First Baptist Church Orlando, the 14,000-member Southern Baptist megachurch led led by by David Uth, has knowingly baptized a gay man. Lest you think this is not a big deal because the baptizee may be celibate and non-practicing, he is nothing of the sort, recently having ‘married’ his ‘husband’ in a ceremony just last year.
You’ll recall that FBC Orlando is where 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 democrats, 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.
They meant it. The Gospel Gathering is a Bible study group led by Joe Mills. They have a Facebook group for the gathering, where the ‘About’ page reads “We are a group of Christian believers that want to worship God in a safe and nonjudgemental environment. Where all are welcome!” which should raise one’s discernment senses.
Mills also serves in the church, as can be seen by the nametag below:
And can frequently be seen in between Church services relaxing and socializing with other congregants:
Though not an official ministry of the church, pastor Danny De Armas knows about the Gospel Gatheirng Bible study, having taught it before:
In fact, that same pastor, senior associate pastor De Armas baptized Mills not too long ago, wearing the blue cap on the right while Lead student Pastor Chris Bacon helps in the backround.
This would all be well and good, if Joe Mills didn’t just marry a man last year, one he has spent the last 25 years with and living with.
So this SBC church is baptizing known homosexuals and allowing them to serve in the church, with the pastors there even help lead the studies. They know he’s married to a man, but apparently don’t care. This is a flagrant abuse of the scriptures, but at least we can’t say they never warned us.
To watch a video with more information about this, click below.
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.
Danny de Armas, the former Chairman of the Trustees of the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board (NAMB) and associate pastor of First Baptist Church Orlando where David Uth holds sway, described during a sermon the diversity his church inhabits in the most wretched of terms, highlighting how many illegal immigrants, pro-choice demoncrats, and LGBTQ folk were ‘serving’ in his church.
Speaking to the congregation on Feb 06, 2022, he relays how he described them and the church to a guest speaker in order so he would get a feel for the people he was going to be speaking to and get a sense of those of the church.
We have longtime members of 50 plus years greeting and welcoming new people who are walking in and for the very first time.
We have those who love traditional music and hymns, and those who know only contemporary music.
We have choir lovers, and non-music lovers, a pipe organ and loud electric guitars.
We have the 99-year-old WW2 hero, and the millennial immigrant who doesn’t know anything about American history sitting on the same row and listening and learning about Jesus together.
We have transgender, LGBTQ, straight, single, married, divorced and cohabitating people. These same people attend listen, serve, grow and give.
We have Democrats, Republicans, independents and non-registered people.
We have documented and undocumented people. We have politically active and socially responsible people.
We have pro-life and pro-choice and pro-war and pro-peace. We have Support the Blue and Black Lives Matter sitting together and serving together.
We have Trumpers and never Trumpers. We have Biden supporters and Harris supporters. We have the ultra-wealthy and the indigent, sitting together, singing together and serving together.
We have the social elite and the social outcast. We have the best dressed and the barely dressed.
And in the midst of all of this, we have one of the most beautiful worship experiences you can possibly imagine. Because all of us gather around the good news of Jesus and the one who is changing us and the one who unifies us and we celebrate how he has set us all free from our bondage to sin and given us eternal life. Jose, we are first Orlando.”
It is one thing to have pro-choice Democrats attend the service, it’s another thing to have them as church members or to be put in any sort of leadership/ serving role. The same goes with anyone unrepentantly LGBTQ, or any couple cohabiting. These people are not to help direct traffic, act as greeters, teach Sunday school, collect the tithes and offerings, or read scripture.
Rather, they may attend to be counseled and preached to, so that they can become saved, and then after a season, they may serve.
Instead, de Armas is lauding and championing how tolerant and inclusive they are, effectively making an idol out of their diversity, which serves little more than to reveal how pathetic their understanding of ecclesiology and the scriptures is.
