Steven Furtick is the Lead Pastor of Elevation Church, a Southern Baptist-associated, 25,000-member multisite campus with 17 locations. He is known for having the term “narcegesis” (narcissistic exegesis) named after him based on his inability to exegete scripture in a way that doesn’t make every story revolve around him, as well as his penchant to wear outfits that cost more than most mortgages and buddying up to Trinity-Denier T.D Jakes.
Ten months ago he replaced Kenneth Copeland at the always-heretical TBN, filling the role of the Innkeeper Thénardier from the musical Les Miserables (TBN being the Inn), with these “Masters of the house” doing whatever is the theological equivalent of “Charge ’em for the lice/Extra for the mice/Two percent for looking in the mirror twice” in his efforts to promote his brand of prosperity preaching.
Now, we have this gem, posted on October 24, 2021, to his Facebook wall.
That is some kind of something else, particularly because it directly contradicts scriptures such as 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV) which specifically says ‘Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Not for Furtick, however, who really doesn’t care what the bible thinks and would never let a troubling little verse get in the way of a good point. This nasty little pearl was cracked open in his sermon yesterday, where using the example of Peter, he states that greatness and destiny was always in the disciple, it just had to be revealed.
And to think this is one of the most influential ‘pastors’ in the world.
Oh man- this one is enough to make your skin crawl. To celebrate ‘Coming out Sunday’ Fort Washington Collegiate Church, a verifiable sanctuary for Satan if there was ever one, had their Assistant Minister James Admans (they/them whose stage name Marge Johnson) do their October 17 service in drag, wearing a transparent plastic mask that made him look like a villain straight out of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Completely nightmare-inducing.
As part of the festivities, some of the LGBTQQIP2SAA folk who were part of the praise and worship team (to Lucifer) wore rainbow masks and LGBTQ capes. Furthermore, the church handed out boa’s and other ‘drag accessories’ to whatever congregation member wanted to show their support for their cross-dressing ‘pastor’.
Yesterday Morning, “Pastor” Greg Locke of Global Vision Bible Church in Mount Juliet, TN let a guest pastor take the pulpit for a brief spin, resulting in a shameful cheer by congregants of the deceived church.
During the morning service, Mark Burns of Harvest Praise & Worship Center in South Carolina, as well as a political candidate for congress and co-founder of the NOW Television Network, took the opportunity on stage to lead the congregation in a spirited chant of “Let’s Go Brandon”- a phrase designed to be a stand-in for the coarser and profane “Fu– Joe Biden’- in the middle of his sermon.
Is anybody who’s ready to get rid of Joe Biden, we got to get rid of Joe Biden. We got to get rid of them. We got to get rid of. God help me. Lord, we got to get rid of them. We got to get rid of Kamala Harris. Anybody got to stand with me Global? Is anybody going to stand with me?
And can I say somethingt that’s very controversial. We should live in a country where our grown women should be allowed to go into a woman’s bathroom without being (unintelligible) by a grown man wearing a dress, pretending to be a woman.
…Globe, are you going to sit back and let that nasty evil mess take over our country? This is why we need leaders.
(Let’s go Brandon chant)
Globe I feel like I’m in the right church today. I’m in the right church.”
The thirteenth album in our series showing our brothers and sisters in Christ gathering for church service as faithful believers. While going to church does not make one a believer, refusing to faithfully attend a local church should seriously call that faith into question. This is a glimpse of what the global church is up to, and will feature images in chronological order, week to week, of the men and women being obedient to the scriptures. As always, click to enlarge.
For our multi-volume series showing the progression of the Church worldwide experiencing the lockdown and pandemic, from March 2020- July 2021, click here.
In an interview with Sam Wan featured on the Gospel Coalition, Simon Shead, a 24-year-old from New South Wales, spoke about his intention never to get married, serving as a microcosm for the problems with TGC as a whole.
He explains that the primary reason he is choosing lifelong celibacy and singleness is because “I believe that being single helps us to understand the sufficiency of Christ and to be undivided in our posture towards him.”
Shead offers that a secondary reasons for being single is counter-cultural, as “Non-Christians might wonder where my hope is placed if it is not in the deeply fulfilling sexual relationships we see on TV. This provides me with a great gospel opportunity.”
And the third? Out of solidarity with the gays.
Sam: You say singleness and celibacy is a godly and possible choice for straight Christians—and for the communities they are a part of. Why is that?
Simon: It is godly and possible because it is scriptural. Both marriage and singleness are great ways for a person to serve Christ!
But the cry I hear from celibate gay evangelical Christians is that straight Christians are not quite upholding the standard we apply to them. Sometimes the message from the evangelical church can feel like: “Marriage is great! Get married, everyone’s doing it. Oh, but if you’re gay, singleness is good too …”
I think a good way we can support our brothers and sisters in Christ in this area, is to stand in solidarity with them; to reclaim the gift of singleness for the church… it is worth gently pondering in the current cultural climate, is this a way we can further support our gay brothers and sisters in Christ?
Interviewer Wan affirms his decision, noting:
‘Standing in solidarity with your brothers and sisters who experience attraction to the same sex is such an important thing, and the choice you’re making is really putting your money where your mouth is.”
Talk about peak TGC right here.
Bonus: The message from the evangelical church should be that if you’re ‘gay and single,’ then you need to mortify that, as even the desire and inclination towards homosexuality are sinful. Thankfully, Christ died for those sins, and the scriptures clearly state that ‘such were some of you” is possible and in fact, is the natural progression in a life that has been submitted to Christ for sanctification.
A heart given over to God becomes given over to heterosexuality, as there is not one realm of our life that the Holy Spirit does not conform.
There’s no need to stay single, as a “same-sex attracted Christian” who will only be so temporarily as he conforms himself to Christ, ought to find a spouse in a similar position as they are or different, and get married, make babies, and conquer the world.
This above reality is what makes the upcoming comments so disastrous, as it reinforces their status as someone whom Christ can’t change and is destined to singleness and celibacy forever, suggesting it as support when, in reality, it is spiritually severing.
The megaworship concert featuring Chris Tomlin and Hillsong has dialed back some of the more nakedly commercial aspects of their upcoming worship tour, with Premiere Productions, the organization in charge of tickets and putting on the event, pulling one of the add-ons and rebranding them as ‘Experience packages’ rather than ‘VIP experiences, followng backlash on social media. See the before/ after pictures;/
For an event supposed to be designed to worship the Lord, this reeks of money-lovin’ and mammon-grubbin’ commercialism, offering multiple perks and add-on’s such as closer seats to the band, gifts, merch, lanyards, the ability to shop for merch early, early check-in with a host, and some degree of access to bands so you can bask in their presence. We support any band hocking their wares, as capitalism is a gift from God. But the fact that this is a worship event makes it feel unseemly.
We reached out to Hillsong and Tomlin’s reps but have not received a response.
Premiere Christianity, which has been covering the story, had a nice op-ed from Tom Read, where he writes:
“Looking through the various options available (of which there are a few), I can’t help but wonder: how could anyone think that this is a good idea in the context of worship? Many of us are well aware that the worship music industry has a thinly-veiled but dark underbelly of commercialism. But here, they don’t even seem to be trying to hide it anymore. Worship music, and much of the contemporary church, has a celebrity problem. And it’s about time we started talking about it…
MODERN-DAY WORSHIP HAS BECOME SO CORRUPT THAT I HAVE LITTLE DOUBT THAT JESUS WOULD FLIP THE TABLES ON MUCH OF IT
Looking at this latest offer through even the most charitable eyes, it’s hard to see it as anything other than a money-making opportunity…What about worship concerts then? Should we ever pay to attend a worship event? Some people argue that worshipping God should always be free.
While I don’t disagree with this opinion, I do think there is also a strong (and biblical) argument to be made for artists and ministers being fairly paid for what they do. This is certainly the case when it comes to covering the costs of events and other projects. But let’s be honest, there’s a significant difference between paying an artist for their work and buying VIP tickets so you can have a photo on a catwalk at a worship event. What is so problematic here is the leveraging of the worship of God for the creation of personal fame and fortune…
Visibility matters. Leaders have a responsibility to set an example they would be proud for people to follow. Are Christian VIP experiences something we really want to encourage?
We never covered this when it was released in 2015 and later discussed at the 2021 Master’s Academy International Symposium (TMAI 2021) but pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California had some alternately complimentary and then unflattering things to say about Mother Teresa, likening her knowledge of Christianity to that of a small child.
Speaking about the time when the title ‘born again’ became popularized, MacArthur explains:
Charles Colson wrote a book called ‘Born Again‘ and there was testimony in it by Mother Teresa. I remember when I met her, she did she didn’t know as much about Christianity as a Sunday school kid at Grace Community Church, I mean she didn’t know the real gospel.
And from his 2015 comments.
Mother Teresa was very true to her catholic faith. My family and I went to visit her when we were in Kolkata. We gave her a copy of the book The Gospel According to Jesus and it was an interesting occasion. She’s a very gracious woman, very strong, very gracious little four-foot lady. And the kids wanted to give her this book and so they did and she said she’d read it. Bbut mother Teresa was very, very true to her catholic faith. She’s a very true catholic.
She understood catholicism very well. In in the front of a bible which she autographed, she wrote ‘may you enter into the heart of Jesus through the Virgin Mary’ and signed her name.
So she believed that salvation is by virtue of Mary and that’s very true to the catholic faith. Another thing that was true to the catholic faith, was we went into her home for the sick and dying in Kolkata, and on the walls were Hindu gods. Pictures of the Hindu gods- you know those multi-armed bizarre gods and deities of the Hindus on the walls of this catholic facility. By the way it it was immediately adjacent to the the most vile, deviant temple that I have ever seen inmy life anywhere in the world.
For some excellent commentary, check out the BTWN page below, where we also saw the story.
Last we wrote about Pope Francis called BLM Rioters ‘Social Poets’ and ‘Collective Samaritans’ For Protesting Racist Death of George Floyd during a video call at the World Meeting of Popular Movements, where the chief papist insisted on universal basic income, praised the BLM rioters as ‘social poets’ while insisting their demonstrations were keeping Geoge Floyd’s legacy alive in a way that is akin to the story of the ‘Good Samaritan’.
We missed one section, however, which is where he invoked the name of God to punctuate his plea, asking Silicon Valley giants like Facebook, Twitter and Google to continue following their better demons and take action against what may or may not be ‘hate speech, ‘conspiracy theories’ or ‘fake news.’
According to Summit News, ‘Pope Francis also invoked the term “post-truth,” which was invented by establishment media organs after they began to lose their monopoly on controlling the narrative following the election of Donald Trump. The Catholic leader apparently believes it’s Christian and Godly to empower giant corporations to shut down free speech. This is no surprise given his previous stance on free speech in response to the slaughter of the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, when he rhetorically sided with the terrorists who murdered them in cold blood.”
Kyle J Howard, Professional Traumatized Person (PTP), appeared on the podcast ‘Saved by the city‘ which is hosted by RNS Managing editor Roxanne Stone and write Katelyn Beaty. These two were beyond elated to speak to him in order that they could justify their sloppy and haphazard church attendance.
Howard, who considers pretty much everything spiritually abusive and racists, explained that he considers the act of being spiritually abusive to be akin to attempted murder, on account of how serious it is.
“I’ve said that spiritual abuse is like attempted murder, because the dynamics there is you. People are attacking you, your foundations of faith, your foundations of belief, your foundations of hope, and all these things. They are seeking to kill you in the most fundamental areas.”
He says further:
In the book that I’m currently writing right now is addressing that specifically, the working title right now is When the Church becomes a Trigger. And what I’m doing chapter by chapter is walking through the various aspects of church spiritual life that have become triggering to those who have spiritual trauma, helping them understand why it’s triggering, and then hoping to help them heal from that.
It’s important to us understand that one of the ways in which our mind seeks to protect us from compounding trauma is to create things that we call trauma triggers. And so when someone’s been abused, it’s important to understand the context of that abuse. Do you understand that various trauma triggers that they have within certain situations?
The Word of God is supposed to be nourishment to your soul, it’s supposed to be a balm to your heart. When the Word of God is weaponized, is used to destroy rather than build up, then when you hear preaching, preaching is not something that you’re now like, ‘Hey, I’m going getting fed,’ it becomes more synonymous with choking, of someone trying to shove food down your throat in order to kill you, not trying to nourish your body.
When worship is not something that leads you to God and leads you into deeper devotion to God, but rather worship is something to control, and the words that were used in worship that are supposed to be exalting God were also meant to exalt the pastor or their version of God who was actually more oppressive than liberating, then the worship becomes triggering.
Howard has previously stated that black people ought to consider leaving their church and finding one where “black worship” is sung in order to alleviate the suffering and trauma that stems from the white worship experience.
He reasons that if they went to a church where they were spiritually abused, then they’ve come to associate songs like ‘In Christ Alone’ or ‘Amazing Grace’ that may have been sung there with spiritual abuse, making it impossible for them to sing or even be around people who are singing those songs.
Even instrumental music without lyrics can be traumatic for some, as it brings them back to the spiritual abuse they endured at the hands of the church. In perpetual PTSD, Howard explains that if he listens to music, it’ll only be from ‘pre-conversion era music or artists.’
For this reason, Howard believes that not attending church again- if it is the source of your trauma, is perfectly acceptable and that one would not feel bad about making that choice,
First and foremost, I want to just give affirmation and confirmation that there was absolutely a time and space where church can be too much for someone. God desires us to be joyful, and free in our worship and our fellowship with them. Many believe that the only way that I can come to God is through reading the Bible, the only way I can come to God is through say, even the Lord’s Prayer, the only way I can come is through collective worship and all these things. |
And so what I would want to say is that when things become triggering, because of the way that they have been used against you, you are not obligated to use those specific things when they do not bring you closer to God, but actually end up just hurting you physically and mentally and spiritually.
Worship and devotion is supposed to be healing, it’s not supposed to be harming you. So what must be done is look into investigating new ways of cultivating your spirituality and cultivating your relationship with God.
Try going for a walk and looking at the various aspects of nature, and the things that your father has created, and the various aspects of beauty that God has created, whether it be a walk, whether it be the arts, whether it be painting, music, all these kinds of things. There are ways in which you can recapture faith, so that it is vibrant, and directly connecting you with God rather than it becoming a hindrance.
The hosts see off Howard and then give signs of relief, noting that “one of the things I really appreciated was that Kyle gave permission and said it’s okay to skip church, right? Host 2 “Like probably not for the reasons I skipped church, which is again to stay in the aforementioned pajamas, But more imagining ways to connect with God when church is physically mentally too painful, imagining ways that we can still connect with God, even if we’re not in a church building.”
They conclude by talking about what their ideal day of skipping church would look like, which involves sleeping in, having a cup of coffee, going for a walk in nature, and then engaging in intentional fun like having pizza, spending time with friends,
Church is nowhere in that equation.
Bonus. Howard, reveals that starting from age 12, he was diagnosed with clinical depression, had suicidal ideations, and other “strong mental health issues’ like being diagnosed as being manic depressive, having ADHD, and also being bipolar. Somehow, however, despite all these challenges, he was a gang member who carried a razor blade in his mouth by night, and was an honor student by day .
Prominent Christian conference Together for the Gospel (T4G) has announced that 2022 will be the last year that they will be having it and that they plan on shuttering the conference on account of one of their founding members being over it and having other interests that he’d rather pursue.
Founded in 2006, T4G is a three-day, biennial conference filled with preaching, fellowship, singing, and books that has historically been geared towards reformed folk.
The event used to feature thoroughly and well-vetted sound teachers, but many of the characters have drifted in recent years. With this year’s lineup consisting of Sinclair Ferguson, HB Charles, John Piper, Shai Linne, Kevin DeYoung, Ligon Duncan. Mark Dever, Bobby Scott, Christian Lwanda, Greg Gilbert, David Platt, Allistair Begg, Juan Sanchez, and Afshin Ziafat, there are more than a few people that we wouldn’t let within a mile of our pulpits, with Piper, Platt, Duncan and Dever being key among them as those who hold a special danger.
Also notably absent is John MacArthur again this year. MacArthur used to be a mainstay but decided to forgo the conference in 2019 and now again in 2022- the result of fallout in 2019 over the Dallas Satemenment, Mohler accusing MacArthur of “malpractice for keeping his church open during much of the lockdown, and other considerations and concerns that MacArthurs might have.
In a promo video, Duncan and Dever discuss why the event is the last one, explain that Al Mohler called them, and told them ‘brothers I love you guys very much but I’ve just got to do other things now.” which was a catalyst of the end.
Given the questionable fidelity to the scriptures from several of those speakers, we rejoice that the conference is coming will come to end, and that at the very least, this is one less thing to impact the young believers who might otherwise never be exposed to them.
