AT SOUTH CITY CHURCH AS WELL AND WOULD HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN MAKING THE DECISION TO HOST IT FROM THE START ?

The PCA needs to get the bottom of what is going on in St Louis , in its churches and at Covenant Seminary .

Lord send forth Thy  Light and they Truth

Psalm

43 :3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.

Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.

COLSON CENTER: CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS GOING REVOICE-RETHINK-AND LIBERATION THEOLOGY?

ROLL OVER CHUCK COLSON: THE SOCIAL JUSTICE/REVOICE /RETHINK /BIOLA COLLABORATION IS DANCING ON YOUR GRAVE.

By Rev. Thomas Littleton                                                                                                                   1/12/2019

 

The legacy of Chuck Colson is to some Christians a very trusted partner for Conservative causes and political/ cultural engagement. To others, like this author, the legacy is a mixed bag with a dangerous history of highly compromised ecumenical ties and a world view well beyond the comfort zone for Biblically conservative Christians. Some in this more cautious group may still consider the conversion of Colson and his Prison Fellowship ministry to have contributed to a lasting legacy for outreach in prisons nationwide. Colson Center established the   Colson Fellows program upon the death of Chuck Colson in 2012. Today the Colson Center is in younger, far less capable hands -as is often the case with second generation leadership in ministries.

In 2018 we witnessed the revelation of deep infiltration, compromise and progressive perversions of the Gospel within long trusted organizations, major denominations and their seminaries. Recent revelations indicate 2019 will be another painful year in the Christian spectator sport of helplessly watching trusted ministries and ministers manifesting the steady creep of selling out.

Word on the street is that the leaders at Colson Center have come into some big money recently. The new choice of faculty leadership in the Fellows program indicate the likelihood of the fresh money and a load of social justice compromise that came with it. It is fair to ask- “Are some in this line up of Fellows faculty in keeping with the vision of Chuck Colson? Let’s take a look at three of them and their current work.

 

IS THIS A CHUCK COLSON CENTER ENDORSEMENT OF REVOICE AND RETHINK APPROACH TO LGBT?

Several of the new Faculty choices appear to be an endorsement on some of evangelicals worst compromisers. Why has the Colson Center chosen major players in the Revoice circles “promoting LGBTQ flourishing in historic Christian tradition “ , the Biola Apologetics who want to Rethink their industry  and modern social justice warriors who are promoting Black Liberation Theology ?

From the Colson Fellows site http://colsonfellows.com/about-us/

HISTORIC CHRISTIAN CONSERVATISM OR NOT?

 

The claims of Colson Center  history boast the current work to be in keeping of his vision.

 

“When Chuck Colson passed away in 2012, the program was renamed Colson Fellows. Today, it continues to fulfill his vision. Over 1,300 people across the nation and in a dozen foreign countries have completed the program. Today, a record number of men and women engage in the National program or in Regional and Academic settings. “

 

TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING

Again things are changing with many once conservative ministries and even denominations. One indication of this would be the recent evangelical concerns and push back over infiltration in the Seminaries with the false Social Justice gospel. You can read more about that infiltration here in both parts one and two of Evangelical Deep State .

http://sbctoday.wpengine.com/is-this-the-evangelical-deep-state/

These issues in general were further raised, in measured response, by the Dallas Statement. It has now been signed by over 10,000 concerned ministers and Christians. The Statement came out last Fall and stops short of naming names or exposing the sources of the infiltration and funding behind it. Still the popular response to the Dallas Statement indicates an awareness of the problem.

https://founders.org/2018/09/04/the-statement-on-social-justice-and-the-gospel/

LGBTQ+ IN THE DOOR AND IN YOUR FACE

Today we are seeing a major departure from vintage conservative Christianity as many major ministries embrace the massive coordinated effort to provide a new language and voice to homosexuality in the church. It is a classic victim narrative and filled with heavily nuanced propaganda.

The Revoice Conference which was held in St Louis in July 2018 at a Presbyterian Church of America (PCA) was a huge eye opener for the non-progressive churches. If Revoice had been a collaboration of liberal denominations like the Methodist or Episcopal – it would have been little more than a blip on the radar in the evangelical world. But Revoice, because of its origins, was alarming because of its rise from the heart of conservative evangelicalism and two of its most prestigious seminaries. The founder Nate Collins was a long-time student and teacher at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in KY which has long been celebrated as historic marker for its conservative victory over liberals who abandoned the Word of God decades ago. Fast forward to 2018 and SBTS has produced Revoice founder and some SBC entity Fellows and preachers were endorsing Revoice and its affiliated mentor ministries.

The PCAs Covenant Seminary was fully represented among  7 Revoice speakers including some faculty and recent Covenant graduates. Also The Gospel Coalition co-founded by the popular Tim Keller and campus ministries like CRU, RUF and other long trusted organizations had speakers involved. Revoice provided the proverbial thud among Biblical evangelicals as an event preaching to its choir of “Sexual Minorities” while advocating acceptance in the church. Now Revoice wants to bring with it their ideas of welcoming/ safe spaces / and the “virtues of Queer culture and Queer Literature “ into the heart of evangelicals remaining conservative congregations.

 

BIOLA UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT / STAND TO REASON  -RETHINK APOLOGETICS – ISN’T IT JUST REVOICE LITE?

Apologetics Undergoing APA Compliant Transformation Under Yarhouse at Biola.

Biola University has had more than its share of LGBTQ+ activism on campus and has remained under the activist gun and in the spotlight from at least 2012 . An underground LGBT group has made relentless waves over school policies. By 2015 Biola appeared to have found a solution . . . a way out of the pressure. After efforts to compromise and appease in measured fashion failed Biola President Barry Corey signed onto the often discussed Civilitas Group compromise

https://web.archive.org/web/20170506051340/http://www.civilitasgroup.org/uploads/7/8/1/6/78160154/civilitas_vsp_paper.utv.pdf

THE PROBLEM AS CIVILITAS SEES IT-NEEDED DETAILS ON THIS PROBLEMATIC ALLIANCE .

It appears Biola and other schools/leaders see the big problem with the world today as lack of civility .

“Our society is increasingly characterized by competing special interests and fragmentation while the church is too often associated with the Culture Wars which serves to intensify its unprecedented experience of marginalization. Researchers, sociologists, and journalists are increasingly speaking of America’s future in categories of polarization and decline.”

“Historians have developed theories with respect to the rise and fall of great nations. History is replete with examples of civilization after civilization that has followed this pattern. However, historians can also point to societies that have experienced renewal, revitalization, and renaissance.”

USING THEORIES OF SOCIAL CHANGE ON THE CHURCH -TO CHANGE IT

Biola and Fuller and Wheaton (displaying an ever growing stench of compromise) along with other schools Christian leaders signed on to using a think tank siting its roots in Cultural Marxist Frankfurt School promoting social justice for an endless stream of victims in order the change the church- to be more civil and find “common ground” for the “common good”.

FEARING MAN AND IDOLIZING CIVILITY MAY KEEP YOU ALIVE BUT KILL YOUR SOUL.

Is this the approach of the Apostles who turned the world upside down with their preaching? Is their Civility the reason they were killed for the sake of the Gospel?

SO WHAT IS THE CURE ACCORDING TO WHAT BIOLA AND FRIENDS HAVE SIGNED UP FOR?

“Implement the process of collaboration on projects that meet needs while also building trusting relationships. During the time of making progress towards civility, our Civilitas Theory of Social Change – developed in partnership with sociologists at Princeton, Yale, and UVA – will be used to guide and refine the actual practice and progress of change.”

CHICK-FIL-A :THE CORPORATE GROWTH MODEL FOR COMPROMISE IS A MINISTRY /GOSPEL APPROACH?

“Civil conversations will work to change the tone of our society by supplanting vitriolic public discourse with respectful listening, constructive exchange, and positive partnerships. Dan Cathy, President and CEO of Chick-Fil-A developed an improbable model of such civility in a surprising friendship with Shane Windmeyer, national director of the LGBT group Campus Pride. After Dan Cathy was vilified by gays and lesbians in 2012 for his support of traditional marriage, Dan took a simple but courageous step of reaching out to Shane. He invited him to dinner so that they could meet and discuss the nature of their differences and explore matters of common interest. To the surprise of both Dan and Shane, they had a pleasant evening and they developed a friendship. A short time later, Dan invited Shane to be his guest and to sit with him in the owner’s box for the Chick-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia”

“Shortly thereafter, Shane wrote an op-ed piece in the Huffington Post entitled, “Coming Out as a Friend of Dan Cathy.” In the article he gave praise to Dan for taking the initiative, for listening respectfully, for sharing his convictions honestly, and for seeking first to understand rather than to be understood. Shane wrote, “We learned about each other as people with opposing views, not as opposing people.” As a result, Shane made the decision for Campus Pride to discontinue a nationally organized protest to boycott Chick-Fil-A. A Civil Conversation paved the way for discovering the common good.”

THE ELITE OF THE CHURCH AND THE CULTURE WILL SHOW US THE WAY

“In a city like New York, this would include Christian leaders like Tim Keller, Cardinal Dolan, Gabriel Salguero, A.R. Bernard, and Rich Mouw. The cultural elite would be represented by people like journalist and presidential aide, George Stephanopoulos; New York Times writer, David Brooks; the president of New York University; the chief of police; the superintendent of public schools and the mayor.”

“Civilitas will seek to build a national network of Christian leaders and cultural elites from among select cities across the country. Through the Civil Conversations and through the networks and dialogues that develop, Civilitas will also work to identify key issues that are of paramount importance for the common good of our culture.”

“Civilitas will then seek to connect the best minds and the most creative entities in the country to work on our most intractable challenges in pursuit of solutions for the common good. This will include churches, colleges and seminaries, mission leaders, and social entrepreneurs, together with Christians who have earned trust and exerted influence in every sector of society, to collaborate in pursuit of the common good.”

CIVILITAS PARTNERS

“Civilitas is committed to building a network of partners with groups of shared conviction such as Veritas Forum, The Trinity Forum, James Davison Hunter and the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture (University of Virginia), The Centre for Ethics and Public Policy, The Center for Public Justice, The Brehm Center for Worship, Theology and the Arts, the Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities, the Christian Community Development Association, private Christian foundations, national student organizations, and institutions of higher learning.”

IMMEDIATE OUTCOME OF COMPROMISE

A stated outcome is raising the churches perceived value in the culture.How is this is to be achieved through compromise?

“We believe that a by-product of this strategy will be a significantly enhanced public perception of the value of the church and Christian organizations in our society. This was the means by which the early church “turned the world upside down,” and it was the fruit of the social transformation brought about by William Wilberforce and the Clapham Sect in England.”

BIOLA HOST  P. R. STUNT WITH RADICAL GAY THEOLOGY PROPONENT

Soon after signing on to the Civlitas Group Chik- Fil- A/ Gay compromise Biola guys invited the radical Matthew Vines/ Reformation Project to a “private sit down” covered by the New York Times which NY Times billed as “Evangelicals Open Door to Debate on Gay Rights”. (Why have a reporter and photographer at your private meeting? )

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/09/us/some-evangelicals-take-new-look-at-bibles-stance-on-gays.html

Soon after this Vines meeting, the apologist from Biola who would cover the issue of LGBT+ for the soon to launch / post Civilitas compromise “ Rethink “- attended a Reformation Project /Vines event . These thought leaders included Sean McDowell and Alan Shlemon, both of whom carry most of the LGBT+ topic discussions for Rethink Apologetics. Shlemon confirms that he believes LGBT should be welcomed into church membership “just not into church leadership “roles. Such ignorance of the implications of random inclusion and limitation is unimaginable in light of ever expanding LGBT discrimination laws. This Biola apologist also would not discuss activist organizations like Human Rights Campaign working to force the LGBT+ agenda into churches even after being given the chance to warn his audience of those deceitful efforts .

BIOLA,MARK YARHOUSE AND THE PRO-GAY AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

McDowell and Shlemon are very open about the influence of Mark Yarhouse on their narrative. Their publications are flush with interviews and quotes from Yarhouse who is the source of the promotion of merging a person’s faith identity and homosexual identity into a Gay or SSA Christian identity and Sexual Minority Christian. Yarhouse is the same source of compromise in Tim Keller’s organization The Gospel Coalition and in the TGC influence in Campus ministries like CRU/ RUF and Intervarsity .

A Year-End Challenge for The Gospel Coalition

” Christ on Campus Initiative: TGC supports this ministry that prepares and circulates literature for college and university students. The most recent article, written by Mark Yarhouse, offers a Christian perspective on homosexuality.Christ on Campus Initiative”

http://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.”

 

MOVING ON TO THE TIES OF RETHINK APOLOGETICS TO REVOICE AND THE COLSON COMPROMISE

Both the Revoice controversial approach to “Promoting LGBT+ flourishing in historic Christian Tradition” and the Rethink Apologetics of Biola’s apologetics department have a COMMON GROUND SOURCE of inspiration in Christian psychologist and American Psychological Associations Interfaith and Sexuality expert Mark Yarhouse . Yarhouse has had a huge influence in Tim Keller’s  The Gospel Coalition and Campuses ministries both which are represented  in the Revoice speaker line up.

You can read more about Yarhouse and Revoice here and about a dozen related articles on the DNA of Revoice

https://thirtypiecesofsilver.org/2018/05/29/make-the-gospel-great-again-reject-the-false-gospel-of-lgbt-christianity/

(Rethink Apologetics was launched in 2015/2016 and began to hold regional youth oriented Apologetics on a host of topics. The topic of concern here is the LGBTQ+ compromises related to its embrace of Yarhouse views in Sexual Orientation and therapy for those wanting to extricate their lives from homosexuality. The Civilitas Group participation by Biola leaders has set the tone for compromise .)

THE LEADING CONSERVATIVE PCA CHURCH IN BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA HOSTS RETHINK APOLOGETICS .

http://rethinkapologetics.com/birmingham.html

https://briarwood.org/event/rethink-student-apologetics-conference-2018-04-21/

ReThink Student Apologetics Conference

April 21, 2018 @ 9:00 am – 6:00 pm

$30 – $50

“Last year’s inaugural reThink Conference was a great success, and we know this year will be even greater! With a host of challenging speakers such as J. Warner Wallace, Greg Koukl, Sean McDowell, and many more, this will be an entertaining, informative, and most importantly, challenging weekend. Click here to see the complete schedule and to registerEarly bird rates end March”

 

Returning for 2019

reTHINK Apologetics Student Conference

April 26–27, 2019

Birmingham AL

The PCA is struggling and efforts to cover for Revoice and continue to provide a platform for Rethink are ushering in increasing controversy and concerns.

https://www.theaquilareport.com/is-revoice-lgbt-thriving-through-cover-up-in-pca-missouri-presbytery/

 

COLSON CENTERS TRAJECTORY

COLSONS NEW LIST OF FELLOWS TELLS THE TALE

http://colsonfellows.com/home-6/

 

Sean McDowell

team_pics_colson_seanmcdowell

Assistant Professor of Christian Apologetics at Biola University, Author and Speaker

Sean is a subscriber to the Revoice inspiration and promotion of Mark Yarhouse.

https://seanmcdowell.org/podcast/episode/15

https://seanmcdowell.org/blog/how-are-lgbt-students-faring-at-christian-colleges

Sean McDowell and partner from Rethink Apologetics Alan Shlemon cover the ever present topic of LGBTQ+ and the church in the Rethink Conferences. Again ,both carry the influence of Biola’s apologetics department and of Mark Yarhouse views from the APA and his own limited research on the view that sexual orientation is real- therefore homosexual orientation does not change and that few experience  significant change in sexual orientation when coming to Christian faith ( or any faith for that matter according to Yarhouse interfaith applied  research ). The assertion is then that with Sexual Orientation being real, that it, presumed from their conclusions, does not change at conversion – then the person who is same sex attracted and comes to Christian faith which is contrary to homosexual behavior then that person has a Sexual Identity and a Faith identity which are ” in conflict” with one another . The sexual Identity -which they say cannot change must then be merged with the person’s faith identity to create space for a “Gay Christianity “. Then the church can be led to embrace both identities then, in the framework of espoused celibacy or mixed orientation marriages, allow for “Sexual Minorities “and or “Gay, LGBT+, Queer Christians to be welcomed into the church.This is the “sweet spot” of the counseling goals being sought . In the same way as Civilitas seeks the “sweet spot” of “common ground for the common good” for society to embrace pluralism and we can “all just get along”.  According to these circles of influencers- these are “gospel goals” and produce “gospel fruit”.

RETHINK AND REVOICE

in reality Revoice and Rethink are just two brands produced from the same source of ideology and packaged / marketed to slightly different markets.

https://stream.rethinkapologetics.com/

 

SPRINKLE DOWN FROM REVOICE TO COLSON FELLOW MENTOR

Preston Sprinkle

Preston

Author ,Speaker, Teacher ,The Center for Faith Sexuality and Gender

Sprinkle is a graduate with both a Masters and a Doctorate from conservative Master’s Seminary of John MacArthur who signed the Dallas Statement but has not broken ties with the TGC/ Social justice crowd. Here we see a guy,  Sprinkle  wearing the Masters brand while he promoted- mentored and spoke at the radical Revoice LGBT+ flourishing conference. What amazing contradiction .

Sprinkle’s organization provides training, resources and events to further the embrace of “LGBT+ Christianity” in the church advocating on such topics as “Gay Teens in Your Church” – “Creating Safe Spaces for LGBT in the Church” and the church dealing “ Transgender Identity “ .

https://www.centerforfaith.com/resources?field_product_category_tid=1

Sprinkle and his Center were at the heart of the radical Revoice LGBT+ Flourishing Conference.

https://www.prestonsprinkle.com/schedule/revoice2018

“ St. Louis, MO: Revoice Conference

  • Thursday, July 26, 201812:00 PM
    Saturday, July 28, 20189:00 PM
  • Memorial Presbyterian201 South Skinker BoulevardSt. Louis, MO, 63105United States (map)

 

“Preston will be speaking at Revoice 2018!

The Mission: Supporting, encouraging, and empowering gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted, and other LGBT Christians so they can experience the life-giving character of the historic Christian tradition.

Learn more at www.revoice.us

SOUTHEASTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AND BLACK LIBERATION THEOLOGY – PROVIDES A COLSON FELLOW FACULTY MEMBER

Walter Strickland II bringing Black Liberation Theology / Social Justice at Colson Center as Colson  Fellows mentor .

 

Another recent addition  to the Colson Stable is Walter Strickland II

Walter Strickland

team_pics_colson_walterstrickland

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMATIC AND CONTEXTUAL THEOLOGY/ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR DIVERSITY; SOUTHEASTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

Strickland teaches at Danny Akins TGC affiliated Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. (SEBTS)

Some of his areas of expertise and focus include, diversity development, assimilation, racial tension, and reconciliation, African American Theology, as well as Liberation Theology .

https://www.sebts.edu/academics/faculty/Strickland%20CV.pdf

New Colson Fellows faculty  Walter Strickland is hosting author Reggie Williams on campus at SEBTS in February 2019 as part of his Kingdom Diversity work on campus.

http://kingdomdiversity.sebts.edu/

http://kingdomdiversity.sebts.edu/index.php/carousel-sliders/bonhoeffers-black-jesus-giveaway-and-essay-contest/

Book and Event Description

Southeastern’s Annual Black History Celebration Luncheon is being held on February 8, 2019. This year Dr. Reggie L. Williams is delivering a lecture based upon his book Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance. Dr. William’s book was chosen because it highlights the fruit of intentional self-displacement across cultural lines for spiritual growth. This book illustrates how the gospel refines the most God-honoring parts of a culture and eradicates that which does not honor Christ.

Williams illustrates this phenomena with a historical example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer during his two year stay in New York City. While in NYC, Bonhoeffer regularly attended and served at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. Williams argues that Bonhoeffer’s formation during his time at a historically black church helped form the concepts that emerged in three of his most influential book: Ethics, Life Together, and Discipleship.

Williams tweeted his support of Black Liberation Theology and the influence of James Cone and Jeremiah Wright.

Reggie Williams‏ @reglwill

FollowFollow @reglwill

More

Reggie Williams Retweeted Freedom Road

This is a conversation starter. I failed to mention how much Rev. J @emeritus5 and Rev. @JeremiahWrigh10 have been to me.

Here is a recent interview with Williams about his book

NOW LIVE: Episode #7 of the #FreedomRoadPodcast Summer Series Finale discusses #BlackMensMagic with Host @lisasharper and prolific theologian/ethicist, Dr. Reggie Williams (author of Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus). @reglwill Check it out! …

CONCLUSION

Where is the Colson Center Fellows program headed?  The new Colson Fellows Faculty gives us a strong indication of deep compromise .

The Colson Center Fellows current additions to the  faculty members now include one of the controversial Revoice Conference developer/ speaker/ and mentor Preston Sprinkle . Revoice is promoting LGBT+ Christianity.

Colson Fellows also includes many from Biola Apologetics whose University has signed onto to using the “Civilitas Theory of Social Change” in order to alter the church’s approach to LGBT issues. Stand to Reason team-mate Sean McDowell subscribes to Mark Yarhouse and his APA driven “sexual orientation, sexual minorities. and gay Christianity.

Walter Strickland II – Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Wake Forest, NC Associate Vice President for Kingdom Diversity Initiatives whose field of study and program developments focus on the issues of racial tension, black liberation theology and, A Blueprint for Kingdom Diversity.

MORE ON SEBTS FROM A WHISTLEBLOWER

Just this week and SEBTS graduate has made news as a whistleblower on the Social Justice “take over “ at SEBTS under the leadership of The Gospel Coalitions Danny Akin .

https://pulpitandpen.org/2019/01/12/breaking-sebts-student-whistleblower-tells-all-about-social-justice-take-over-at-baptist-seminary/

 

“To be very clear, Harris alleges that the institution has taken a “left turn” and that the institution has gone from being known as the “mission school” to the “social justice school.”

Calling it a “Downgrade,” a term that harkens back to Spurgeon’s stance against the doctrinal dumbing-down of the Baptist Union, Harris begins by quoting Scripture and urging viewers not to be taken captive by heresies and false teachings.

Harris claims that because he’s chosen not to affiliate with the SBC, he is free to speak out about their newly ‘woke’ social justice movement – a detriment to the Gospel in his estimation – unlike many other students or professors who rely on the SBC for income and are silenced.”

COLSON CENTER DANCING PRO-LGBT+ AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ON CHUCK COLSON’S LEGACY

Colson Center is running with the pack which is leading the church into the social gospel- the social justice gospel.

Galatians 1:8-9 (NKJV)

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be [a]accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

IS REVOICE LGBT+ THRIVING THROUGH COVER UP IN PCA / MISSOURI PRESBYTERY?

THE “INVESTIGATION”  OF REVOICE IN THE PCA

By Rev Thomas Littleton                                                                                        1/9/2019

It was obvious to most people in the PCA that Revoice Conference being hosted by/at Memorial Presbyterian (PCA) church in St Louis represented a major cause for concern within the conservative denomination. Also the fact that over half a dozen of the speakers at Revoice were from it’s flagship Covenant Seminary in St Louis MO proved concerns were well-warranted.

Thankfully faithful PCA ministers and elders from numerous regions began efforts to challenge the Revoice movement in their denomination through such actions as calls for discipline against the host church. This writer was privy to one effort in some detail.  Due to multiple complaints from across the PCA the Session of Elders at Memorial Presbyterian Church who hosted Revoice have asked the Missouri Presbytery to investigate and rule on the allegations against them.

HERE IS THE RECENT STATEMENT ON THAT INVESTIGATION

http://www.mopres.org/safari/article/34.html?fbclid=IwAR1gxM0Uq5T0NG1VAaQmbN82zA07XmPLdI4mcGhuq54D43Ag1T2sOOR5pEs

It reads;

HomeNewsReference Concerning Memorial Presbyterian and Revoice

Reference Concerning Memorial Presbyterian and Revoice

In October of this year the session of Memorial Presbyterian Church “referenced” Missouri Presbytery (BCO 31.2 & 4.1-4), asking the presbytery to investigate and rule on allegations against them and their Pastor regarding their hosting of the Revoice Conference in July. In response to Memorial’s request, the Moderator established an investigative committee chaired by TE Ron Lutjens to review all these concerns and present their recommendations to the presbytery in 2019. In addition to this, after the October meeting, Missouri Presbytery received a “Letter of Concern” from Calvary Presbytery (PCA) regarding the Revoice conference. The committee has also been tasked to look into the issues raised by that letter as well.

Contact Information

Rev. Timothy R. Butler, Stated Clerk
timothy.butler@mopres.org

WHO IS INVESTIGATING REVOICE ?

The sad truth is that the time invested in the efforts to bring some accountability to those in the PCA who helped incubate, promote and host Revoice Conference 2018 will likely not go very far.

The moderator for the Investigative  Committee has appointed T E Ron Lutjens  as chair of the investigative committee and to recommend their findings to the Presbytery .

LUTJENS AND REVOICE TIES THROUGH FIRST LIGHT INC.

Lutjens is not likely to be able to bring objectivity to the “investigation ” in part due to his  own ties to Revoice which lie just one layer below the surface.  PCA brothers and sisters concerned about what is reflected by this event and the movement behind it in their denomination should call their faithful to weep and lament – not for the Sexual Minorities bemoaning themselves at Revoice – but for their once faithful denomination and its institutions.

T E RON LUTJENS ROLE IN FIRST LIGHT INC /MINISTRIES

As documented in links below First Light Inc is a ministry to SSA people in the Church. Its offices are at Revoice Host Church Memorial PCA , the church under investigation . Two of First Lights employees were Revoice speakers including Revoice VP Stephen Moss. First Light’s Principle Officer listed with non-profit tracking organization Guidestar is  Ron Lutjens

MEMORIAL CHURCH HOUSES FIRST LIGHT

http://www.memorialpca.org/churchprofile.html

“Because the building is expansive, we house office space for ministries such as First Light—a ministry for sexual brokenness; ISI – an international student ministry; the Chapel – a venue for concerts, art openings, and theatre productions; four on-site professional counselors; and a weekly home schooling group in addition to other various ministries.”

FIRST LIGHT TEAM

https://smf-stlouis.org/our-team/

“Stephen Moss

FIRST LIGHT – SEXUAL MINORITY FELLOWSHIP COORDINATOR

Since first sharing his story publicly in 2013, Stephen has spoken and written about his experience as a Christian who is gay and celibate. He’s a founding board member and VP of Operations for Revoice.”

GUIDESTAR DOCUMENTS OF FIRST LIGHT INC.

https://www.guidestar.org/profile/03-0466709

First Light Inc.

Ruling Year 

2003

Principal Officer

RON LUTJENS

Main Address

PO BOX 430142

SAINT LOUIS , MO 63143

Now it is also important to note that Covenant Seminary whose obvious “contribution “ to the Revoice Conference of 2018 has caused enough concern that the President of Covenant was asked to address the issue at the June 2018 General Assembly in Atlanta .

Response to CTS President Mark Dalbey’s PCA General Assembly Statement on Revoice

One concern General Assembly  attendees were not made aware of is that the Covenant Seminary Presidents wife works with First Light as well.

https://www.covenantseminary.edu/events/ministry-matters-ideas-womens-childrens-ministry/

“This breakout session of Ministry Leadership is for all MDiv wives and women students and meets separately from the men for two hours weekly during the semester.

This Week’s Speakers: Beth Dalbey, MAC, works with First Light Ministries, wife of Covenant Seminary President Mark Dalbey; and Lilian Werner, Licensed Counselor, Former Director of Women’s Ministries at First Light Ministries, now a counselor in private practice, wife of Brad Werner, a pastor and counselor”

 

REVOICE DEEP COVER : SOMETHING ROTTEN IN ST LOUIS

The “investigation ” makes for  a tidy little in-house shop of horrors for anyone in the PCA who sees the threat of the Revoice movement . As Revoice brazenly boast its goals of “ promoting LGBT+ flourishing ” including “Queer Christians, LGBT+ Christians , Sexual Minorities in the church and ministry, Churches welcoming the LGBT+ Community and becoming “Safe Spaces”in the churches-   it also commits to dredging up the “unique treasures of Queer Culture, Queer literature and Queer Theory for the church and the New Jerusalem”.  Arguably nothing this unbiblical or beyond the bounds of Biblical or PCA orthodoxy in the history of the PCA has gained more sudden traction in the mainstream of the denomination or posed as deep a threat to it’s future .

SOUTHERN BAPTISTS ARE EQUALLY AS INFILTRATED / IMPACTED BY REVOICE BUT NO ORGANIZED PUSHBACK HAS TAKEN SHAPE AS IT HAS IN THE PCA.

The only responses from Southern Baptists and the president of it’s SBTS Seminary Albert Mohler have been to skirt the greatest issue of concern for Southern Baptists. The founder of Revoice Nate Collins is a long time student and former teacher  (14 1/2 years in total)  at the SBC flagship  seminary Dr. Mohler heads . His last effort to address the concerns of believers in the SBC came in August 2nd 2018 just after the first Revoice  conference in which Dr. Mohler finally mentions the founder- his student by name but never connects him with SBTS. Mohler has also never commented about his disciple Russell Moore and the ERLC’s multiple close ties to Revoice promotion and speakers. No organized opposition exist in the SBC to the Revoice efforts for  “Queering of the Church ” and promoting LGBT+ flourishing in it.

Given the 2019 Revoice conference registration has already begun – the PCA and SBC folk who are awake ,watching , and praying have little to look forward to on this front in the new year except to find a small bit of humor in watching their leaders exercise their poor skills in dancing the two step.

Perhaps soon the wake up call will come to the PCA and SBC  leaders who have provided cover for the Revoice movement as weary believers, tired of the shell games and compromise –  begin the mass exodus from what had been the remaining uncompromised denominations and leave these leaders to deal with the empty church buildings  those members of the exodus helped build . Perhaps the cost will be counted too late like others who have passed this way before . At this time -the  stage four metastasized and leavened lump requires nothing short of a miracle to save these denominations from the valley of dry bones. But nothing is impossible with God.

Matthew 19:

26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Ezekiel 37

1.The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”

Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!

IS IT TOO LATE FOR AN IDOLATROUS AND CO-MINGLED CHURCH?

Hosea 7

“Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake unturned.
Aliens have devoured his strength,
But he does not know it;
Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him,
Yet he does not know it.
10 And the pride of Israel testifies to his face,
But they do not return to the Lord their God,
Nor seek Him for all this.

11 “Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without sense—
They call to Egypt,
They go to Assyria.
12 Wherever they go, I will spread My net on them;
I will bring them down like birds of the air;
I will chastise them
According to what their congregation has heard.

SINNING THAT JUSTIFIES A SINNERS SISTER ?

Jeremiah 3

“6 Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot….. Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. 10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense,” says the Lord.”

PRAY FOR THE FAITHFUL IN GOD’S CHURCHES AND CALL LEADERS TO ACCOUNTABILITY .

No generation in the Western world has had a greater need for the church to be devoted to the call to holiness and faithfulness as she seeks to be the church in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. The compromises such as Revoice movement in the name of cultural engagement or relevance are the kiss of death to a church who will be salt and light and offer the sweet fragrance of life to the world around it.

ARE WE TO BE A STENCH TO GOD IN ORDER TO APPEASE MEN?

2nd Corinthians 2:

14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.

TIM KELLER PARTNERS WITH INTERFAITH FUNDING,APA SPIRITUALITY,AND THE MORMON RELIGION TO “CHRISTIANIZE PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING “

TIM KELLER & LOST BOYS LEADING THE CHURCH INTO MORE ERROR: HOW YOKING WITH APA & MORMON CHURCH ARE IMPACTING CHRISTIAN COUNSELING

By Thomas Littleton                                                                                          1/5/2019

Image result for tim keller redeemer counseling

Tim Keller is on yet another adventure into the abyss in the name of “redeeming culture”. This time his work is in the realm of Christian counseling. Keller and The Gospel Coalition decided in 2010 to make an interfaith American Psychological Association psychologist the go- to guy on LGBTQ+ issues instead of the Bible and helped give us the Living Out LGBTQ+ Inclusion Audit for churches and the radical Revoice conference promoting “LGBT+ flourishing ( Tim Keller’s favorite unbiblical word ) in historic ( conservative PCA and Southern Baptist etc.) Christian tradition ( i.e. in our churches) .

https://counseling.redeemer.com/standalone_pages/redeemer_counseling_research_fund

The supposedly orthodox Reformed theological  Keller and the Gospel Coalition he co-founded  work very closely with the Libertarian /Catholic- Acton Institute. Acton Institute provides the chief editor for TGC and has given our seminaries, Christian universities and homeschool curriculum the unbridled but stealthy influence of Catholic social policy (which is driven by Catholic theology). The Curriculum and it’s version of Austrian School of economics produced the now highly controversial “fruit” of conservative churches being urged to embrace the classic social gospel – now touted as “ social justice  is a Gospel issue” -resulting in the church being transformed into a global communitarian “Village”. That communitarian church vision is now charged with distributing justice and redistributing the wealth of western civilization toward “global goals” through the church. Keller’s almost 500 church plants have been resourced for years and trained by the shallow and growth driven corporate models directly provided to Redeemer Church by the Willow Creek Association.

If the merging of these spurious influences were the true Gospel we would all owe Tim Keller and TGC a great debt for the church finally recovering and meeting its long lost call. This is however NOT the Gospel delivered to the Apostles and the New Testament saints . It is something else- something classically deceptive, culturally driven and based on a multitude of ideologies antithetical to the true Gospel and the Word of God.

The question that remains unanswered is  ”Will the people of the PCA and SBC whose churches and pastors have come under the sway of Keller and his multitude of errors – follow Keller and his minions into the ruins of shipwrecked apostates who have gone before or will they awaken and rid their churches and denominations before it is too late?”

1 Timothy 4 (NKJV)

The Great Apostasy

Now the Spirit [a]expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.

2 TIMOTHY 4

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

 

NOW KELLER AND REDEEMER HAVE SET THEIR SITES ON PARTNERING WITH THE APA . INTERFAITH FUNDING ,AND THE MORMON CHURCH TO GIVE AN OVERHAUL TO CHRISTIAN COUNSELING.

Flush with millions from the Interfaith driven grant funding of The Templeton Foundation, Keller and his Redeemer City Counseling Department have set out to “influence Christian Counseling” through partnering with an institution (the APA) antithetical to Christianity but interested in “Spirituality” and another religion (Brigham Young University of the Mormon, LDS faith). The research project is touted to be the largest such effort ever undertaken.

Templeton Foundation Funding Goals

The Templeton Foundation is “committed to catalyzing research relating to scientific and spiritual progress, “in which all people aspire to and attain a deeper understanding of the universe and their place in it.” It provides philanthropic funding to projects that explore subjects ranging from “complexity, evolution and emergence to creativity, forgiveness and free will.”

https://counseling.redeemer.com/standalone_pages/redeemer_counseling_research_fund

“Redeemer Counseling Services has been committed to conducting research since 2012. Our first project by Dr. Tracy Prout was an outcome study that assessed spirituality and its influence on the therapeutic alliance. Since then, Dr. Judy Cha and Elena E. Kim have also conducted qualitative studies to examine the effects of God Image and the mechanism of spirituality on the client’s psychotherapeutic experience. “

Keller boast in the short video linked above that “Redeemer Counseling has been given the chance to change the field of psychology …with the gospel” Elena Kim is the lead investigator with the Templeton funded project. Kim says” historically the fields of religion and psychology were not receptive to each other but there has been a recent focus on spiritually in psychology which has created a window of opportunity and the John Templeton Foundation intends to take advantage of this opportunity”. Judy Cha the Director of Redeemers Counseling Center says “millions of dollars have been set aside to BRIDGE (The BYU program name) to counselors (Cha) Clergy (Keller) and Researchers (Kim) with the goal to bring spiritually orientated psychotherapy into mainstream healthcare.”  “Your involvement”, says Keller, “can allow Christianity to influence the field of psychology at a vast cultural level.” We, the church, are urged to join them in their “historical endeavor to bridge Christianity and psychology.”

UNHOLY MIXTURE

In addition to  the atheistic roots of psychology add to this the bland universalism of the “new age” spirituality being espoused and the interfaith application of the funding research and outcomes. Redeemers team are proud to be working with experts in the field who are part of the APA partnered project , headquartered at BYU and of and with the Mormon Religion. Yet Redeemer participants and Keller call their mutual work a “validation of Christian integrated psychotherapy” .Thus Keller is illustrating again the lack of care or discernment for the conservative Reformed theology Keller has wrapped himself and his ministry / TGC in. Keller’s PCA credentials are often all he needs to retain respectability and acceptance among many Biblical evangelicals thanks in large part to their pastors providing cover for Keller and endorsing him .In PCA/ TGC churches in this authors area Keller’s books are often used as Sunday School study and discussion materials .

Grants & Awards

Kim, E. E., Chen, E. C., Cha J., Keller T. (2017). “Empirical validation of a Christian-integrated psychotherapy framework: A task analysis.” John Templeton Foundation and Brigham Young University.

The work is also deeply  partnered with the APA as indicated by their presentations .

Presentations

Kim, E. E., Chen, E. C., & Brachfeld, C. (2016, August). Patients’ experiences of spirituality in psychotherapy: A grounded theory analysis. In P. S. Richards & J. N. Nelson (Co-Chairs), Spiritually oriented psychotherapy: Processes, outcomes, and research challenges. Symposium presentation proposal submitted for the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Denver, CO.

Prout, T.A., & Kim, E.E., (2015, August). Christian Counseling: Initial Report on A Large-Scale Study. Presentation at the American Psychological Association Convention, Toronto, Canada.

Prout, T.A., & Kim, E.E., (2014, August). Therapeutic Alliance, Client-Therapist Match, and Outcomes in Christian Counseling. Presentation at the American Psychological Association Convention, Washington, D.C.

THE APA “ANDROCENTRIC PAST” AND CURRENT ATTACK ON”TOXIC MASCULINITY ”

Keller’s work with the APA puts he and Redeemer in full step with the organizations attack on masculinity .

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/01/ce-corner.aspx?utm_content=1546300435&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

“APA’s new Guidelines for Psychological Practice With Boys and Men strive to recognize and address these problems in boys and men while remaining sensitive to the field’s androcentric past. Thirteen years in the making, they draw on more than 40 years of research showing that traditional masculinity is psychologically harmful and that socializing boys to suppress their emotions causes damage that echoes both inwardly and outwardly.

The needs of men

Prior to the second-wave feminist movement in the 1960s, all psychology was the psychology of men. Most major studies were done only on white men and boys, who stood in as proxies for humans as a whole. Researchers assumed that masculinity and femininity were opposite ends of a spectrum, and “healthy” psychology entailed identifying strongly with the gender roles conferred by a person’s biological sex.

But just as this old psychology left out women and people of color and conformed to gender-role stereotypes, it also failed to take men’s gendered experiences into account. Once psychologists began studying the experiences of women through a gender lens, it became increasingly clear that the study of men needed the same gender-aware approach, says Levant.

The main thrust of the subsequent research is that traditional masculinity—marked by stoicism, competitiveness, dominance and aggression—is, on the whole, harmful. Men socialized in this way are less likely to engage in healthy behaviors”

BRIDGES PROJECT DISCUSSED IN REDEEMER VIDEO PARTNERS WITH BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY

 

http://www.bridgesconsortium.net/grant-projects/

 

Templeton funding March 2017- March 2020

https://www.templeton.org/grant/enhancing-practice-based-evidence-for-spiritually-integrated-psychotherapies-an-interdisciplinary-big-data-project

Grant total – $3,572,011

“For most of the 20th century, mainstream healthcare professionals ignored the role of spirituality in therapeutic healing. Recently this has changed as scholars and practitioners have described many spiritual treatment approaches, grounded in the healing practices of both Western and Eastern spiritual traditions (e.g., prayer, meditation, gratitude, love, forgiveness, altruistic service). Although some research supports these approaches there are weaknesses with the database. Without a more satisfactory research base, spiritual approaches will remain at the fringes of the mental health and medical fields, which will deprive many people of access to sensitive and effective services. The long-term aim of our project is to create an international, interdisciplinary network of researchers and practitioners dedicated to advancing research and practice in this domain of mental healthcare. “

“Funding from the Templeton Foundation for this project will enable us to attract research teams and treatment sites from around the world to collaborate in creating the largest and richest data set in existence about spiritually integrated treatment approaches. Our research and network of collaborators will help ensure that religious and spiritual resources for therapeutic change are never again neglected in the healthcare professions. Spiritually committed people throughout the world will have greater access to mental health services that are effective and that honor the healing resources of their spiritual worldviews and communities.”

Earlier grant was $207,440.

https://www.templeton.org/grant/bringing-spiritually-oriented-psychotherapies-into-the-healthcare-mainstream-a-preparatory-grant-proposal-for-an-international-grant-competition-2

The director, co-director, project manager and both additional leaders in the Bridge project are from the Mormon Church -Brigham Young University.

Phillip Scott Richards of Brigham Young is project  Director .

https://centerforchange.com/staff/p-scott-richards-phd/

Daniel Judd of the Bridge project is an expert of “ancient scripture” and the Book of Mormon .

https://religion.byu.edu/daniel_judd

“Bio: Daniel K Judd received an M.S. degree in family science and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Brigham Young University.  He has been a seminary and institute instructor in Utah, Arizona, and Michigan, and he was a professor of family science at BYU-Idaho.  Presently Chair of the Ancient Scripture Department at BYU, he has published several articles on religious and mental health issues.  He and his wife, Kaye Seegmiller Judd, have four children and reside in Orem, Utah.

Courses Taught: Book of Mormon, New Testament, LDS Marriage and Family

Areas of Expertise: Religion and Mental Health; Marriage and Family

Areas of Research: Doctrinal perspectives on current issues; Philosophy and psychology of Religion; Marriage and Family”

CONCLUSION -KELLER’S REDEEMER COUNSELING EXPECTS ORDER OUT OF CHAOS AS AN OUTCOME FOR HIS COMPROMISED INVOLVEMENT.

Is Tim Keller able to discern the fundamentally flawed approach in the partnership his Redeemer Counseling Center is undertaking ?  Keller says his ministry is “engaging to influence the field of psychology with Christianity “. So again, how is he going about this?  According to his own website, Keller’s team is working as part of a broad effort using the funding providing by the Templeton Foundation to collaborate with research in order to “merge psychology and Christianity.”

Also -again, how does Keller expect that to happen? How does Tim Keller, co-founder  of The Gospel Coalition and who is licensed to ministry by the reformed/ conservative / theologically driven Presbyterian Church of America intend to bring about this outcome?

By

  1. Partnering with grant funding provided by an interfaith universalist program focused on a totally new age /generic brand of spirituality.

2. By aligning with and yoking to a historically anti Gospel organization driving much         of the pro homosexual and redefining marriage movement now focused on “spirituality “.

  1. By collaborating with a cult religion with a history of polygamy, abuse, and corruption and which adheres to its own religious text which it claims as a third testament of the Bible.

Tim Keller is either a fool on a fool’s errand who understands nothing about the Gospel or orthodox theology he espouses -or he is wolf in sheep’s clothing who cares nothing for the Gospel or orthodox theology he espouses. Either one of the above or a mingled mixture of the two disqualify Keller for consideration as a trustworthy leader in Evangelical Christianity today.

  Matthew 16:11-12 (NKJV)

11 How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the [a]leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the [b]doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Acts 20:28-30  (NKJV)

28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church [a]of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking [b]perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.

2 Peter 3:14-18 (NKJV)

14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider thatthe longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

1 John 4:1-6 (NKJV)

Love for God and One Another

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess [a]that Jesus [b]Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.