Tag: Southern Baptists

Is “Wokeness” Destroying The Church?

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, PoliticsLeave a comment

“An English bishop is pushing back after a church choir sang a “woke” version of a popular Christmas carol injecting LGBT and “inclusive” language into the song.

“God rest you queer and questioning, your anxious hearts be still,” a line of the amended U.S. version of “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” sung by the All Saints with Holy Trinity choir in Loughborough, England, said, according to The Express, with another saying, “God rest you also, women, who by men have been erased. Through history ignored and scorned, defiled and displaced.”

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, took issue with the amended version of the song and the injection of progressive wording.

“I think what Christmas does, and many other moments, it tells us the importance of ritual,” Nichols told Times Radio. “Ritual helps us to step outside of our own little bubble and connect with something we have received, inherited and that we hope to pass on.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, speaks at a vigil outside Westminster Abbey. (Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

“Those values are the continuation of musical repertoire, of the ability to sing together, of looking at the rituals that have been fashioned over centuries. Those are probably for me more important than particular sensitivities which come and go.”

The amended U.S. version, written by Jeffrey Wilsor and used by the progressive Hollywood United Methodist Church, retains only the first two lines of the original song, which dates back to 17th-century England.

“We are striving to be an inclusive, eco-conscious and intercultural worshipping community (IWC) engaged with issues of social, racial and climate justice,” the church’s website states.

“We don’t think we have all the answers but for those who wish to journey with us in Christian belief and action you will find a welcome here.””(Courtesy FoxNews.com)

Before I begin, please allow me to be honest with you.

I left the United Methodist Church at the age of 39, when I realized that, thanks to those in control of the denomination, whose headquarters was in the Northeast, some parts of the UMC were beginning to value secularism more than it did the Word of God.

How did I come to that conclusion?

I walked into a Sunday School class and a theology student was teaching out of a book titled, “Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalists”.

While I hated to leave the Choir Director whom I had sang under for 20 years, like Belshazzar, I saw the writing upon the wall.

That was 25 years ago.

Now, after a long journey down a road filled with Liberals’ “religion of social justice”, the United Methodist Church has paid for following the word of man instead of the Word of God by experiencing a mass exodus of their members, leading to the formation of a new Methodist Denomination.

A Christian “Church” who believes that the Bible is NOT the Word of God is not a CHRISTIAN Church,

It can call itself a Social Justice Center.

It can call itself a Tabernacle of Wokeness.

However, if you devalue the Bible, the Holy Scriptures which are a “two-edged sword” and the key to learning about the foundation of the Christian Faith, then you are studying modern culture and not the history of the Hebrew people and the House of David, from whose lineage came Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.

What has happened to the United Methodist Church has happened to every organization, religious or secular, which has embraced “Political Correctness” or as it is called nowadays “Wokeness.”

Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and even the Southern Baptists, are allowing popular culture to change their focus from God’s Word to man’s politics.

“Wokeness” has taken the place of “Righteousness”.

The rise of “Wokeness” within Christian Churches is something that is literally tearing apart the fabric of our country.

The only conclusion that I, as a Christian American can reach, is the fact that our Sovereign Nation is in the midst of SPIRITUAL WARFARE for its very soul.

Make no mistake about it, boys and girls, EVIL EXISTS.

My friends, I believe that we are fighting a war against “princes and principalities”. Evil is still alive and well and flourishing in a world in which relative morality and situational ethics are increasingly being accepted as normal behavior.

We see it everyday around us.

Churches used to be a place to refresh the soul and to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit through corporate worship.

Too many have become concert venues and political rallies.

Christians repent of their sins. They don’t celebrate them.

At least, they didn’t use to.

Until He Comes,

KJ

With Some Telling Christian Americans to Stay Home in November and Not Vote, Evangelical Leaders to Meet With Trump

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics2 Comments

th1DXO5NI3The hope of a Christian is inseparable from his faith. – John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States of America

Foxnews.com reports that

Trump has agreed to meet privately with some of the nation’s most prominent Evangelical leaders – a meeting seen as critical to garnering support from social conservatives, Fox News has learned.

“Our goal is to be able to have a conversation that could lead to a better understanding of what Donald Trump has to offer to the country,” said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins.

Perkins is one of the key conservative leaders spearheading the gathering – set for June 21 in New York City. Perkins, along with Bill Dallas of United in Purpose, worked with Dr. Ben Carson to arrange the meeting.

As many as 500 conservative leaders from around the nation are expected to attend the invitation-only event.

The meeting was convened by a who’s who among Evangelicals – including Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd, James Dobson, Ralph Reed, Penny Nance, Bob McEwen, Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association, Kelly Shackleford of First Liberty, and mega-church pastors Jack Graham and Ed Young.

“I want to be actively supportive of a candidate who can help turn this nation around,” Perkins told me. “With Trump – I’m not there yet. I hope to be there – but I’m not there right now.”

Perkins said Trump will not be delivering a speech. He will be there to answer questions. There will be no straw poll. There will be no endorsement from the conservative leaders.

“There is no preconceived outcome here,” he told me. “I’m hoping we can have a conversation that could lead to helping conservative leaders make a decision about what to do in this election.”

The meeting comes as a small, but vocal number of Christian leaders is urging people of faith to stay at home on Election Day.

And that’s why Tony Perkins is worried.

“Our goal is to be able to have a conversation that could lead to a better understanding of what Trump has to offer to the country,” he said. “If we don’t try, the outcome is not going to be good.”

Specifically, the leaders want to hear detailed plans on potential Supreme Court nominees and the vetting process. They also want to hear about Trump’s policies regarding religious liberty, pro-life issues and possible vice presidential candidates.

“A vice presidential pick is going to be very crucial,” Perkins said. “Mr. Trump doesn’t have a track record – so I am going to rely very heavily on who he is going to pick as a running mate.”

Floyd, the president of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, said he just wants to do the right thing.

“The vast majority of Southern Baptists are very much where I am today – we’re trying to figure this out,” he told me. “We’re trying to navigate through these waters that are very uncertain and very difficult.”

Floyd had strong words for Christian leaders who are suggesting voters should simply stay home.

“We cannot change what exists or even alter it or adjust it sitting on the sidelines and prognosticating about the situation,” he said. “We have a biblical responsibility, but we also have a responsibility as citizens of the United States to express the privileges afforded to us – that men and women have died on the battlefield to give us – and I’m not walking away from that.”

Floyd said the conversation with Trump is a way for Christians to share their hearts with him.

“None of us have endorsed Mr. Trump, nor have we condemned Mr. Trump,” he said. “This is about the possibility of being able to appoint the next four Supreme Court justices. This is about the dignity of human life from the womb to the tomb. This is about religious freedom. I’m not about to sit at home and not express something. I’m accountable to God and I believe I’m accountable to my fellow Americans.”

But at the same time, he acknowledged that many people of faith are struggling to come to terms with some of Mr. Trump’s past statements – statements that are contrary to biblical teachings.

“Could you vote for him? That’s the question at hand,” Floyd said.

Why, yes, Rev. Floyd, This Southern Baptist most certainly could. And, will.

During this Republican Primary Season, I have been called everything but “a Child of God”, simply because I have written factual posts about Donald J. Trump and have stated that, if and when he becomes the Republican Party’s Nominee, I will pencil in the bubble beside his name, as my choice to fill the Office of President of the United States of America.

According to some people, you are not truly a Christian, if you are willing to make that choice.

However, I beg to differ, and I stand with the Reverend Franklin Graham on this issue.

In  a recent Facebook Post, Rev. Graham wrote:

Trump Madness—It’s “trumping” everything in the news, even March Madness. Do you believe protesters blocking the road to his rally to stop people from getting there today? There are those who passionately support him and others who are adamantly against him. He’s a political phenomenon like our country hasn’t seen before. I don’t think America has ever had a presidential candidate opposed by both establishments, Republican and Democratic, as well as the sitting president. I just hope that as a result of this unforgettable campaign season, politicians on all sides will get the message loud and clear that Americans are tired of the status quo and the corruption that has gripped Washington. Join me in praying for the 2016 elections and for the future of this nation.

That being said, Rev. Graham, in a previous interview, done with CBN, stated that  “a left movement within the evangelical community that are telling people, ‘If so-and-so wins or this person wins don’t vote.’ ” Rev. Graham went on to add, “I’m just saying, I don’t care who wins and who’s out there, you have to vote.”

I do not believe that Jesus would be a part of the Social Justice Movement, which is so popular among Liberal Churches, today. His was and is a soul-saving movement. One that still brings hundreds of thousand of people to individual salvation on this terrestrial ball every day. A movement that, in fact, was embraced by the founders of this cherished land.

Now is not the time to be pressing Christian Americans to make a “collective” choice, to move as “a Body”, if you will.

That being said, allow me to also state that I believe that American Evangelicals must excise their Spiritual Gift of Discernment in choosing between Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton for the job of President.

When Mitt Romney was the Republican Candidate for President in 2012, a lot of Americans stayed home, rather than vote for Romney.

That may have helped those individuals feel better about themselves, but it also helped to bring them and their fellow citizens four more years of economic suffering under the Presidency of Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm).

Just as a Christian’s Salvation is not manifested as a Collective Experience, but a Personal one, so is a Christian American’s Voting Rights a Personal Experience.

I had somebody tell me recently, that they would “pray for me” to make the “right” choice, in the upcoming Presidential Election.

While the prayers of others are always appreciated, that hit me as if it was “The Church Lady” saying,

Well, bless your heart.

That’s an old Southern insult, in case you didn’t know.

As Christians we are instructed to individually listen to that “Still Small Voice” inside us.

While Christians, in church and outside of it, represent the corporate Body of Christ, according to scripture, we each possess the gifts of Free Will and Discernment.

These gifts are used by each of us on a daily basis, including aiding in our decision to support a Presidential Candidate in the Election of 2016.

Unlike Liberals and Marxists (but, I may be repeating myself), we do not vote as a collective, nor should we.

There are no Saints running as candidates, on either side, during this Primary Season. Just men and a woman…a very mean woman.

But, I digress…

Each of us must decide for ourselves, whom we will vote for.

Since the “Shot Heard ‘Round The World” was fired on April 18, 1775, this country has been built by Christian Americans making individual choices.

Your Individual Salvation is not determined by your vote…but, by God’s Grace.

However, the much-needed Reclamation of America must certainly will be.

And, that is why this Christian American Conservative is voting for Donald J. Trump.

“A Charge to Keep I Have.”

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

A View From a Christian American Conservative Son of the South: The Politicians Don’t Need Us…Until It’s Time to Vote

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics1 Comment

Banning-Flags-600-LIAs a Son of the South, I am continuously amazed at some folks’ attitudes toward our beloved Dixie and all of us Followers of the Son of God, contained therein.

With all eyes focused on the South Carolina Primar Election, McClatchyDC.com has posted the following article…

ROBERTA, Ga.- Inside the Sunshine Coin Laundry near the Piggly Wiggly supermarket, Lagretta Ellington removed her family’s clothes from one of the large dryers and began to neatly fold them on a nearby table.

The air was moist and smelled of detergent. The floor was concrete. Her views of the presidential race were anything but. She was unsettled, and distrustful. The candidates just seemed like entertainers.
“I’m going to pray on it,” the 48-year-old Ellington said. “Hopefully, God will lead me in the right direction.”

In the South, now the pivotal battlefield of the 2016 presidential campaign, faith and politics walk the aisle together. And while Christians have always dominated American politics – Bernie Sanders this week became the first non-Christian ever to win a presidential primary in U.S. history – conservative Christians feel under siege.

Marriage is being redefined, and they’re being forced to go along. A new health care law mandates free contraception, even if it violates their core beliefs. Even the greeting “Merry Christmas” feels under assault.

Their anxiety and anger help explain the rise of Republican outsider candidates such as Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas (“Any president who doesn’t begin every day on his knees isn’t fit to be commander in chief”) and even billionaire Donald Trump (“If I’m president, you’re going to see ‘Merry Christmas’ in department stores, believe me”), perhaps the unlikeliest of vessels for such support.

And their clout is at its peak right now.

In South Carolina, white evangelicals account for 51 percent of the likely Republican vote in the coming GOP primary. Six more Southern states, including Georgia, will vote on “Super Tuesday” March 1. Nearly 600 of the delegates chosen the first week of March will come from states where white evangelical Christians are a majority of the electorate, according to Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a political newsletter from Larry J. Sabato and the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

And whether they pray at small chapels or sprawling megachurches, Christian conservatives across the South are driven by worries that their values are being threatened.

“Biblical values we would not be willing to compromise,” explained Dennis Lacy, lead pastor of North Highland Assembly of God in Columbus, Georgia.

“Do we not have any moral compass anymore?” said Dr. Randy Brinson, an evangelical Christian and physician in Montgomery, Alabama, who founded a group, Redeem the Vote, encouraging young people of faith to register and participate.

“Are we to say to people who have a more liberal viewpoint, ‘Does everything go?’ If there are no boundaries to things of moral behavior as Christians believe, if we throw out everything . . . there’s no more faith.”

June Bond, 61, a children’s advocate in Spartanburg, South Carolina, said many evangelical Christians “feel extremely pressured.” But she also tries to imagine what it must be like on the other side of the cultural divide.

“It’s one thing to listen to what our leaders say to us, but we also need to look at the other side and say, ‘What if . . . ?’ ” she said. “The South sometimes looks at things just kind of like, ‘This is what I was told.’ ”

Many say their objections to same-sex marriage are misunderstood.

It’s not “rooted in hostility and animus toward other people,” but because Christian conservatives believe marriage involves one man and one woman, said Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.EDITORS: END OPTIONAL TRIM
David Cooke Jr., the Georgia district attorney for Bibb, Crawford and Peach counties, doesn’t buy the “under siege” mentality of his more conservative brethren. He’s an evangelical Christian, and a Democrat, which he said was not as rare as you might think.

“When you limit the gospel to gays and abortion, there’s not a whole lot of talk about taking care of the stranger and the orphan,” Cooke said, seated in his courthouse office in downtown Macon. “I think it shows that for so many folks it’s not really about the message of the faith. It’s about cultural Christianity.”

Religion has always been part of the South’s DNA, a legacy of its rural past.

It was the lifeblood of many communities, a cornerstone of the culture. In “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” author John Berendt’s widely popular book about a Savannah, Georgia, murder, he wrote, “If you go to Atlanta, the first question people ask you is, ‘What’s your business?’ In Macon they ask, ‘Where do you go to church?’ ”

It would never occur to someone that you didn’t, added Cooke, who met his wife at a Macon church.

When you limit the gospel to gays and abortion, there’s not a whole lot of talk about taking care of the stranger and the orphan. David Cooke Jr., an evangelical Democrat and Macon, Georgia, district attorney

Even today, the states of the old Confederacy – along with Utah and Oklahoma ‑ make up the most religious states in the country, according to a 2013 Gallup survey.

“Now change is on the doorstep, and many are worried about what it’s doing to their communities,” said Marc Farinella, a Democratic strategist who oversaw President Barack Obama’s successful 2008 campaign in North Carolina. “There is a sense that their way of life is under attack.”

Christian conservatives feel it deeply, and resent it.

“We live in a society that has a lot of respect for diverse opinion and views, but it seems like anytime Christians express theirs, they can be lampooned,” said Lacy, the Columbus pastor. “We’re kind of open game. You can criticize any Christian and not get into trouble. But you try to criticize any other sect or group, that’s politically incorrect.”

Pastor Lacy is absolutely correct. In fact, as a Former Radio News Director in College, I can detect a condescending tone in this whole article.

In every single presidential election, since I first voted for Future President Ronald Reagan in November of 1980, the voters of the South have proven to be the linchpin upon which all presidential candidates’ victory depended upon.

If you were able, as a Democrat or a Republican, to get the voters of the South to cast their ballots for you, you became the President of the United States of America.

The South, to this day, remains essential to winning the White House.

The Liberals in the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, alike, or the Vichy Republicans, as I call them, are all too aware of this political fact.

However, those who believe that the South, in the Year of Our Lord 2016, is still backwards, or somehow inferior to their point of view, or political ideology, jump at every opportunity to negate a period of our history in which American blood on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line was shed in combat.

For example, since we are on the subject of South Carolina…

Why did these Professional Politicians, Democrat and Republican,  shiftd the focus of the nation away from the mental illness of the sociopath who gunned down 9 innocent Christians at a Wednesday Night Church Service in Charleston, South Carolina, shifting our  country’s attention, instead, to the perceived offensive nature of the Battle Flag of the Army of Virginia?

Simple: Political Expediency.

By marginalizing the South through this effort, American Liberals, from President Barack Hussein Obama on down the line, were hoping to diminish and possibly negate the leverage that Southern States have in molding the Political Landscape of America.

Even after 7 plus years under a Far Left President, America is still a Center-Right Nation, in which Christians comprise 75$ of the population.

Through their efforts to make an inanimate object responsible for the death of the Pastor and 8 members of Emanuel AME Church, these politicians and their minions were hoping to swing the Political Pendulum toward their side of the Political Aisle.

They thought that, if somehow, they could place the Southern States in a “bad light” and at a Political Disadvantage, that perhaps our voice in the political affairs of this nation, would not carry as much weight.

Plus, between you and me and the water cooler, Liberals in the Northern and Western States remain ticked off that both American and International Businesses are still relocating to the South, where the climate is friendlier, the Unions have not made the cost of doing business unprofitable, and, where Old-Fashioned American Work Ethic still exists.

Just sayin’.

But, I digress…

Unfortunately for all of the Establishment-Preferred Presidential Hopefuls, being a Christian Conservative, including being one of us dreaded “Evangelicals”, means that while we all worship Christ as our Savior, we also each possess our own FREE WILL.

Unlike Modern Liberals, including Socialism-embracing Millennials, we are not a part of a Hive-Mind. We think for ourselves, voting for the candidate whom we believe will be the best leader for our nation and who will be able to be more effective in cleaning up the unholy mess that Barack Hussein Obama has created, during his time in office.

As a Christian American Conservative, living in Northwest Mississippi, I have watched, like those featured in the article, as our viewpoints here in “Flyover Country”, have been scorned and ridiculed.

And now, the Professional Politicians (i.e., the “usual suspects”) want us to give them permission to continue their mistreatment of us.

Guess what?

It ain’t happenin’ this time, Skippy.

Check out the poll numbers.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

 

 

 

 

 

America in Crisis: A Battle of “Princes and Principalities” (A KJ Op Ed)

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics2 Comments

American Christianity 2Last night, my bride and I attended a once-a month get-together with Christian Friends , with whom we used to meet weekly in a church-sponsored small group, in someone’s home on a weeknight.

Being Southern Baptists, rest assured that there was plenty of food and fellowship.

After the meal, we began to talk about what it going on around us, in this nation, once referred to as “The Shining City Upon the Hill”.

The topics of Racial Division and the murders of 9 American Law Enforcement Offices in 9 days, the rapidly deteriorating American Work Force, The potentially-catastrophic Iran Deal, the arrest of American Christian, Kim Davis, while others in power, such as Hillary Clinton and Barack Hussein Obama, laugh in the face of our laws, and the vulgarity, and oblivious self-centered nature of Americans Pop Culture.

The conclusion that that the 11 of us came to, was the fact that America is in the midst of SPIRITUAL WARFARE.

Make no mistake about it, boys and girls, EVIL EXISTS.

Yes, my friends. We are still fighting a war against “princes and principalities”. Evil is still alive and well and flourishing in a world in which relative morality and situational ethics.

We see it everyday around us.

It inundates the cable news channels, 24 hours a day. Heck, you can even see it on Facebook.

Since Cain slew Able with a rock, mankind, because we are all fallen creatures, has had to deal with the presence of evil in our lives.

From the legendary massacres, perpetrated by Vlad the Impaler, to the horrific scenes of Hitler’s Concentration Camps, to the killing fields of Pol Pot, to the massacre of innocent Middle Eastern Christians by Islamic State, to the murders by Chicago Street Gangs every night, the Forces of Evil continue to flourish across the globe.

What we seem to be heading for is not simply an immoral society, but, an amoral one, whose concept of right and wrong is “Whatever Gets You Through the Night (It’s Alright. It’s Alright.)”, and whose ultimate authority is not the God of Abraham, but a Godless Central Government, whose credo is

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs. (Karl Marx)

Just as Marxism has failed wherever it has been tried before, so will it fail here.

Just as amorality and licentiousness led to the destruction of the Roman Empire, so, if unchecked, will it lead to America’s.

The galling thing is the fact that, even though American Christians remain 76% of the population, we are propagandized and suppressed in both the Old and New Media, to make it seem as if WE are the Minority, when, in fact, WE are the overwhelming Majority.

It is this New Generation of Amoral Socialists, who are in fact, just a tiny, albeit vocal, Minority of America’s population.

So, what can an average Christian American, like you and me, do about this “Tyranny of the Minority”?

As the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians, we can STAND.

However, you cannot stand without “the full armor of God”. I have found, as have my family and friends, that the better that you are doing, in terms of your Christian Walk, the harder that you will be attacked.

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.…- Ephesians 6:10-12

Our Christianity as Americans does not and can not end at Noon on Sunday, as we shake the Preacher’s hand and walk out of the sanctuary.

As every Christian knows, the Triune God dwells within each of us, in the form of that “still, small voice”, the Holy Spirit.

Christians have to make a choice in these tough times.

The choice we each have to make is whether to “give to Caesar” that which is not his, our Christian Faith, or to listen to that “still, small voice” and love the homosexual enough to lead them to forgiveness of their sins and salvation through the Grace of Jesus Christ.

This is not a “Political Crisis” which we as Christian Americas are facing right now.

As I wrote earlier, America is in the midst of a battle of “Princes and Principalities”.

By now. you’re probably asking, “So what’s the point of all this, KJ?”

We are given free will by our Creator…will to make choices and decisions on the direction of our lives. Being human, we often don’t make the right decisions and being human, those decisions have the potential to lead us down a dark path.

Whether is in reality or strictly in the close quarters of our own consciousness, the path we choose to follow is up to us. However, our parents, family, and friends can make a difference in our journey and I thank God that through His Grace I was given a Father who made sure that I received loving instruction in The Way in which I should go.

We still live in the greatest country on the face of the earth and we still have a responsibility to one another.

The Light or the Darkness. The choice is up to each and every one of us.

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:14 (ESV)

And, I stand with the King of Kings.

Y’see, I have read the back of The Book.

The Good Guys win.

So, as you go about your day today, remember, that we have an Advocate, in Jesus Christ the Righteous, and, He is in our corner.

So, take that “little light” of yours, and let it shine.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

 

Head of World’s Largest Evangelical Denomination on Gay Marriage: “The Supreme Court…is Not the Final Authority.”

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics1 Comment

th1DXO5NI3The world’s largest Evangelical Christian Denomination, with approximately 16,000,000 members, is holding its yearly Convocation.

And, its newly-elected President has left no doubt as to the denomination’s stance on the hot-button social issues, which our nation is presently wrestling with.

The Christian Post reports that

Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of Cross Church in Arkansas, speaks during AVANCE 2015 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Ohio, June 14, 2015. 

Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd told messengers gathered at the opening day of the denomination’s annual gathering Tuesday that “now is the time to lead,” on issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and racism.

“We are in spiritual warfare, and this is not a time for Southern Baptists to shrink back in timidity or shrink back with uncertainty,” said Floyd during his opening address at the SBC annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio. “Crises abound; the need is great hour is late, and now is the time to lead.”

The SBC president also highlighted global calamities including the advance of ISIS, human trafficking, Boko Haram, the persecution of Christians as well as crippling problems in the U.S., such as poverty, debt, and race relations.

“We are adrift in denial,” said Floyd, quoting Peggy Noonan.

The senior pastor at Cross Church in Springdale, Arkansas, prayed for the next great spiritual awakening, stating “we need a Jesus revolution” in the U.S. before addressing hot-button moral issues under fire in the legal system today like abortion.

“America, we stand believing that abortion is a glaring desecration of the unborn child’s purpose and value,” said Floyd. “We must be vigilant in this fight for the unborn child. All human life and human dignity — from the womb to the tomb. God has created all of us for His glory, and when we devalue human life, we are robbing God of his intended glory for every person in the world.”

Referring to the U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming decision on whether gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry or whether state bans against same-sex marriage can remain in place, Floyd took a firm stance in his religious conviction that marriage is strictly between one man and one woman.

“We do not need to redefine what God himself has defined already,” he said.

Floyd explained to the audience that they will be asked to approve a resolution that affirms Southern Baptist beliefs on marriage. The resolution also reminds Christians to love our neighbors and extend respect to all people, even those who disagree with them.

“While we affirm our love for all people, including those struggling with same-sex attractions, we cannot and will not affirm any behavior that deviates from God’s design for marriage,” said Floyd. “Our first commitment is to God and nothing else and no one else. I humbly remind everyone today the Supreme Court of the United States is not the final authority, nor is the culture itself, but the Bible is God’s final authority about marriage and on this book we stand.”

In his final comment on same-sex marriage, Floyd took an oath to never sanctify gay marriage.

“I declare to everyone today as a minister of the Gospel, I will not officiate over any same-sex unions or same-sex marriage ceremonies, I completely refuse,” said the pastor.

On the issue of race relations, Floyd asserted: “America, we stand believing that all humanity bearing of God’s image is not contingent upon one’s skin color, and we also believe all racism and injustice must end. We need to let grace begin uniting our hearts in the bonds of peace. We need to learn to love one another as Christ loved us.”

That eardrum-shattering shriek that you just heard was the 24% of Americans, who self-identify as Liberals, beginning their hissy fit.

The truth of the matter is, Pastor Floyd is exactly right. Regardless of how the United States Supreme Court rules on same-sex marriage, God will have the final word.

He always does.

Modern Liberals seem to have great difficulty comprehending the role which Our Creator, the God of Abraham, played and plays in this Grand Experiment, known as the United States of America.

From adherents.com:

There were 95 Senators and Representatives in the First Federal Congress. If one combines the total number of signatures on the Declaration, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution with the non-signing Constitutional Convention delegates, and then adds to that sum the number of congressmen in the First Federal Congress, one obtains a total of 238 “slots” or “positions” in these groups which one can classify as “Founding Fathers” of the United States. Because 40 individuals had multiple roles (they signed multiple documents and/or also served in the First Federal Congress), there are 204 unique individuals in this group of “Founding Fathers.” These are the people who did one or more of the following:

– signed the Declaration of Independence
– signed the Articles of Confederation
– attended the Constitutional Convention of 1787
– signed the Constitution of the United States of America
– served as Senators in the First Federal Congress (1789-1791)
– served as U.S. Representatives in the First Federal Congress

The religious affiliations of these individuals are summarized below. Obviously this is a very restrictive set of names, and does not include everyone who could be considered an “American Founding Father.” But most of the major figures that people generally think of in this context are included using these criteria, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Hancock, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and more.

Religious Affiliation
of U.S. Founding Fathers		 # of
Founding
Fathers		 % of
Founding
Fathers
Episcopalian/Anglican 88 54.7%
Presbyterian 30 18.6%
Congregationalist 27 16.8%
Quaker 7 4.3%
Dutch Reformed/German Reformed 6 3.7%
Lutheran 5 3.1%
Catholic 3 1.9%
Huguenot 3 1.9%
Unitarian 3 1.9%
Methodist 2 1.2%
Calvinist 1 0.6%
unknown 43  %
TOTAL 204

Here are some quotes about God and Christianity from 3 Presidents of the United States, whom you might recognize:

John Quincy Adams

My hopes of a future life are all founded upon the Gospel of Christ and I cannot cavil or quibble away [evade or object to]. . . . the whole tenor of His conduct by which He sometimes positively asserted and at others countenances [permits] His disciples in asserting that He was God.

The hope of a Christian is inseparable from his faith. Whoever believes in the Divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures must hope that the religion of Jesus shall prevail throughout the earth. Never since the foundation of the world have the prospects of mankind been more encouraging to that hope than they appear to be at the present time. And may the associated distribution of the Bible proceed and prosper till the Lord shall have made “bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” [Isaiah 52:10].

In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.

Thomas Jefferson

The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend all to the happiness of man.

The practice of morality being necessary for the well being of society, He [God] has taken care to impress its precepts so indelibly on our hearts that they shall not be effaced by the subtleties of our brain. We all agree in the obligation of the moral principles of Jesus and nowhere will they be found delivered in greater purity than in His discourses.

I am a Christian in the only sense in which He wished anyone to be: sincerely attached to His doctrines in preference to all others.

I am a real Christian – that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ.

George Washington

You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are.

While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.

The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary but especially so in times of public distress and danger. The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.

I now make it my earnest prayer that God would… most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of the mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion.

Recently, a Gallup Poll showed that a little less than 3/4 of Americans proclaim Jesus Christ as their Personal Savior and half of Americans attend Religious Services on a regular basis.

While Modern American Liberals, under the rights granted to us by our Constitution, have every right to speak their mind, blackmail and intimidation of the Majority, is not a guaranteed right.

 Additionally, without being anchored on the Solid Rock, America would have been a failed experiment, assigned to the dustbin of history, years ago.

That still, small voice which resides within each one of us, has led Americans to do great things, in service to their country and the concept of American Freedom, as personified by Lady Liberty, standing so majestically in New York Harbor.

God gave us this nation, ensconced in the concept of “Liberty and Justice for all”.

By His Grace, we will keep it.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

Baylor Religious Survey: American Christianity is Alive and Well. Pew Poll Misinterpreted.

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, PoliticsLeave a comment

 

 

th1DXO5NI3It appears that the “Death of American Christianity”, so widely trumpeted by the Main Stream Media and Internet Liberals this past week, was greatly exaggerated.

The Christian Post reports that

Contrary to recent reports based on studies that emphasize the growth of non-religious people in the United States and the decline of church attendance, Christianity in America is not dying, according to a new survey that examines the nuances and complexities of how people self-identify with faith by Waco,Texas-based Baylor University.

Scholars from Baylor University’s Institute of Religion said during a recent conference that reports highlighting the departure of millenials from the organized religion of their parents are being greatly exaggerated.

“There’s a story some people want to report — that religion is on life support — but it’s just not true,” said Byron Johnson, professor of the social sciences at Baylor and founding director of the Institute for Studies of Religion.

Johnson explains in The Baylor Religion Survey that surveys reporting a massive exodus of millenials from religion are misinterpreting the data. Many of these young adults have only stopped attending church for a few years or identify with a non-denominational church rather than a mainline denomination and have not abandoned Christianity. [Emphasis mine]

While mainline Protestant denominations have declined 49 percent from 1960 to 2000, evangelicals and other religious groups have grown at a faster rate, according to Johnson. Religious “switching,” or people moving from one tradition to another is not being considered by many researchers and reporters.

The Baylor Religion Survey explores the nuances and complexities of how people self-identify with faith and asks follow-up questions of people who indicated “no religion.” Many of these same people identified with specific congregations.

When they do list a church, it’s often high-octane religion such as non-denominational evangelical congregations,” said Johnson.

A recent Pew Survey, pointed to the decline of the Christian population in the U.S. The drop in the number of Christians was most evident among young adults.

The data, which examined religious affiliation from 2007 to 2014 showed that the shrinking population of Christians in the U.S. was due to the decline of Catholics and mainline Protestants. The number of people identifying as Evangelicals saw a very small decrease during those years dropping from 26.3 percent to 25.4 percent.

The unaffiliated category saw an increase from 12.1 to 15.8 percent and atheism grew from 1.6 percent in 2007 to 3.1 percent in 2014.

Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, recently addressed the Pew study and said the perceived increase of “nones” and decrease of Christians is “good news” for the church.

“Christianity isn’t normal anymore. It never should have been. The increasing strangeness of Christianity might be bad news for America, but it’s good news for the church,” said Moore. “The major newspapers are telling us today that Christianity is dying, according to this new study, but what is clear from this study is exactly the opposite: while mainline traditions plummet, evangelical churches are remaining remarkably steady.”

Moore also stated that the rise of honest atheists in America that can be seen in the Pew Study shows that people are rejecting “almost-Christianity,” or traditions that “jettison the historic teachings of the church as soon as they become unfashionable.”

“The churches that are thriving are vibrant, countercultural congregations that aren’t afraid to not be seen as normal to the surrounding culture,” he said. “This report actually leaves me hopeful.”

As a Southern Baptist, I can testify to the fact that the church I attend is growing. We are reaching out to the community around us, through events such as the Easter Egg Hunt, which my bride and I “worked” at, and hosting diaper changing booths at Community Fairs.

Additionally, we, along with other churches in our community, sponsor a charity organization, sharing the same name as our church, which feeds 2,000 of our neighbors every month.

So, why were Liberals cheering the “demise” of American Christianity when the Pew Survey came out earlier this week?

Modern American Liberals have proven that they cannot stand Christian Americans. It is evident from their condescension toward us and derision of our traditional values and ethics in their propaganda.

They literally cannot stand the fact that our Constitution grants us Religious Freedom in its very First Amendment.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Please note that this amendment does not say “in some circumstances”.

I have said time and time again, that I find it funny that those among us who claim to be the most tolerant are actually the least tolerant of all.

However, their continued attack on our faith as Christian Americans, is not funny at all.

Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler ‘ s Minister of Propaganda, once said that

If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.

The current lie that Obama and his sycophants  are telling the American Public is that, somehow, the less than 24% of Americans who feel the same way as the Progressives in the Far Left do, somehow outnumber the 74% of Americans who proclaim Jesus Christ as our Personal Savior.

And, that overestimation, as this recent survey by the University of Baylor showed, just doesn’t add up.

Not even in Common Core.

Americans, now more than ever, have a choice to make.

We are given free will by our Creator…will to make choices and decisions on the direction of our lives. Being human, we often don’t make the right decisions and being human, those decisions have the potential to lead us down a dark path.

Whether is in reality or strictly in the close quarters of our own consciousness, the path we choose to follow is up to us.

However, our parents, family, and friends can make a difference in our journey and I thank God that through His Grace I was given a Father who made sure that I received loving instruction in The Way in which I should go.

We still live in the greatest country on the face of the earth and we still have a responsibility to one another.

The Light or the Darkness. The choice is up to each and every one of us.

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:14 (ESV)

Until He Comes,

KJ