Its possible you’ve heard of  the “Red Letter Christian”  theological conglomeration. Its a strange religious concoction which attempts to make the so-called red letter passages of scripture (the quote-unquote words of Jesus) more important than other passages in the bible. Not that the bible itself places this kind of emphasis on the quoted words of Jesus, but its a progressive postmodernism gimmick used by liberal religious leaders to counter what they see is too much emphasis on things like sin, sexual immorality, holiness, repentance and hell.  Additionally, RLC have a political axe to grind with the social conservative movement which is opposed to homosexual rights and abortion. Thus, they attempt to leverage the socio-political playing field by narrowing what scriptures are applicable to the aforementioned issues.

For the record ALL SCRIPTURE is given by inspiration of God (2 Tim 3:16). Nothing in the bible tells us or even implies that some scripture is more important that other parts —even the words of Jesus. That’s because the scripture is one, complete and harmonious system of doctrine and God-inspired logos. Scripture does not contradict scripture and one part doesn’t cancel out other parts without proper exegetical integrity in interpretation. But the Red Letter Christians have found a way around that.

Framers of the Red Letter movement include Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners magazine; Richard Rohr, a well-known Catholic writer; Brian McLaren, an Emergent Church leader; and Tony Campolo, a popular speaker and author of Red Letter Christians: a Citizen’s Guide to Faith and Politics.

The group chose the name for a couple of reasons: first, to stress that its political philosophy is based on Jesus’ teachings—a “What Would Jesus Do?” approach to governmental policy. Second, to appear apolitical—the appellation “Red Letter Christians” avoids the political connotations of labels such as “liberal” and “progressive,” and it facilitates the group’s claim that it transcends politics.

Red Letter Christians resent what they see as the religious right’s fixation on abortion and homosexual rights. Since Jesus did not deal with those two issues, they say, we should not make them more urgent than other issues. Instead, Red Letter Christians focus on political policies affecting poverty, global warming, racial discrimination, the role of the military, capital punishment, foreign aid, and public education. [source]

Having a faulty premise to begin with can only lead one into further error and that’s exactly how lead framer Tony Campolo has devolved. In his quest to make things right politically for homosexuals, he realized there was a fundamental problem. Not only were so-called religious right against homosexuality but there existed a much more formidable enemy. Campolo had to chop up, dissect, diminish, disconnect and reorder the truth of scripture so that his political assertions would have some sort of theological support system. So he created the red letter lie manual.

We’ve reported on Campolo before. Like most gay affirming religious figures, the cover of youth is very convenient for them to seed their lies about sexuality. Campolo is nearing completion of his master’s degree in red letter deception. In an interview on his Red Letter Blog he immediately drops the youth issue as justification for his own errors.

“What’s happened overall in the last few years is that a younger generation is emerging with different values. Consider the homosexual issue. Recent studies indicate that older people tend to be opposed to gay marriage and younger people, while still conservative on the issue, do not consider it a defining issue for Christians.  While conservative in their thinking, they put in an emphasis alongside of their concerns about the environment, their opposition to war, their concerns about human trafficking and, most of all, their concerns about poverty.  I’m in the middle, closer to the younger.”

With a nonchalant shrug, Campolo goes on to say that he doesn’t “approve” of homosexuality.  Does the bible really care that Tony Campolo approves of homosexuality or not? Hardly, especially when he circumvents the truth by insisting that talking about homosexuality isn’t something contemporary should be concerned about. After all, people are hungry, wearing second hand clothes and cant get the latest version of the Ipad.  So what’s the big deal about homosexuality? What’s interesting is that false teachers almost always downplay serious issues like homosexuality, but then spend a majority of their time talking about it. They want YOU to be quiet so they can dominate the discussion with their lies.

Campolo is being disingenuous when he says he doesn’t approve of homosexuality. His attendance as a speaker at a gay christian conference is sufficient evidence to that regard. How could a person disapprove of something, but then voluntarily attend an event put on by people who engage in what you allegedly disapprove of?  According to the gay christian network (see adherents)  Campolo “does not support attempts to “convert” gays into straights; rather, he advises gay people to pursue celibacy.”  Thats a political way of saying that homosexuals can’t change. That’s not biblical (reference 2 Cor 5:17) , but of course its a convenient caveat for the red letterers.

The red letter movement is closely associated with the emergent church movement. Both groups have cultivated a facade of being caring, tolerant and concerned but the reality is that they are part and parcel of those who teach doctrines of devils. False teachers come in all colors. Even red. For more information about Campolo’s emergent church heresy, check out Apprising Ministries writeup here.

Media outlets in Wilmington, NC reported that a 54 year old Church of God in Christ “superintendent” has confessed to multiple sexual crimes against a 14 year old boy. The crimes occurred in 1998 while the boy stayed in the pastor’s home.

According to several news outlets [see here, here and here] Superintendent Thomas A. Wiggins,Jr., pastor of the Faith Temple COGIC and Bolton COGIC was arrested and charged November 29th with five counts of first-degree sexual offense and five counts of indecent liberties with a minor.

The crimes are of a serious nature. North Carolina law defines the charges thusly:

§ 14‑27.7A. Statutory rape or sexual offense of person who is 13, 14, or 15 years old.

(a) A defendant is guilty of a Class B1 felony if the defendant engages in vaginal intercourse or a sexual act with another person who is 13, 14, or 15 years old and the defendant is at least six years older than the person, except when the defendant is lawfully married to the person.

§ 14‑202.1. Taking indecent liberties with children.

(a) A person is guilty of taking indecent liberties with children if, being 16 years of age or more and at least five years older than the child in question, he either:

(1) Willfully takes or attempts to take any immoral, improper, or indecent liberties with any child of either sex under the age of 16 years for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire; or

(2) Willfully commits or attempts to commit any lewd or lascivious act upon or with the body or any part or member of the body of any child of either sex under the age of 16 years.

(b) Taking indecent liberties with children is punishable as a Class F felony.

The unmarried Wiggins is an “adminstrative assistant” to Bishop CE Anderson in the denomination’s North Carolina 2nd Jurisdiction [source].

Despite numerous high profile sex crimes and cases of sexual immorality among members of its clergy, denominational leaders continue to deny that clergy sexual abuse is a significant problem. In November 2009, the denomination’s chief lawyer Enoch Perry told a church gathering

“Media coverage of any sexual oriented event and the church will have a negative slant. The pessimistic coverage will have a direct impact on the overall public perception of the church involved, its corporate body and its membership. Additionally, this negativity will directly affect new membership and outside donations.”

Report COGIC Abuse has been documenting the shocking examples of disregard for biblical admonitions and the church’s own seemingly selective application of its own constitution.

Despite a letterallegedy leaked by the church’s COO detailing legal failures and ethical violations by Perry, he was promoted to bishop in the 2011 convention in St Louis.

The case with Thomas raises the number of cases in 2011 to four and 47 total documented cases.
Cross posted at COGIC Abuse Watch blog

A panel discussion featuring a live audience is set to discuss how the church is dealing with the ever-morphing issue of homosexuality. Hosted by Starr Quality TV, panel guests include Paulette Exile, Pastor DL Foster, Bishop Brehon Hall and Pastor Guy Reeves. The event is open to the public.

Please see above flier for location, time and date.

Virtue Online reported that progay bishop Katharine Schori has reached a new low by defending a man who confessed to sexual misconduct with a child. Further evidence that via Schori’s reign of error,  the Episcopal Church USA has become become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. Rev 18:2

The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church is defending her decision to allow a former Roman Catholic monk to become an Episcopal priest even after he admitted to sexual misconduct with a minor.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori has been under increasing pressure to answer charges that she did not properly investigate the Rev. Bede Parry’s past when she was bishop of Nevada in 2004.

She initially brushed off inquiries and then remained silent till this week when, under increasing pressure from VOL and canon law attorney A.S. Haley, she issued a statement arguing that she knew of only one incident when Parry, now 69, sought ordination as an Episcopal priest. She also said that Parry passed a background check and a psychological evaluation before he was ordained.

The condition of his ordination, said Jefferts Schori, was that Parry was to be supervised by another priest and not permitted to work alone with children.

“I made the decision to receive him believing that he demonstrated repentance and amendment of life and that his current state did not represent a bar to his reception,” she wrote in her official statement.

In a signed statement and newspaper interview this year, Parry admitted to several acts of sexual misconduct with young adults and teenagers while he was a Catholic monk in the 1970s and 1980s. “Frankly, those allegations, most of them are true,” Parry told the Kansas City Star in June.

Parry resigned from All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Las Vegas that month when a civil lawsuit was filed alleging that he abused a minor in 1987. At the time of the alleged abuse, Parry was a monk and choir director at Conception Abbey in Conception, Mo.

Current Nevada Bishop Dan Edwards said Thursday that Parry has not been accused of wrongdoing since his Episcopal ordination. “His voluntary resignation was for the good of the church.”

Parry has not functioned as a priest since his June resignation and will not be permitted to return to ministry, Edwards added. Bishop Edwards does not state that Parry has renounced his orders, but that he “resigned” from the diocese and that he will not function as a priest. We are not clear what “resigning” from a diocese is. Renunciation of orders requires a certification that the renunciation “was for causes which do not affect the person’s moral character.” Has Bishop Edwards given that certification? If he has not accepted a renunciation, has Parry’s ministry been restricted under Title IV? If neither has occurred, on what basis are we assured that Parry will not function as a priest in the future?

Before she agreed to ordain Parry, Jefferts Schori said she wrote to Catholic bishops in Las Vegas and Santa Fe, N.M., and received brief responses that “indicated no problematic behavior.”

Jefferts Schori also said she wrote to Conception Abbey “from whom I received only an acknowledgement that he had served there, been sent for treatment to a facility in New Mexico, and had been dismissed for this incident of misconduct.”

By his own admission, Parry’s statement contained an unequivocal declaration about what was communicated to the Presiding Bishop when she was the Bishop of Nevada: “Also in 2000, I considered joining the Prince of Peace monastery in Riverside, California. Prince of Peace had me undergo a series of psychological tests. After the testing, Prince of Peace’s Abbot Charles Wright informed me I was no longer a candidate. The psychological evaluation had determined that I had a proclivity to reoffend with minors. Abbot Wright called Conception Abbey’s Abbot Gregory Polan with this information.

Read the full story at Virtue Online. You can also read more GCM Watch reporting on the wicked reign of Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori.

Earlier this year, GCM Watch reported that Baltimore pastor Jamal Bryant was moderating a “conversation” about homosexuality at his Empowerment Temple Church. Slated on the guest list was gay christian cleric Dennis Meredith of Atlanta and former lesbian Brenda Burton of Jacksonville, NC. The event was billed as “Homosexuality in the House of God”.   Per the graphic flyer that was released by the ministry, Meredith got the “featured” billing. But after the GCM Watch article, the graphic was amended and rereleased with Burton’s name added. You can see both graphics from the event here.

Videos of that  exchange have now been uploaded to Youtube but only five of the seven parts are available. Part 1 is Bryant presumably giving some historical background and context but the actual “conversation” doesn’t begin until about 5 minutes into part 2.

We have not reviewed all the videos, but feel free to add your comments and insights as you view them.

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Gay christian bishop Vickie Gene Robinson speaking the lies of his father and sowing death into the lives of young people confused about their sexuality. The false “it gets better” campaign has done nothing but foment a spirit of death in America. Leave it up to false, self identified religious talking heads like Robinson to do his part in keeping young people in the darkness of sin.

Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. Eph 5:6-7 KJV