The Progressive Christian Fallacy - Sin Rationalizing

So I entered into conversation today with someone who refers to himself as a "gay Christian." I asked him to explain what he thought Christianity was, and I got the typical response, "That's very simple. Following the teachings of Christ, not other Christians." Further into the conversation, he references himself as a "Progressive Christian," and refers me to a meme from the Christian Left website (which is basically a cut and paste from Wikipedia) that states:

Progressive Christianity is a form of Christianity which is characterized by a willingness to question tradition, acceptance of human diversity, a strong emphasis on social justice and care for the poor and the oppressed, and environmental stewardship of the Earth. Progressive Christians have a deep belief in the centrality of the instruction to "love one another" (John 15:17) within the teaching of Jesus Christ. This leads to a focus on promoting values such as compassion, justice, mercy, tolerance, and working towards solving the societal problems of poverty, discrimination, and environmental issues.

In a nutshell, his version of "Christianity" is a focus on rationalizing sin, and being intolerant of those who he perceives to be intolerant of his sinful lifestyle. You see, the progressive Christian wants people to accept them for who they are, make them feel better about themselves. They hate it when people point out their sin to them, because they need to be propped up by others in the world, to feel loved, and since they don't get that love and support from God or Christ himself, they depend on it from the world, and become very defensive or angry when someone breaks through that shield they have around them.

This false acceptance from the world, however, is a lie of the devil. Although some of the things that the progressives stand for appear to be good on the surface, underneath, they are just cleverly hidden deceptions, put out by lying spirits to lead you away from the truth. Satan knows that if he can seduce you away from the truth by appealing to your man-centered desires like loving and tolerating one another, living in harmony, and solving societal issues, then he can also lead you into believing bigger lies. Lies, for example, that you can continue to live your sinful lifestyle, since Jesus paid the price, and still go to heaven.

The argument tends to revolve around a misunderstanding of the Greatest Commandment in Matthew 22:36-40,

Jesus replied: “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

They take this commandment, and misapply to their own lives by leading themselves to believe that tolerance of sin, and loving God and each other, makes them safe in the eyes of God. They believe that "loving people" means not showing people their sin, or not making them "feel bad" about their lifestyle. And they believe that by doing this, they are following the teachings of Christ. But the fallacy is this; this is not the teaching of Christ. Christ never came to teach tolerance of sin, he came to preach repentance (Luke 3:13-5). He didn't come to tell people that as long as they live in harmony, and accept one another for who they are, then everything will be fine. No, he came to bring a sword, not peace (Matthew 10:34). Progressives view Christians who stand on the Word of God as their authority as bigots, and as unloving people. But the truly unloving person is the one who doesn't call for repentance. For without repentance, a turning from sin, moving from a state of loving and rationalizing sin to hating your sin, there is no forgiveness of sins, salvation (Luke 24:47). And if you don't know you are a sinner, or you have rationalized your lifestyle to the extent of believing that it's not sinful, you are deceiving yourself right into Hell. Without condemnation, there is no salvation (Luke 5:32). In other words, you must realize that you are a sinner, and if someone is trying to lead you to that realization, that understanding, you should thank them for being so loving and kind to you, enough to care about your eternity. But if you still just don't get it, if you don't hate your sin, then I'm sorry to tell you this, but you are not a Christian, you are not born again, and you are not in good standing with God.

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! - 2 Corinthians 7:10-11

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Hey, don't judge me with that log in your eye!!!

One of the longest lived accusations against us Christians is that we are judgmental. It's true, however, we are, and often we are hypocritical in our censure, and we are condescending and degrading towards others that disagree with us. We are intolerant, bigoted and unwavering, and often come off as hateful towards them. So many times we are met with the parroted reverberations of Scripture taken out of context to try to disincline us from continuing in our beliefs and behaviors. Verses like Matthew 7:1,

Judge not, that you be not judged.

or,  Matthew 7:5,

You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

These verses are favorites among the anti-Bible crowd, they like to try to use our own Scriptures, you know, the ones they don't believe, against us. But is this really what these verses are trying to tell us? How can we reconcile verses that appear to be telling us to be tolerant against the entire theme of the Biblical Gospel, which is to call people to repentance and faith? Calling people to repentance is absolutely foundational to the Christian faith (Hebrews 6:1). The unbeliever thinks that Christians should just concern themselves with helping others, loving others, feeding the hungry, clothing and sheltering the poor, and these are certainly things we should be doing, but a man can go to Hell on a full stomach. If we aren't calling people to repentance, we are being disobedient to Jesus' command.

But these passages are obviously in Scripture for a reason; so what are they telling us? Well, if you view this passage in it's proper context, which is Jesus preaching the Sermon on the Mount, we can make more sense of it. Up to this point, he's talked about the beatitudes, being salt and light, the relationship of the law of Moses to the New Covenant in himself. He gave examples of unrighteousness, and talked about inward righteousness, alms giving, prayer and fasting. He talked about social ethics, materialism and anxiety and trust. Which then brings us to this final part, social relationships, of which not judging others is a major theme.

Now, the Scribes and the Pharisees were the religious influence at the time. They stood, in opposition to Jesus as fulfillment of the law, as purveyors of the law. Their social and religious influence was widespread among the Jews, and Jesus was preaching to them a different idea, a different way of thinking about the law, in contrast to the norm, which was full and total submission to the law. See, the Pharisees and the Scribes in many ways had been twisting Scripture in their own times, to promote a false religious system back then too. They taught, much like the Roman Catholic church of today teaches, that we achieve salvation through good works, and obedience to the law.

What Jesus was in effect saying to them was to stop criticizing every aspect of everyone in accordance to the law. That is not why the law was given. The law was never given as a means of salvation, but as a light to shine on our unrighteousness, so that we could see ourselves as sinners in need of a savior. Jesus didn't come to save the righteous, but the condemned (Luke 5:32). Without condemnation, there can be no salvation. So he wasn't telling us not to call people to repentance, or not to tell other people that their sins are killing them, and sending them to Hell (Romans 6:23). This is the essence of the Gospel for us to do this.

People must know that they are sinners in order to see themselves in need of a savior. Those who believe themselves to be righteous, or believe that obedience to the law, as did the Scribes and Pharisees, are lying to themselves, and sending themselves to Hell (Romans 3:10). Those who believe that Jesus was here to show us the way, or that going to church just means "hanging out with your buddy, Jesus" are believing a lie. Jesus wasn't telling Bible-believing Christians not to make people aware of their sins, he was telling the unbelievers that their judgement against others was misplaced, misappropriated, and blatantly hypocritical. They were hypocritical not because the law they were preaching was necessarily wrong, but because they were not believers themselves, or didn't understand the proper purpose of the law, and calling people to repentance. Moreover, as condemned sinners themselves, in God's eyes, they were just as guilty as anyone else, even though they lived their lives trying their hardest to be obedient to the law. They just weren't good enough. Their good deeds were like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), because they did not surrender to Christ.

Only once you have surrendered your life to Jesus Christ alone, do you have any kind of standing to "judge" others. But it's not your own judgement that you are to judge others by, it's the judgement of God. God is the ultimate judge, and we are only proclaiming his judgment. It's only by the word of God that we can proclaim this judgment, and doing so on our own terms, and by standing on our own righteousness to proclaim it is absurdly hypocritical. However, we must continue to proclaim the truth that all are sinners and fall short of God's glory (Romans 3:23), and that the only way to be saved is to repent of our sin (Luke 13:3-5), meaning, to change our mind, our attitudes, and our perspective on sin, and to see it for what it is, an evil abomination in God's eyes, and to turn our faith in Christ alone for the fulfillment of God's law, and our salvation (Gal 2:21). But the essential to this truth is that one must see himself as unrighteous, and condemned, before the throne of God before he can be saved. If one doesn't see himself this way, they cannot be saved.

So next time an unbeliever throws one of these verses at you in response to you trying to share the Gospel with them, kindly respond back to them that you are not the one judging them, but God has already judged them:

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. - John 3:18

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New Age False Teacher, David Wilcock, Twists Matthew 6:22

David Wilcock, a well known New Age lecturer who claims to be the reincarnation of Edgar Cayce, who has a huge following, regularly twists Scripture to make it sound like it means something that it has absolutely nothing to do with. In this video, Wilcock takes the passage out of Matthew Chapter 6, (apparently referencing the American King James Version, since it would be the easiest translation to twist into the meaning he is trying to portray of it), the parable of Laying Up Treasures in Heaven, and claims that Jesus' hidden message in this passage is in reference to the Pineal gland, and using it to enlighten us. Take the following transcript of David's video: (Entire Lecture Video can be found here)

There are some absolutely obvious quotes from Jesus that clearly indicate that he was aware of the Pineal gland and how important it is to any spiritual path, including the positive, loving, awakening of consciousness that he was trying to teach us. In the book of Matthew, Jesus says, 'the light of the body is the eye, if therefore your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light.' ... it doesn't mean you have to poke one of your eyes out to become psychic, it's saying that when your pineal gland opens, your body becomes enlightened and aware. Jesus was always speaking in parables, and this is a hidden metaphor for the Pineal gland

The Pineal gland, known in occult and New Age/mystic religions as the "third eye," is a pine cone shaped gland in the center of the brain that is responsible for the production of melatonin and plays a role in the metabolism of certain hormones and drugs, including psychedelic drugs. In esoteric circles, this "third eye" is believed to be the gate to higher consciousness, which can be awakened through certain mystical practices as well as the use of some psychedelic drugs, such as Ayahuasca. The symbol of this mystical third eye can be found in many of the world's major religions, including Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, Catholicism, Satanism, Freemasonry, as well as the New Age. Many cults of "Christianity" also embrace this symbol, and incorporate this line of thinking into their belief system. As you can see, all of these religions are unified around the same principle, that man's "inner self," or "inner consciousness," is the key to spiritual enlightenment, and that man must awaken his consciousness in order to ascend into the next spiritual phase. David Wilcock would have us believe that Jesus Christ was teaching this same concept while hear on earth, but is this really what Jesus was saying? Let's examine the passage in context, on a critical and logical level, and uncover the real meaning of this passage, as intended by the author of this text.

The passage Wilcock uses, in the American King James Version that he uses to quote his passage, is as follows:

¹⁹ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: ²⁰ But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: ²¹ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. ²² The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. ²³ But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! ²⁴ No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

First of all, the Greek world translated is "light" in verse 22 is λύχνος, or luchnos. It literally means "lamp," or "illuminator," something that sheds or shines light on something else. It doesn't actually mean the essence of light itself, rather a source of light. A lamp illuminates the things around us, likewise the eye shows us the things around us, and where we are going and what we are doing. Here Jesus is likening our eye to a lamp that lights our bodies. Our eyes, or what we see and perceive, are the entrance to our hearts, and affect our whole being.

Understanding what Jesus meant by "single" in verse 23 is key to understanding the passage. Notice that Wilcock conveniently left out verse 24, because it totally changes the context of the point he is trying to deceive his audience with. The word translated as "single" in this verse is ἁπλοῦς, or haplous, which literally means simple, whole, healthy, properly folded. In other words, Jesus is saying that if your eye is good, your body, surroundings, path, will be illuminated, but if your eye is bad, and you can't see properly, you're going to stumble.

What Jesus is saying has absolutely nothing to do with the esoteric, "single eye," or "third eye" of the Pineal gland. He's saying that we as Christians should have one focus, or singleness of vision. Psalm 119:105 says "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Jesus Christ is the Word of God, and Jesus Christ should be our single vision for Christians.

John 1:1-14 says:

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. ⁸ He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. ⁹ The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus wants us to set our eyes and our hearts on his Kingdom. He does not want us to be seeking the evils of this world, through politics and government. Such things are pictured as the beasts throughout the Bible in prophecy. We are rather to seek the light of his Word, and the rule of his reign over our lives and the lives of others by furthering the Gospel. The very next passage after the verse Wilcock tries to twist tells us not to be anxious about these worldly things, but to seek the kingdom of God first through faith, and our spiritual needs will all be met (Matthew 6:33).

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Rejecting God?

Imagine you and your family on vacation in Aruba. The warm ocean breeze blowing gently in your hair, while the glittering pristine waters sparkle as far as the eye can see. You're all relaxing under a shady tree when you son decides he wants to cool off. He grabs his inflatable raft, kicks off his sandals, and darts towards the waters. "Ahhhhhh," that's refreshing. Stretched out on the raft, dead to the world, lost in only his blissful state of personal paradise, he begins drifting outward. Worriedly, you jump up to yell for him to come back to shore, but he's lost in his own world, and isn't listening. Though he can faintly hear your pleading for him to listen, he's overwhelmed with the sounds of the waves and the wind in his ears, and just doesn't want to bother with your hysteria. Then the inevitable, you see sharks. You begin frantically shouting at the top of your lungs for him to come back, but he's too far for you to swim. You grab a life raft with a rope, and toss it too him, but he's hopelessly lost, cast away in his own being.

Why won't he respond? Because he's so caught up loving what he's doing, loving himself, that he's blinded himself to the reality around him. Sadly, this is the state of many who reject the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. But the reality is, people that reject Jesus, reject him because they love sin. They love their lusts and immorality so much so, that they've rejected all notion of consequences for their choices, and continue in their ways to their destruction, and the last thing they want is a holy and righteous God impeding on what they believe is a "good time." But what they fail to realize is that they are already under God's judgement, and just because they have rejected him, doesn't mean they won't have to face him on judgement day. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 says "⁹The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, ¹⁰and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved."Natural man does not seek God, or seek salvation from God. Psalm 53:2-3 says:

¹The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
²God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.

and Paul affirms this in his letter to the Romans;  "no one understands; no one seeks for God" (Romans 3:11). Man seeks to indulge himself in his own desires, and refuses to acknowledge that the desires of their heart are not only deceitful, but disastrous (Jeremiah 17:9). And any call to them to turn from their lustful and worldly desires are met with deaf ears, as this is total foolishness to them who are perishing (1 Cor. 1:18).
People are turned off to the saving grace of the cross for a number of reasons. Another reason may be simply that they don't understand the true Gospel. In man's natural, unregenerate state, one cannot understand the things of the Lord (1 Cor. 2:14). It takes an act of the Holy Spirit to open one's heart and mind to the spiritual knowledge of God. Perhaps someone has heard a false gospel at some point, for example, the "prosperity gospel." This false gospel teaches that by accepting Jesus, you now have Jesus at your disposal to meet the material needs, and shower material blessings upon you at your discretion. Your faith in him is reciprocated with "prosperity." Yet, when these things fail to happen, the unconverted person becomes discouraged, and loses interest. However, he continues to believe that this is what Christianity is, and has no interest in entertaining any concept of God, since his experience was typified. But when drilling this back down, it all boils down to the same root cause—the love of sin. These people were only looking to get something for themselves out of Jesus.
Another common reason people reject the word of God is pride. Their pride can be intellectual pride, or moral pride, but both are the transpired transgressions of a wicked and deceitful heart, and God hates it (Proverbs 8:13). The morally proud man stands in contrast to God's word, and refuses to believe that he is wicked (Romans 5:12, 2 Cor. 4:4). This is a typical standpoint from the New Age movement. The new age worldview teaches that there is no such thing as sin, evil or Satan, and stands on the pantheistic belief that God can be found in everyone and everything—all is one, all is God. This morally relative worldview is really not new at all, and stems from old Pagan and Eastern mystic religions, and is really no different from any other false Gospel. It's a belief that teaches than man is inherently good, and does not need a savior, but unfortunately for the lost, not believing in the law, or the transgression thereof, does not exempt you from accountability to that law. If a convicted murderer tells the judge that he doesn't believe that killing is wrong, nor does he believe that jail exists, he's going to have a huge surprise for waiting for him. Believing that we are not sinful is a lie of Satan (John 1:8). The truth is, because of Adam's sin in the Garden of Eden, man is now inherently evil, and nobody can stand blameless in front of God in his own right (Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23, Romans 5:12, Ephesians 2:1, etc.)
Perhaps a more common form of pride is intellect. There is a major war being waged against Christianity, and has been since it's inception. The Word of God is attacked on every front, yet never defeated. But this doesn't stop the prideful intellect from believing that is has. The cohorts of the Vatican, Jesuitical influences and collegiate level criticism of the Bible have led many to believe that the text is corrupt, and is not the Word of God, but a false amalgamation of man-made stories. Many attempts have also been made to discredit the truth of the Bible, such as the false theory of evolution and the Big Bang theory. The proud intellect is too arrogant to believe that he may be wrong, and pretentiously buys into the attacks on God. These individuals are what Paul describes as "always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth." (2 Timothy 3:7) They read and study constantly, making an idol out of knowledge, yet without the Holy Spirit, you can never know the truth.

Pride is a subtle, but serious sin—perhaps the most serious. Pride is inherently the cause of all wickedness, and causes us to rebel against God, and disobey him. Pride defiles man (Mark 7:20-23), but the world rewards it (1 John 2:16). Pride prevents people from receiving the truth (Psalm 10:4), and from receiving God's grace (James 4:6). But pride ultimately brings shame and destruction to people (Proverbs 11:2, 16:18-19, 29:23). Yet people cannot accept God, because they are deluded, and caught up in their desires of their heart. Jesus Christ is light, and he shines his light and exposes the wicked heart of man, which proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. Man will flee from this light for fear of having their deeds exposed (John 3:19-21). People want to continue in their sinful ways, and will attempt to rationalize their sin through their pride and arrogance.

¹⁹And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” - John 3:19-21

The Greek word for translated as judgement here is "krisis," prounounced "kree'-sis," according to Thayer primarily means a trial, or tribunal, the act or process of judging rather than the sentence or punishment itself. As we can see, with Jesus being the light that shines on man's wickedness and exposes it, Jesus didn't come to bring judgement, but it is his very nature that is judging of our sin. His very nature is pure and holy, and when man's deeds are measured against his infinite righteousness, his deeds are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). In order to be declared righteous by God, we must put on the righteousness of Jesus Christ himself, because only he is without sin (2 Cor. 5:21, Philippians 3:9). It is only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, by the only sinless man who ever walked the earth (1 Peter 2:22), who is fully God himself (John 1:14, Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 2:9), who took the punishment for our transgressions (1 Peter 2:24, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Isaiah 53:5), so that whoever believes in him, shall be rescued from his deluded world, saved from his sin (Romans 6:6, 2 Cor. 5:17) and saved from eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46). We must turn from our idols of pride, intellect and delusion, and turn to Jesus Christ alone for our salvation.

¹⁷ Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. ¹⁹ They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. ²⁰ But that is not the way you learned Christ!— ²¹ assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²² to put off your old self,[f] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, ²³ and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. - Ephesians 4:17-24

Click here for a presentation of the Gospel.

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Pastor Tony Evans Says Americans Need to Grieve and Repent Over Slavery and Jim Crow

Many are aware of the ongoing debate over "racial reconciliation" going on in the Southern Baptist Convention, but few are aware of what it really entails. In fact, the SBC's Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission will be hosting The Gospel and Racial Reconciliation Summit in March of 2015. Most of the Southern Baptist's proponents of "Racial Reconciliation," such as Russell Moore and Ronnie Floyd are in favor of labeling race problems as a Gospel Mandate, and require us to accept the Marxist idea of "White Privelege." Take for example what Moore had to say in his August 14 post:

Moreover, we know that the the myth of a “post-racial” America is contradicted by a criminal justice system in which young African-American men are, by almost any measure, disproportionately more likely to be arrested, sentenced, or even killed when compared to white peers.

Moore wants us to believe that blacks are arrested, sentenced or even killed more often by our police and criminal justice system because white Americans are racist. Moreover, he wants us to believe that white Americans are privileged in American society over blacks, simply because of our skin color, despite African-American-only programs such as the United Negro College Fund, Affirmative Action, etc, black housing incentives, Equal Opportunity employment programs, etc. Perhaps the problem isn't that whites are more privileged than blacks, but the problem is sin, especially within the black community. I would argue that the number one reason for higher arrests and convictions among blacks is that they are far more likely to be born out of wedlock, and be raised with without a father figure. This, I would argue according to MY Bible, is the "Gospel Mandate." That we take the Gospel to those who need it, and live in a culture and lifestyle of unrepentant sin, and no understanding of the Grace of God, is the Gospel's mandate (Mark 16:15). It is NOT a Gospel mandate that whites bend over backward, and accept responsibility for the sin in the African American culture.

Furthermore, Dr. Ronnie Floyd, president of the SBC writes:

The time is now for us to rise up together and cry out against the racism that still exists in our nation and our churches, and the subsequent injustices....Pastors, churches, leaders, and laypeople of the Southern Baptist Convention, the time is now for us to repent personally and collectively of all racism and injustice...We need to repent of our racism and injustice and return to the first commandment of loving our Lord Jesus Christ.

Is racism a problem in his church? I, for one, am a member of a Southern Baptist church of about 18,000 members, and I don't know a single racist. Though we are a predominately white church, there are a number of black members, as well as pastors, leaders, and teachers. Yet, Floyd wants us to believe that the problems in the black community are due to racism running rampant in our churches. I'm not arguing that racism doesn't exist in America, but racists are not Christians, and if a "church" is corporately racist in any way, it's NOT a Christian church. Yet, the latest in this craze of racial reconciliation in the Southern Baptist Church comes from none other than Pastor Tony Evans, of Oak Cliff Bible Church in Dallas. During an interview with the Christian Post on January 14, Evans was asked:

CP: The suggestion has been made that society as a whole, American Christians as a whole, need to acknowledge and grieve over past corporate sins like slavery and Jim Crow before trying to move forward on reconciliation. What are you thoughts?

And his response was:

Evans: Absolutely, that's what the solemn assembly is all about. Solemn assembly is recognizing where we failed and repenting of it. Repentance means to turn the other way. So that means, where those failures are clearly seen, have we turned, are we doing the opposite to what we did when those failures or when our current failures [are] the continuation of those historical failures? You repent of those, that is you turn the other way. When you've done that, now you've begun to operate on God's standards. And when you repent and operate on God's standards, now you have restoration and reconciliation.

Here in lies the problem, though; While racism does exist to some small degree in America, it does not exist on the scales that the news media would have you believe, and that the leaders. What is it that Evans, and the others like Moore and Floyd want us to do? The SBC has already publicly repented of it's racist past. Americans have already repented of slavery and Jim Crow. But our SBC leaders want us as a whole in the church, and as a whole as white Americans, to accept that whites have it easy, repent of that, and stop holding black criminals responsible for their misdeeds and failures. This is diametrically opposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which teaches us to take the message of personal responsibility of our sin to sinners, along with the word of grace and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Only then can we see healing among our fellow Americans.

While there are exceptions, the vast majority of white Americans would whole-heartedly disavow slavery or any of these racist events in our history, ESPECIALLY Christians. But unfortunately, our Southern Baptist leaders have bought into the white privilege hype promoted by left leaning propagandists, and this is where our denomination is heading full speed. I would urge SBC members to speak out against this agenda in our churches. Bring it up to your pastors, and make them aware of what's going on. If there is any hope for the SBC in the future, we MUST stay Gospel focused...that is, the True Gospel, not the Social Gospel. The Gospel is about man's sin, and God's power to save us from it, not man's inequality and man's ability to save eachother from it.

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Related Video: Pastor Voddie Bauchum sees right through Black Liberation Theology:

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Satan's ongoing attack on the Word of God -- Can we trust the Bible?

The attacks against Christianity are heating up in the last days, and at the forefront of the battle stands the Word of God. In Luke 8, Jesus tells the parable of the sower, verses 11,12 read, "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God... Then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word..." Satan knows that if he can plant the smallest seed of doubt in someone about the accuracy and reliability of God's word, then that person won't take his word seriously. Unfortunately, many people are confused.

I am repeatedly seeing the same Facebook meme online claiming that Christians are trusting and obscure, altered, or perverted text as their source of authority for faith in God. The meme reads like this:

The King James version of the New Testament was completed in 1611 by 8 members of the Church of England.
There were (and still are) no original texts to translate. The oldest manuscripts we have were written down hundreds of years after the last apostle died. There are over 8000 of these old manuscripts, with no two alike. 
The King James translators used none of these, anyway. Instead, they edited previous translations to create a version their king and Parliament would approve.
So, 21st Century Christians believe the “Word of God” is a book edited in the 17th Century from 16th Century translations of 8000 contradictory copies of 4th Century scrolls that claim to be copies of lost letters written in the 1st Century.That’s not faith. That’s insanity.

Frankly, I'm tired of the same ole lies, so let's examine this piece line by line, and see if we can get to the truth.  The very first sentence, "The King James version of the New Testament was completed in 1611 by 8 members of the Church of England," should already throw red flags.  I'm not sure where this number '8' came from, or if they just made it up.  We actually know quite a bit about the King James translators, and we do know that King James commissioned forty-seven men, all qualified history and various language scholars and true divines, and members of the Church of England, to prepare this great work for their church. With the New Testament only making up roughly twenty-five percent of the entire Bible, over half of these men, at least twenty-five, were assigned to translate it. The members of the translation team were divided up into six committees, First and Second Westminster Companies, First and Second Oxford Companies, and First and Second Cambridge Companies. Some of the chief translators of the New Testament were:

• Lancelot Andrewes, an English Scholar, and Bishop of high status in the Church of England. He oversaw the translation of the entire text.
• Henry Savile, English Scholar, Provost of Eton and Warden of Merton College, Oxford.
• George Abbot, Dean of Winchester Cathedral and Vice Chancellor of the University, Master of University College.
• Then there was John Duport, William Branthwaite, Jeremiah Radcliffe, Samuel Ward, Andrew Downes, John Bois, Robert Ward, Thomas Bilson, Richard Bancroft, William Barlow, John Spenser, Roger Fenton, Ralph Hutchinson, William Dakins, Michael Rabbet, Thomas Sanderson, Richard Eedes, Giles Tomson, John Peryn, Ralph Ravens, John Harmar, John Aglionby, Leonard Hutten, all noted scholars of their day.

The point is that these men were not just your run of the mill lay people doing what they are told to do by a corrupt government.  They were true, brilliant scholars, who's reputations were on the line, and possessed the skills and motivations to bring about the greatest literary work of all time. There simply is no evidence to believe beyond wild speculation that these men had any reason to risk their reputation on ignominious, discreditable translation work.

The next charge is that "There were (and still are) no original texts to translate. The oldest manuscripts we have were written down hundreds of years after the last apostle died. There are over 8000 of these old manuscripts, with no two alike." While it is true that there are no known extant original texts (autographs), the insinuation that this proves the Bible, specifically the KJV inaccurate is simply absurd.  This charge would never be made about other famous works, such as Plato, in which we have 10 manuscript copies over a 1200 year period, Tacitus, of which we have 20 manuscript copies over a 1000 year period, or Caesar, of which we have 10 manuscript copies over a 1000 year period.  In fact, there are no other ancient works that even come close to the Bible as far as number of manuscripts available, and age and likeness of the manuscripts. The minuscule differences in the texts are of such little concern that for the most part, it's not even argued over.  The majority of the differences in the manuscripts are either minor spelling differences, often based on dialect and geographical location of the scribes, or simply a word being transcribed improperly.  The system of textual criticism devised for figuring out the original text is rather simple, and none of the differences lead to any doctrinal differences between the manuscripts.

But of course, none of that matters right? Because they "used none of these, anyway. Instead, they edited previous translations to create a version their king and Parliament would approve." Give me a break. While the other popular translations such as the Tyndale, Wycliffe and Latin Vulgate were certainly at the translator's disposal, The source of translation were the set of 8 Koine Greek manuscripts available at the time, compiled by Erasmus, as well as the Editions of Theodore Beza. Though we have over five thousand Greek manuscripts available today, compared to the handful that were available back then, it's astonishing how accurately the King James Bible was translated. No, no translation is 100 percent perfect. Only the original autographs are, and those who claim that any translation is 100 percent perfect are only setting themselves up for ridicule. But the accurate and reliable, and most importantly, literal phrase by phrase translation is proven stellar beyond any ridiculous claim levied against it, and the King James Bible, as with any accurate and literal translation of God's Word, can be trusted with your soul. This is a promise made to us by God. 

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. (Isaiah 40:8)

God does not require a perfect man or a perfect scribe to keep his promise to us. God can use sinful, imperfect men to work his will to His glory. There will always be an ongoing attack against God's word, and we must stand strong. Satan, and his cohorts have been trying to discredit the Bible since the beginning of time. The biggest enemy we have against the Bible right now is Rome, and with all of the confusion by the likes of Wescott and Hort and higher criticism, the attacks and claims of scandalous, and charges of corruption by evil kings, jesuits, and even freemasons like Francis Bacon, all of which have been attempted, God has still preserved his word, and it's all verifiable. We have the Greek manuscripts, we have the history, and most importantly, we have the promise of God to keep his Word, and we can rely on him for that.

John 1:1 says "n the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." and 1 Peter 1:22-25 says:

22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23 being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Brothers and sisters, I plead with you, if you deny the Word of God, you are denying Jesus Christ himself. If you deny that God's word is truth, you cannot be saved. Since the word of God IS God, you cannot deny one and accept the other. I beg of you to repent, and turn to Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation. Trust in him, and obey him. The only other option is to deny him, and spend eternity separated from him.

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