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This Saturday Special edition features Pastor Gabe's blogs about Religion News Service editor Jonathan Merit and "Jesus and John Wayne" author Kristin Du Mez. Visit pastorgabe.com for more blogs!
Welcome to a Saturday special edition of When We Understand the Text, looking at current events and responding to them with a solid understanding of scripture. Visit our website at www .utt .com. Here once again is Pastor Gabe.
A Gospel Without Merit, Pastor Gabe's blog for November 23, 2021. At the beginning of Jude's letter, he wrote, Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
For certain people have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
This past Sunday, November 21st, Religion News Service editor Jonathan Merritt preached a sermon from Mark 13 at his church, The Good Shepherd in New York City. His preaching was praised by his own father, James Merritt, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention and a visiting professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
James recommended that everyone listen to Jonathan's preaching, quote, I don't agree with my loved son, Jonathan Merritt, on everything, to be sure, but I encourage you to listen to his message on Mark 13.
It is both brilliant and faithful to the gospel and the coming of Jesus, unquote. But Jonathan's sermon was none of those things. The theology was terrible, neither faithful to the gospel nor to Christ's second coming.
The point of Jonathan's message was that nothing lasts forever and, quote, Jesus is always coming again and again and again, even in this terrible, wonderful time, unquote. To Jonathan, the return of Christ is not a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness, Act 1731, but it is something that is continually happening if you will just open your eyes and embrace the change, quote.
There is another way to keep watch in times like these, he says. We can simply open our lives to the truth that just as the world is always ending, Christ is always coming, unquote. What did Jesus say about his return?
He said on the day when Lot went out of Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all. So will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed, Luke 17, 29 to 30. But of course, Jonathan Merritt isn't going to teach that.
He doesn't give two cents about what Jesus actually said or what the gospel is. How do I know that? Because Jonathan Merritt is of Sodom. In August, Jonathan came out as gay to no one's surprise. He had already been outed after a homosexual encounter nine years ago.
Ed Stetzer attempted to clear Jonathan's name and Jonathan retained a status as an evangelical darling, but he never repented. Instead, he became hypercritical of the church and embraced the ethics of the LGBTQ revolution.
He approves of and practices abominable sin that Jesus Christ has judged with holy fire, Genesis 19, 24. And he has promised he will judge with fire again, Revelation 21, 8. Jonathan believes in a false Christ, one who would bless homosexuality as holy as he pulled from Jen Hatmaker.
He agrees with Brian Zahn that eternal hell and penal substitutionary atonement are theological aberrations. He claims everyone is welcome at God's table, no matter their theology. When Jesus said, no one gets to the father, but by me, John 14, 6.
In his sermon on Sunday, Jonathan read the words of Jesus from Mark 13, 5. Watch out that no one deceives you. With no irony in his tone or wink in his eye, Jonathan's Christ is a cheap, worthless imitation with less potency than a used Christmas tree car air freshener.
There is no truth in Jonathan's Christ. Yet his father, James, thinks there's merit in his unregenerate son's teaching and we all need to hear it. In defense of his recommendation, James said, quote, regardless of who preaches Jesus or speaks truth, I rejoice when they do because I love Jesus and truth.
I can approve a message even when I have disagreements with the messenger. I agree with Paul. Love rejoices with the truth, and that is the truth, unquote. That would be all well and good if Jonathan's message was true, but it wasn't.
The apostle Paul said the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God, including men who practice homosexuality, as Jonathan does, 1 Corinthians 6, 9, and 10. Where is that truth in James' doctrine?
If James truly loves his son, then he will tell him the truth, that he doesn't know Jesus and he's headed for hell if he does not repent. I wish that I could say that this was only a case of a father trying desperately to hold on to some kind of relationship with his rebellious son.
Sadly, he's willing to twist his doctrine in order to cope with the tragic reality that his son is dwelling in the city of destruction. My heart breaks for both of them. However, this is much more than that.
James Merritt is a famous preacher, teaching other preachers at a large Southern Baptist seminary. Consider the implications of what he's teaching by claiming his son is preaching the gospel. He is teaching others to embrace a false gospel that cannot save, when the scripture says charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 1 Timothy 1, 3.
He is teaching that homosexual men are fellow Christians, when the scripture plainly says the sexually immoral men who practice homosexuality are contrary to Christ and his word, 1 Timothy 1, 10. He is teaching his own son that he's saved and a qualified preacher, when Jonathan has made shipwreck of his faith and blasphemed Christ, 1 Timothy 1, 19.
At the Southern Baptist convention in Nashville, James Merritt rebuked the members who were calling down critical race theory as incompatible with the gospel. In his rebuke, he said, quote, it's time to find out who we are and where we're headed, unquote.
Is James showing who he really is and where he's headed? He's wrong on the gospel and who's qualified to teach it. He is steering others wrong, and he could make a shipwreck of his own faith if he does not change course.
Time will tell what Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary intends to do about this or where the Southern Baptist convention will stand. Jude goes on to say Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, in the last time there will be scoffers following their own ungodly passions, it is these who cause divisions, worldly people devoid of the spirit.
But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life and have mercy on those who doubt.
Save others by snatching them out of the fire. To others, show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Jude verses 17 through 23. The question Kristen Kobes-Dumais won't answer.
Pastor Gabe's blog for November 29, 2021. In Matthew 21, we read about Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, to the shouts of people saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
He then cleansed the temple of the merchants and money changers, turning over their tables and driving out all who bought and sold. After doing this, the blind and lame were able to come to him and be healed.
The next day when he returned to the temple to teach, the chief priests and elders approached Jesus and asked, by what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority? Jesus replied, I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.
The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men? The chief priests and elders huddled among themselves and said, if we say from heaven, he will say to us, then why did you not believe him?
But if we say from men, we fear the crowd, for they all regard John as a prophet. Finally, they reasoned to answer Jesus and said, we do not know. Jesus replied, neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
Over the weekend, there was a fascinating exchange on Twitter between Denny Burke, professor of biblical studies at Boyce College, and Kristen Kobes-Dumais, professor of history at Calvin University and author of the best-selling book, Jesus and John Wayne, How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation.
If you can't tell by that title of her book, Dumais is a woke feminist. Burke has been warning that Dumais is a false teacher, so Dumais asked him directly, do you believe that my work is false teaching that undermines or corrupts the gospel?
This seems to be what is at stake here. Plain answers appreciated. In a single tweet, Burke answered yes, that her book contained, quote, false teaching, the kind of thing that pastors ought to warn their congregations about, unquote.
Dumais pressed further and asked Burke, where specifically in her book is the false teaching that threatens the very gospel of Christ? When Burke took more than an hour to respond, Dumais replied, quote, your habit of disappearing when pressed for evidence is frustrating, unquote.
When Burke returned to the conversation, he said the delay was because he was busy doing other things. Let me break here in the dialogue for a moment. It is extremely arrogant for anyone to demand your utmost and undivided attention on social media.
Once I was having an exchange on Twitter with Dr. Anthony Bradley, who asked me a question. When I did not answer immediately, he criticized me for attempting to Google my answer. No, I missed the question because I was catching my sick child's throw up.
Because of his arrogance, I didn't bother to answer the question at all. Burke is a bit more gracious, though he's written about the problems with Dumais' book elsewhere. He answered her challenge and gave her an example of her false teaching from pages 297 and 298.
Dumais wrote, quote,. Despite evangelicals frequent claims that the Bible is the source of their social and political commitments, evangelicalism must be seen as a cultural and political movement rather than a community chiefly defined by its theology.
Evangelical views on any given issue are facets of this larger cultural identity, and no number of Bible verses will dislodge the greater truths at the heart of it. Unquote. Burke went on to explain that this teaches Christians to view their Christianity as something cultural, not something biblical, and no number of Bible verses will change that.
For a finer example, the reason you believe the husband is the head of his wife and a wife is to submit to her husband is not because Ephesians 5, 22 to 24 says so, but because the Christian culture you're a part of says so, quote,.
Your claim weakens the ordinary Christians resolve to trust the scripture and encourages them to dismiss what scripture teaches as errant cultural artifacts designed to prop up an abusive, self-seeking patriarchy.
Unquote. Burke told her Dumais defended her work and said that many Bible believing Christians have found her book helpful. I'm also very busy, she said, but when people call me a wolf, publicly misrepresent my work, accuse me of false teaching, of undermining the gospel, sometimes I find it worth responding.
I'd love for this to stop any time, unquote. So Burke cut to a more pointed question, quote,. When I read your book, I thought you treated evangelical opposition to gay rights as a negative thing. Others have told me that you personally affirm the church's teaching that homosexuality is sinful.
Do you believe homosexuality is sinful? Unquote. It took Dumais an hour to respond. Sorry. Currently with the kids at Ikea. Feel free to question my judgment on that front. We'll get back to this when I can.
Unquote. So when Burke was delayed in answering a question to which he gave a direct answer, Dumais accused him of pulling a disappearing act. But when Dumais asked a direct yes or no question with a very easy answer, she will get back to this later.
It would have taken her less time and less characters to say yes or no than it would have been to tell Burke she was at Ikea. It took her 20 hours to give a 1200 word response that did not answer his question.
That's right. She did not say, yes, I believe homosexuality is sin or no, I do not believe homosexuality is sin. Rather, she said that her church is, quote, actively re-examining this issue in light of tradition, interpretation, history and science.
Unquote. I can only imagine what was going through her mind in those 20 hours, but it was probably similar to the Pharisees in Matthew 22. If I say yes, then I believe homosexuality is a sin. The Bible believing Christians will applaud me, but my liberal fan base will be offended and will stop buying my books.
If I say no, that I believe homosexuality is not a sin, then my liberalism will be exposed and it will be a lot harder to subvert churches. So she said to Denny, I don't know. Her answer was to please men, not God.
She said in another tweet, quote, I didn't write my answer for Denny. I wrote it for the people I knew he'd share it with, unquote. And she continues to devour the flock of God like the wolf Burke knew that she was.
His single question, like Jesus' question to the Pharisees, made that all the more clear. Surely you can read between the lines, right? Her non-answer was absolutely an affirmation of homosexuality, that she does not believe it to be sinful.
In fact, DuMay called those in homosexual sin, quote, my LGBTQ sisters and brothers in Christ, unquote. That's an affirming statement that recognizes any of the perverse sexual behaviors in the LGBTQ spectrum as being compatible with being a Christian.
But what does the Bible say? The sexually immoral, specifically homosexuals, are not of the kingdom of God. First Corinthians six, nine and 10 Romans one, 26 to 27 says that God gave them over to dishonorable passions.
Jude seven says that sodomy is a natural desire and will undergo a punishment of eternal fire. But remember, DuMay in her deconstructing critical theory approach to Christianity does not believe this is the biblical truth.
It appears she believes white male influencers have established a standard of heterosexuality. Not that God has set this standard. Oh, she might call herself a Bible believing Christian, but insofar as the Bible is interpreted a certain way, all the cults and false religions are nodding their heads and grinning with approval.
The hypocrisy here, of course, is that DuMay believes Burke is being influenced by white patriarchal heterosexual conservatism. But DuMay is not being influenced by woke feminist LGBTQ affirming liberalism for they preach but do not practice.
Jesus said of the Pharisees, they do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called teacher by others.
But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
Matthew 23, 3, 5 -7, 13 -15. And the Pharisees were more scripturally orthodox than Christen Kobes DuMay. Occasionally, the church must be cleansed of the merchants and the money changers, driving out all who buy and sell these lies, so that the blind and lame can be healed, so that sinners will be forgiven by the truth of the gospel.
Beware of false prophets, Jesus said, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Matthew 7, 15. Beware of teachers who won't call sin sin, who pretend to be Christians but will lead you astray with wordy lies.
Repent. Turn to the Jesus Christ of the Bible. Far above the tradition, interpretation, history, and science of men. Salvation is from the Lord.