Greear and Litton: Plagiarism and Sin in the SBC

Hello ladies and gentlemen, my name is Justin Peters. I hope that you and your family are doing well today I want to thank you very much for joining me for this podcast. So I am recording this introduction At the end in other words I just completed working on my video doing all the edits and all and as the as this work has gone on for the last Couple days.

I put a lot more in it than what I initially thought that I would so I'm I'm doing the Intro here last, you know in a sense. So once the main body of this video picks up here in just a few seconds You're gonna you're gonna go back in time a couple of days, but as I started working on this video yesterday Sunday, I discovered that Ed Litton has Continued to plagiarize he plagiarized something at least one thing.

I don't know of in his sermon from just yesterday. And this was the day after he started Scrubbing the Redemption Church's YouTube channel. So there's a lot here and There's a lot of theology in here we're going to talk about the plagiarism we're going to talk about how The dangers of saying that God whispers about certain sins.

I'm going to give you the full context of this I'm going to show you how JD Greer Took RC Sproul out of context and I'm going to end with the gospel. So there's a lot here. Please do watch it from start to finish Before you form an opinion Please do watch the whole whole thing.

So Thank you very much. And so now we are going to go back in time about 48 hours. Here we go the big news in the evangelical world broadly speaking in the SBC world more specifically speaking is the undeniable plagiarism by the SBC's newly elected president and Ed Litton who is the pastor of Redemption Church in Mobile, Alabama.

The Plagiarism Allegations Against Ed Litton and JD Greer

Ed Litton plagiarized a sermon by the preceding pastor or president of the SBC JD Greer. JD Greer preached a sermon on Romans 1 dealing with homosexuality in January of 2019 and then just about one year later Ed Litton preached also preached a sermon on Romans 1 that undeniably plagiarized JD Greer and I want us to talk about this.

I'll show the clip that proves this Beyond any reasonable doubt. I'm going to show you that you may have already seen it. But Yes, as of this recording JD Greer has issued a statement and Ed Litton has issued an apology of sorts and I want to be fair to these men I'll show you what they had to say show you the video proof or show you what they had to say, but we're gonna talk about this because this isn't so easily just brushed aside like I see many in the More in the social justice wing of the SBC that are really wanting to do.

What I'm seeing thus far from both from JD Greer and Ed Litton is not at all Satisfactory, so we're gonna talk about the plagiarism issues and we're also going to talk about what I believe is is really the more serious issue and has Potentially more impact and more poses more of a danger spiritually speaking and that is the theology that was presented in these sermons and So we're going to talk about that as well.

Undoubtedly, there will be a lot more developments that are coming. And in fact my understanding right now according to what I just have seen just a few minutes ago Over 100 of Ed Litton sermons have now been either removed from The church's YouTube channel or have been set to private so you you can't see them.

Only people who can see them would be ones that were directly and intentionally given Access to them. So as I know for a fact, I know for a fact that dozens have been Videos have been removed. I do know that for a fact as of right now and according to a report I just read over a hundred and There was I don't know how else to To read that.

I don't know what else you could read into that for the reason for removing those sermons unless this one sermon that has been getting so much attention is Not the only sermon that Ed Litton has plagiarized why else remove them?

So I'm gonna I'm gonna show you the video proof and We'll pick back up after this is over. So watch this video and I'm going to put in the in a little description here. You should be seeing it right about now.

If you've already seen it, you can fast-forward to that minute mark that you see there and skip it and pick back up with my Comments. Okay, dear ones. I need to say this before I show you the video proof of the plagiarism.

You heard me say just a second ago that I know for a fact That dozens of videos have already been removed from I think I said Litton's YouTube channel I should have said redemption churches YouTube channel the church that he pastored and you might have picked up that I said that in such a way that kind of Communicated that I I know a bit more than what I was letting on and I do and I've given this some thought I do no more.

I'm in possession of 37 of the sermons that Ed Litton has preached from his Roman series. A friend of mine in Texas Sent me all of these videos and I don't know who downloaded them, but It wasn't me. But he did send them to me and I and I have them.

I have watched one of them and the only one that I have watched is The sermon in question the sermon that has generated so much Controversy I have watched that start to finish. I'll talk about the theology of it as we progress in this video the other 36 I'm not gonna watch.

I don't have. I have neither the time and quite frankly Nor do I have the interest to go through. I think the plagiarism has been established as you will see. But here's the thing Why would you remove so many videos in fact?

According to something that I was just said as of this recording right now 143 of Ed Litton's videos from the Redemption Church's YouTube channel have either been deleted privatized or hidden a hundred and forty three.

Why in the world would you do that? Unless you know that there is more plagiarism there I Can imagine I cannot fathom any other explanation other than There's a lot more plagiarism out there To be found from Ed Litton now.

I say that to say this I'm not gonna be the one to find it. As I said, I have neither the time nor the interest to do that. I've got other things to do. And I don't even know who it actually was who downloaded these videos.

I don't know if it was my friend or someone else. But anyway, I do have them but the point of the matter is this is That if if this one individual downloaded them, you can be sure that others have downloaded them as well and probably a lot more than these 37 and Even though I'm not gonna go comb through all these videos Other people will.

I'm not an investigative reporter. Thank goodness. That's not my thing. I don't I don't I don't do that, but others will and others other people have these videos, so Mr. Greer, mr. Litton if you know that there are other plagiaristic shoes to drop Then I would behoove you to come out and say that now because it's just a matter of time.

It's not gonna come from me. It's not gonna come from My direction or anything else. I have no idea who's gonna do it, but be sure there are other people. There are people working on it. I have no doubt so it would behoove you to come out and just Be honest about this because the apology from You mr. Litton if you're watching this only dealt with that one sermon and apparently there's a lot more out there Unfortunately, okay.

So let's go. I'll show you the video proof of the plagiarism and then we're gonna we're gonna talk about The integrity issues here. We're gonna talk about plagiarism issues and we're going to talk about the theology which concerns me even more.

Here we go.

We'll give you a warning here that this might be the toughest week that we will have in the book of Romans. Romans 1 the end of it is tied in difficulty only with Romans 5 Romans 9 and Romans 11. This may be one of the toughest passages we face in the book of Romans.

This is the steep climb I talked about. So in fact, let's just sort of loosen things up right now everybody turn right now to your neighbor look him in the eyes if you know them if you know them put your hand on their Shoulder and say this is gonna be a really tough week for you.

Okay, and tell him say I'm praying for you to have the faith and humility to receive this word. I want you to turn to your neighbor right now, and I want you to say I know this sermon is gonna be really tough For you, but I'm here praying that you will listen and obey whatever God says go ahead do that right now.

But y 'all we believe that God's Word is good. Do we not you see? We believe that God's Word is good and some of my travels overseas I'll I'll go into these temples that are erected to a foreign God. I remember being in one of them a while ago over in somewhere In Asia and Paul David Tripp is a favorite pastor of mine to read.

He's a pastor in Philadelphia. He was on a mission trip to Nepal and he went he was taken by a missionary into a temple. And there was I go in this temple. It's just gigantic I mean beautiful temple and right in the middle of it is a about a 25-foot statue of a Goddess who has multiple breasts and and multiple arms and you and he said and I will not go into details.

But he does explain it that there was an idol in the center of this temple. He said it was one of the most grotesque things He's ever seen watch these worshipers come in and they would prostrate themselves before this statue and many of them were very emotional.

Many had traveled a lot of miles to get to this. Very poor some of them and taking the little money they had and pointed out an offering before this Statue of this God, but what really turned his stomach wasn't the shape of the idol.

It was how people were bowing down to it kissing it putting money on it. He met a family that had walked for four months to get to this idol later finding myself Just going back over that incident in my mind and and feeling sorry for the people there and thanking God kind of in my heart.

That I wasn't I wasn't like them, but he walked out of that temple. Saying thank God. I'm not like them then in the middle of that thought it just occurred to me I had a whole list of things in my heart that have taken God's place.

Just like that statue had when the Spirit of God said Paul You are exactly like them. I compared it to if the earth were to say to the Sun I am sick and tired of you being in the middle of the solar system.

If the earth were to ask the Sun in our solar system, I'm sick and tired of floating out here and nothingness. Surrounding you constantly. I want to be the center of this solar system. The Sun might just say to the earth.

All right. Have it your way. The earth is thirty thousand times smaller than the Sun and would not have the ability to keep all the planets in orbit. And so the solar system would begin to unravel simply because the Sun gave to the earth what it asked for.

Folks our entire solar system would fall apart. Why. Because the earth doesn't have the power of light and it doesn't have the power of gravitational force. To hold this solar system in existence. Oh sexual disorder.

That was the first thing versus 26 and 27 now. We've got economic disorder there. There's economic disorder. Look at verse 29 Social disorder that he says there's social disorder social disorder. Just think Facebook.

That's just on Facebook. Then you got spiritual disorder. There's spiritual disorder there you could think of that as family disorder you and. There's family disorder. They disobey their parents. You see there are three ways.

I see us really going wrong with this in the church at large. Three. I'll tell you three ways. I think we've gone wrong. Number one and one we believe that God doesn't really care about this first one.

Is that we don't think God cares about this issue. We make the gospel message is not let the gay become straight. The gospel message is let the dead become alive. And that the gospel message is not let the gay get straight the gospel message is let the dead come to life.

Which leads me to the second way that I see us going wrong here. Number two. We think it's the worst sin. Here's the second thing. I think we do we go wrong and that is thinking homosexuality is the worst of all sins.

Jen Wilkin who's one of our favorite Bible teachers here and who's actually leading our women's conference. She said she said we ought to whisper about what the Bible whispers about. And we ought to shout about what it shouts about and the Bible appears more to whisper when it comes to sexual sin.

Compared to its shouts about materialism and religious pride in the Bible sexual sin is Whispered compared to the shout God makes about greed and judgmentalism. Throughout Jesus's ministry in his life We see him demonstrating great just incredible sympathy for those caught in sexual sin and great animosity toward the religiously proud Jesus forgave prostitutes.

But he was harsh with religious materialist. In fact Jesus one time not one time ever said that it was difficult for the same sex attracted to go to heaven. He did say it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle I have a needle than it was for a religiously proud or materialistically successful person to enter into the kingdom of God.

Matter of fact, he said it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one of these. Only when we grasp only when we grasp this truth. Will we become ministers of the gospel when we understand like Paul did that we are the worst sinner that we know.

Only then when you only when you understand that will you? Understand that if Jesus came to die for you that there's nobody he didn't die for. We can't grasp this gospel till we confess with Paul these words in 1st Timothy 1 15.

He says this is a trustworthy saying. Deserving full acceptance that Christ has come into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost. Here's the third way that we go wrong. Number three. Assuming it's hard for LGBTQ people to get to heaven early we go wrong thinking LGBT people can't go to heaven.

Homosexuality does not send you to hell. You know how I know that because heterosexuality does not send you to heaven. Homosexuality does not send people to hell. How do I know that because heterosexuality doesn't send people to heaven.

Rosaria Butterfield whose story I've shared with you before here. She was a practicing lesbian very outspoken professor of literature and women's studies at Syracuse University. He was a practicing lesbian and a committed lesbian relationship a culture warrior on the far left.

She said it was Romans 1 that brought her to faith in Christ. And then she said and I quote Homosexuality is not the core of our rebellion against God. A desire to be God is a Desire to be the one who gets to declare good and evil to play judge rather than be judged.

A desire to use God's creation for our own gratification. Rather than with pleasure for his glory.

Undeniable Plagiarism. Now to be fair after watching that video you might think the entirety of Ed Litton sermon was lifted from JD Greer's. That's not the case. I watched the I watched the entirety of both Greer's and Litton's sermons and there's undeniable plagiarism there, but they weren't exactly alike.

Although after having watched the entirety of both sermons you could there could have been more Examples of plagiarism cited than what we saw in this particular video. So a lot was there but not the entirety but really doesn't matter.

It's obvious that there is plenty there to qualify as Plagiarism. It's not just Litton's plagiarism though. It's it's Greer's plagiarism as well. His plagiarism of Paul Tripp. Now watch this section again.

And when I first saw this it really raised my eyebrows. Watch this and some of my travels overseas.

I'll I'll go into these temples that are erected to a foreign God. I remember being in one of them a while ago over in somewhere in Asia. There was. I go in this temple I mean beautiful temple and right in the middle of it is a about a 25-foot statue of a goddess who has multiple breasts and.

Multiple arms. Okay, when I first saw this sermon from Greer That part right there just did not Resonate with me at all. It did not at all seem authentic. It it very much seemed like he was making that up when he said it was somewhere, you know in in Asia.

And and then he doesn't it goes on to describe these statues and these idols and It I just thought when I first saw that that that that's not a first-hand Experience right there because I'm I'm familiar myself with the general Idea here of these idols.

The thing is is I can remember exactly where I was when I saw these things I was in India in 2015 and you saw all over India at least all over the area that we were in in India Kakanada and other places you saw these and So you're right there.

I can even remember the city. I don't have to I don't have to go back and think in Asia. That just didn't resonate with me. I thought that and that's not a that's not a first-hand memory that he's pulling up there.

Because I've seen these statues. I mean they are Grotesque there's a lot of different ones. There's one the biggest one we saw. Like a half half man half monkey and we Mike Miller and I who we were in India together.

We started calling him monkey man. I mean these grotesque statues and you'd see them Various places and they were they were put up on on some platforms with steps walking up to and people would all walk up these steps and and they would put Offerings of I don't know that I can remember seeing them put money.

Maybe they do but but they put food. I would see bowls of rice and stuff at the bases of these grotesque Statues and Mike Miller and I would look at each other like do they not do they not realize that?

You know monkey man here or whatever statue, you know with the eight arms or whatever. It's That statues not eating the rice that they keep putting up there. So, I mean I know the general thing of what he's talking about but I can remember exactly where I was so.

But that when I first saw that I thought that is not a firsthand experience he's that's not something that he himself is pulling from from and Then come to find out sure enough he's lifting that from Paul trip and Now JD Greer did address this on a read to you what he put up in a statement June 25th.

Saturday, June 25th JD Greer says in that particular message I shared a story with our congregation about a moment of realization I had after visiting pagan temples in Asia that the heartbreaking Idolatry we see displayed in those temples is something endemic to the human heart.

What starts as bewilderment and even a little disgust at the grotesque displays of idolatry? Turns into a lament over the condition of the fallen human heart. We all possess the story was inspired by a similar one I read from Paul trip sharing his observations as he had visited temple in northern India where I was More eastern India, but but as a former missionary to Southeast Asia, I had had the same experience.

In fact, almost every missionary I know has had this same moment of revelation. It's a common insight among missionaries on the field one that is shared often in prayer and support circles. I felt no hesitation in changing that.

Here's the problem. I felt no hesitation in changing the details of the story to match my own Experience or no need to cite Paul trip as the source as the events. I tell them a actually happened to me and B are common among missionaries.

I did convey to Ed Lytton where I got the inspiration for the story and Ed having never lived in Asia chose to tell the Story in Paul's words and attribute it to Paul. Well a couple things here. A what you're describing Mr. Greer did not actually happen to you by your own admission.

You're pulling that from Paul trip, but I want to write unless you think I am being too harsh I want to read to you an article that was written by da Carson for the gospel coalition back in 2010 and Now my citation of this is not an endorsement of the gospel coalition.

I have grave concerns With the gospel coalition in the direction. They have been going for a number of years they're they're fully woke and fully embraced social justice and Now they're exegeting movies, but so this is not an endorsement of the gospel coalition.

I have great concerns there, but Da Carson wrote this about plagiarism Back in 2010. He says first taking over another sermon and preaching it as if it were yours is Always an unequivocally wrong and if you do it you should resign or be fired immediately.

Well, that's what Ed Litton has done. The wickedness is along at least three axes. One you are stealing to you're deceiving the people to whom you're preaching. More on that in a minute number three perhaps worst.

You are not devoting yourself to the study of the Bible to the end. That God's truth captures you molds you makes you a man of God and equips you to speak for him. Amen to that if preaching is God's truth through human personality.

So Phillips Brooks then serving as nothing then serving is nothing more than a kind of organic Recording device in playback mode does not qualify in Watch this incidentally. Changing a few words here and there and someone else's work does not let you off the hook.

Retelling personal Experiences as if they were yours when they were not makes the offense all the uglier. That this offense is easy to commit because of the availability of source material in the digital age Does not lessen its wickedness anymore than the ready availability of ready availability of porn in the digital age does not turn pornography into a virtue.

So 11 years ago now da Carson Spoke specifically to this issue with JD Greer's plagiarism of Paul Tripp saying. Retelling personal experiences as if they were yours when they were not makes the offense all the uglier so JD Greer despite trying to explain himself nonetheless This is plagiarism and he should just come out and say I plagiarized Paul Tripp.

The Team-Written Sermons and Litton’s Apology

Okay, now I want to discuss Ed Litton's plagiarism on the same day that JD Greer released his statement Saturday June 26, I may have said 25th earlier but as a 26 Ed Litton released a statement of his own dealing with this and I have links below in the description if you would like to read the entirety of their respective statements.

Of course, you can do that. But just for time's sake I'm going to read the pertinent parts of this and so Ed Litton says We employ a preaching team approach at Redemption Church that is comprised of eight men from our staff Congregation who meet weekly to discuss study insights outlines and approaches to the text.

This sermon prep process includes working in the languages consulting commentaries and books and listening to strong communicators, okay. He has a team of eight men. Helping him write sermons. There's your problem at least part of it.

Ed Litton is not writing his own Sermons, he has a team of eight men at least they're men, but eight men that help him write his sermons who look at the languages and consult commentaries and reference books and all this kind of stuff and I am sure that Ed Litton has some input but if if you're One of a team of eight and I don't know maybe he's the ninth but whatever if you're only if you're one of a team of eight That that is doing sermon preparation weekend and week out then you're not writing your own sermons.

You're not doing your own study. Others are doing it for you. That's a problem. I have a number of friends who are Pastors and I've talked to several of them in the last couple of days since this really blew up and I asked them I already knew the answer, but I asked him anyway, just to go on the record.

How many how many people do you have help you writing? How many people help you write your sermons and to a man? They've said one one they write their own sermons and Friends that's the way it ought to be done when I write a sermon.

I'm the one who writes it now there is nothing at all wrong with consulting commentaries or language helps or reference materials or Reading books or that kind of thing and and maybe maybe for example, you've you're using something for an illustration.

Maybe it's a Historical example and you know some you've got a history buff in your church and you say hey, you know. Do I have this right about the you know, the Battle of the Bulge or Gettysburg or whatever, you know.

And seeking someone who's an expertise in a particular field that you might be using as an illustration or something like that. That's perfectly fine. Nothing, you know, no harm. No foul. Nothing wrong with that.

But you ought to be writing your own sermon. You ought to be doing your own study. Scripture tells us that we are to study to show ourselves Approved unto God a workman who need not be ashamed Rightly handling the word of truth.

We are to do our own study now perfectly fine to go to someone that you know is a Well versed in Scripture and say hey, you know, this is the text I'm dealing with. This is my understanding of it. What do you think, you know, do you think I've got this right do you see any problems with this or you know.

It's perfectly fine to to do that from time to time and and I've done that from time to time. Hey, you know, this is my understanding of the text and you know, I'm out in left field here. But I write my own sermons every pastor friend.

I have writes his own sermons. And so if you've got a team of eight men helping you Write your sermons, you're not the one that's doing the heavy lifting in sermon preparation. That's a problem and you know, it's Ed Linton is not the only one That does this.

I know of some other big-name preachers of large churches. And I've talked to some people who used to be in these churches work for them work for the particular pastor. Two big names and if I named them you you would recognize them That Have teams of people teams of men maybe women too I don't know but help them with their sermon teams that help them with their sermon.

That's a problem. That's an integrity issue. I want to know and by the way I know from firsthand that John MacArthur writes his own sermon. So when I say big-name, I'm not including John MacArthur but more of the Kind of seeker oriented type churches pastors, but anyway when I'm in church, and I'm sitting in the pew and I'm Watching the pastor preach and teach.

I want to know that that man has spent hours and hours and hours Studying the scriptures on his own that his that he has studied to show himself approved that that he need not be ashamed that this man has Saturated his mind with the text studied it outlined it and got to the meaning of the text and that this this meaning that text has Impacted him and is shaping his thinking.

So I I don't want to hear from a man Who has a whole team of people helping him write his sermons? That's a problem. So even in his apology, there's a there's a huge huge issue here. Well, he's very busy.

Well, he's got a big church. He's got a lot of demands on his time as a pastor. Your number one job is to shepherd the flock feeding the flock and You can't teach what you do not know. You should not be preaching to others any kind of truth that you have not arrived at from your own diligent study.

And this study has impacted you Impacted your life impacted your mind. Filled your heart with the appreciation and off who God is. Anyone can take material that's been compiled for him and get up on a Sunday morning and deliver it.

You know, you could you could get you get Tom Cruise to do that and get an actor to do that. I want to know that my pastor has been in the word and studied to show himself approved and that's that's not what is being Described here.

I was actually shocked that he he admitted to this. Lytton continues in that process. I learned about my friend JD Greer's messages on Romans and discovered what he had recently preached. Resonated with the direction God was leading me and our preaching team.

Please do not blame God even in an indirect way For your plagiarism. God was not leading you in this direction Mr. Litany one nor was he leading JD Greer in the direction as we shall see because the Theology in these sermons was so bad.

So bad, don't don't blame God for this Lytton continues. I found that JD Greer's message on Romans 1 was insightful. Particularly his three points of application with his permission. I borrowed some of his insights in those three closing points.

The story of Paul David Tripp was from his devotional new morning mercies on January 22nd his story took place in India. I'm sure it did because that's exactly what I saw in India as well. But the point here is that Lytton says that this is really Okay, because he had JD Greer's permission.

Even if he did have JD Greer's permission, and I'm sure that he did. That does not excuse him that does not get him off the hook in any way because he went in front of his entire congregation and he preached that message as Though it was his own as though it came from his diligent study, and it did not in fact according to what Lytton admits.

None of his sermons come purely from his own diligent study because he's got a team of eight eight men that help him Write sermons, so he's not off the hook. Lytton goes on to say next paragraph here.

Our team also with his permission used the summit churches chapter and verse breakdown of Romans as we mapped out our entire series. Now watch this out of a commitment to full transparency. I have gone back through all the 46 sermons in this series okay, the very fact that he has gone back and Removed 46 of the sermons from his Roman series 37 of which I am in possession, but the very fact that he's gone and taken those down shows you that he knows.

There's a problem. He knows that there's a problem with far more than this just One individual sermon in fact as of this recording and I'm recording this segment do this over a couple days on the evening of June 27 Sunday evening.

He is removed either removed deleted privatized hidden so only people with you know, a pass a link or whatever can get into it, but a 143 143 of his sermons have now disappeared from Redemption Church's YouTube channel.

What does that tell you, you know, I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt but for the life of me I cannot imagine a reason any other reason other than this issue at hand this plagiarism. What would motivate him to remove a hundred and forty three sermons and there may be more to come who knows?

Linton continues. I hold to the same study process on each Sermon, so there you go by his own admission this eight member team Helps him construct all of his sermons all of them. He does it for each sermon as Any pastor who preaches regularly knows?

We often rely on scholars and fellow pastors to help us think and communicate more clearly with the goal of faithfully preaching the truths of Scripture to our congregations. Yes, we rely on other what other men have said other faithful Faithful preachers who have studied to show themselves approved.

Yes, we can consult these men we can consult the Faithful men who have gone before us and some of our faithful contemporaries. Yes, that's fine. That's part of studying. But we don't get those men to write our sermons for us.

There's a big difference. There's a huge difference. But I'm sorry for not mentioning JD's generosity and ownership of these points. I should have given him credit as I shared these insights. Yeah, that's his apology and And this is this is what I see a lot of the more moderate which is just code word for liberal but Moderate people in the SPC saying more the social justice guys and gals are saying Oh Ed Linton has apologized and he's put this to rest.

He has only Apologized for not mentioning JD Greer in the ownership of these points in this one particular sermon. What about the other? 143 that have been removed in fact. This is Sunday and After I got home from church started working on this video again I was curious to see if Ed Linton had mentioned this controversy in his morning message.

So they had the the live stream already posted on YouTube. And so I went to YouTube and I listened to his sermon and I want you to hear this.

Does anyone in your family when you came to faith in Christ accused you of Jesus being a crutch? I'm gonna tell you what. I told someone who did that to me. I said, he's not my crutch. He is my iron lung.

He is my heart. He is my very being.

Now again, I was watching this sermon just because I wanted to see if Ed Linton was going to address the plagiarism controversy. And but when I heard him say that I thought you know, that's an interesting phrase there I've never heard that before.

You know, Jesus is not my crutch. He's my iron lung. That's that's pretty catchy and so I thought you know, I'm gonna Google that and so I did Google it and The first thing that comes up is this quote from Nancy Hicks now I'm not familiar with Nancy Hicks and never had come across her until today, but she is apparently a Christian Speaker author she goes around apparently on Kind of like a speaking circuit of sorts and I don't know much about her.

But just looking around her website. She she has been featured on Jesus calling which that's Nasty, if you've heard me talk about Jesus calling, you know how I feel about that. And then I took this screenshot that's also on her website and she takes Acts 2831 which is talking about the Apostle Paul preaching the gospel and she insert she inserts she in there and Which that that just rubs me the wrong way.

But anyway It turns out this phrase. Jesus is not my crutch. He's my iron lung. This is a line in her book entitled meant to live and She says I download this is Kendall version. But she says, uh, they're not worried about being told that Jesus is their crutch crutch nothing.

They think he's my iron lung. So friends, you know, I'm sorry. This is just It's it's too close, I suppose it might be possible that Ed Litton came up with this on his own and he really did tell someone as he said that he himself.