Disgraced pastor Tullian Tchividjian will be the keynote speaker at the Man Up conference this weekend, demonstrating what it looks like when undiscerning, naïve, and foolish-minded churches are willing to set aside all Biblical standards in order to host an evangelical celebrity, damaged as he may be.
Hosted by Casey Stone of Stone Ministries, the promo material marvels at his pedigree, explaining they’ve brought him to speak about his testimony of “building back” his life after it imploded.
By way of background, Tullian Tchividjian is the grandson of Billy Graham and a one-time replacement for the honorable D. James Kennedy at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. A former blogger at TGC before they kicked him out in 2014, theologically astute believers noticed Tchividjian’s slide into antinomianism – a dangerous teaching that makes light of God’s laws, morality, and piety – several years before his eventual dismissal from the ministry on account of seeping with a woman not his wife.
After many lies and much deceit, it was revealed that Tchividjian was involved in multiple clergy sexual misconduct cases (not “affairs”). Tchividjian threw his wife under the bus, got divorced, then married a strange woman and began to rebrand himself as a minister “to the broken”
Without any sign of observable repentance, Tchividjian waited a few years, then jumped back in the pulpit and planted a new church, keeping busy by turning his ministry disqualifications into a cottage industry. Attacking the Christian church as “elitists” and “judgmental,” the fallen minister capitalized on ungodliness to attract unsanctified followers.
Even now, Tchividjian frequently references his “restoration” on podcasts, social media, and small church venues, as this conference he’ll be leading. However, as an organization of churchmen, we have to ask the question; who restored Tullian Tchividjian?
Certainly, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church has not restored Tchividjian. His former pastor, Kevin Labby, has not restored Tchividjian. GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment) has not restored Tchividjian. The Presbyterian Church of America has not restored Tchividjian. The PCA’s South Florida Presbytery has not restored Tchividjian. So how on Earth did Tchividjian get restored?
No one. You can’t “restore” yourself. Podcasts, blogs, and phony random churches with no moral standards can’t restore Tullian. The only ones who can restore Tchividjian are those who revoked his credentials and removed him from ministry for his sins and subsequent lack of repentance.
They have indicated no intention of ever doing so.
Prominent charismatic teacher Lance Wallnau has been thoroughly discredited as a false prophet. A key player in the New Apostolic Reformation, he is a driving force behind the Seven Mountain Mandate that seeks to take “dominion” over seven designated areas of culture, including, religion, family, education, government, media, arts & entertainment, and business.
A couple of years ago, he released a video “finger shooting” Hurricane Irma, demanding that the ‘millibars’ rise’ and repeatedly commanding the hurricane to “peesh” (whatever that means, but we advise against Googling it) and wobble off into the ocean, all to no avail.
That wasn’t his last entanglement with inclement weather. Last month, a day after Hurricane Ian rocked the coast of Florida, Wallnau and conference partner Mario Murillo released a message to their supporters, insisting that their event scheduled for October 24-25, the Fire and Glory Tour would still be taking place later that month. They were emphatic that they heard from God, and that they were in Gods’ perfect timing’.
So the answer is very clear. We are not canceling. And not only are we going ahead with our plans, but we also believe the hurricane has added a great urgency to the event.
More than ever, I know why God chose Estero. And now it is crystal clear that we are in God’s perfect timing.
God knew this storm was coming and He knew what would be going on in the hearts of the people after the storm
A week and half later, despite clearly hearing the Lord’s ’emphatic voice” they cancelled the event without acknowledging their previous declarations.
Trinity-Denying TD Jakes frequently joins heretics of all stripes in a quest to build his own empire. Last year Jakes teamed up with Your Best Life Now author Joel Osteen for a conference that cost $1,000 to attend. Jakes is all about personal kingdom-building and wealth-building, which is why he fits in so well with Osteen. Jakes recently bequeathed his long-running Woman, Thou Art Loose Oneness Pentecostal conference to his daughter, Sarah Jakes Roberts, who he “slayed in the spirit” at the final conference.
While one might hope that a Trinity-denying, prosperity Gospel-preaching money-grubber would hang up his old collection plate, TD Jakes has chosen to join forces with Scientologist entrepreneur Grant Cardone in the Path to Prosperity Mega Conference. The conference seeks to bring together secular business leaders and faith leaders who have bought into the heretical “law of attraction”, that is, the idea that positive thoughts create positive energy, which leads to positive results. This heresy unites prosperity preachers like Jakes with fellow keynote speaker Grant Cardone, a professing Scientologist. The conference’s tagline is “We believe abundance is your birthright.”
Cardone, a well-known motivational speaker and entrepreneur, believes that Scientology is true because it helped him find his “purpose” and “energy”. Contrary to clear Biblical teaching, Cardone also believes that Scientology is just a worldview lens that helps people. According to Cardone, Christians can join Scientology and remain Christians.
The difference in this religion and other religions is it doesn’t impose how you think about God. This is not a Muslim god. This is not a Christian god. This is not…, they leave that alone. okay and like you could be a Catholic, and Scientology would just make you a better Catholic, but what’s that’s really gonna do for you is this is gonna make you a better husband, better father, better leader better mother, better son.
The retail price of the general conference admission is $994, with a current sale price of $497, while the “Diamond Package”, which includes meet and greets with Path to Prosperity Founders and access to the Prosperity Ball and Private Yacht party, has a retail price of $19,997, but a current discounted price of $4,997.
With a bankrupt spiritual philosophy and prices like these, the Path to Prosperity Mega-Conference is sure to attract some of the poorest rich people in the world. Those at this conference who believe that prosperity is a means to godliness would do well to receive the counsel given to the church of Laodicea by Jesus in Revelation 3:17-18.
For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
Famed Trinity-denier TD Jakes is ending his ‘Woman Thou Art Loosed’ conference after 25 years, holding his final event on Sept. 22-24, 2022. The event, which has drawn over half a million people, was supposed to have its last year in 2022, but the pandemic thwarted those plans until now. According to the promo material;
“What Bishop T.D. Jakes started as Sunday school lessons at his church in West Virginia in 1992 has transformed into one of the nation’s most riveting women’s conferences. Through the years, Bishop Jakes has “loosed” multitudes of women from the shackles of abandonment, low self-esteem, addiction, and more to become victorious, secure women. “
Jakes held the first Women, Thou Art Loosed! conference in 1996 after discovering the impact his Bible study message had on women. Over the years, he claims he’s seen “breakthroughs in thousands of women ” because of it. As to why he’s ending things now; he told EEW:
“Women are taking leadership. They’re moving in positions of power. They’re being healed emotionally and spiritually. Now it’s time to talk about some other things that need to happen.
“We’re losing our men. We’re losing our sons. We’ve got all kinds of crazy stuff happening in our country right now, and I need to free my hands from what I used to do so that I can have availability to focus on the ways that I can best contribute now.”
Jakes, who has continued to be platformed by those at the Christian Post and Charisma News, has gone on record saying he doesn’t believe that Jesus is the second person of the Trinity but rather is just a “manifestation” of God. In fact, even now, his church website reads, “There is one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in three manifestations: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
In a blog post that is actually a vehicle for advertising his upcoming 2022 School of Prophets conference, Kris Vallotton, co-founder of the School of the Prophets and Senior Associate Leader of Bethel Church, shared a very bizarre testimony given to him by last year’s attendees for purposes of demonstrating how transforming participating in the conference would be.
Described as a “4.5 day training school for prophets, highly prophetic people, and church leaders that want to learn how to operate with prophets” that costs $425 per person to attend, one unnamed prophet says that after leaving the show, a waitress was “activated” just by being in his spirit-filled presence, and was consequently able to predict (or prophecy) what he and his wife were going to order for food.
“After the last session, my wife and I felt filled with the Spirit. We went to dinner at a diner in the Hilltop neighborhood. A waitress seated us and gave us menus. When she came back to take our orders, she looked at my wife and said; “I know what you want, you want the fish and chips.” My wife said “That’s right.” The waitress got excited and then turned to me and said; “Well then, I’ll bet you want a Reuben.” I said; “That’s right.”
She got really excited and started running around the whole restaurant telling everyone that she had guessed the whole order for two customers. We talked about this later and realized that this was an instance of someone being activated by the presence of Spirit-filled prophets. This was the same as King Saul being activated when he entered the company of prophets.” – 2021 School of the Prophets student
We have no reason to believe any of this, given that Valloton is himself a false prophet, and this should be regarded as little more than a smoke show to part gullible Christians from their dollars.
Pastor Charlie Dates of Progressive Chicago recently hosted the Justice Summit – “What Hath Justice To Do With Righteousness?” on June 16-17, 2022. The conference features a collective of Professing Christian leaders seeking to “move the Church forward at the intersection of theology, justice, and race.”
Ironically, nearly every speaker featured is either pro-choice or has been completely silent on the issue of justice for the pre-born since the May 3rd Roe v Wade SCOTUS leak, including the revelation on June 24 that it had indeed been overturned. The silence has been absolutely deafening, and we’ve catalogued that below.
Rev Dr. Otis Moss III is the pro-choice pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ. In 2008 he took over from Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who Barak Obama sat under for decades preaching black liberation theology, and whose church currently follows the Black Value System. Despite a ton of tweets, he has not said anything about the May 3rd leak or recent decision, choosing instead to comment on sports and gun violence.
In a recent sermon, Moss argues that humans have the right to freedom and agency over their bodies and that the government has no right to restrict it. He says that the idea of giving the right to restrict abortion over to the states is the same logic that led states to enslave black people.
“This decision opens the door to states restricting what is known as gay marriage, states restricting interracial marriage, states restricting contraception. The state’s restricting in-vitro fertilization. But one of the biggest pieces that no one is talking about is that this decision opens the door for states to restrict the voting rights of black people..
…they said that the Constitution doesn’t speak explicitly about it, so therefore, we will give it to the state. Well, if you have a state or states that we already know have legislators who are functioning with a political agenda, let me say racist agenda, then they now have the power to restrict the rights of people, especially those of African descent.
In another, he says “A pro-life position means a woman’s health and choices are between her god, her conscience, and her doctor, and the government has no place making sacred decisions for people of different faiths and traditions.”
Fredrick Haynes is the pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church. In 2012 he famously supported Obama’s stance on supporting gay marriage, and himself is pro-choice, writing on Twitter and then saying in a recent sermon.
This past week, we heard several rulings come down from the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court that was basically put together; it really is illegitimate if we’re honest with ourselves, because there are stolen seats on that court.
…Because there are one-issue people who find themselves in churches across this country celebrating today, because they are one-issue people. Why? They call themselves pro-life. No, you’re not really pro-life. That’s an illusion, an illusion that masks the truth and the reality that you are one-dimensional persons… and that you are playing a power game of control, especially control over the bodies of others, the bodies of women, and that my sisters and brothers is what we cannot forget.
…(this woman) recognized that that whole anti-abortion piece had nothing to do with pro-life, it has everything to do with denying reproductive justice, bodily autonomy….So don’t tell me that you’re pro-life. No, you are pro-fetus. Don’t tell me you’re pro-life, you are pro-birth. Don’t tell me you are pro-life and let me talk to my bass-ackwards black folk who find themselves now jumping on board and saying ‘yes, this is a good thing because the nation is finally rising up to protect the unborn, the nation ain’t doing a damn thing to protect black-born people in this country.”
Christina Edmondson, from all accounts, is not pro-choice, but she never passes by an opportunity to dig at pro-life Christians. She’s an author who recently wrote how white Christians are racists who commit violence against black people by voting Republican and disparaging the Democrats for being anti-life. For years she was part of the Truth’s Table with Michelle Higgins, an openly pro-choice pastrix who would routinely promote Planned Parenthood and pro-choice slogans. After Roe was overturned, her other co-host, Ekimini Uwan, who has previously said that she does not want to overturn Roe v Wade, tweeted out, ‘America is a failed state.’
Edmondson has mentioned abortion a bit since the decision, but mostly to condemn those who praised it as failing to be ‘womb-to-tomb’ prolife, writing on Twitter.
Ppl can hide behind costless labels like “pro-life” that give the veneer of a moral high ground with 0 sacrifices
No universal health care
No justice for sexual trauma survivors (moreover granting abusers power)
No accountability for the sexual practices of men
No credibility. I have limited expectations for people who complained about a piece of cloth on their faces to give up anything truly costly for the sake of the unborn. Limited expectations for people who turned a blind eye to multiple sexual assault allegations to gain political power to actually care with understanding about and for rape victims seeking termination
or this, from 2 years ago.
Bree Newsome is famous for scuttling up the flagpole and removing the Confederate flag from the South Carolina state house grounds after the Charleston church shooting and getting arrested. She is radical in her beliefs, being openly against capitalism and wants to abolish all police and prisons. She has tweeted a hundred times since the May 3rd leak about all sort social justice issues, but has not mentioned anything about abortion.
David W. Swanson is the pastor of New Community Covenant Church and author of Rediscipling the White Church. In a book review by Neil Shenvi, he surmises that the message of the book is “Whites are broken, tainted, corrupt, complicit, and in need of repair.” From May 3rd, when the news of the overturning of Roe leaked, until today, despite tweeting hundreds of times about issues of gun violence and justice and racial issues, he has not mentioned it once, nor has he said it in his newsletter.
Esau McCaulley is an associate pastor at Wheaton College and a Theologian in Residence at the hosting church, Progressive Baptist Church in Chicago. Since the Roe v Wade decision leaked on May 3rd, he did not write anything about it on his Facebook page, and none of his Twitter posts mention anything about it; instead choosing to tweet a lot about gun violence and his newest book.
Lisa Fields is the founder of the Jude 3 Project and produced the documentary Unspoken. She has tweeted hundreds of times since the May 3rd leak, promoting her work, gun violence, the shooting in Uvalde, the Buffalo shooting, and retweeting Truth Table events, but nothing about abortion or the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Raymond Chang is a pastor the President of the Asian American Christian Collaborative (AACC). We can’t see his posts after the May 3rd SCOTUS leak. Still, he posted a few dozen times since the overturning of Roe v. Wade came down, tweeting out about the second amendment ruling the day before, but has not mentioned anything about abortion.
Russell Moore has been somewhat active on Twitter since the SCOTUS leak may in May. He wrote one op-ed about it, but then nothing since then. With news of Roe v, Wade being overturned, he has not discussed it on his feed, podcast, or Facebook. Despite having a lot to say about other notable events, on this he has gone radio silent.
Justin Giboney is the founder of the AND Campaign, a wishy-washy organization that seeks to strike a middle ground between the democrats and republicans by always leaning toward the former. He is one of the rare speakers who acknowledged it happened, offering up a tweet or two about it, albeit in a dispassionate, unenthused way, noting it’s passing.
He also tweeted out a statement by the And Campaign, which reads:
“The life of unborn children must be protected, however, women should not be targeted for criminal prosecution for seeking or having an abortion. Furthermore, the holes in our healthcare system and social safety net must be addressed thoroughly if we really care about life…The court’s decision today highlights the need for Christians to address issues like maternal mortality, paid family leave, childcare and education, and economic security for mothers and families.”
Charlie Dates is the pastor of Progressive Baptist Church in Chicago, and he hosted the event. He did not say anything about it on Twitter, nor did he mention the May 3rd SCOTUS leak. He tweeted about gun control and the need to go “pro-life” on guns, but that’s it. The only mention he has given it so far is during his last church service, he gave it a strange nod by telling his congregants to ask him about it after the service.
“Listen, there’s a lot to be said. You know Roe v. Wade was overturned this week. I’m not getting into that; I’m not making a political statement about it. I just want y’all to know I saw the news too. And if you want my personal opinion, you can ask me when church is over. I do appreciate the statement that the And Campaign made.”
Dates also said of pro-LGBTQ, pro-choice Pastor Fredrick Haynes, in his introduction of him:
“(he pastors) one of our nation’s cutting-edge, innovative, pressing into the kingdom of darkness, gospel preaching churches. And that church has just grown to life in amazing ways. Aside from all of that he really is, in my opinion, one of the leading voices to help frame the narrative for the church in our fight against injustice.”
Recently, news broke that Ligonier Ministries scheduled their 2022 National Conference at First Baptist Orlando, which concludes this weekend. This was alarming due to the recently exposed heretical teachings espoused by First Baptist. Danny de Armas, the senior associate pastor, infamously offered a full-blown ecumenical statement devoid of any Gospel truth and antithetical to the teachings of Scripture by highlighting how many illegal immigrants, pro-choice demoncrats, and LGBTQ folk were ‘serving’ in his church.
“We have transgender, LGBTQ, straight, single, married, divorced and cohabitating people. These same people attend listen, serve, grow and give…We have pro-life and pro-choice…And in the midst of all of this, we have one of the most beautiful worship experiences you can possibly imagine.” .
Unfortunately, the above is only one of the more recent examples of heresy spewed at the church. In the aftermath of the shooting at a gay Orlando nightclub back in 2016, First Baptist Orlando held a memorial service for the 59 victims. What proceeded from this was one of the most jaw-dropping blasphemous statements someone could ever think of. Guest speaker and pastor of Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church, Dr. Larry Mills said to those in attendance something which could only be described as straight from the pit of hell:
“…We believe in the Word and what others would have against us – what others would show as a stumbling stone- we’ve elevated to be the head of the corner. And right now no matter what the presence and people of mine may think, that LBGTQ area is the head cornerstone. And we are here to lift up and magnify and allow them to know: that regardless of people’s opinion, regardless of where we are, love triumphs over evil.”
This is in stark contrast to Ephesians 2:20-22, which places Christ as the cornerstone. Larry Mills blasphemed Christ by claiming that workers of an abominable sin are the chief cornerstone. This isn’t just error, it’s flat-out satanic.
This snapshot of First Baptist Orlando raises a lot of concerns in regards to Ligonier deciding to host their conference at their building. Amongst other prominent men of the faith, Pastor John MacArthur originally was scheduled to be a speaker at the event as well. Thankfully, not only did MacArthur withdraw, but he took time at ShepCon 2022 to rebuke First Baptist Orlando two weeks before it took place by quoting Scripture saying, “…By their fruits you shall what? Know them” and drawing a line in the sand between a church adhering to the culture versus standing for the truth.
“Pragmatism basically says, you do what works. In other words, what the culture wants, you give them. And once you decide that you’re going to give the culture what it wants eventually it will take you to the bottom of that culture. And then you’ll have a church, a Southern Baptist church, a first southern Baptist church saying we welcome homosexuals, transgender people, and immoral people…once you decide you’re going to make an alliance with the world with the ill-conceived notion that somehow this is going to make the Gospel more effective, the culture will take you to the bottom.”
Clearly Pastor MacArthur took issue with the messages spewing forth from FBO and echoed a sentiment that many Christians share.
A fair question to ask then, is why didn’t Ligonier take a stand against FBO as well? While MacArthur withdrew, for whatever reasons those were, many prominent speakers remain such as Steven Lawson, Sinclair Ferguson, Robert Godfrey, Stephen Nichols, Burk Parsons, Derek Thomas, and Michael Reeves, amongst others. These men are wonderful brothers in the faith, many having decades long faithful ministries that have benefited an untold amount of believers.
But the fact remains, it is concerning for a faithful ministry to associate itself with a false church that blasphemes Christ and is heretical on its view of Christ and sin. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 states, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” Romans 16:17 says, “I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.”
Would it be okay to hold a national conference at a Roman Catholic Church? It’s certainly possible that the speakers could be unaware of the heresy espoused by First Baptist Orlando, but the core issue is this: there’s the appearance of association by holding their 2022 National Conference in that building whether FBO pastors and staff are present or not.
Editor’s note. This article was written by Brad Schoolfield as a guest post for Protestia. h/t Doctrinal Watchdog for the vid.
Yesterday we wrote in our article “Three Oneness Pentecostals, an Adulterer, a Whoremonger, a Pillow Tycoon, and Trump’s Lawyer Headline a Conference Together…” about how a collective of false teachers, Trinity-deniers, and men whose scandal in their personal lives would give the guy sleeping with his father’s wife in 1 Corinthians 5 a run for his money. They were headlining what was promoted as a “Christian conference,” a three-day event in August called America’s Revival, whose goal was to “Make America Godly Again” and whose promo material states:
Join thousands of other God-fearing patriots as we gather for three days of powerful preaching, heartfelt worship and a call to prayer for our nation. This is not a time to bow down. This is not a time to back up. This is a time to unify, lock arms and declare war on the Satanic agenda that seeks to destroy our families, our values and our nation. It’s time for the church in America to have revival.
This was not designed to be a political rally, but distinctly Christian in nature- comprising of preaching, teaching, worship, prayer, and pleading with the Lord to bring a much-needed revival to America.
Featuring “pastor” Greg Locke, Clayton Jennings, “pastor” Tony Spell, “pastor” Joshua Feuerstein, Draylin Young, Joseph Lupetz, Ken Peters, Mike Lindell, and Jenna Ellis, our post went on to detail that with few exceptions, half these men were proponents of false teaching and error that touched primary and foundation issues of Christian truth, and the other half lived lives that were far, far, faaaaar below reproach.
We reached out to several of the speakers attending, mostly through private messages on social media and got through to some of them.
For starters, we are pleased to announce that Jenna Ellis has withdrawn from the conference. Ellis is a sister in Christ who is perhaps best known as being an attorney and the former Senior Legal Adviser and Counsel to President Donald Trump, as well as the Special Counsel at the Thomas More Society who represented Pastor John MacArthur in his battle against the Los Angeles County and their efforts to shut Grace Community Church.
After being repeatedly tagged by our supporters on Twitter, she saw our post, read our articles, sought counsel, and now will no longer be attending this event, explaining that “I do NOT endorse that unsound doctrine.”
While this may seem like a no-brainer and something easy to do – her act of publicly withdrawing from an event on account of false teachers being present is incredibly rare, and she ought to be commended. It is not something that prominent Christian public figures are known to do, nor is it an easy or inconsequential thing.
It’s fantastic, and we thank God and her for it.
Furthermore, we reached out to two other men speaking at the conference. One man, who will be nameless for now, is considering his options and working out what to do in light of the information we shared with him, including Ellis’ departure. Another is likewise almost certainly going to withdraw, taking with them the last bit of light left.
A third speaker, Jospeh Zupetz, had his Partner Relations Director and personal assistant and respond to our message. He explained that Zupetz prayed about sharing a revival meeting with three Trinity-deniers and two men who emanate unrepentant scandal, and that he’s at peace with his decision to continue on attending. He wrote in part:
As you know, Joseph teaches the Word true and without wavering. He is very bold about preaching the Word, not religious doctrine. Joseph is very much aware that some of the speakers at this event do not believe as we do or preach as we do. Our goal is to be the light to not only the other speakers but also the people coming to this event.
It is a massive opportunity to share the complete gospel that Joseph teaches with so many people. We will also be sharing and teaching on the prophetic gift which is something Joseph is called to do as well. I want to reassure you that Joseph spent a lot of time in prayer about being part of this event. He is at peace about being there.
We believe God is opening up a door for this ministry to reach the masses with truth during a time when this country and the world need the truth and power of God more than ever. Please be assured that we are not chasing after this event because of the “names” or the “numbers” that come with this event. That has never, and will never be the force behind what we do at Z Ministries. We are being led by the Holy Spirit in all that we are doing here including this event. Our goal with this even and any other is to be Jesus to the world.
Pray for us as we continue to unravel this rat’s nest, and give thanks to those who exhibited wisdom and discernment for the love of the gospel and the truth of his word.
In a teeth-shattering, cartilage-crushing, skull-splintering blow to the satanic scourge that is Revoice, the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA) voted at their 2021 the General Conference 1438-417 to adopt Overture 23, which states in full:
“Officers in the Presbyterian Church in America must be above reproach in their walk and Christlike in their character. Those who profess an identity (such as, but not limited to, ‘gay Christian,’ ‘same-sex attracted Christian,’ ‘homosexual Christian,’ or like terms) that undermines or contradicts their identity as new creations in Christ, either by denying the sinfulness of fallen desires (such as, but not limited to, same-sex attraction), or by denying the reality and hope of progressive sanctification, or by failing to pursue Spirit-empowered victory over their sinful temptations, inclinations, and actions are not qualified for ordained office.“
In short, same-sex attractions in and of themselves are sinful, not just same-sex acts. Furthermore, any man who makes his sexuality part of his identity and affirms he’ll always struggle with same-sex attraction; denying the efficacy of a new heart upon one’s sexuality and denying that “such were some of you” is the normative expectation for Christians who are being sanctified by Christ, is not qualified to be Pastor.
It is a decisive win for critics of the denomination’s drift in recent years- faithful men and women who have been rattling their cages against Trojan Horse Schemes that were used to smuggle in liberalized language and postures used towards homosexuals and sodomites that is not found in the scriptures. These “creeper-in-unawarers” denied that sanctification in Christ means that one’s sexuality will be ultimately, inexorably be redeemed by him, but rather they said that all must adopt a “humble hermeneutic; while arguing that some people will always struggle with their lusts and that their struggles are not sin but in some way a gift to the church.
They also voted 1130-692 to affirm Overture 37, which reads in part about pastoral candidates: :
…Careful attention must be given to his practical struggle against sinful actions, as well as to persistent sinful desires. The candidate must give clear testimony of reliance upon his union with Christ and the benefits thereof by the Holy Spirit, depending on this work of grace to make progress over sin… While imperfection will remain, he must not be known by reputation or self-profession according to his remaining sinfulness, but rather by the work of the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus.
Crunch.
Snap.
Sploosh.
Nothing but a wrecked heap of asphalt, blood and bone.
Unlike Resolutions in the SBC, this becomes part of their Book of Church Order, making it binding on all churches within the denomination. In every way imaginable, this was a direct repudiation and maiming of Revoice mentality, and it happened right in the heart of St Louis, Missouri, where that usurping disturbed of the scriptures was birthed and allowed to flourish.
Well done, PCA. Now do Critical Race Theory next.
Editor’s Note. This article was written by Pastor Ed Litton and published at Protestia.
If you thought the initial 2020 SBC Pastor’s Conference lineup was bad, you haven’t seen anything yet. Jacob Johnson had the best succint take on it, and he put it this way:
This is worse than the initial 2020 SBC Pastor’s Conference Lineup; this is intentional deception and absurdly obvious in that this isn’t an intended solution, this is a backhand display of mocking conservative BF&M affirming Southern Baptist’s and a spiteful response from SBC Liberals/Elites to the EC’s action and position taken last year. This is a directly intended message.
Instead of a “pastor’s” conference, they change it a “SEND” conference; hosting (non-SBC) heretics, feminists, social justice warriors, and destructive forces against the biblical family / Godly ordered homes. A send conference presented by North American Mission Board (NAMB) / IMB — Kevin Ezell / Paul Chitwood.
SBC Executive Committee previously stated, regarding the 2020 Pastors Conference, that they rejected the conference and argued its participants and alignments to be: “sufficiently beyond the parameters of the faith and practice of Southern Baptists in accordance with The Baptist Faith and Message.”
Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the cancellation of the 2020 SBC Annual Meeting, the 2020 Pastors’ Conference had drawn criticism and concern because not all speakers were Southern Baptists and scheduled performer Hosanna Wong, a spoken word artist, is also a teaching pastor at her non-Southern Baptist church. The SBC Executive Committee voted Feb. 18 to give the SBC pastors’ conference officers until Feb. 24 to make “amendments to its proposed program”
Following “prayerfully considered options” and “counsel” among SBC elites … it was decided for 2021, there would instead be a “Send” Conference— “NAMB president Kevin Ezell said NAMB would be “honored to produce a SEND event for the 2021 Pastors’ Conference in Nashville and to work with our friends at IMB to present it.”
This is worse than the 2020 Pastors Conf. Conflict and it’s more rebellious against the Gospel and a willful rejection of the BF&M 2000 than previously in 2020. This is a message SBC Elites/Progressives/Liberals are making [“SEND”(ing)] loud and clear.
If that isn’t messed up enough, the SBC’s International Mission Board (IMB)’s official Facebook page joined nine other people in ‘liking’ that status update, though given that this was a direct shot across the bow at them, their ‘like’ was nothing more than a grim, sardonic mockery.
Their purposeful ‘like is an affirmation that they saw the post, and they don’t care. Johnson believes it’s backhanded, and that “they will claim it was a slip-up and believed it to be promotion for the event— as someone familiar with how they operate, the social media (publishing) power they have… it was intentional. They are all PR Masters. (The “KY Boy Club” at work). They’re mocking us, conservative/confessional Baptists.”
We could not agree more. The fox that is Russell Moore may be out of the hen house, but there are more than enough predators left behind to frolic, feast, and cause some bedlam within the body.
