First Baptist Church Orlando is a 14,000-member Southern Baptist megachurch led by David Uth that continues its quest to brazenly and flagrantly violate scripture. Last year they knowingly baptized Joe Mills, an out-and-out gay, unrepentant gay man, who is ‘married’ to his ‘husband’ and has been leading a small group of FBCO congregants in a bible study for the past few years, with the knowledge of Pastor Danny De Armas, who himself has led the study. Then, as an unrepentant gay man who is in good standing in the church, he was allowed to baptize others at the church.
FBC Orlando is the same church that 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.
In a recent sermon, Uth clearly references Justin Peters in a sermon snippet on 1 Corinthians 5. Peters has been the most prominent critic that has categorized the church’s many acts of malfeasance for years, which has caused Uth and FBCO much consternation and resentment at being exposed.
“You know what ‘reviler’ means? ‘Reviler’ means stirring up trouble. Like people that make videos that lie…You don’t need to get all wrapped up with them. They’re giving the church a bad name, and they’re giving Jesus a bad name.”
In an obvious reference to @JustinPetersMin, David Uth preaches sermon on purging the sexually immoral from the church, and then says "revilers" are those who "make videos that are lies."
Uth's church, an SBC church, has several baptized, practicing homosexuals as members. pic.twitter.com/wWUjRBNgJS
Peters has responded to the video and rightly pointed out the the impunity in which the SBC lets this church operate under is the height of hypocrisy and is breathtaking to behold.
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.
