The Real Reason I Left Twitter

Justin Peters

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

Welcome to this video, ladies and gentlemen. I hope that this finds you and yours doing well, and I want to thank you very much for joining me.

00:08

I'm making this video to explain to you my sudden withdrawal from Twitter. A few days ago, as of this recording,

00:15

I did indeed deactivate my Twitter account, and you've probably heard it said that nature abhors a vacuum.

00:22

By my withdrawal, I created a vacuum, and other people began to chime in on why

00:30

I left Twitter. They ascribed to me things that are just patently untrue, and so rather than have other people speak for me,

00:39

I figured I would let you hear from me why I did and did not leave

00:45

Twitter. Let me say as I begin that I know that so many of you have followed me, and the vast majority of my interaction with people on Twitter has been very, very good.

00:58

I have been very encouraged, very edified by so many of the things that you have posted, so many of the comments and encouragement that you have given me.

01:07

The feedback has been great. I've been edified by it, and I hope by God's grace that you have been encouraged and edified by what

01:15

I have put up on Twitter. Theological musings here and there, some doctrinal things, updates from my travels around the world, and some pictures of the wonderful people

01:28

I have met. I've met many, many wonderful, precious believers in the Lord, and I've tried to share a little bit of that with you on Twitter.

01:37

So the vast majority of my experience on Twitter has been good, but not all of it.

01:43

As you know, Twitter can be a vicious place, and that is why

01:50

I am off. Now, let me explain more. All of this began last week, and I put up a tweet about Kanye West, a tweet that was a bit cautionary in nature.

02:04

As you know, Kanye West professes to be a Christian now, a born -again Christian, and there has been much excitement across the evangelical world about Kanye West's profession of faith in Christ.

02:18

Many, many people are excited about that. Many people in our own conservative theological circles are very excited about it.

02:26

I've also seen some excitement from heretical parts of the

02:31

Christian world, like Jen Johnson out of Bethel Church. She apparently this morning expressed excitement about it as well.

02:39

So it really runs the gamut, the positive feedback that Kanye West has been getting.

02:46

Now, interestingly, I began my tweet by expressing gratitude that Kanye West has been exposed to some good, sound teaching.

02:54

And indeed, he has. I know that he has heard the gospel and spent a great deal of time with Adam Tyson.

03:02

Adam is the pastor of Placerita Bible Church outside of Los Angeles, and I'm grateful for that.

03:10

I said that I'm grateful for Kanye West hearing good, sound teaching, and it's from Adam Tyson that he is hearing this teaching, at least in part.

03:20

And that's wonderful. Adam Tyson is a graduate of the Master's Seminary. I've never met him.

03:27

I hope to be able to meet him one day. I'm very grateful for the time that Adam has spent with Kanye giving him the truth, so I rejoice in that.

03:35

But I did express some caution, and I said that the genuineness of Kanye's conversion cannot be known until he is faced with some real temptation and real persecution.

03:50

But I even followed that tweet up by saying that I am hopeful for Kanye, that I'm praying for Kanye.

03:57

And that's really the extent of it. I did not say that Kanye was not a believer.

04:03

I simply said we need some time. We need some time to see if it's a true conversion, and that won't be known until he's faced with some real temptation and real persecution.

04:15

So I also said that I am praying for Kanye, and that is true. I am. I prayed for Kanye West this morning, as a matter of fact.

04:23

So I'm very hopeful, but I did offer a little bit of caution. And, wow, boy, a lot of people did not like that.

04:33

Some people disagreed with me respectfully, and that's good. I respect respectful disagreement.

04:40

A lot of it, however, was not respectful at all. It was quite vicious, very, very mean -spirited.

04:50

There was a lot of lies and slander directed towards me, and that was discouraging to say the least.

05:00

But I want to begin here by expressing to you, letting you know why

05:05

I offered a bit of caution with Kanye's professional faith.

05:12

Beginning with the fact that the list is a very, very long one of celebrities who have professed faith in Christ, professed to be, born again, evangelical

05:23

Christians, only to flame out and bring reproach on Jesus Christ and reproach on the gospel.

05:30

Just a few of these, Jane Fonda once professed to be an evangelical Christian, born again.

05:36

Charlie Sheen did, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Larry Flint, if you can believe that.

05:44

I didn't know that. A friend of mine texted that to me. And sure enough, Larry Flint claimed to be a born -again

05:51

Christian for a whole year in the 1970s, 1977 or 1978.

05:57

He says that he was converted from hearing the gospel from President Jimmy Carter's sister.

06:03

And he professed to be a born -again Christian for a whole year. And after a year, he went back to same old, same old.

06:13

So who else? Beyonce, apparently. Earth, Wind & Fire. I'm not a big musical kind of guy, but I think that's a group from back in the 70s.

06:22

Donna Summer professed to be a believer. Justin Bieber professed to be a

06:27

Christian. And Lifeway even carried a book entitled Belieber, talking about Justin Bieber's Christian faith.

06:37

And that was a number of years ago, but pretty obvious Justin Bieber is not converted.

06:44

And now he's, of course, mixed up with Hillsong, last I heard anyway. The Jonas Brothers also professed to be

06:51

Christians. And there's no evidence, of which I'm aware, of regeneration in their lives.

06:56

I know one of the Jonas Brothers even married a Hindu. Pamela Anderson. Now, I didn't know this.

07:03

My wife, in our discussion about all of the recent events, she said that Pamela Anderson professed to be a

07:10

Christian. And sure enough, she did. I think back in the early 2000s, Pamela Anderson said she was a

07:17

Christian and even taught Sunday school. So, the list is a long one of celebrities who professed to be a believer.

07:26

As I said, only in short order to flame out and bring reproach on the gospel.

07:32

So that is one of the reasons that I offered some caution with Kanye West.

07:38

I think it was wise to do so, and I stand by that caution.

07:44

So, one of the things that disturbs me about all this is that so many of us seem to just get so excited when a celebrity is converted to Christ.

07:58

Now, I hope and pray that Kanye's conversion is real. It may be.

08:04

I don't know if it is or not. I hope and I genuinely pray that it is. And if it is, if he bears good fruit in keeping with repentance over the long haul,

08:17

I will rejoice in that. But let me say this, I'm not going to rejoice in his conversion anymore than I would rejoice in the conversion of Farmer Brown down County Road 56 in Central Texas somewhere that nobody has heard of.

08:37

So I would rejoice just as much in someone who's completely unknown in his or her conversion as I would

08:43

Kanye West. But from what I have seen already, I do have,

08:50

I think, some genuine, valid reasons to be cautious about Kanye West before we just start promoting him.

08:59

I know Kanye West has put out an album entitled Jesus is King. And in all of the publicity surrounding that,

09:07

I've seen a number of interviews that he has done. And I will say that Kanye West has said some encouraging things.

09:15

He has said some encouraging things about repentance, some things that have honestly kind of like, oh, wow, that's good.

09:24

That's what you would expect to hear, what you would hope to hear from someone who is truly converted. But I also know the parable of the soils, and I also know that rocky soil produces some initial appearance of fruit, looks like the real thing, only to be later burned up when the trials of life, the sun, the trials of life bear down and beat on those new shoots of apparent life.

09:52

So I'm cautious, and I want to show you, take the next several minutes here to show you some of the reasons why

09:58

I'm cautious, and I think it would be wise for us to exercise a bit of caution with Kanye West before we begin promoting him too heavily.

10:09

And then towards the end of this video, then I will get to exactly why I did and did not leave

10:15

Twitter. So please stay with me until the end of the video. The other day

10:20

I saw this interview that Kanye West did. Apparently he's on an airplane, and he's being interviewed by some guy.

10:27

My wife told me his name. I don't know. It's some guy that apparently does karaoke, and it's a plane full of,

10:33

I guess, Kanye's new choir members that he travels with on these

10:38

Sunday services. So let me show you what he said in this interview, and then we'll discuss just a little bit.

10:46

It's heavenly. It's great. It's magnificent. And God is using me as a human being.

10:55

You know, as humbly as I can put it, he's using me to show off. Last year

11:00

I made $115 million and still ended up $35 million in debt. This year

11:06

I looked up and I just got $68 million returned to me on my tax returns.

11:13

And people say, oh, don't talk about these numbers. No, people need to hear someone that had been put into debt by the system talk about these kind of numbers now that they're in service to Christ.

11:26

So you think your awakening, your spiritual awakening, is part of my success?

11:36

Absolutely. He's showing off. He's just showing out.

11:41

Do you think? Yeezy worth $3 billion. It's the number one Google search brand in the world.

11:48

He's showing out. Now I get to work for God and he about to show out.

11:55

Kanye West works for God. Can you lend me a million dollars?

12:03

Friends, that clip bothers me. It does. You just heard Kanye West talking about how he made $115 million last year but was still $35 million in debt.

12:17

But then he got a refund check on his taxes from Uncle Sam to a tune of $68 million.

12:25

And he says that Yeezy, I guess that's his brand name, Yeezy, is worth $3 billion.

12:32

And he's obviously boasting about this. And he says that that is an evidence that he is a

12:40

Christian, that he is in a right relationship with God because of how well he is doing financially.

12:46

And I see from his own website he is selling merchandise. He's making money off of his new album in the form of merchandise.

12:57

He sells socks and T -shirts and sweatshirts to the tune of $250 with Jesus is

13:08

King on it and images of Jesus selling a sweatshirt for $250.

13:15

Now, I'm sorry, I find that rather distasteful. Now, people will say, oh, well,

13:21

Justin, you sell your resources. Well, I do. I sell DVDs. I sell my books. I sell various things, teaching resources, but nothing with that kind of a markup on it.

13:34

I mean, that's just, I'm sorry, that's kind of beyond the pale. And I have a standing policy of giving my resources away for free to those who cannot afford it.

13:45

So there's a difference between teaching resources and selling sweatshirts with pictures of Jesus on them for $250.

13:56

That's making money off of your celebrity. And he thinks because he's doing so well financially and his brand is so popular that that's a sign of God's approval.

14:07

That's a sign that he is a believer. Dear friends, that represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the gospel.

14:15

It's a fundamental misunderstanding of what genuine fruit in keeping with repentance actually is.

14:21

What did Peter and John say to the lame beggar? Well, Peter said to the lame beggar in Acts chapter 3, silver and gold, have

14:30

I none? Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 23 through 28.

14:37

In fact, I want to read this to you. Let's look. 2 Corinthians chapter 11, beginning of verse 23.

14:42

We'll go through verse 30. Paul says, are they servants of Christ? I speak as if insane.

14:47

I more so in far more labors and far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death.

14:54

Five times I have received from the Jews 39 lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods.

14:59

Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I've spent in the deep. I've been on frequent journeys and dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the

15:10

Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren.

15:18

I've been in labor and hardship through many sleepless nights and hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

15:26

Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all of the churches.

15:33

Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?

15:38

And then look at what Paul says here in verse 30. He says, if I have to boast,

15:45

I will boast of what pertains to my weaknesses. Paul didn't boast about how much money he had.

15:53

He had very little, if any. He didn't boast about his material blessings.

16:00

He says right here in verse 30, if I'm going to boast on anything, I'm going to boast on what pertains to my weaknesses.

16:06

And this reflects what Paul said in the next chapter, 2 Corinthians 12, when

16:12

Jesus said to Paul, my grace is sufficient for you for strength.

16:17

Power is made perfect in weakness. This really bothered me when I saw this from Kanye West.

16:24

And honestly, when I saw it, I was disappointed. I was rather deflated when

16:29

I saw that because I really want this to be real with Kanye. But that from Kanye reflects a very fundamental misunderstanding of the gospel and a misunderstanding of what

16:42

God's favor truly is. It is not being worth millions or billions of dollars, not at all.

16:51

But unfortunately, this mindset, this is exactly the prosperity gospel, isn't it?

16:58

This is the prosperity theology, prosperity gospel mindset. And he has succumbed to this, at least to some degree, obviously.

17:08

And it very well may be in part because of some of the other people that he has also had a lot of exposure to.

17:17

Now, I want to show you this video. This was taken just about three or four weeks ago, as of this recording,

17:24

I think about a month or so ago, we'll call it, when Kanye West did one of his Sunday services at Jamal Bryant's church.

17:33

Now, Jamal Bryant is now the pastor of New Birth Missionary Church in Georgia, Lithonia, Georgia.

17:42

New Birth Missionary Church used to be pastored by Bishop Eddie Long. Bishop Eddie Long, he was credibly accused of sexually assaulting a number of young men that were under his spiritual authority or spiritual, quote -unquote, care.

18:00

Bishop Eddie Long was a false teacher. He was a word of faith, false teacher, blatant heretic.

18:06

He died a couple of years ago of some aggressive form of cancer. Well, Jamal Bryant is now the pastor of New Birth Missionary Church.

18:16

And just recently, Kanye West did one of his Sunday services at this church.

18:22

Now, Jamal Bryant is a false teacher. Jamal Bryant was married to a woman named

18:29

Gazelle. I believe I'm pronouncing that right, from 2002 to 2009. He had an affair, from what

18:37

I can tell, probably multiple, but at least one affair. And at least one of these affairs resulted in the birth of one child that I'm for certain aware of, maybe more.

18:49

But nonetheless, he is an adulterer, and his marriage fell apart. He has a child out of wedlock to this other woman, whoever she is.

19:00

So he is morally disqualified from being a pastor. He should not be a pastor at all.

19:07

Not only is he morally disqualified, but Jamal Bryant is another word of faith, prosperity, gospel -preaching heretic.

19:16

He is a false teacher on every conceivable level. He is big, big into the social justice stuff.

19:24

And Kanye West is leading services at his church. So this is another reason why

19:33

I'm very cautious in dealing with Kanye West. Yes, he has been in the company of some good men, and I'm, as I said, grateful for that.

19:43

But he is also associating with some very, very bad people, wolves.

19:49

Jamal Bryant is a wolf, and I have no qualms in saying that whatsoever. In fact, not only was

19:55

Kanye West leading worship at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, but he also gave a very sizable donation to the church.

20:03

And I know that because there's another video of Jamal Bryant later saying that he was going to return that donation.

20:11

Well, not return it to Kanye, but to deliver it somewhere else. I had to redirect it to some other project.

20:20

He decided to do this after he heard that Kanye West is a Donald Trump supporter, and he took a lot of heat for that.

20:27

And so he said, okay, I'm not going to take this donation. I'm going to give it to this other project. So Kanye West, unfortunately, he's in the company of some really bad folks that are giving him some really bad instruction.

20:41

I want to show you another video. This is from another Sunday service, Kanye West Sunday service, that was held within the last three or four weeks.

20:50

So watch this, and then I'll have a couple of comments. And there's going to be a whole bunch of people calling me like, you ain't supposed to mention that in Sunday service, though.

20:59

But there's something God put on my heart. I got family locked up.

21:11

And then there'd be pastors that want to talk about, oh, T .D. Jakes said this. He ain't say they weren't pure to the

21:17

Bible. But then they can't tell you a black pastor that they like, though. I was really disappointed to hear that from Kanye.

21:24

He says that people criticize T .D. Jakes because he's not true to the Bible. And he says, but they can't name you a black pastor that they like.

21:32

Well, I can. I can name a number of black pastors that I like. How about Conrad Mbewe?

21:40

How about Elder Eric Walden, pastor of Mount Hermon Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio?

21:47

I've preached at his church before. I think the world of him. Dear, dear brother. How about Pastor Bill Issa in Uganda that I've preached with?

21:55

I think the world of him and love him dearly. This is not a racial thing. Our caution with T .D.

22:03

Jakes is that he's not true to the Bible. He's a modalist. He's a word of faith prosperity preacher.

22:11

And as if that were not bad enough, he's a modalist on top of that. He denies the

22:16

Trinity. You can go to his website right now and look at their doctrinal statement. He says, we believe in one

22:22

God, not in three persons. We believe in one God and three manifestations. That's classic modalism.

22:29

So my concern and others' concern with T .D. Jakes has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of melanin in his skin.

22:38

It has to do with the fact that he denies the Trinity. And he cannot be saved. So watch this video from the same clip.

22:48

And we'll let Kanye continue some thoughts here. It's a divide in Christianity.

22:53

That's what I've seen since I've been saved. I'm an early convert. I'm just on stage. You know,

23:00

I'm yay. Here's what I see. If you believe that Jesus died for your sins, then you know the gospel.

23:08

That's the gospel. Don't be telling me Mormons got an extra book and Catholics do that. It's simple.

23:14

Christians, we be making it too hard for people to come and be involved in this. So make it clear for the message of the media.

23:25

Dear friends, that video disturbs me more than the one that we watched just a moment ago.

23:31

You see here Kanye West at this service with a microphone telling the world that, you know, being a

23:38

Roman Catholic or being even a Mormon is no big deal. As long as you believe in Jesus and believe that he died for your sins, that's the gospel.

23:49

Well, Roman Catholicism has anathematized the gospel. Now, I think it is quite likely that Kanye West does not understand the doctrinal distinctives of Roman Catholicism.

24:00

I have no doubt he does not understand the difference between imputed and infused righteousness.

24:06

He doesn't know that the Roman Catholic Church has anathematized the gospel in the

24:11

Council of Trent, 1563. Flat out anathematized salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone.

24:19

I have no doubt that he does not understand that. Now, with Mormonism, you would think he would have at least a little bit better understanding, because I think even most secular people at large have this vague notion that there's a fundamental difference between Mormonism and Christianity.

24:38

At least a vague notion that there's a dividing line there. So it's disappointing to hear

24:46

Kanye West say that, but it's more than just disappointing, it's dangerous. Kanye just told the world that it's okay to be a

24:54

Roman Catholic, it's okay to be a Mormon. Well, Mormons don't have the same Jesus. They have a different Jesus, a

25:00

Jesus who was a created being and a spiritual brother of Lucifer and a work salvation.

25:05

Roman Catholicism has a work salvation. Dear friends, this is why Kanye should not be leading these

25:13

Sunday services. He should not be leading Sunday services. He should be attending

25:19

Sunday services. He should not be behind the pulpit, as it were. He needs to be in front of the pulpit, sitting in a pew and learning.

25:29

The Bible gives us reason to be cautious with new converts. And again,

25:35

I hope and pray that that's what he is, a new convert. But at best, that is what he is.

25:42

Kanye will tell you that he thinks his conversion happened in April. So we're dealing with, at best, a six -month or so old

25:52

Christian. So he should not be leading worship. He should be attending worship.

25:57

He should be sitting in the pew and learning. Paul says in 1 Timothy 3, verse 6, that an elder should not be a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.

26:14

Now, I understand that we are not talking about Kanye West becoming an elder in a church anytime soon.

26:20

I understand that. But the principle is the same, is that new converts are especially susceptible to various temptations.

26:31

They are especially susceptible to becoming conceited. And I think this is what we're seeing with Kanye.

26:40

He is being exposed to things, and he's having pressures put on him that he should not be exposed to and should not have put on him.

26:51

Dear friends, it's not fair to Kanye. It is not fair and it's not right by Kanye to have him leading these services.

27:00

He's not ready for it. How many millions of people follow him now? I mean, the whole world.

27:06

He's one of the biggest stars in the entertainment world. He's a megastar, whatever the term you want to use for it.

27:12

Millions and millions and millions of people watch him, and especially so now because of his newfound profession of faith in Christ.

27:20

And the world is watching him. And sadly, many people in the world are hoping he will discredit

27:29

Christianity. I hope that he doesn't. I pray that he doesn't. But many people are hoping that he will, and millions of people are watching.

27:38

And he just told the world that it's okay to be a Roman Catholic. It's okay to be a Mormon. Friends, Kanye needs his time in Arabia.

27:49

If Paul needed time in Arabia before he started his ministry, then rest assured that Kanye West needs that time too.

27:56

It's not fair to him. Being in the spotlight, being front and center is putting pressure on him that at this point he cannot handle.

28:06

He is teaching things that he does not understand. And so this is why

28:12

I'm really urging caution. I'm not saying definitively at all that he is not a believer.

28:22

I hope and pray that he is. I am saying definitively that he should not be leading worship.

28:30

Upon conversion, I think one of the first things that a person experiences, along with the joy of being a new convert, the joy of being in Christ, is humility, brokenness before God, and a realization of how much that person has to learn.

28:51

And so I am praying that the Lord will engender that in Kanye.

28:57

I am praying that what we're seeing in Kanye West is not the rocky soil of Matthew 13 that produces some apparent life for a little while, but the sun comes out and the trials of life scorches it and it wilts away.

29:12

I'm praying that this is fertile soil. Time will tell. Time will tell, but I am indeed praying for that.

29:19

So caution is in order. Let me wrap this up by finally getting around to why

29:26

I am no longer on Twitter, why I deactivated my account. When I put that tweet up, some of the pushback that I got was respectful, and that's fine.

29:38

I'm okay with that. I really am. A lot of it, though, was not. I was honestly taken aback by how vicious some of it was, how mean -spirited a lot of it was, how people somehow had the ability to divine my intentions and peer into my soul and know why

29:58

I said what I did, accusing me of being a liar, of being a hypocrite, on and on and on.

30:04

Some of it just downright vicious. Some of it borderline, not even borderline. Some of it crossed the line into being vulgar.

30:13

And, well, when this was going on a few days ago, I was in Colorado, and my wife didn't go on this particular trip with me, so she was back at our home in Bozeman.

30:26

But she saw this. She saw this back and forth on Twitter. She saw people attacking me.

30:34

And Kathy is not a fan of social media to begin with. That's stating it mildly.

30:40

Kathy does not like social media because it is such a breeding ground for unchristlike behavior, gossip, slander, all manner of evil speech.

30:54

And you know what? She's right. It is a breeding ground for that. And when she saw people just viciously attacking me, it bothered her.

31:05

It bothered her a lot. And we talked on the phone that night, and I could hear it in her voice.

31:12

In a roundabout way, it was actually quite endearing too because it upset her so much when she saw people attacking her husband.

31:24

And this was just kind of the straw that broke the camel's back. She begrudgingly went along with me being on Twitter up until now, but when she saw that, it really became a stumbling block for her.

31:39

And I want to read to you an email. Kathy wrote an email to a lady named

31:44

Debbie Lynn Kespert. You may know her on Twitter if you follow her by Headstick Deb.

31:50

Debbie Lynn and her husband John live in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Kathy and I had the tremendous privilege of meeting them a few weeks ago when

32:00

I was preaching at their church in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Kathy went with me. We just think the world of both

32:09

Debbie Lynn and John. But at any rate, Debbie Lynn emailed Kathy and asked her, why is

32:15

Justin off of Twitter? What's going on? And a lot of people had that question, very well -meaning people.

32:22

So Kathy wrote Debbie Lynn Kespert an email, and with my wife's permission,

32:28

I'm going to read this email to you. Kathy says, Hi, Debbie Lynn.

32:35

Thank you for reaching out to us. Justin is in Colorado right now, so I asked him if I could respond to your email.

32:41

He, of course, said I could. Justin deleted his Twitter account because I asked him if he would.

32:47

Several days ago, he posted a cautionary tweet regarding all the Internet chatter surrounding Kanye West.

32:53

The backlash from too many mean -spirited followers was it for me. I'm not a fan of social media, and I don't indulge in it, but that's my personal preference.

33:04

I could write a lengthy article on why social media is a platform for sinful behavior and why it is not neutral before God, to whom we will all give an account.

33:14

But again, it's my personal preference, and a strong one, given all that I have witnessed and experienced.

33:19

I suppose the protective wife in me may be overshadowing my logic a bit, but I can't find many good reasons for Twitter.

33:28

While I have heard all the arguments for social media from those who wish to honor the Lord with their posts, there is no denial that we all have wicked hearts, and we are all drawn into posting something we shouldn't when our flesh controls our keyboard.

33:40

The world is watching, new Christians are watching, old ones, seasoned ones, and on and on it goes.

33:46

The questionable behavior on social media does much to eclipse the good.

33:51

Self -promotion is the name of the game. Like I explained to Justin, the nice people are not the problem.

33:57

The ones who cannot behave are. When some of Justin's followers decided to take cheap shots at him, and he then felt the need to defend himself,

34:06

I have to be honest, it made me sinfully angry. He is a man of no guile, and his post was meant to be helpful.

34:14

The backlash turned into something that was not honoring to the Lord, and that is when I asked him if he would consider taking his

34:20

Twitter account down, as it was becoming a spiritual stumbling block for me. He really didn't think twice about it.

34:28

He is a true testimony of a man who loves his wife and cares deeply about my sanctification, as well as what causes me to stumble.

34:36

My personal preferences regarding social media are really my own, and I don't intend to start a crusade or become the

34:43

Internet police, nor do I intend to push my personal preferences off on anyone. However, I am thankful that my husband has always consulted me on ministry -related issues and is quick to respond biblically.

34:56

This situation was no exception. I suppose I am far more thankful for his godly response than I am conflicted on whether or not he should be on Twitter.

35:05

We both love you, and we're so honored to meet you and John. We wish we could have had more time together.

35:10

Thank you for what you do in your blogging, Debbie Lynn. You have encouraged me so much, and I know you have done the same for so many others.

35:17

Your work is an important one. Keep it up. Blessings to you both. We sure hope to see you guys again.

35:23

Kathy Peters Dear friends, that is why

35:30

I am no longer on Twitter. That is why I deactivated my account.

35:36

It is not for the reasons that so many have said. It is not for reasons like I've seen people have said, well,

35:46

Justin can dish it out, but he can't take it. He can't take criticism.

35:53

Various flavors of that. People saying just hateful things about me and disparaging me and all this.

36:01

That's not why I got off of Twitter. If it was solely up to me, I would still be on Twitter right now.

36:09

But it became a stumbling block for my wife. Dear friends,

36:15

I am to love my wife as Christ loved the church. Christ gave himself up for the church, and I am to give myself up for my wife.

36:25

My wife's spiritual well -being is far more important to me than being on Twitter.

36:31

And so that is why I got off. I think Kathy is very wise.

36:38

I always listen to her. And you know what? Being on Twitter, quite honestly, even though I received a lot of encouragement and edification from it, it had become too time -consuming for me.

36:53

And I know that in trying to engage, at least to some level, these people who are attacking me,

37:00

I know that there is an element of pride in me even in that. And so I think this is going to be a good thing.

37:10

It's going to free up more time for me to do other things that are more important. But I just want you to know why

37:16

I'm really not on Twitter. That is why. And I'm very grateful for my wife.

37:22

She is a good, godly woman. I greatly respect her. And what is best for her spiritually is what is best for me spiritually, what is best for the both of us together as we seek to honor

37:34

Christ and obey Him. So I'm not going to say anything more than that.

37:41

I'm not going to name the people. You know who you are if you're watching this. I'm sure you are. I'm not going to name you.

37:46

I'm not going to give you any free publicity. But I do want everyone to know why

37:53

I'm no longer on Twitter. It's to honor my wife, and in honoring my wife, I honor the Lord. And so thank you very much for watching this video.

38:02

My Justin Peters Ministries Facebook page is still open and active.

38:09

My good friend David Hinke helps me with that. So anyway,

38:15

Lord willing, in the next couple of weeks, few weeks, I should have a brand new website up. Work in the ministry continues.

38:21

Continue to preach, continue to teach, continue to travel. Lord willing, I should have a podcast coming up soon.

38:28

So, dear friends, thank you very much. I appreciate your love. I appreciate so many of you praying for me, praying for my wife,

38:36

Kathy, praying for both of us as we do this work together. I can't tell you how encouraging it is for both of us to know that I know we have people all over the world praying for us.

38:47

So thank you. Thank you for that. And I will continue to pray for Kanye West.

38:54

So by God's grace, by God's grace and solely by God's grace, do any of us bear good and lasting fruit.

39:01

So thank you, dear ones. And until my next video, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all.