Tag: andy stanley

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Andy Stanley: “Here’s an Uncomfortable Fact. White People Fear Black Men”

North Point Community Church ‘impastor’ Andy Stanley continued his wretched job of smarmily assessing what’s wrong with Christendom and then explaining why he and his church are nailing it 24/7- this time as it pertains to issues of race and racial reconciliation. Usually one famous for pushing the seeker-sensitive model, Stanley has asserted that all white men have what is known as the “fearful gaze”- meaning they fear black men, whether consciously or unconsciously.

For a brief reminder of the various theological controversies surrounding Stanley, he made waves for encouraging Christians to essentially throw out the Old Testament, arguing that believers should “unhitch” themselves from portions of Old Testament Scripture. This is essentially a spin-off of the heresy of Marcionism. He went on the warpath against doctrine in general, claiming that “unity is more important than theology.” Stanley argued that Jesus’ birth doesn’t really matter, thus casting doubt upon his supernatural birth and the events surrounding the nativity and also tacitly denounced Biblical inerrancy, at least in the eyes of many.

Stanely has been on a roll since the pandemic hit, telling members that the “Foundation of our Faith is not the Whole Bible,” that the Lord does not require them to meet for church, that George Floyd was “This Generation’s Samson,” and to “Sleep late and skip church” during Father’s Day.

From his July 8, 2020 sermon on the Human Race, Stanley explains:

The truth is rarely found in the extremes. You know that. It’s found where the circles overlap in the middle, the messy middle. Dr. King told us that as well. In fact, he modeled that. He died in part because of that. The messy, messy, messy, middle, that’s where the brutal, uncomfortable facts all come together.

But it’s also where problems can be solved. But it is so uncomfortable. It’s so much easier to retreat to the echo chamber of extremes where everybody agrees, but nothing is ever accomplished. In the messy middle, we’re confronted with uncomfortable facts.

And by the way, facts aren’t fair. But facts don’t care. Here’s an uncomfortable fact. White people fear black men. That’s not fair. But it’s true.

What makes this even more unfair is that in the vast majority of cases, our fear of black men is in no way connected to our personal experience. And if that wasn’t unfair enough, study after study has shown- you know this- that fear of black men doesn’t even spring primarily from racism. It’s deeper than that. And that’s not fair to black people or white people.

Most black men have experienced what some people refer to as ‘the fearful gaze’, the fearful gaze of white men and women.

Then on the other side of the equation, is this the majority of African Americans in our country, they don’t trust the criminal justice system, do you? I mean, you fear the police. That’s not fair. Facts don’t care.

and later:

“So white people fear black men. The majority of black people don’t trust the police. Most police handle themselves professionally. And then there’s this, whereas our fear of black men is rarely if ever connected to personal experience. If you’re an African American, you know this, your mistrust of the criminal justice system is connected to personal experience. Us white folks, we fear what might happen. You fear what has happened.

h/t to WokepreacherTV

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Andy Stanley Agrees with Rabid Heretic Feminist that Christians Should not Strive to be ‘Biblical’

Jory Micah continues prancing into apostasy without a care in the world, giving the world a living, breathing emblem of what it means to be wholly without the mind of Christ. Known across social media as a breath of fresh-air for those man-hating liberal feminazi types who want to pretend like they still practice some form of piety while hating anything and everything about the God revealed in Scripture, she’s managed to get none other than Andy Stanley to agree with her give her cover for her wretched beliefs.

Not particularly unique or original in her own right, she is essentially the knock-off brand of Jen Hatmaker, or perhaps the Wish version of Beth Moore, only about 20 percent more honest, and she unleashed on the world of fresh controversy when she explained that the goal for Christians is not to be “Biblical” but Christlike”

This is because she doesn’t believe the bible and despises half the things it says, resulting in her being pro-LGBTQ, pro-choice, denying the existence of hell, and routinely referring to God as a woman. Its no wonder she doesn’t want anyone to be biblical!

This plays nicely with Stanley, who frequently holds similar views in terms of the bible’s usefulness and the degree we ought to follow it.

For a brief reminder of the various theological controversies surrounding Stanley, he made waves for encouraging Christians to essentially throw out the Old Testament, arguing that believers should “unhitch” themselves from portions of Old Testament Scripture. This is essentially a spin-off of the heresy of Marcionism. He went on the warpath against doctrine in general, claiming that “unity is more important than theology.” Stanley argued that Jesus’ birth doesn’t really matter, thus casting doubt upon his supernatural birth and the events surrounding the nativity and also tacitly denounced Biblical inerrancy, at least in the eyes of many.

She writes:

One commenter, Matt, nicely summed up the problem with Micah’s and Stanley’s Views

Micah and Stanley have an idea of who Jesus is in their minds, and they want to define him absent and apart from the only source we have infallible knowledge of him.

And it shows.

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Andy Stanley says ‘You Have To Offend White People’ Or Else They’ll Never Repent Of Racism

North Point Community Church “impastor” Andy Stanley continued his wretched job of smarmily assessing what’s wrong with Christendom and then explaining why he and his church are nailing it 24/7- this time as it pertains to issues of race and racial reconciliation. Usually one famous for pushing the seeker-sensitive model, when it comes to topic he advocates for blunt conversation and an insistence on ‘offending white people’ in order so they can confront how racist they truly are.

Stanely has been on a roll since the pandemic hit, telling members that the “Foundation of our Faith is not the Whole Bible,” that the Lord does not require them to meet for church, that George Floyd was “This Generation’s Samson,” and to “Sleep late and skip church” during Father’s Day.

From the 400 Leadership Summit hosted by the OneRace Movement, when asked how he gets his church engaged in anti-racism work, given that his church is predominantly white and won’t care about this issue, as it hasn’t affected them much, he explains:

You have to offend white people with this topic [racism] to get their attention. It can’t be stated in balanced tones or we don’t even hear it, because no white person really thinks they’re a racist and they don’t even think they’re prejudiced. We don’t. And issues of reparations, all those things, it’s like, “Well, that wasn’t us and that wasn’t you, and why are we even talking about it?”

I really am convinced you have to push harder on that topic to even get a white man’s attention. And I know this from personal experience, in terms of things said in sermons, things that our other pastors have said in sermons that finally, you know it’s only when we get negative email that I know, well, we finally got their attention. They finally heard what we were saying, because it is so it is buried, so deep, and it is so easily dismissed.

And especially for white men who have very few interactions with black men or have virtually no black friends who are in conversations within, which we can talk about in a few minutes.

so part of it is, you know, the scripture addresses so many topics, but when it comes to this topic, because virtually no white man thinks they are guilty, it’s not enough to-, you have to push and push and push to the point where, “Hey. wait a minute. I think you’re pushing an agenda.” Well, you’re finally listening. I’ve finally gotten to that point of your conscience that it’s bothered by this.


h/t to WokePreacherTV for the clip and transcript.

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Featured Money Grubbing Heretics Op-Ed Scandal Unrighteous Compliance

Op-Ed: Andy Stanley’s New Tirade Against the Church Proves He’s a Demonic Three-Fold Son of Hell

North Point Community Church “impastor” Andy Stanley continued his wretched job of being seen as the elder statesman of evangelicalism, with his new declaration that he was “embarrassed” at how Churches were battling governments for the right to have their church service.

Stanley, a true wolf if we ever saw one who is ever-content to juggle the heads of sheep in order to entertain the goats, made the comments during the Exponential’s Future of the Church conference on March 4, where he lamented the “spitting match” between pastors and local health officials. He further declared that the practice of meeting in a church for worship and hearing the preaching of God’s word is just a “model” that can be tweaked or even removed if needed, all in an act of excruciating arrogance that would make even James White’s cheeks flush red in disbelief at the smug pomposity.

Stanely has been on a roll since the pandemic hit, telling members that the “Foundation of our Faith is not the Whole Bible,” that the Lord does not require them to meet for church, that George Floyd was “This Generation’s Samson,” and to “Sleep late and skip church” during Father’s Day.

This infantile outburst from a chronic rabble-rouser is particularly galling, given that he couldn’t exegete his way out of a crib to save his life and the rest of his clueless congregants. Stanley famously shut down the 40,000-member multi-campus church back almost a year ago, and it still isn’t open, with all adult services still being live-streamed.

Yet speaking to the crowd, Stanley regaled them with his expertise in all things not biblical by stating that so many churches had the “exact wrong” approach to dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in their eagerness to resume their services.

The thing that has been concerning to me about the local church is how quickly so many local churches felt like, ‘We’ve got to get back in our building, shoulder to shoulder, doing what we’ve always done.’

It was the exact wrong response to COVID because we had an opportunity…of a lifetime to do new things, try new things, experiment with new things because we couldn’t do the old things. And instead of focusing on what we can’t do, we should have been 100 percent…focused on what we can do.

The three-fold son of hell (he passed two-fold a long time ago) continued to explain that he was embarrassed by churches who pushed back against the governments in a bid to stay open, suggesting they had “abandoned the mission for the sake of the model” while also “abandoning the New Testament mandate:”

I thought, ‘Wait a minute. We’re the Body of Christ. We’re not in it to win it.’ As you’re in it to win it, you’ve abandoned our New Testament mandate. We’re in it to serve, and there is more need than there’s ever been…

I know it sounds like I’m bragging, but I’m so proud of our staff and our churches and the adults in our church who put up with me saying, ‘No, we’re not going to meet. I know the church down the street’s meeting…but we are intentionally re-deploying and refocusing our attention at this time because this is a unique opportunity, and it’s going to come to an end, but we need to take full advantage of the opportunity.’

Stanley declared that the mission of the church was to “inspire people to follow Jesus,” and that gathering in a church for worship and listening to a sermon is simply a “model” that may be modified or abandoned at will. He explained “you marry the mission, you date the model,” and that he was embarrassed for anyone who did otherwise, especially if it involved coming into conflict with the powers looking to crush the Christians.

You inspire people to follow Jesus — that’s our mission. You date the model: Shoulder to shoulder in a building, singing songs and worshiping and listening to sermons. I know I’m going to get in trouble for saying this — all that is, is a model.

During this season, you abandon the model for the sake of the mission. But the local churches that abandoned the mission for the sake of the model and rushed back into the model…I feel like we, in some cases, missed an extraordinary opportunity, especially the churches that got in a spitting match…with local and state governments. That was just embarrassing to me as a Christian.

We can only hope by then that while Northpoint remains closed, most of the congregants come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and leave to find biblical churches led by pastors who don’t have their smarminess dialed to 10 and their deviltry cranked to 11. This way, when they finally do reopen, they’ll find their attendance at least cut in half, the consequences of their sin and disobedience on full display for the world to see.

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Charismatic Nonsense Church In-person Church Unrighteous Compliance

It’s 2021, and Andy Stanley’s Church Isn’t Open Yet

North Point Community Church pastor Andy Stanley, who on July 14th declared that his church doors would be officially closed until the new year, announced that they would slowly start to open up some of their churches in the next few months, having their first adult in-person services in almost a year.

Maybe.

During Stanley’s July announcement that the 40,000 member megachurch was closing, he cited risk of their congregants getting COVID-19 as the primary factor (with fear of giving a subpar “worship experience” as a secondary one). He pointed out that if anyone attending church in any of their services got the virus, Northpoint would be responsible for all contract tracing, which from their perspective would be impossible to track and trace successfully.

Since then, he has repeatedly argued that it would be unloving and a bad witness for his church to open up, getting defensive and prickly when people chide him for it, such as when John MacArthur called him out.

Yet it appears that he changed his mind despite an even greater difficulty to contact trace and protect his people.

On the day that Stanley announced North Point was closing due to coronavirus fears, there were 2462 new cases and 24 deaths.

Now, on the day they announced a staggered reopening, there were 8924 cases and 164 death, numbers which are expected only to rise in the next few months, leading one to wonder about his logic for closing in the first place given the magnitudal change.

This is especially true in light of the comments by Bill Willits, North Point’s executive director of ministry environment, who told The Christian Post:

Our other campuses will be reopening when we can ensure a safe experience and adequate spacing for adults, students, and kids at the same time…

So we are starting with a staggered approach focusing on our children and student environments. Of course, anything we do is predicated that there [will not be] a rise in the number or severity of COVID cases, school closings, and hospital bed limitations.”

They closed the church when the numbers were low, started opening when they were 4-6 times worse than when they closed, and now are saying they may abandon their plans to reopen if the cases get worse?

That makes about as much sense as when Stanley said that “God did not command people to gather for church.”

Willits further revealed they are slowly starting to accept limited services for students at 3 of their 7 churches, with the possibility of starting some services for adults in February or March in the Browns Bridge, East Cobb, and Woodstock City locations, with the other congregations left to rot in ecclesiastical purgatory until God knows when.

We can only hope by then that most of the congregants have left to find biblical churches in the area and that when North Point reopens, they find their attendance at least cut in half, the consequences of their sin and disobedience on full display for the world to see.




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Evangelical Stuff In-person Church News Unrighteous Compliance

Andy Stanley Justifies Church Closing until 2021 with These Outlandish and Arrogant Claims

North Point Community Church pastor Andy Stanley decided to respond to critics and church members dogging him for his decision to close his Church until at least 2021, though at the rate things are going he’ll be well into 2022 by the time he opens the church doors and welcomes his little goatlings back into the pen.

Stanely has been on a roll since the pandemic hit, telling members that the “Foundation of our Faith is not the Whole Bible,” that Geroge Floyd was “This Generation’s Samson,” and to “Sleep late and skip church” during Father’s day.

During his November 29 service, however, Stanley expressed his gratitude for his flock, or at least the ones who haven’t gone feral from being away from the body for so long. Because of continued financial support, he stated that no staff jobs were lost and the bills are continuing to be paid.

He emphasized the generosity of spirit of the congregation proven by a record-breaking tally for their to their “Be Rich” campaign, no mean feat in the midst of a pandemic. The “Be Rich” campaign is an “initiative to partner with life-changing organizations in our communities and around the globe.”

Essentially, they raise money to give to primarily secular organizations, from The Drake House where “These funds will go toward creating a dedicated space for the students of The Drake House to either complete their homework or do virtual learning should the need arise” to Atlanta Habitat for Humanity.

Stanley, who oversees six churches with nearly 40,000 members all spread across the Atlanta Region, quoted Ephesians 1:15-16, as the text he built much of his sermon on . “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” He says:

We have not met in the church building for nine months, and you gave more to ‘Be Rich’ than you have ever given before – over $7 million, and that is, well, I don’t even have words for that.

Stanley recounts how a “high-profile media person” who had been taking some potshots at him and his decision to close asked him how his megachurch was “doing spiritually’ given that they’ve been all-virtual for the better part of the year. Taking this to be a little dig at him and a backhanded way of suggesting that something was amiss in the congregation, he responded:

Well, they gave over $7 million in 39 days to support the local charities and our communities. And if Jesus was serious about that ‘where your treasure is there your heart is,’ then I think we’re doing pretty good.

…When someone takes a shot at us on social media for not being ‘open’ [Editor’s note: he uses finger quotes on the word open] I’ve been sending them the four minutes video of our ‘Be Rich’ celebration. And I’m always tempted to add ‘hey, our closed church just did a thousand times more for other people in 39 days than your open church has done in the past 10 years. So shut up with all that, right?’ But I restrain myself and do my best to walk in the way of love. But when people who don’t know you take a shot at you, it is difficult to restain my evil thoughts.

During the rest of the sermon, Stanley also thanked his congregation for allowing him to remain apolitical during the election, and showing grace for his decision not to bring up political topics, but rather remain focused on other things.

It’s not the first time Stanley has been outspoken at critics who questioned his decision to cease in-person services. Several months ago he said during a broadcast that there was no command to actually meet in person as a body, saying:

People on the other end of this argument, I keep hearing them say over and over ‘the Lord commanded us to meet. The Lord commands us to meet.

He does not. 

Studies and surveys have shown that the rate of which people congregants actually tune in live church service broadcasts has dropped precipitously, with only around 25% participating.

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Church Featured Righteous Defiance

Andy Stanley Discusses John MacArthur and Shutting Down his Church: ‘the Lord does Not Require us to Meet’

In a panel at Liberty University, David Nasser spoke with Andy Stanley about the theological basis for being closed while other churches in the area, including Grace Community Church, stay open. Stanely responds:

There is a theological basis for this (closing down church until 2021) and this is where I part ways with some of those folks, John in particular, perhaps. I’ve never met John MacArthur, so, you now…all I know is what I’ve read, I guess, like most people.

“You should go to his home,” interjects Nassar, to a visibly surprised and uncomfortable Stanley who seems horrified at the idea

John said some not so nice things about me, not by name, but he’s made some comments about those who have decided not to meet for the rest of the year. He said that we aren’t really a church and we don’t know how or don’t care about shepherding our people, so I’m like ‘wow that’s a lot from someone I’ve never met’. but that’s ok.

Stanley goes back to the theme of ‘what does love require of us’ which is the basis for them shutting down. Stanely argues that ultimately it requires sacrifice for the community.

“So again, I think the church always looks better when we are defending other people’s rights, rather than defending our own. The church always looks better when it is giving away, rather than demanding our way, and this is what Jesus modeled.

People on the other end of this argument, I keep hearing them say over and over ‘the Lord commanded us to meet. The Lord commands us to meet.’

He does not. He commands that we lay down our lives for our friends, that we do what’s best for others.. even the apostle Paul said this when describing Jesus in his letter to the Philippians, he said he who was equal with God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. In other words Jesus, this is amazing…Jesus never played the god card. He never said ‘ok by the way, I’m god’? Right?

And again to quote peter who dedicated his experience with Jesus to mark ‘for even the son of man- and we’re his body so remember this- even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life for ransom for many.

So the local church as a representation of Jesus, this is a premier moment. this is a premier moment for the local church in America culture, and the question is what are we going to do with this moment?

And demanding our way, demanding our rights is antithetical to everything Jesus taught an everything Jesus did. So we think (not gathering until 2021) is an expression of Christ’s likeness.