Category Archives: apostasy
Dead roses: the seduction of American Christianity
You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? says the Lord. Look up to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been lain with? By the waysides you have sat waiting for lovers, like a nomad in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your whoring and wickedness. Jeremiah 3: 1-2
Call it the 50 Shades of Gray, Religious Version. Or maybe it should be referred to as Church of the Living Dead. Either way, the American Church has fallen/jumped into the pit of immorality and is showing no signs of wanting to get out. Behaving more like a dog returning to its vomit instead of a bride waiting on her betrothed, the AC has left its first love. Like the foolish Galatians, the American Church has been bewitched and is under a heavy delusion.
Just one of the many lovers she is whoring with under the green trees of politics and compromise is the homosexual movement. Perhaps a sign of the steadily weakening resolve of the church to standfast is Charisma Magazine printing Canadian liberal theologian Ronald J. Siders oped with a deceptive headline attached. Christian media is in on the game as well. Sider is the president of Evangelicals for Social Action, which develops biblical solutions to social and economic problems. Actually, ESA is progay. And thats not a biblical solution to the sin of homosexuality.
Have parts of the church treacherously partnered with homosexuals to attempt to destroy God’s creative marriage design and rebuild it in their own image and likeness? Most certainly. But note the word attempt. Because despite their best efforts, they will miserably fail. Ask any of the people who attempted to build the tower of Babel.
Siders argues correctly that because of the partnership of deceived (aka inclusion) Christians with homosexuals, three key threats will materialize and directly impact the institutional church.
1. It would weaken the connection between marriage and procreation and the connection between biological parents and their biological children. Almost every court case supporting gay marriage explicitly downgrades the role of procreation in marriage. In the Massachusetts Supreme Court’s decision bringing in gay marriage, the court explicitly said the state was indifferent to family structure; that is, society has no preference for children growing up with both biological parents!
2. The embrace of gay marriage will almost certainly change what is taught in public schools. If in law gay marriages are equal to marriages of husbands and wives, then the schools will certainly begin to teach that to all our children as the proper view for every good citizen.
3. There will be a variety of pressures to silence people who believe homosexual practice is sin. Virtually all legal experts agree that if the law sanctions gay marriage, there will be a colossal confrontation between religious liberty and “gay rights.” Through licensure and government grants a wide variety of faith-based organizations will face growing pressure to abandon their stand on homosexual practice and gay marriage.
And he cites (as we have numerous times on GCMW) that homosexuals and their political allies are lying about exempting the church from gay marriage laws. Its just a deceptive shell game.
As Marc Stern of the American Jewish Congress has warned, once the law recognizes gay marriage, there will be court cases against religious institutions (colleges, universities, camp grounds, hospitals, adoption agencies, and so on) that refuse to treat legally married same-sex couples the same as married heterosexuals.
Similarly, it’s likely that government will slowly withdraw benefits from faith-based organizations that believe they shouldn’t treat legally married same-sex partners the way they treat husbands and wives. Gay activists will undoubtedly argue in the courts that government dare not “subsidize discrimination” and therefore government funds must not flow to faith-based organizations that oppose gay marriage or refuse to hire persons engaged in homosexual actions.
The issue in Sider’s sleight of hand article is not his accurate description of the problem, but the unbiblical “solutions” he posits. For example, Sider’s wolf skin is exposed when he says the solution to the homosexual issue is redesignation.
“First, we can demonstrate our desire to respect and treat gay people fairly. One significant way to do that would be to support the legal recognition of civil unions. (This may actually reduce promiscuity as well.)”
Beware the brokers of seduction.
One commenter thankfully came right out and said it.
Ronald Sider is a far left-wind socialist who is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He is about as “evangelical” as Jeremiah Wright — just more smooth and diplomatic, and deceptive, in the promotion of his agenda. This article is a good example of the smooth, slick way he promotes his left-wing agenda, posing as an “evangelical/charismatic.” I can see why someone who doesn’t know who Ronald Sider is or his past would be taken in. This typical ad hominem argument is typical of satan himself — “Because of your failures in this area, you have no right to speak in THAT area.” The enemy, the “accuser of the brethren,” constantly attempts to silence our voice and render us powerless by pointing out past failings or current weaknesses. There are a number of fallacies in the slick article above. Here are just a couple:
1. While the statistic is constantly presented — to beat Christians down — that Christians divorce at the same rate as non-Christians, this statistic is so misleading as to in actuality be used mostly as a lie.
2. Those who are on the frontlines defending our society against the onslaught of the influence of homosexual perversion and it’s attempt to justify itself by moral equivalence to normal marriage are NOT the ones committing adultery and getting divorced. Even if it were true that adultery abounds and half of all Christians who marry will eventually divorce — which it is NOT– that still does NOT characterize the lives of those who have been and continue to be true champions giving their very lives to defending the moral foundations of our nation for future generations. Of course, the likes of Ronald Sider and his comrades in the leftist media, love to expose the occasion leader caught in moral failure as yet another ad hominem argument against the whole Body of Christ.
Photoshopped religion and false leaders
Pastor Mike Campagna at Heart for God blog has an incredible writeup about false teachers, false prophets and false shepherds. He explains the differences between them as well as talks about how the devil uses “photoshop” religion to deceive both unbelievers and believers alike.
How to Tell a False Prophet:
1. A false prophet can have the ability to do signs and wonders. (Mark 13:22)
2. A false prophet declares out of his own imaginations and not Christ. (Ezekiel 13:2-3)
3. A false prophet can be bought. He speaks pleasantly to those who feed him. (Micah 3:5)
4. A false prophet disguises himself as a believer while all the time he’s under the control of the devil. (Matthew 7:15-23)
How to Tell a False Teacher:
1. A false teacher portrays himself as having knowledge when he does not. (1 Timothy 1:7)
2. A false teacher offers contrary doctrine to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (1 Timothy 6:3-5)
3. A false teacher speaks what people want to hear instead of what people need to hear. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
4. A false teacher is bound to wickedness, unconverted and destined for destruction. (2 Peter 2:1-3)
How to Tell a False Shepherd:
1. A false shepherd is only concerned for himself and not the flock. (Ezekiel 34:2-3)
2. A false shepherd leads the flock astray in word and deed. (Jeremiah 50:6)
3. A false shepherd abandons the flock when they need him the most. (John 10:12)
4. A false shepherd does not exalt the Good Shepherd. (John 10:14-15)
With all types of bizarre, weird and unseemly teachings and practices coming out from so called leaders in the Christian church, you would do yourself a big favor by reading Pastor Mike’s entire blog and get educated so you can avoid the traps set by false trisectomy.
Bishop Wayne T. Jackson’s consecration includes controversial “covering” act
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Perversion has hit the black church with a vengeance and it doesn’t seem to be coming from the pews. In Detroit, Bishop Wayne T. Jackson of Great Faith Ministries conducted a bishop’s “consecration” event for two men. The video of the event and what the bishop did to the two men has sent waves of disgust through the church community. In an astonishing act of raw perversion, Jackson first tells the two men to get on their knees. After they submissively do so, he waves his hand indicating they are to lay face down on the floor of the church in front of a crowd of people (and presumably their wives and children).
After the men have laid face down, Jackson calls for his assistants to cover them with large white cloths which he explains that “You gotta be buried. You gotta die. So that Christ can live in you. Be prepared for burial”. The men are completely covered and Jackson grabs the ankles of the first man and acts as if he is praying. Almost as an afterthought he beckons for the assistant to give him a red cape which he throws on top of the first man.
Next, Jackson unexpectedly flings himself on top of the first man, his body and groin on the man’s buttocks where he shakes, writhes and grimaces as if there is a sex act going on. Surprisingly, the man does not move. When he repeats the same actions on the second man, some members of the audience stand, applaud and cheer.
The first man is Junaldo O. Lee, pastor of Jackson’s satellite church in Atlanta. Full video here which was posted in August 2012.
Update: I’ve amended the original article headline based on several discussions regarding what was seen in the Jackson video. My original title was excessively misleading and I apologize for that.
False teacher Dr. James A. Forbes brags about marrying homosexuals
You can find Dr. James A. Forbes of New York in pulpits, conventions and gatherings of many holiness-pentecostal denominations. Including his unfettered access to the Church of God in Christ. Forbes was featured at COGIC’s 2012 AIM convention held in Birmingham in June. Forbes conveniently cloaks his acid lies behind the background of being reared in the United Holy Church of America, a holiness Pentecostal denomination began in 1886. His father was a leader for many years in the denomination’s Southern District. His knowledge of the veneer of black church pentecostalism makes him an attractive guest to leaders who have no value for biblical integrity or sexual holiness.
You also may not know that Forbes is a false teacher who brags about his involvement with the homosexual “marriage” perversion. False teachers and perversion go together like a hand in a glove. According to the gay marriage organization Lambda Legal, Forbes is one of their main defenders and supporters. They use his quote on their website and urges supporters to use Forbes’ quote in their gay marriage “talking points”.
“I have officiated at wedding ceremonies for gay couples for 15 years, and I believe that gay marriage will do more for stable families and will not harm one single heterosexual marriage.”
Forbes is going to be a guest speaker for the Metropolitan Community Church for their upcoming convention. If you are unfamiliar with the MCC and its gaggle of sex cultic clerics look here, here and here. Warning: not safe for spiritually weak minds!
These false prophets are just as welcome at the “holiness” meetings as they are at the satanic altars. When leaders such as Bishop Charles Blake give these false teachers access to their churches and especially young people, its like letting a ravenous wolf into a room with lambs. Blake has a history of dancing cheek to cheek in the dark with the homosexuals and their allies but then claiming not to know them when he is exposed.
COGIC’s leader should be ashamed that he continues to undermine the foundations of a once great church. Sadly, with men like Blake at its helm allowing wolves like Forbes into the flock, it wont last much longer.
COGIC used to be guided by a protective truth established in scripture that was foundational holiness. Come from among them and be ye separate, says the Lord (2 Cor 6:17). But under Bishop Blake’s wayward leadership it has changed to “Let them in among you and be ye defiled.”
Critiquing Matthew Vines’ revisionist rhetoric
The Senator Qheleth blog has taken time to deconstruct a great deal of the vortex of religious revision by the johnny come lately child false prophet Matthew Vines. Vines claims that he studied the bible for two entire years because he was dissatisfied that as a homosexual he wasn’t allowed to be happy and have sex with another man. Not surprisingly, his two years of bible study yeilded nothing different from the other false teachers before him.
Despite the obvious signs of a spiritual ineptitude, Vines was quickly snapped up by the religious homosexual world like he was fresh meat at a gay club. He may not be aware that he is simply a pawn to spread lies, but most his age are not. The insatiable thirst of those who spread lies about homosexuality and the bible are always looking for new faces to smooth out the deceptive poison and it looks like they hit paydirt with Vines.
According to SQ, Vines elementary argument is “so weak it would fail first year seminary. There are a tremendous number of problems with what he has said- especially his misplaced assertion that traditional interpretations of Scripture on homosexuality have done nothing but ‘damaged’ people- and I cannot deal with them all here.”
Vines’ type of shallow thinking and exegetically deficient rhetoric is what progay teachers thrive on. Consequently, the Theology-R-US approach to one of the most serious moral issues raised in our times is quite frankly disastrous. The reason they take such great pains to avoid honest exploration of the truth is because lies are always built on cleverly devised misinterpretations that produce a plethora of questions and doubt. Hath God said?
SQ does an excellent job cutting through the weeds and underbrush of Vines’ pitiful theology to show that behind the poorly crafted dog and pony show is whats behind most dog and pony shows: hype and no substance.
Vines’ position is undergirded by a feel-good theology of avoiding loneliness. Time and again throughout his talk, Vines made statements like “We’re now forcing gay men to be alone, calling what God has made to be not good … the Bible explicitly rejects forced loneliness as God’s will for human beings”. While loneliness is never an ideal state for man to be in (Prov. 18:1), neither do ends (finding a solution for loneliness) justify means (constructing whatever relationships one can to avoid being alone). Jesus Himself was a lonely, misunderstood man and not once did He complain about it: He took it to God and used it to honour God and bless others. Christian theology never sees loneliness- or, more accurately, aloneness- as an end in itself. Neither is it true that single, unmarried, ‘unhitched’ Christians are all alone and miserable (Heb. 13:5). If Vines really believe this, then he must be a troubled, insecure individual and have nothing but disdain for singles. Christ and Paul (Matt. 19:10-12, 1 Cor. 7:32) both are at odds with this, but Vines has not done the theological gruntwork through this and his theology on singlehood is on very shaky ground, and he would do well to take note that when the first man was alone that Yahweh provided a woman in a marriage covenant to alleviate the problem (Gen. 2:18,22). If a person is single and chaste, God can use them powerfully (e.g. Corrie ten Boom, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, John Stott, J.I. Packer, John Chapman, Paul, and Christ).
False teachers always craft their ideology out of personal conjecture using emotionally charged issues to refute biblical truth. That may be attractive to weak, biblically illiterate individuals who are looking for an excuse to sin, but it would never pass the muster of truth that makes people free. John 8:32
African American Pentecostal Bishops reject gay ordination
CLEVELAND – The nation’s foremost organization of African American pentecostal episcopates has released a statement rejecting the ordination, approval and acceptance of unrepentant homosexuals into Christian ministry. Despite increasing numbers of predominately white formerly mainline denominations capitulating to ordaining and consecrating open homosexuals, others are drawing a spiritual and policy-based line in the sand.
The Joint College of African American Pentecostal Bishops (JCAAPB) released a strongly worded statement via its website decrying “prejudice, bigotry and violence” against homosexuals, but maintaining a unwavering biblical position in the process.
The act of homosexuality is a sin according to God’s Word. God’s intent in creation was that male and female would be complimentary, that the privilege of sexual expression would be between male and female only, and this expression would be only in the context of marriage. Both heterosexual and homosexual sexual behavior outside of marriage violates the human spirit and distorts God’s intent for our lives. The Holy Scriptures condemn homosexual practices (Genesis 19:4-10; Leviticus 18:22; 30:13; Romans 1: 26-28; and First Timothy 1:8-10), and we follow this instruction and example of Jesus.
While the world systems are being continually affected by cultural and sociological changes, we will not compromise or deviate from the standards set by God. We do not endorse or consecrate homosexuals to the Holy Office of Bishop, or condone their ordination into Holy Office as Deacons or Elders (Priests), for to do so is both dishonoring to God and a betrayal of our Faith. The ordination of a practicing homosexual to any church office contradicts the clear mandate of God. Therefore, the Joint College will NEVER accept or bless same-sex unions of any kind or grant those living such a lifestyle Apostolic Succession into Holy Office.”
Headed by former COGIC official J. Delano Ellis, the Joint College first made news in April 2004 when it convened a special session on the so-called “gospel of inclusion” and declared it heresy and its chief advocate Carlton Pearson, a heretic [source].
The organization counts among its executive board COGIC Presiding Bishop Charles Blake, Sr, Bishop Alfred Owens, head of the Mt Calvary Holy Churches of America, Bishop Walter Thomas and Bishop Claude Alexander of Kingdom Association of Covenant Pastors.
