The Problem With "Pastors" Parading Their Affinity For Drinking And Smoking Online

Rom 12:1  Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 

Eph 4:29  Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 

**Update**

So I just looked at his video he posted on Twitter and Joshua Jones is trying to instruct people about abuse while holding a whiskey in his hand. He looks like a haggard drunk. Clearly either this man is enslaved to alcohol or he's a fake, a parody and trying to make a point by being so unbiblical (his website is just as bad). It's so ridiculous that he's hard to take seriously. However, I have reported previously, how many "pastors" do the same thing (which is why this instance was vexing), so it's still pertinent. 

2Pe 2:19  promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. 

I wonder if his followers are mainly bots, too? 

There's hypocrisy here:

 

I don't know who this man is except what he's made known on his Twitter account. I decided to say something here because the more of his tweets I read, the more vexed I became, and when I saw how many followers he has, I knew this was someone who may have influence over a lot of people online. 

He talks about the equal weight of the epistles to Jesus's commands (which is true because all of Scripture is "God-breathed), so, what does Scripture ("the apostolic epistles") teach about matters of conscience? Obviously Scripture condemns drunkenness and it doesn't prohibit all consumption of alcohol. Scripture doesn't speak about tobacco. But it does tell us how to treat these issues (and anything that can enslave us) and our behavior with such things before others. 

Elders ("pastors") as well as all Christians, really, are to be examples to the lost and dying world. While drinking on occasion in a private or quiet way is not prohibited by Scripture, promoting it is flaunting a "freedom" that is diametrically opposed by God's Word. Scripture says we are to be sober-minded (1Thes. 5:7-9; 1Tim. 3:2,11; 2Tim. 4:5;Titus 2:2; 1Peter 1:3;1Peter 4:7). This is especially true of men in leadership.

Rom 6:16  Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 

While the context is about sin, the application can be made for anything that enslaves us that is not of Christ: gluttony, drinking, money.  

1Co 8:9  But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 

1Co 8:10  For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? 

1Co 8:11  For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. 

1Co 8:12  And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 

1Co 8:13  Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble. 

Rom 14:15  For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.

Rom 14:17  for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 

Rom 14:18  For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 

Rom 14:19  So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. 

Rom 14:20  Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. 

Rom 14:21  It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. 

Rom 14:22  The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 

Rom 14:23  But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin. 

Rom 14:21  It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

Isa 5:22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, 

Considering the binge-drinking problem in the UK, as well as the alcoholism problem in the US, that this "pastor" would identify publicly with alcohol and even joke about it (I can only assume his "serenity prayer" tweet is mock humor) shows a lack of spiritually sober-mindedness toward the entire issue. At best, there's maturity sorely lacking with him.

And in case one thinks he can do whatever he wants because he's "under grace":

1Co 10:12  Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. 

And he should care about causing a Christian to fall into temptation by his "freedom" to parade around his love for alcohol and smoking.

The issue here is that Christians, not to mention "pastors" (who by position lay claim to maturity in Christ), should not do something that causes another to stumble, even if he has the freedom to do it (that is, freedom to do things not implicitly nor explicitly prohibited by Scripture). That's what true agape love is about: serving others even at the expense of one's biblical liberty (which is wholly distinct from licentiousness). 

Gal 5:13  For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 
Gal 5:14  For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." 

To then identify so much with alcohol such as having it part of your profile as well as profile icons and then tweet about it, shows an alarming affinity to alcohol. The Christian should identify distinctly with Christ especially on social media, especially given the rate of drunkenness among so many people in our culture. We're called to be holy and distinct. Elders are called to an even higher set of requirements and judgement (Titus 2, 1Tim 3, James 3).To try to be worldly, even if to try to "win the world" shows a love of the world and unbelief in the power of Scripture by the Holy Spirit. It is pragmatism at it's worst. It's a horrible example to all people, Christian and non-Christian.

1Pe 1:13  Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 
1Pe 1:14  As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 
1Pe 1:15  but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 

1Pe 1:16  because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY." 

If we're reproached by the world because we're striving to live godly, righteous lives, that's a good testimony and therefore we are actually identifying with Christ JEsus:

Mat 5:10  "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Eph 4:17  So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 

1Pe 2:11  Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. 

1Pe 2:12  Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. 

1Pe 4:3  For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. 
1Pe 4:4  In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you; 

1Pe 4:5  but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 

Behavior for the Christian, especially for elders, is expressed in Scripture by Jesus Himself an in the apostolic epistles:

1Ti 3:2  An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 

1Ti 3:3  not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. 

Tit 1:8  but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, 
Tit 1:9  holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. 

"Free from the love of money" can also be applied to the love of alcohol.

To speak so often, boldly, and positively about drinking violates Scripture:

Eph 4:29  Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 

Mat 12:33  "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. 
Mat 12:34  "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. 
Mat 12:35  "The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. 
Mat 12:36  "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. 
Mat 12:37  "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." 

Elders, and all Christians really, but especially elders, are to be living godly, righteous lives in all areas. They are examples to others. Their lives and doctrines are bound inseparably together. 

Tit 2:1  But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. 

Tit 2:2  Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. 

Tit 2:6  Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; 
Tit 2:7  in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, 

Tit 2:8  sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. 

1Ti 4:12  Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. 

1Ti 4:16  Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. 

1Ti 6:11  But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. 
1Ti 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith...

1Ti 6:14  that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

1Ti 6:20  O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called "knowledge"-- 

1Ti 6:21  which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.

A person who touts alcohol and tabacco so much that his Twitter profile identifies him as having an affinity to them, is someone who thinks he has no problem with these enslaving things; that he's above being drawn into getting drunk or being enslaved to both alcohol and smoking, but Scripture also states:

1Co 10:12  Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.  

What should an then elder do? He should keep his biblical freedom (again, that's not the same as licentiousness--I'm talking about biblically defined freedom) to himself. He should seek to be above reproach and abstain from any form of evil. He should seek to not cause a young Christian or an unbeliever who has issues with alcohol to stumble. If he truly has no enslavement issue with drinking, then he should keep his occasional drinking to himself & his family and not promote or parade it publicly. And really, he should be willing to give up his drinking and smoking for the sake of the weaker brothers.

Rom 12:1  Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 

1Ti 6:3  If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, 
1Ti 6:4  he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, 
1Ti 6:5  and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. 

1Ti 6:6  But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. 

William Young's "The Shack" & Baxter Kruger's "The Shack Revisited" Teach Damnable Heresies

Mike Oppenheimer has written a report on the dangers of William Young's "The Shack" theology, by way of C. Baxter Kruger who has written a book to delve into the theology of "The Shack", called "The Shack Revisted". They are using trinitarian language to smuggle in paganism. This is as serious as it can get--please be warned!

Here are some pertinent excerpts but I would recommend reading the whole article here.

Young said these words in a book written by C. Baxter Kruger titled The Shack Revisited where Young wrote the foreword. He also stated in the foreword:

If you want to understand better the perspectives and theology that frame The Shack, this book [Kruger’s] is for you. Baxter has taken on the incredible task of exploring the nature and character of the God who met me in my own shack.

Contrary to what I have described about the Trinity in my book, Baxter’s (and Young’s) view of the Trinity is not just about the shared deity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Rather it encompasses all of humanity and all of creation:

From all eternity, God is not alone and solitary, but lives as Father, Son, and Spirit in a rich and glorious fellowship of utter oneness. . . . The trinitarian life is a great dance of unchained communion and intimacy . . . This life is unique, and it is good and right. . . . And this love, giving rise to such togetherness and fellowship and oneness, is the womb of the universe and of humanity within it.

End quote. (bold, italics, my emphasis)

Oppenheimer goes on to note what else Kruger states:

"The triune God, the human race, and all creation are not separated but together in relationship. Jesus is the relationship. In his own being, the Father, the Holy Spirit, and all creation are together."

This is classic New Age panentheistic thought that teaches that God is in all things and all people, that everything is sacred (filled with divinity), and that there is no gap between God and man and God and creation. While we would expect this kind of belief in the New Age, it is absolutely contradictory to biblical Christianity.

End quote. (bold, italics, my emphasis)

Scripture states, however, that God is distinct from His creation (transcendent):

Isa 40:25 "To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?" says the Holy One. Isa 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.

Psa 57:5 Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth.

Eph 1:20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, Eph 1:21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Job 38-42 is entirely about the absolute distinction & superiority of God from all His creation. In Genesis 1-2 we also see God, who is Yahweh (the I Am, the Self Existent One), who created all  things that then necessarily makes Him separate from creation. In fact, at the very end of history, He who is the Righteous Judge will destroy all things:

2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
2Pe 3:11  Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
2Pe 3:12  looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!

As Creator of all things, as Yahweh, He is self existing & independant of all creation. He needs nothing. His existence is not determined by creation. Rather creation is dependent upon Him:

Heb 1:2  in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
Heb 1:3  And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Col 1:16  For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him.
Col 1:17  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Rev 1:8  "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

Rev 22:13  "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

Also, Kruger and Young do not have a basic understanding of God's holiness and man's total depravity, therefore they have the Trinity ("trinitarian life") indwelling all people and creation. However, Genesis 3 shows that when Adam sinned, it made a separation between God and man:

Gen 3:10  He said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself."

Rom 3:9  What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 
Rom 3:10  as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
Rom 3:11  THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; 
Rom 3:12  ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."
Rom 3:13  "THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS";
Rom 3:14  "WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS";
Rom 3:15  "THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,
Rom 3:16  DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,
Rom 3:17  AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN."
Rom 3:18  "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES."
Rom 3:19  Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;
Rom 3:20  because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

Rom 5:12  Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned--

Rom 5:14  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

Rom 5:17  For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Rom 5:19  For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

Eph 2:1  And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
Eph 2:2  in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 
Eph 2:3  Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 

Rom 8:7  because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 
Rom 8:8  and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Col 1:21  And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,
Col 1:22  yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--

Not all are His children either, but only those who are truly saved through the biblical Christ Jesus the Lord. John shows the distinction between true Christians and the world:

1Jn 3:1  See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

1Jn 3:7  Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;
1Jn 3:8  the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
1Jn 3:9  No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1Jn 3:10  By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

Rom 8:9  However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 

Even creation fell into the slavery of corruption since Adam. Only after God destroys all things, will He make things new again:

Rom 8:20  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope
Rom 8:21  that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

Outside of faith in the biblical Christ Jesus and His salvation which is not by works but true, living faith from God alone, we are still dead in our sins and alienated from God, hostile toward Him. That necessarily means we are not at peace with Him nor He with us.

Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
Eph 2:15  by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,
Eph 2:16  and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. 

Col 1:19  For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
Col 1:20  and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Col 1:21  And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 
Col 1:22  yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--
Col 1:23  if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

So man outside of salvation in the biblical Christ Jesus is not at peace with God. At all. In any way. Quite the contrary:

Psa 5:4  For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; No evil dwells with You.
Psa 5:5  The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity.
Psa 5:6  You destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

Psa 11:5  The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates.
Psa 11:6  Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.
Psa 11:7  For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.

Psa 7:9  O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.
Psa 7:10  My shield is with God, Who saves the upright in heart.
Psa 7:11  God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day.
Psa 7:12  If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready.

There are two kinds of people, saved and not saved. All who die in unrepentant of their sin will be judged by Christ Jesus the King and then put into Hell and then the Lake of Fire forever as their state for eternity is one of unbelief thus earning forever their due punishment. Those who are saved by God through Christ Jesus, who have repented of their sins and in humility turned to the biblical Jesus Christ who alone is the only way to the Father, the only truth and life, will have eternal life and peace with the biblical triune God of Scripture, rewarded by His abundant grace and good pleasure.

Mat 25:31  "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.
Mat 25:32  "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
Mat 25:33  and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

Mat 25:46  "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Neither Kruger nor Young have any inkling of these most crucial truths and realities. Instead, they deceive many by using Christian words like "Trinity", "Jesus", "the Father", "the Spirit", but have entirely different meanings of all those words. They are of another spirit, an unholy one and these men, their books, and theologies should be entirely and completely rejected by the true Christian.

Desires Can Be Corrupt

In trying to justify sin by saying that a person can desire people of the same sex, but just as long as they don't act upon it, they are ok, they help those people continue in their enslavement of sin. A Christian cannot be enslaved to sin, having an unnatural desire for those of the same sex. It is the result of not honoring God as God:

Rom 1:21  For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

The speculations people come up with and believe are not according to sound doctrine and words of Scripture, either. Speculating that God didn't create all things in six literal days by the power of His Word, they speculate long ages and other types of evolutionary theories. That leads to speculation about creation of Man and sexuality. One is linked to the other and if one has an unsound--speculation--of the Beginning--it will lead to more speculation, like about sexuality, marriage, etc.

Desires that are contrary to sound doctrine & Christ ARE corrupt and thus sinful:

2Pe 2:10  and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties,

desires:
epithumia
ep-ee-thoo-mee'-ah
From G1937; a longing (especially for what is forbidden): - concupiscence, desire, lust (after).

2Pe 2:18  For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error,

Rom 1:26  For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,
Rom 1:27  and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

desire:
orexis
or'-ex-is
From G3713; excitement of the mind, that is, longing after: - lust.

Speculations Vs Knowing Truth

2Ti 2:23  But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels.

2Co 10:5  We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

Rom 1:21  For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Jas 3:14  But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.
Jas 3:15  This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.
Jas 3:16  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.
Jas 3:17  But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.
Jas 3:18  And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Soros, Evangelicalism, & Politics

Back in 2013 this was reported:

Quote:

The marriage between a group of Evangelical Christian organizers and George Soros has birthed a new organization called the Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT).

EIT reportedly does not legally exist and is an arm of the George Soros funded National Immigration Forum, which as a “neutral third-party institution” facilitated EIT’s $250,000 radio ad campaign urging Evangelicals to back mass legalization of illegal immigrants.

So if the EIT is just a front, then what exactly is the National Immigration Forum? NIF received over three million dollars from Soros’ Open Society Institute (OSI) in 2009-2010 alone, as well as one million dollars from the left-wing Ford Foundation. Furthermore, Sojourners is also a recipient of Soros’ money, and their President and CEO, Jim Wallis, is prominent within EIT.

~Marjorie Jeffrey at JuicyEcumenism

Jeffrey went on to note:

 "Jim Wallis has recently suggested there has been a “sea change” among the average Evangelical in favor of legalizing illegal immigrants. And yet Evangelicals poll significantly higher in favor of better border security over or at least before creating a “path to citizenship” than does the typical voter. Evangelical elites are defying members of their flock who generally oppose amnesty."

End quote.

According to Breitbart:

Jim Wallis, the president and CEO of Sojourners, a leading force in the Evangelical Immigration Table group, has admitted to accepting funding from Soros as well.

Wallis originally denied being funded by Soros when he was first confronted with the accusation, and accused Olasky of lying....

After Olasky and the National Review‘s Jay Richards confronted this claim by Wallis, Wallis admitted he made an incorrect statement to Patheos and that he was accepting Soros money...

“I should have declined to comment until I was able to review the blog post in question and consulted with our staff on the details of our funding over the past several years,” Wallis said in a statement....The allegation concerned three grants received over 10 years from the Open Society Institute that made up the tiniest fraction of Sojourners’ funding during that decade–so small that I hadn’t remembered them.”

While that original Soros funding may have been almost a decade old when it was uncovered, Wallis has subsequently accepted more money from the leftist billionaire. In a 2011 story, Olasky noted that Wallis had confirmed to him he accepted another $150,000 from Soros for a grant that would take hold in 2012.

End quote.

Who's on board with the Soros organization, Evangelical Immigration Table?  

SBC's Richard Land, former Lifeway Exec & TBN host Ed Stetzer; Ray Ortland of The "Gospel" Coalition; Matt Chandler, Tony Evens, Stuart & Jill Briscoe, JD Greear, Max Lucado;presidents/former presidents of well known seminaries like Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary,Cedarville University, Dallas Seminary,Trinity Evangelical Divinity School,as well as Fuller Seminary, Beeson, & Wheaton. Navigators too.

Go here for the full list of schools, leaders, & individuals who signed on as EIT Signatories

This & That: etiquette vs. manners

The "Gospel" Coalition Is Reprobate

The (Fake) Gospel Coalition continues it's slide into spiritual harlotry. It is anything but sound. The more time goes by, the weirder & more worldly their material becomes. This one is highly offensive because it attacks Jesus Christ the King of kings. The author, Cambridge graduate Rebecca McLaughlin, tries to compare Dr. Who to Jesus Christ. 

Dr. Who? Who's that? Well here's the new one of which McLaughlin compares the Holy One of Israel:

"After 12 male Doctors over a 54-year history, the casting of Jodie Whittaker might seem audacious. But for a show featuring a female, prehistoric lizard-like warrior married to a 19th-century, human maidservant, the switch of the thus-far male Doctor into a woman’s body is practically tame."

That would be: a lesbian feminist. She went there. She compared a lesbian feminist super-human character to the HOLY HOLY HOLY One of Israel: Jesus Christ the risen Lord, King of kings, Lord of lords, Creator & Sustainer of all things; the Way, the Truth, & the Life. She dared to go there in her mind then in her words. TGC approved it.

Isa 40:18 To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?

Isa 40:19 An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains.

Isa 40:25  "To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?" says the Holy One. 

This blog does a good job summarizing the article here. It summarizes her article:

Quote:

That’s the first paragraph. I thought it was weird. But then I read the rest of the article and realized the article was one of those clever articles that says it’s doing one thing and does, y’know, another.

Ms. McLaughlin lists 6 ways Doctor Who is like Jesus. I’ve condensed them for brevity but kept her wording:

1. The Doctor is deeply present and engaged with people.
2. The Doctor is stubbornly non-violent. And yet he is terrifying to his enemies.
3. The Doctor routinely offers his life to save the world, the lives of his friends, and even his enemies.
4. The Doctor gravitates toward the marginalized.
5. The Doctor calls people to repentance and risks his life to give even the most apparently irredeemable a chance.
6. When faced with death, the Doctor resurrects.

If this was really an article about how Doctor Who was like Jesus, those points would fall to pieces faster than you can say “sonic screwdriver.” 

End quote. Then the author hits the points to show how they are wrong. He makes some good points, but could've gone further.

The TGC article is here.

TGC is reprobate & anyone who is connected with them shares in their spiritual whoring. That was absolutely OUTRAGEOUS to even THINK of comparing the Holy One of Israel, the King of Kings, YAHWEH, to a fictional, sinful, disgusting character. McLaughlin trivializes Jesus Christ.

"For a show that actively resists Christian beliefs, Doctor Who’s greatest controversy is that it draws so clearly on the life-source of the universe, the man whose story lurks behind so much of who the Doctor is: the true hero who embraces the marginalized, gives his life for ours, and conquers death."

- McLaughlin's final words in the article. She sounds more like a social justice warrior mystic feminist and certainly not a Christian.

Psa 50:19  "You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. 20  You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son. 21  These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.

Oprah's Truth At the Golden Globes Was Just New Age Nonsense

Oprah Winfrey in her speech at the Golden Globes show talked about "truth". She even mentioned "her truth" in relation to women's experiences. If you know anything about Oprah, this is typical verbiage for her because she is a Post-Modern gnostic feminist. Quite the New Ager, she lives in fluidity where truth & opinion are one of the same. This isn't reality.

Chad Prather of the Political Cowboy's article made some interesting points some of us have seen but it was well stated:

The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro immediately pointed out the problem in her comment: “There is no such thing as ‘your truth.’ There is the truth and your opinion.”

Grayson Gilbert expands on Shapiro’s assertion: “Truth by nature of its intrinsic quality is true, regardless of one’s hypocrisy, situation, or experience. Truth is not fluid, but rather stative (fixed) and unchanging. It is not your truth or my truth; it is the truth. The sad thing about all of this is that by seeking to limit truth to one’s experience, it becomes a never-ending game of manipulation. It never moves from the emotional to the logical, meaning it camps objectivity on the basis of feelings rather than facts. We might better understand a person’s story through their experience, but one’s story is not the litmus test for truth, how the world operates, nor the beliefs of people within that world.

“Secondly, it denies any chance that truth is a transcendent principle, being handed down to mankind through the very revelation of the Scriptures. Ultimately, I am not in the least bit surprised by this – yet it needs to be said nonetheless simply because Oprah (and many in this nation) claim a sort of spirituality. What this simply reveals is that their notion of what makes one a spiritual being is rooted in a denial of the things that are spiritual.”

Oprah Winfrey is an evangelist and false teacher of postmodern religion, “an a la carte spirituality where people pick and choose their beliefs from a smorgasbord line of offerings. She started out with a strong foundation in the Baptist church, but over time she drifted into unbiblical New Age beliefs. She mentions God a lot, but she defines Him in her own way. She has become a Christian-flavored pantheist, one who believes that an impersonal god, (“however you choose to describe him”) is a universal force or energy. She embraces karmic destiny from Zen Buddhism”(quote from Sue Bohlin, Probe Ministries).

And she enthusiastically proclaims religious pluralism: “One of the biggest mistakes humans make is to believe that there is only one way. Actually, there are many diverse paths leading to what you call God.”

End quote. Bold, my emphasis.  

Prather ends with:

Truth is not relative and subject to your experience or personal opinion, but rather, is bound within the nature and being of the triune God of Scripture, who reveals it to us through the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. It is the truth which shall set the captive free.

End quote. Bold, my emphasis.

The whole article is here.

This flim-flam, wobbly, anchorless thinking allows for Oprah to be a hypocrite. I mean, as some others observed, she's cheerleading women who showed "courage" by speaking out "their truth" about abuse, but the main women where outted Weinstein weren't there nor named. Then again there are photos of Oprah kissing Weinstein's cheek & seeming to introduce him to a young woman (an actress? who looked very uncomfortable if not scared). She also didn't praise the women who "spoke their truth" concerning Bill Clinton's  sexual aggression/manipulation/rape.  It also allows for her pluralism (talked about in the article) which is itself self-contradictory, especially when talking about religions that are by nature exclusive (Christianity, Islam, & old Judaism).  She can at once be for something and against it. Even her claims about Christianity, which she seems to be in some way, defending, is nothing but redefining (again, because of her Post-Modern gnosticism) God, Jesus, salvation, and that in turn is an attack upon God's Word which is an attack upon the nature of God Himself (Gen. 3; Ps 138:2). To attack His Word is to say that God didn't mean what He said and that His Word isn't faithful or reliable. It's the heart of the devil when he attacked God's Word in the Garden of Eden as a serpent in Gen. 3 when he said "Hath God said?" and "You won't die" when in fact God did say it and did mean it.

Gen 3:1  Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" Gen 3:2  The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; Gen 3:3  but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" Gen 3:4  The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! Gen 3:5  "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 

Notice it was about going outside God's Word, to something else, for knowledge. Same thing we have today, whether New Age mystics or Post-Modern "Bible experts" and church leaders. When they claim consensus for truth, including history, instead of Scripture and it's Author, that's when pragmatism & lesser authorities begin to outweigh the authority of Scripture in their minds. Their behavior then, follows suit.

It Matters What You Think & Read: ideas have consequences (daughter of two famous authors reveals pedophile abuse)

Excerpts from Megan Fox of PJ Media:

Moira Greyland is the daughter of famous authors Marion Zimmer Bradley and Walter Breen. She has written a memoir about growing up in a "queer" family and suffering hideous child abuse. In The Last Closet: The Dark Side of Avalon, Greyland details the horror of being a helpless child trapped in a far left fantasy world. The world constructed by her mother, author of The Mists of Avalon, and her father, author of Greek Love (a book literally detailing why pedophilia is fine and even good) was a dark and frightening world...

Greyland's description of her family's philosophy is chilling. "All sex is always right no matter what." This philosophy forced her to endure being raped by her father at the achingly innocent age of four and molested by her mother throughout her childhood..

"What sets gay culture apart from straight culture is the belief that early sex is good and beneficial, and the sure knowledge (don't think for a second that they DONT KNOW) that the only way to produce another homosexual is to provide a boy with sexual experiences BEFORE he can be 'ruined' by attraction to a girl," she writes....

"I was brought up to be completely tolerant of every possible sexual variation, and the wish to be loving and accepting of all people has stayed with me," Greyland explains. "Meeting former gay people and former trans people and hearing how furious their friends are about them leaving the lifestyle opened my eyes...

How tolerant are they, really?

According to Greyland, "Tolerance only goes one way...

~ End quote. More at: PJ Media  Bold, my emphasis.

Romans 1 and Eph. 4 comes to mind. This story, if true, goes to show how sodomy is a slippery slope. Escaping is a steep mountainous climb. There is hope, though, in Christ Jesus alone who not only can free them from their enslavement to sin and find forgiveness, but also heal them inward pain, wrong thinking, and guilt.