Category — Chicago

CHICAGO  – Since the massive –but impotent– religious giant Willow Creek Church announced in late June that it was severing ties with Exodus International over issues with homosexuality, the smell of gradual decay continues to rise from its headquarters at 67 East Algonquin Road in South Barrington, IL.  And if the church is spiritually decaying, its a sure sign that its leadership has already decayed.

According to 1 Tim 4 widespread apostasy will significantly mark the latter years of the church.

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.  Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

The “latter days” are not coming, they are here.

Two recent developments in the story shed light on the new brand of apostasy Willow Creek is unfolding and why the world wants churches to sell out completely.

Today, Exodus President Alan Chamber released a statement revealing that Willow Creek no longer believed that people could change from homosexuality.

“Willow Creek was one of our first Exodus Church Association partners. They have had an incredible outreach for two decades to people dealing with same-sex attractions. In 2009 an inquest of sorts was embarked upon, led by one of their elders to find out what they were offering to people affected by unwanted homosexuality.  The inquest culminated in a meeting between members of the Exodus staff, the elder in question and the staff person overseeing their recovery ministries.  At that meeting they shockingly declared that they didn’t want to help people overcome because that wasn’t possible.  They simply wanted to tell people that abstinence was the only option and then provide them with comfortable place to abstain. “

Chambers said Willow Creek’s decision “failed to convey the heart and truth of Christ.”  Chambers is correct. When a church fails to tell the whole truth about homosexuality (like it should do for all sin) it intentionally subverts the message of the cross. Willow Creek is moving to the religious center. Its new message is that so-called sexual orientation cant change, therefore individuals who struggle with homosexual desires they do not want have no option other than to be single, celibate…and miserable for the rest of their lives. By defining the issue as one of  “sexual orientation” and not as sin, its easy for the church to capitulate to gay ideology and eschew the bible.

And with progay theologians like Tony Compolo appearing at the church, its clear Willow Creek and Bill Hybels want to dumb down the brutal truth to satisfy the demands of external opposition.

Speaking of external opposition, the second situation involved a cancelled appearance at Willow Creek by Starbucks founder and CEO Howard Shultz.

The Chicago Tribune reported that Shultz cancelled but stopped short of saying it was because of the church past belief that altering a person’s “sexual orientation” is possible.

But the church’s membership in Exodus ended in 2009 when the church re-evaluated all of its healing ministries for people facing addiction, divorce, cancer or sexual identity issues, said church spokeswoman Susan DeLay. She said Willow’s views had evolved since signing up for Exodus decades ago.

“They were one of the few Christian organizations having conversations with people who struggle with being gay,” she said.

But after careful contemplation, Willow now espouses the belief that “coming to faith in Christ doesn’t promise a change in sexual orientation,” she said.

Scholars have noted that many contemporary evangelical leaders welcome people of all sexual orientations, but stop short of affirming committed same-sex relationships that they still believe violate Scripture.

Mary Lou Wallner, a former member of Willow whose lesbian daughter committed suicide 14 years ago, said a semi-private conversation with Bill Hybels, senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, three years ago gave her hope.

At the end of that conversation, Hybels said he didn’t believe homosexuality was a choice or that it could be fixed. But he did believe Scripture calls for gays and lesbians to be celibate, she said. “Someone like Bill Hybels could change the world,” she said.

Hybels is supposed to explain the church’s new position on homosexuality at a news conference today.

UPDATE 08/12

Hybel’s addresses the controversy [video] by insisting that his church is not “antigay”.  He offers a sounder explanation of WC’s beliefs than his press secretary, but does not repudiate the remarks.

So called gospel music may be on its last stanza according to one Dallas based minister who cites homosexuals in the gospel music industry as one of the main reasons.

Elder G. Craige Lewis of the famed ExMinistries wrote in his blog that compromise, poor quality music, carnality and “copy cat” gospel  has deeply impacted what was once a great asset to the church.

“Kirk Franklin posted on his facebook that Gospel Music sales are way down. Wanna know why? I can give you 5 good reasons why, and here we go.
1. Homosexuality – Even the married male gospel singers are suspect these days because they approve of the homosexual ones. They are on the stage with them, they make music with them, they have them singing background and playing instruments for them, so, where are the real men in Gospel Music? How does this affect the sales of Gospel music you may ask? Well, the devil controls the music industry so, his plan is to kill ALL sales of Gospel by merging the gospel with the secular industry. So, as Kirk puts on the pink, and Tonex dances in drag, while Dillard drops it like it’s hot, and Woods openly performs at a lesbian wedding, the devil has a greater plot. The LGBT is getting ready to shine it’s flashlight on the church and it’s gonna catch a lot of these artists and pastor with their pants down. Once they get the goods, they will force these Gospel Artists to come out like Tonex and support Carlton Pearson’s inclusion. Who wants to buy inclusion gospel music? No one, because inclusion gospel music is secular music!”

Pink lip syndrome?

Kirk Franklin’s comments may reflect 2011 sales issues. And then again with his pink lipped “I smile” video images, people may be backing off gay-themed gospel music.

According to Gospelmusic.org, the top 10 markets for Christian/Gospel music in 2008 were Los Angeles · New York · Dallas/Ft. Worth · Atlanta · Philadelphia · Chicago · Washington D.C. · Houston · Washington D.C. · Seattle/Tacoma · Minneapolis/St. Paul

A 2009 article in Eurweb contended sales were up, but concerts ticket sales were down.

Gospel music sells have exploded in recent years. The Christian music industry as a whole sold more than 44.9 million units in 2006 with twenty percent of those sales attributed to black gospel music. Black gospel music has grown to being heard on mainstream radio formats nationally and has a platform few imagined.

Although sales in the genre are up, attendance at gospel concerts have not followed suit. Major artists are struggling to fill seats causing local concerts and national tours to suffer. Some of those tours, backed by major sponsors including the Patti Labelle Tour and the Sisters In The Spirit Tour, have been cancelled abruptly leaving gospel music fans standing in the refund line scratching their heads.

James Walker, Esq., of Walker & Associates, an attorney for some of the biggest names in the business, blames market saturation.

“The explosion of gospel music has been a blessing and a curse in some ways for our touring business,” Walker told Gospel News Now. “There was a time when you could only see your Gospel artist once or twice at most a year in a given market, and rarely on television or in a video. With the present billion dollar state of gospel music and the industry as a whole, many of the artists are touring all the time and the feedback from consumers has me very concerned.”

Wheaton College is now officially under siege. In the 1958 low budget film Attack of the 50 ft Woman, the main character  used  her alien induced size and power to seek revenge against her adulterous husband and his mistress. In the 2011 spiritual remake,  religious homosexuals induced with satanic power are seeking revenge against  Christian schools who won’t give in to their demands. Let the schools beware.

The Chicago Tribune reported yesterday that a homosexual group had formed to “provide support for the gay community on the conservative Christian campus.”

It always starts out with a benign “support” premise, but quickly grows into giant, 50 foot demands of acceptance, inclusion, power-sharing and celebration. Like false gay bishop Jim Swilley, one of the alumni evokes the teen suicide phenomena.

Thankfully,  the school’s president Philip Ryken immediately responded with the school’s position on homosexuality. One that reaffirmed its sinfulness.

OneWheaton seeks to offer “a safe space” for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community, said group spokeswoman Kristin Winn. The LGBTQ community, according to Winn, is not widely accepted on campus because of the school’s official position against “homosexual behavior.”

Organizers began reaching out to students last week by passing out informational fliers outside a chapel service.

Soon after, Wheaton College President Philip Ryken sent an internal email to all students, faculty and staff that cited passages in the Bible that condemned homosexual behavior.

But Christian schools need more than a statement and internal emails. Students already know the bible is against homosexuality. Just knowing that is not enough when the opposition is offering cupcakes and sweet tea.  They need proactive measures to steal the thunder and diminish the wild claims of homosexuals whose only agenda is to legitimize their sexual acts.

We outlined several things Christian schools can do or build upon to halt the attacks. But unless they see what will become of them if they fail to contend for their heritage, it will be lost within the next ten years. Christian schools will cease to exist as a true reflection of  biblically influenced education thanks to homosexuals and vision-less school administrators.

Its no secret that scores of students are not only “struggling” with their sexuality, but others are being seduced into homosexuality because they have unresolved identity issues which makes them vulnerable.

Second notice to Christian schools: the ground is starting to quake from the giant’s approaching footsteps.

UPDATES:

(1) This is connected to why Christian institutions of higher learning are allowing homosexual advocacy groups to gain a toe-hold inside their walls. Bad news all the way around.

(2) The OneWheaton group is shopping the idea of handing out tea and cupcakes. If they do, check for arsenic and razorblades first. Spiritually speaking, that is. Its just like the satan to fold his lies in sweet sounding tricks.

(3) Ministry Today covers the OneWheaton gay activist group’s madness.

CHICAGO – In breaking news WGN  Chicago has reported some members of the Christ Universal Temple are cheering the resignation of former pentecostal bishop turned gay affirming apostate Carlton Pearson.  [source]

After less than two years in the pulpit, the embattled interim leader of Christ Universal Temple has stepped down to make room for someone new to lead one of the city’s largest congregations.

The Rev. Carlton Pearson, once one of the nation’s pre-eminent Pentecostal preachers, stirred controversy from the moment he assumed leadership of the South Side mega-church in 2009.

Ousted from his mega-church in Tulsa, Okla. for teaching that Muslims, Buddhists, and homosexuals go to heaven, he joined the New Thought movement when selected to lead Christ Universal Temple.

But some members of the congregation objected to Pearson’s appointment, saying he lacked the theological training to lead a New Thought church. The movement uses a metaphysical interpretation of the Bible and focuses on healing, meditation and thinking positive thoughts to improve one’s life.

New Thought pioneer, the Rev. Johnnie Colemon, founded Christ Universal Temple in 1956. In 1974 she formed her own denomination, the Universal Foundation for Better Living (UFBL). Then in 2006, after building a $10 million religious empire, Colemon retired with no succession plan in place.

Pearson said he has expanded that empire by launching a $3.2 million capital expenditure campaign, a prime time television broadcast and a live stream of services on the Web.

“All the things that any normal church would want to happen did,” Pearson said. “I was trying to extend the church message beyond the church walls to a inclusive audience … They want to take the church in a different direction, back to where they were before I got there.”

The Rev. Roderick Norton, a church minister, said Christ Universal is now searching for a new leader within the New Thought movement.

“I think it’s the best thing that happened,” he said. But member Hermene Hartman disagrees.

“I think it’s our loss very honestly,” Hartman said. “I don’t think he has been fully appreciated or given the opportunity for expression of ministry. It’s too bad that Christ Universal Temple wasn’t interested in a new broad church.”

Pearson has been in flux every since he debuted his specious “gospel of inclusion” and was pronounced a heretic by the Joint College of African American Bishops. Afterwards he began shilling for the homosexual christian movement. Recently he appeared on CNN and announced that he knew many gay ministers and music ministers who wanted to come out of the closet, but couldn’t because of potential money and position losses.

Christ Universal Temple is a hybrid religious organization that believes in metaphysical newthought doctrines and a large faction of members had fought Pearson’s appointment since the very beginning.

Whether this is good or not remains to be seen, but it is a rather strange occurrence. A false church forcing a false prophet to resign because he’s not false enough.

CHICAGO – The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Gospel singer Albertina Walker of Chicago died on Friday at the age of 81.

Born in Chicago in 1929, Walker began singing in the choir of West Point Baptist church at the age of 4. Walker was urged to pursue a gospel singing career by the woman who became her mentor, iconic gospel great Mahalia Jackson. Walker launched her official career at age 22, when, urged by Jackson, she formed her group the Caravans. She was a fixture in body and spirit at Chicago’s Gospel Festival since the event’s inception, both solo and with the Caravans.

Walker had been battling emphysema, and died Friday morning in a Chicago hospital, where she had been since late August.

Walker was noted by those in the black gospel music industry as an influential and “iconic” fixture in the black gospel music world for decades but in 2007 had an unpleasant public brush with the gay christian world and its musical tentacles. Walker agreed to perform at lesbian bishop Yvette Flunder’s nefarious Fellowship Conference.  GCM Watch broke the story in June 2007 with controversial results.

After learning of our story, GCM Watch was contacted by Walker’s granddaughter who stated that the gospel singer was in essence tricked by Flunder’s camp into performing at the event. Tina Nance said that Walker was “quite upset” at being booked at a gay church conference and would put policies in place to prevent it from happening in the future.

“My name is Tina Nance and Albertina Walker is my Grandmother. I came across this article while visiting her today for her Birthday. Let me first say that my grandmother did not know the background of this organization until after the event, had she known this information she would not have been a part of this program. When she learned of this information, after the fact she was quite upset, but by then it was too late. The management company that books the CARAVANS has made the appropriate changes to their process to ensure that this situation does not occur in the future.

Furthermore, I do not understand why my grandmother was singled out when she appeared at this event as part of the Caravans not as a soloist. I realize that her name is perhaps the most recognizable on the flyer, but it would’ve been responsible to mention that she performed with the Caravans and not as a soloist. My grandmother does not in anyway support or promote this lifestyle, this was very simply a case of her not being given pertinent information. Finally, I would like to add that Albertina Walker is possibly the easiest artist to contact on Earth, it would not have been at all difficult for a responsible journalist to reach her.”

You can read the entire story and our response to Tina Nance here.

A Chicago area religious personality claims that since the Bible doesn’t address so-called “sexual orientation”, then the church should accept homosexuality as normal.

“Rev. Dr. Martha Simmons, Creator and Director of The African American Lectionary. During a Feb. 18th 2010 interview with Santita Jackson on Chicago’s WVON 1690 She appeared along with Dr. Brenda Wade who we will feature in another article. Dr. Simmons stated that not only does the bible not address the issue of sexual orientation, but the word which many people claim that was used to address this issue (Gk: arsenokoites) was a word of unknown origin and meaning and was allowed to creep in later translations of the bible. She stated that this word was defined by scholars as 1- sexual behavior or 2- sexual orientation. She says that most biblical translations only refer to homosexual sexual behavior not homosexual orientation.”

Simmons started the AA Lectionary, a type of topical sermon bank for black preachers. Judging from the gaggle of liberal,  black liberation theology activists she highlights there, I wouldn’t spend ten seconds looking for sermon material to preach in church.

We are increasingly having to deal with the slithering teachings of people like Simmons (shown with homosexual bishop Vickie Robinson) who are importing false constructs into the church. Simmons’ doesn’t derive her conclusions from any honest and legitimate study of God’s Word, but rather hers is a mixture of religious and social ideology.  As we have said before, its a major error in judgment and exegetical analysis to determine that silence equals consent and approval in the scriptures.

Thus, Simmon’s argument is nothing more than a contrived strawman. The issue isn’t, nor will it ever be, whether the bible addresses sexual orientation. The issue is a vain attempt to circumvent with worldly wisdom, God’s creative intent for human sexual expression. The fallacy of the argument can be proven with a logical application to a host of contemporary issues that are not expressly mentioned in biblical texts.  But any true student and lover of the Word knows that the logos is infused with a supernatural ability to transcend time and culture.

Dunamis Word blog explains in much more detail why Simmons is being patently disingenuous in her attempts to justify homosexual behavior. Its odd how these so called religious scholars resort to such triteness of thought to convince people to believe against the will of God. Common sense would tell you that if a person has wrong feelings, it will produce wrong behavior. Homosexuality as evidenced 100% of the scriptures which mention it, is without doubt wrong behavior.  If you allow God’s word to correct wrong feelings, motives, thoughts at the root of your wrong behavior, you’ll live a life pleasing to God.

Where the term originated. Homosexuals used to be called homosexuals who had a “sexual preference”. They found out that didn’t work.  As a minority seeking more power and  needing wider social acceptance,  a more potent political identifier which deleted the idea that their behavior was a choice was concocted.  So, it was changed it to  “gay and lesbian”. Gay and lesbian was easier on the ear and opened a political and social door closed to “homosexuals”.  This self identifying metamorphosis has been adapted by pedophile and polygamists too.

As gays and lesbians gained the political clout they needed to affect laws and social mores, other sexual minorities took note and clamored for some of the power sharing. A new term was needed to include  everything not yet discovered in the pandora’s box. Hence, sexual orientation.

So the term sexual orientation is a fairly new etymological offering which has evolved to include a conundrum of sexual malfunctions outside the normal scope of male-female covenant relationships.   Advocates claim a person’s sexual orientation is “fixed at birth”.  But what’s very interesting about the sexual orientation theory is its selective application. While homosexuals and lesbians swear by it, they are still unwilling to include pedophiles. It was only in recent years that the “transgenders” got into the power circle after accusing the gays of hypocrisy.

What the bible says about our identity, emotions, thoughts and feelings
The bible says a great deal about our identity, emotions, thoughts and feelings. But all are oriented in respect to right relationship with God. In other words, with God as the source of right wrong, we learn what is and is not acceptable to him even if it involves the intangibles of our lives.

Jesus told his disciples that it was evil thoughts and motives which defile people causing them to act out what was on the inside, thus “defiling” him. Mark 7:15 There is nothing from outside a man that, entering into him, can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

And He said, “That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within and defile the man.” vss 20-23

Look closely and you’ll see homosexuality.

Hebrews 4:15 – Our feelings matter to Christ, but only as identity with us in the struggle to overcome temptation and sin.

2 Cor 10:5 Any thought, feeling, attraction or vain imagination, when in contradiction to the supremacy of Christ  must be destroyed.

Jeremiah 7:24 Acting on one’s wrong feelings and thoughts are evil and cause a person to go “backward, not forward”.

Therefore if ” sexual orientation” is based on how one feels about themselves, Jesus and the bible significantly condemn any feelings, thoughts and actions which lead a person into ungodly activity.

What’s the intent of the term’s current usage?
The introduction of the phrase “sexual orientation” marked a watershed moment in our society. Finally homosexual activists and their allies had something in which they could conveniently insert just about any feeling or sexual behavior and call it “orientation”. It is an intentionally broad term because of the growing expressions of perversion needed a home and this provided it.

Planned Parenthood tells teens that “sexual orientation is the term used to describe whether a person feels sexual desire for people of the other gender, same gender, or both genders.”

The conventional gay wisdom is that you are what you feel. And  no one can tell you what you feel is wrong for you. Typical postmodernist relativity stuff. As I asked a young gay man once who vigorously asserted to me that since he “felt” gay from the age of two, it was proof he actually was gay. I asked him if he’d felt like a pig since he was age two what would he be right now? Its silliness that doesn’t even qualify as logic.

You might be astonished to know that this type of shallow, illogical relativity has literally become “scientific” evidence upon which laws in this country are passed.

What implications does it have on the church?

Its dangerous and unbiblical for the church to adopt and include terms as “sexual orientation”. If the concept is biblical, then there is only one legitimate sexual orientation. God created man and oriented him sexually, emotionally and relationally to the woman. Thus any other attraction, emotion, feeling, behavior or the likes is illegitimate as it is rooted in fallen sinful nature.

Inclusion of such destructive terms continue to set the church at odds the divine plan of redemption. If sin can be justified with clever new phrases and “scholars” who sanctify the clever new phrases what will be the church’s message?

If our core message is not that man is hopelessly degenerate apart from the repentance and remission of sin, what is it that we will be teaching and preaching. Self help? Im ok, youre ok? All you need is a hug?  No! Our core message is what distinguishes us from every other religion because it is the express reason Jesus Christ came, suffered, died and rose again. If we allow outside influences to dilute or change that message in the slightest, we stand to lose our identity.