Story and pictures here.

An ultra liberal church (read:apostate) in New York City has forced its liberal pastor to resign for preaching that Jesus Christ is the only way to God.  Rev. Brad Braxton, a young African American, resigned from Riverside Church via email.

“According to dissidents, Dr. Braxton went about that by bringing elements of evangelical tradition into church services. They said he called on worshipers to come forward and bear witness to their faith, favored the gospel choir over the church’s traditional choir, and preached at times what they considered a Riverside heresy: that Jesus and only Jesus was the way to salvation.”

Story and picture here

The Kentucky Baptist Association banned a Texas church youth choir from it annual mission program because the church refused to take a stand against homosexuality in its local congregation. Homosexual members of the Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth  had wanted pictures of homosexual couples to appear in the church directory. After the criticism the church didnt follow through, but still refused to openly say homosexuality was sinful.

Story here

We’ve reported before on the Equality Riders. They remind me of the door to door magazine hucksters who choose socially confused kids from low income, broken homes, feed them a chunk of lies and then put them on buses to lie and sell magazines. And sometimes other things. Take a look at one of the co-leaders of the group, a exJW. He too likes to engage in lying among other things.

SAFE (Students Against False Equality) posted on their blog that ahead of their protest commencing at Liberty University,  Soulforce released a “media advisory” with patently false information. The statement said (in all caps) ”Liberty to allow Equality Riders on Campus”. Exgaywatch spread the falsehood without even so much as questioning it. 

But the Lynchburg News Advance quoted LU spokesman Johnnie Moore as saying “We told them that they were restricted to the sidewalks.”

The group distributed a news release Monday afternoon stating that “Five young adult Equality Riders will donate gay-affirming Christian books to the Liberty University library and talk with students about safety and acceptance for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students.”

Liberty Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. said the school had not agreed to allow the activists on campus.

“I’m not sure where that information is coming from,” he said. “I don’t know if there’s a misunderstanding, or what.”

Captain Al Thomas with the LPD said he had approved Soulforce’s application to demonstrate but had not said the group would be allowed on campus.

“That’s going to be totally Liberty’s call. It’s their discretion. It’s private property,” Thomas said.

“When they (Soulforce members) are on city property, I’ll make sure they’re safe and orderly. If they decide to venture on campus, then we will help Liberty (University Police Department) with that if needed.”

Now, let’s see if we can figure this out: “allowed on campus”,  ”restricted to sidewalk”? Those two sound as different as east and west. And why would any Christian school want to allow these people access to their students?? That’s like a Jewish synagogue letting a bunch of Nazis teach jewish history to its congregation.

Related:

•  God’s righteousness vs gcm’s equality
• SAFE preparing schools for Soulforce protest

And so have others. A new initiative of students has launched SAFE, an acronym for Students Against False Equality to counteract the Equality Riders’ aggressive misinformation being waged against Christian Colleges. The false Equality Ride has gained steam as universities and colleges are forcefully blindsided by half truths, guilt complexes and public pressure to subject vunerable students to homosexual ideology and worse: homosexual conduct. What’s more, Equality Ride’s darker motive is to recruit students struggling with homosexual feelings at these schools into joining the yearly reign of terror. This year, the ex-TBN youth phenom Azariah Southworth (remember him?) is getting on the bus to help lure young people into rebellion against God and in the process doom themselves to a life with no future.

We’ve had enough.

If you are a student, parent of a student, faculty or pastor students near at any of the following schools or past schools targeted by Soulforce and you are tired of the intimidation, I urge you to contact SAFE at www.safelove.org.  They also have set up a daily blog you can visit. SAFE will provide information and guidance for students and instructors to engage these potential pied pipers with strong, irrefutable truth. Responding with love never means that Christians must be bullied by half truths and intimidation tactics.

Volunteers with SAFE have already begun an intensive 30 day public information campaign beginning with information being sent to administrators,  students, alumna and pastors on Christian and HBCU campuses in all along the route of schools targeted by Soulforce and the Equality Riders.

Help spread the word. Let’s keep Christian college campuses SAFE from Soulforce.

In case you haven’t noticed I’ve adopted the latin phrase Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum which is translated “The Word of the Lord endures forever”.  God’s word is our light and our life. Period. (John 6:63)

Of the article, I will say that it was edited, so some of the “edgy-ness” I am known for was muted somewhat, but nevertheless I’m grateful for the opportunity to speak out on the issues.

Rick Warren said in a statement that the Soulforce press release was “100% false”.

(You) were correct in assuming Newsweek quoted a Soul Force press release headline that was 100% false. We did not invite this group and I will not be meeting with them. They invited themselves to draw attention to their cross country publicity stunt.

My staff has already told them that neither my wife nor I will meet with them for any discussion or debate. This weekend, both Kay and I are receiving awards from two different universities so we’ll be out of town! Also, it’s Father’s Day and I’m spending the holiday with my children and grandchildren, as are all my staff.”

Rick Warren
Saddleback Church

At issue was a Newsweek editor Lisa Miller’s “article” which quoted from a Soulforce press release and published it as if were true. Miller later added a corrective addendum to her story.

It also highlights how the MSM will do anything to glorfy homosexuality and its practioners through media to the American public. Gay and lesbian journalists are urged refuse “defamatory rhetoric” because, they contend, it is akin to asking a white racist to comment on black civil rights. Fatally flawed ideology, but it explains why the msm only does fluff pieces or emotionally charged stories which portray homosexuals as perpetual victims of a hateful society.

Unfortunately, its not any different with the religious wing of the homosexual movement. Victimology becomes them.

First, GCM Watch is seeking testimonials of former members of gay churches namely: Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), any affiliate churches of The Fellowship (Bishop Yvette Flunder), Unity Fellowship Church Movement or any independent gay church. In addition, if you were part of an “affirming” or “inclusive” church, but left because you no longer accepted its false doctrines, please contact GCM Watch as soon as possible.

Secondly, if you have visited, but never joined a gay/affirming/inclusive church your personal narrative of that experience is also welcomed. Please tell us what you saw and heard.

Third, if you know of someone who fits the criteria above, forward this information to them and ask them to contact GCM Watch.

These personal narratives are being sought to provide a balanced and truthful counter to the lies currently being promoted by gay churches about biblical sexual morality. These organizations promise an overabundance of love, value and acceptance but what are they actually delivering to hurting and confused people?

Contact GCM Watch at gcmwatch@yahoo.com
Partial list of “affirming/inclusive” religious organizations here .

Being that I was a part of Soulforce for the American Family Outing you all don’t have any idea how much we where subjected to with lies, back stabbing hurtful words from people of God. Most people because they are not born Gay, Lesbian trans of intersex have clue what is it like to live under the misunderstandings of scripture. The rainbow community of believers can go toe to toe with scripture and life experience that God is with us.We have had to research, pray plead and study out our salvation in such intensity that you could only imagine to make sure Jesus Christ was with us. You are so misinformed and will held accountable for the deaths and for the most of the immority [sic] that goes on in the Rainbow community because you did not want to understand and open you hearts and minds like our Lord Jesus. it is sad so very sad to me. If you have to know how much God loves and likes us study about eunachs [sic], study about the fact that men lying with men where the hetro sexual men that where showing their contril[sic] and power by raping their enemy. Then contining [sic] to lie with men as if they where women because they where perverted in their born nature of being hetro. Sexual and Gender indenity[sic] are formed because of hormone washings, you can sit there and say GOSH no Mother could ever have any hormone washings but perfect ones, GET A CLUE: DRUGS, STRESS AND OTHER INFLUENCES CAN CHANGE OUR IDENTITIES. i KNOW FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. wake up and get off the ban[sic] wagon of hateful comments” (caps his).

You are welcome to comment on Mr. Lee’s many assertions.

Mel White, the grand guru of the gay christian movement provides a glimpse of what is at the root of the gcm’s false beliefs. Although the totality of scripture declare it sinful and repulsive to God, homosexuality, has been reinvented as a “gift”.

If indeed homosexuality is a sin according to scripture, then it is not a gift but rather a payroll installment on something far worse.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Romans 6:23

Perhaps if there was even a smidgeon of scripture from which the gay christian movement could base this assertion on, it could be examined more fully in the theological context. But the truth is that this was made up, and has as much spiritual credibility as the existence of the tooth fairy. But yet, White says it as if he had gotten it straight from the mouth of God.

This is precisely why the gay christian movement must be confronted openly. The blatant lie told by White and others does not liberate nor facilitate reconciliation with God. Instead, it destroys souls and prevents them from entering into the kingdom of God. Contrast that to God’s will that men know the truth and be made free (John 8:32).

Read the story here.

Dear Bishop Long,
Hello and good day to you. I hope all is well at the receipt of this email. Please bear with me as I present my concerns as a 7 year member of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church . I know you probably receive emails all the time, so I will try not to bore you with all the petty details. To begin, I just want to say that I am extreamly[sic] shocked and suprised at the handling of the situation with gay-activist group Soulforce. Never would I have thought that the doors of New Birth would be open to unashamed and prideful individuals such as Soulforce for their American Family Outing Tour. For some time now, this group has traveled to many different colleges and now churches, inquiring to have “dialogue” with leadership of these institutions. What I am finding funny is that they have not targeted Mosques or Synagogues….hmmm.

Is it because they know the Muslim religion will not tolerate open homosexuality in any form…but I digress. Some of the Christian colleges turned them down and would not even allow them to come onto their properties because they understood what Soulforce was about. I am finding it very disturbing that the churches on Soulforce’s list so far, has opened their doors to the individuals…individuals who, without any form of repentance, have become idolaters of their sexuality rather than Jesus Chris t. These individuals are traveling across the South and Midwest to spread their form of the Gospel…a gospel that does not call for holiness, rather, it calls for an imagination-stretch of Bible interpretation. An interpretation that allows for couples of the same-sex to engage themselves in sexual relationships with the expected blessings of God as his children. We are truly in a time where “every man does what is right in his own eyes.”

Well, apart from Soulforce(understanding that such persons are going to do what they are going to do regardless), my real disturbance came when my mentor, DL Foster, his wife and I came to the church on this past sunday, hoping to see Elder W. Prude prior to services @ 10:30. Unfortunately, that was not arranged and we were met by Mr. William Turner. Mr. Turner was very cordial in his greeting of us. However, when Pastor Foster inquired about a meeting with Soulforce and New Birth officials, he denied it and did a verbal dance around the question, making analogies that did not correlate to the yes/no question. He did say that he “did/did not” meet with Sylvia Rhue, a member of Soulforce, for breakfast. His words were that it was/was not an official meeting. If you read the way I’m typing this, this is how it was being presented…like a professional marketing director…someone who knows how to talk double talk. I don’t mean to be demeaning, but he was very demeaning to our intelligence. Both Pastor Foster and I knew what was happening as Mr. Turner was talking. He was giving half-truths, which equates to an untruth. Would it not have been preferable to have just told us we are unsure, as opposed to giving us half-truths? I’m a grown man. Therefore, all he had to do was tell me, “Yes or No or I don’t know.” I would have been fine with either. But to speak to us as though we were not intelligent enough to follow along with what was being said was very demeaning and insulting. Then to my surprise I see the pictures up on their American Family Outing web site. That was a meeting to me. William Turner said that you were not even here and that you were not meeting with Soulforce. It was apparent that he did not hear when one of the ministers mentioned that Bishop was at church that day, coming from his long trip from Dubai . When I saw those pictures I was actually hurt…as a member of this church, to see my Bishop rubbing elbows with those who make a mockery of Chris t, yet claim to be Christians. Those who, as the Bible says, “count the blood of Chris t as a common thing,” by their unrepentant lifestyle. Then to know that Mr. Turner lied or misrepresented the truth to us regarding the “meeting/not meeting.” I was actually astonished. That really took me for a loop to where all I could say was “Wow. What just happened?”

Bishop Long, for almost 6 years I have been ministering and walking with people in the church who struggle with same-sex attractions(SSA), under the leadership of Elder Weems (whom I miss dearly). This is my calling and I will take it to the grave unless the Holy Spirit moves me to do something else. I am very well versed in the issue from many dynamics. People like Soulforce and other activists do not like contending with people like Pastor Foster and I because we know the real intent behind their tactics and we know how to address them in debate if necessary. Our motive is not to get our names in lights or to get money from churches…far from it. My one and only motive is to serve, upbuild and protect the Kingdom of God from wolves in sheep clothing, who will spread a false gospel, possibly to young people who may be in an impressionable and confused state of mind. And to warn the church of those who do not have their best interest at heart. However, it appears that those like myself and Foster get pushed aside while self-serving gay activists get the star treatment.

So, to end, I will say that I am deeply disturbed by the turn of events. I really had no idea that my church would entertain such persons. Soulforce was only doing this as a marketing ploy and to add credibility to their cause by meeting with the “mega-church leaders.” They succeeded. Now, I don’t know what was said at the meetings/non-meetings, so I will give the benefit of the doubt that not only the love of Christ was shown, but also there was a stand for righteousness and holiness. I read the Southern Voice article, and I agree, the media has spoken poorly about you as it pertains to issues with the gay community. But that is to be expected when one preach the unadulterated word of God. As soon as one compromises, then the media will sing their praises. It is my hope that you will respond and that I will not receive a form letter to this from a secretary. If you do not respond, I won’t be moved. I will simply write it off and move on. I thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
James Pennyman