An Open Letter to My Southern Baptist Friends

Last night and this morning, I have been hurting for my Southern Baptist friends who were on the right – and losing – side at yesterday’s Convention.  I felt I should say something, and, after reflection, I’ve decided a tweet or even a tweet thread won’t do.

First, I am indeed hurting and praying for you.  And I am sad for the church as a whole.  For most of my life, the Southern Baptist Convention has been a bulwark of orthodoxy.  For that bulwark to be so weakened and compromised diminishes the whole church.

Second, I advise that you do mourn.  I also advise that you wait awhile before making a decision about your future relationship with the SBC.  Early on after a bad event, both upset and denial can cloud your judgement.  So wait on the Lord, pray, and at least recover a bit first before deciding.

I cannot make that decision for you.  I can see a case for staying and fighting, and I can see a case for moving on.  Know that if you remain faithful, you have my respect along with my prayers.

Also know something that I am hesitant to say for fear of appearing to poach.  Know that IF you decide to leave, there is a place for you in the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) and especially in my jurisdiction, the Reformed Episcopal Church (REC – which has a large degree of independence but is within ACNA – it’s complicated).

You will have to get used to babies being baptized.  You will have to get used to real live bishops with those funny mitres even. You will have to get used to a wide range of orthodoxy under one roof.  We have people who are more catholic than the Pope and people who are more Protestant than Luther.  Our breadth is both glorious and annoying – like the whole faithful church.

But ACNA and the REC are committed to the authority of scripture and to the basics of the Faith as reflected in the Creeds.  AND both the Archbishop of ACNA and the Presiding Bishop of the REC have just made strong statements opposing Critical Race Theory.

We are not perfect.  There are a few dioceses in ACNA I cannot recommend.  And wokeness has infiltrated us as it has the SBC.  (Where has it not infiltrated?)  But unlike the SBC, our two highest bishops along with many other bishops are opposing it.  And it has not and will not gain a stronghold in the REC.

If you do wish to check out an Anglican church or two, feel free to message me for guidance.  You can contact me in the comments (And I will not post your comment unless it’s clear that you want it public.  I moderate comments.) Or you can message me on twitter.

I would prefer Baptist faithful stay in the SBC and take back their denomination from the woke cabal.  I want a faithful thriving SBC.  But if you become convinced that is not your path, you are welcome to help us remain faithful in ACNA.  Let me know if I can help you.

“20 Theses on Justice” Countered

Just a note that I very much appreciate Jady and Liza Koch’s patient response to the “20 Theses on Justice” from Esau McCaulley and Jonathan Warren.  I will not summarize the response here. (So go read it over at Stand Firm.) But I especially appreciate two things they do.

First, they nicely but firmly debunk the Woke Church’s specious conflation of “justice” with Leftist political agendas:

…Nobody is a “critic of the advocacy for justice,” until “justice” is defined in non-biblical ways, which is precisely what is happening in much of the conversation both within the church and in the wider culture. It should be noted that these terms are used and assumed throughout these theses over against their “opponents” and “critics,” as if there are those involved in this conversation who are legitimately opposed to “justice” and, by extension, somehow “pro-oppression.” If one examines the arguments of these so-called ” critics of justice,” what is clearly evident is a sincere belief that there is great danger in appropriating non-Christian worldviews and concepts to diagnose and cure the human problem. Acknowledging the Marxist and postmodern theories undergirding the discussion surrounding much of what passes for “justice” is a necessary part of defining fully the terms at play. Read Marx, Marcuse, Alinski, Gramsci, Foucault, Baudrillard, etc., and show how their ideas can be baptized, rooted as they are in the fundamental convictions that 1) there is no God, 2) truth is relative, 3) morality is culturally bound, and 4) every relationship in life is a zero-sum power struggle. Until that work is done, the (so-called) “critics of the advocacy for justice” will continue to ignore the unfounded (and frankly slanderous) repeated assertion that anyone who disagrees with this new understanding of “justice” (and by extension, racism, oppression, equality, etc.) is indifferent to the biblical demand for justice.

Second, they refuse to play the Woke game that disagreeing with approved “oppressed voices” is not listening to “oppressed voices” or to “Black voices” etc. and is harming them.  May more and more firmly tell the Woke Church cabal that we shall not play that race-baiting victim-playing game.  The Kochs nicely blow up one tactic of that game when they write:

The influence of radical European and Marxist philosophy into the modern discourse around modern theories of “justice” is well-documented, and, simply stating that the theology of ethnic minorities sprung up entirely apart from those influences does not prove it so. What is more, the African-American Christian tradition, insofar as people like James Cone are illustrative of at least one stream, was and is deeply influenced by (so-called) liberation theology and other theological schools explicitly indebted to Marxist influence.

Yes, the “Black voices” we must listen to, lest we be racist, always seem to be Leftist voices.  Listening to Voddie Baucham or Virgil Walker doesn’t count.

I also appreciate the Kochs addressing “the discouragement of many ethnic minorities and their departure” from conservative denominations such as the Southern Baptists [Emphasis mine]:

It’s true that some high-profile people have left various churches, but people are free to determine what is most important to them in any given denomination. There is a global theological conversation about race, gender, sexuality, etc. that has caused and is causing a disruption in every denomination that affects all people, not just ethnic minorities. In this particular case, there may be some churches that are legitimately “opponents of justice,” but it’s also just as possible that some of those who left were/are the ones elevating race and various other “identities” to an idolatrous level. It makes sense that those who disagree with what’s being taught, when they try to “dialogue” and don’t make any headway, would give up and leave. That by no means proves their mistreatment.

Timely words.  I would go further and say if at least some Woke Church people are not leaving/avoiding a denomination, there is probably something wrong with that denomination.  

But then I am meaner than Jady and Liza Koch.  So go read them instead of me.

ACNA’s C4SO Brings Back Soong-Chan Rah

Remember Soong-Chan Rah?  I sure do.  Back in 2017, I noticed he was going to keynote a Matthew 25 Gathering in my Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).  Curious, I did a little research on him, and the rest is history. I exposed some of his background.  Others found more and protested, and eventually he was quietly removed from the program.  Here are my posts about the matter back then.

One would think that less than four years later, ACNA’s dioceses would exercise enough wisdom not to have him as a focus of any program.  Especially since he has continued his woke act, including lovely quotes like this:

“The United States of America does not hold a morally exceptional position greater than Nazi Germany. We are not more just. Our sense of equality is not any superior. Our nation has never been Christian. We have just won our wars. And therefore, for centuries, we wrote our own history. And that has proven to be incredibly dangerous.” (Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery)

Oh, that’s right.  One of the dioceses in ACNA is the Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others (C4SO), not exactly a font of wisdom.

C4SO not only has a congregation giving up Whiteness for Lent, one of the diocese’s programs is reading Rah for Lent with the apparent blessing of C4SO itself.

 

Now perhaps the diocese is so clueless about Rah, even after 2017, that this is only an honest mistake, a lapse of judgement.

But I doubt it.  And frankly I am so angry I do not trust myself to say more at the moment. 

Democrat Election Fraud Harms Black Americans Too.

Largely overlooked in the controversy surrounding massive Democrat vote fraud in this election* is the harm it has done to Black Americans.

Most prominent is the apparent defeat of John James, a Black Republican, in the Michigan election for Senate.  The current and apparently re-elected Senator is a little known Democrat hack, Gary Peters.  Peters even had to the gall to mock James' insistence on a clean vote count.  So instead of being represented by a distinguished Black Republican, Michigan Black people and all Americans are stuck with a contemptible hack … again.

The bigger picture is election fraud renders legitimate votes meaningless, including the votes of Blacks.  If more than the usual amount of Black people vote Republican, as happened in this election, or if many Blacks decided to express their displeasure with their choices by not voting, so what?  Just bring in enough boxes of fraudulent “votes” and Democrats win!  Election fraud thus further enables Democrats taking Blacks for granted and discourages Republicans from earning their votes.  What’s the incentive for politicians if elections are so easily stolen in the dead of night? 

The old Jim Crow literacy tests were subtle in disenfranchising Blacks compared to this election. Consent of the governed being dumped on with such blatant election fraud disenfranchises all Americans, including Black people.

But I do not hear much concern about this from the woke church crowd.  Instead Jemar Tisby says you should just shut up about illegal votes:

In this political moment we must avoid this phrase: “count every legal vote.” While the words seem harmless and intuitive...inserting the word “legal” implies the widespread presence of illegal votes, which simply is not true.

And this:

Don’t fall for it. Don’t let the current president and his supporters undermine our elections, especially one with historic turnout and margins of victory. Biden is the president-elect and it’s not even close. If you already know this, then make it plain to somebody who doesn’t.

How dare you question the legitimacy of this election and of the fake President-Elect!

Ironic that the woke church crowd so enables the disenfranchising of Black Americans.

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*Again, don’t give me the “No Evidence” gaslighting.  I will give it the respect it deserves – zero.

“Social Justice” Indoctrination of Youth in ACNA

Last time, I noted that Jemar Tisby wants churches to turn 1 Corinthians 2:2 on its head and “consistently address racial justice for months and years at a time.”  I then hinted that this policy may have infiltrated ACNA.

Aaron Buttery and the Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others (C4SO) has let the cat out of the bag.  It has infiltrated.

Issues of race, injustice and social unrest are not meant to be a one-time topical study or series. These crucial conversations are intended to take place over the course of our ministry so young people know that racism and injustice have no place in the kingdom or in the lives of those who follow Jesus.

Yes, all through a student’s stay in church, keep bombarding him/her about “racism and injustice” (which may be different than real racism and real injustice).  Besides what can possibly be more important for the church to be teaching youth?

·       In what ways are you catechizing your students about racism or injustice—not generically, but directly?

·       How often, through teaching or the prayers, are you shaping students to see racism and injustice through the lens of the Kingdom? For instance, in the prayers of the people?

Should the church really be catechizing about “racism and injustice?”  Is that what orthodox catechesis is about? Yes! And often!  Priorities!

·       Have you spoken with your Rector about equipping parents to discuss systemic racism at home?

Yes, pester the Rector to pester the parents about “systemic racism” so youth can be bombarded at home, too!  And if any youth and families get fed up with all that Woke Church stuff and flee the church, well, they were probably hellbound racists anyway.

In all seriousness, anyone with any contact with youth knows many youth are rebelling against wokeness.  If you do what Tisby and Buttery wants, the church is asking to lose these youth, not to mention families.  And any youth with any common sense know there are at the very least higher priorities for the church.  I can not blame them if they do flee such indoctrination on “racism and injustice.” 

·       How does your ministry communicate the difference and intersection between social justice and Kingdom justice?

Let me make it simple.  There is darn little intersection between “social justice” and Kingdom justice unless by “intersection” you mean a car crash.  

Besides that, Christ will bring in his Kingdom.  We will not bring in the Kingdom by our sociopolitical agendas whether they be woke or Trumpist or whatever.  The church should invite people to join the Kingdom by proclaiming the Gospel . . . the Gospel in the Bible, not some “social justice” gospel.  To think otherwise is pretentious as the Stand Firm podcast recently examined well.

Now before one thinks Buttery’s post is just one of those many goofball C4SO things, he has a position at the provincial level of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) as the Director of Student Ministry in Esau McCaulley’s Next Generation Leadership initiative.

I will leave it to ACNA readers how much they should put up with this.  I can think of some youth who would not put up with this at all.

“For I determined not to know any thing among you, save racial justice.”

Oh. That’s not what St. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:2? 

Nobody tell Jemar Tisby:

Given the depth of theological mis-education when it comes to race in white churches, a brief sermon series on race before you get back to your "regularly scheduled programming" isn't going to cut it. We need to consistently address racial justice for months and years at a time.

Leaving aside whether his woke version of “racial justice” is right or wrong, is this the right use of a church’s teaching time?  Abortion and attacks on freedom of speech and on freedom of religion are much bigger problems in America today than racism and any remaining affect on justice.  But it would be a serious mistake to preach on these problems week after week, month after month.  The church has (Anglican Understatement Alert) higher priorities.

But what Tisby advises is the nature of Critical Theory.  It tries to consume all it touches, including the Gospel as James White notes:

I will just leave this here in the "Woke Church is Broke" file. The gospel and CRT cannot inhabit the same space for the same purposes. One drives out the other. https://t.co/CSvvmAO2mZ

— James White (@DrOakley1689) August 5, 2020

But if you push back against Tisby’s overweaning proposal or even dare to mock his Holy Wokeness….

Wokeness 2:2 "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except race and the problem with white people."https://t.co/YeeqhtnH1U

— Woke Bible (@BibleWoke) August 4, 2020

…you are in league with White Supremacy and Christian Nationalism.  Just letting you know.  Tisby:

I've seen some rancorous trolling in my day, but the responses to my last tweet are a doozy. Always be ready for backlash. White supremacy and Christian Nationalism don't go down without a fight. Never have, never will. But we are stronger.

Now you might be thinking, “There’s goes Wannabe picking on Jemar Tisby again.  My church doesn’t have such distorted priorities anyway.”

Are you sure?  You might want to think again, especially if you are in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).  Stay tuned.

Christianity Today Spreads the Poison of “White Fragility”

At the beginning I will concede one good thing about Ed Stetzer’s introduction to CT’s series on White Fragility: it is a good summary of that book by Robin DiAngelo.

And the book is the usual Cultural Marxist poison, such as: Blacks can’t be racist because they lack power, so reverse racism doesn’t exist; America is founded upon evil; white privilege; “I judge people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin” is racist.  And, of course, like a good Marxist, DiAngelo blames white people if they don’t respond positively to this rubbish.  Such have “white fragility.”

The proper role of a Christian publication if it decides to address such a book is to thoroughly debunk such poison, not promote it.  But not Stetzer and Christianity Today:

Let me encourage you to get the book, [Yes, help DiAngelo make money off her poison! –Ed.] read it, and then we will think it through together in this series.

Now that we are all familiar with the basic premises of DiAngelo’s argument, I am pleased to introduce the other authors who will join us in discussing White Fragility over the next several weeks. As previously mentioned, the second round of authors will be responding to the book and the initial five articles. I am pleased that George Yancey, a contributor for part one, will be contributing to the second round of articles as well.

And as I look over the nine contributors, I notice a number of woke ones.  I notice only one likely to push back against DiAngelo – Neil Shenvi.  (Granted, I am not familiar with every contributor.)

This promotion and what will surely be a stacked discussion of this poisonous book is appalling.  But such is what happens eventually when you have an Evangelical Church of What’s Happening Now eager to be blown about by every wind of doctrine. (Ephesians 4:14)

1 John 2:19 Illustrated

Jon Harris and I do not see eye to eye on everything.  He’s very Baptist.  I’m very Anglican.  And he is one of the few that can make me look moderate at times.  Nonetheless I think he hit it out of the park with his analysis of “These Evangelical Women Are Abandoning Trump and the Church.”

I am not going to rehash either his video nor the article.  But several thoughts came to mind as I watched and then read:

1. If someone would leave a church over members voting for Trump, that says more about that one’s priorities and commitment to the church than about those who vote for Trump.  People voting in self-defense for Trump against the Democrats and Hillary was not wrong.  And even if you disagree, it is not grounds for leaving a church. 

And yes, I am also talking about Jemar Tisby and other whining Woke Churchers who have oh-so lamented evangelicals voting for Trump.  They need to grow up.  Better yet, they need to repent of smearing millions of Christians who voted to stop or at least slow this country’s descent into totalitarian evil.

2. Evangelical churches are not blameless for young evangelicals leaving.  And the article actually does have some valid criticisms.  I’ve railed against The Evangelical Church of What’s Happening Now, skinny jeans and all.  Many evangelical pastors probably think catechesis is a disease.  There has been too much seeker sensitive pablum and not enough making disciples.  And, yes, some churches are among the many institutions that have enabled abuse.

But the women mentioned in the article need to look in the mirror more and blame their past churches less.  I will get to that.  Hey, I’ve had bad experiences in evangelical churches, too.  I let God use that to strengthen me in the faith instead of the opposite.

3. Bad generations happen even when leadership is excellent.  Joshua was one of the best leaders in the Bible, yet after he died, “there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.  And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord.” (Judges 2: 10,11)

Parents and churches are a vitally important influence on children.  But man is evil, and evil generations can and do arise even when led well.

And, yes, I think this generation that is leaving the church and attacking America is an evil generation.  They are not to be coddled or accommodated.  The church is to call them repentance.  The church should not change to appease them.

4. Finally, and most importantly, there is 1 John 2:19:

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (ESV)

This verse kept coming to mind again and again as I watched Harris’ video and read the article.  If someone goes to work for a pro-abortion organization or for the likes of Elizabeth Warren, she is evil.  She was not a faithful Christian in the first place.  The church is better off without her.  Yes, I said it. (* But do see below.)

Yes, the church should mourn that any, especially those once among the church, so choose to run after evil.  And the church should always look to see if it is doing anything amiss.  But at the same time a church should repel such evil.   A faith that doesn’t offend anyone is not The Faith.  Furthermore . . .

…You are to deliver [such people] to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that [their] spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

In no way should they be told that their apostasy is acceptable or justified.  They should also be told they are welcome to return if they repent.

But they left their churches and descended into such evil because they are evil.  Not because church people voted for Trump. 

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* Please note that, like the article and video, I am talking about people who once were active in somewhat orthodox churches and once claimed to be Christians.  We should not expect those never or rarely in the church to exercise Christian discernment and should be much more gentle and patient with them.  I once was pro-abortion, but I repented of that and of much more thanks to God and to patient Christians who gently taught me the truth.

George Conger Goes Yard on Wokeness and ACNA

I nearly titled this post “And You Thought I’m Hard on ACNA.”  For during Anglican Unscripted 611, Fr. George Conger pulled few punches in going after wokeness, ACNA, and wokeness in ACNA.

Using his working class parishioners as examples, he pushes back against the notion that racism is America’s biggest problem, beginning around 5 minutes in.  Then after about 8 minutes in, he gets around to woke clergy in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).  Wow, did he get around to woke clergy in ACNA.  See for yourself.

Both George and Kevin rightly see that the “so woke” clergy “nuts and kooks” in ACNA need to be “roped in” lest they drag ACNA down to Episcopalian levels in 20 years.  George said part of the problem is that much of ACNA is more “The Church of What’s Happening Now” than Anglican.

Hmm, who else has been concerned about The Evangelical Church of What’s Happening Now?

He also said ACNA bishops need to step up and lead against wokeness.  He is right.  

Anyway, this video is a must see for all in ACNA.

The Big Smear From The Woke Church and Christianity Today

It is almost a creed with the Woke Church crowd that the founding of America was profoundly racist and that America continues profoundly racist to this day.  The Woke Church smears the church in America as well.  

From the Woke Church, Jemar Tisby being perhaps the most prominent example today, you hear a litany of sins committed against Black people by America and the church, some concocted (particularly in that much they call “racism” is hardly that) or exaggerated, but much of which are indeed awful and to be regretted.   We certainly should not ignore the history of racism in this country nor pretend that we and our forebears are without sin. 

The problem is the following baggage is attached to said accusatory confession:

The blithe ignoring of the almost universal nature of racism in the past.  

Go back 200 years or more.  Will you find any society that was not racist or at least tribal?  Why then is America singled out as peculiarly racist?  And are we to then reject everything good from American and British past and be good totalitarian Taliban and Jacobins and topple it all?

Chronological Hubris. 

As C. S. Lewis well pointed out, we have a tendency to look down on the past and think ourselves so superior to it.  That certainly includes confessing their sins – a species of that favorite LibChurch activity of confessing other people’s sins – while overlooking or downplaying our own.  Those with unenlightened views of race in the past were in the wrong.  But they would be appalled by the prevalent sins of society today and would be right to be appalled.  Every age and society has its prevalent sins, and that includes us.  (No I do not consider white-on-black racism a prevalent sin today, but a dying one.  Anti-white racism on the other hand….)  Should we then smear and reject the good that our forebears have passed down to us because we are so arrogant as to consider their sins worse than ours?  Again, that’s what totalitarians do.

Downplaying progress. 

There has been astounding progress in the area of race in America even in my lifetime and marked by the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States in 2008. . . .   Oh, I hope I didn’t make you faint there.  Yes, I did and do see good in the election of Obama; it made clear that skin color is no longer much of a barrier in America.  At the time, I actually hoped it ushered in a post-racial America.  Sadly, Obama and now the woke crowd decided to pick and tear at old wounds of racial division and make them bleed afresh.  Yes, I think wokeness is a much bigger factor behind today’s divisions than “whiteness.”  If the woke crowd is really that concerned about racism and division in America, they need to take a good long look in the mirror.  We were making very good progress until they came along.

Trust that I could say more.

Oft times, the Woke Church is more Satanic than Christian.  Like Satan, they twist and weaponize history to accuse the brethren while practically ignoring the brethren’s repentance, forgiveness and ongoing sanctification. 

(And, no, I do not think Americans are a whole are being sanctified as American Christians hopefully are.  I certainly do not conflate being an American and being a faithful Christian. But the accusatory pattern of smearing one of the greatest nations the world has ever seen goes hand in hand with smearing the church.)

As many of you perceptive readers have already noticed, Christianity Today has joined the Woke Chorus of accusation.  Like much of the rest of The Evangelical Church of What’s Happening Now, they practically jump up and down and squeak, “Me, too! Me, too!  I’m woke, too!”   An op-ed by CT’s president and CEO Thomas Dalrymple is the latest example.  It is certainly in the Woke Big Smear genre, using very selective and regrettable history (And, again, what country or church does not have regrettable history?) and a warped interpretation of it to smear country and church. I found this passage especially slanderous and vile:

The name of Phalaris is not much remembered in the 21st century, but in classical antiquity it was infamous. The tyrant of Agrigentum on the island of Sicily, Phalaris is known for a gruesome instrument of torture: a hulking bronze bull, hollowed on the inside, set over a fire. As victims were forced into the bull and roasted alive, the nostrils of the bull rendered the screams of the dying into a sonorous groaning that filled the palace with music. You might be a guest at the feast, unaware that your entertainment came through the agony of others.

Today’s generations may say we did not invent the bull of racial injustice. But we have benefited from it. The resiliency, creativity, industry, and indomitable faith of African Americans in spite of all they have suffered is nothing short of miraculous. We have all benefited not only from their labor but also from their innovations and entrepreneurialism, their art and music, their films and poetry and books, their hymns and preaching. The transformation of black suffering into economic abundance for America, as well as art and passion and brilliance, has enriched our feast in the palace. Perhaps we can honestly say we did not know what our brothers and sisters were suffering. Now we do. So there’s only one thing to do: put down our forks and get our brothers and sisters out of the belly of the bull.

It disgusts me to see a once excellent Christian publication be the accuser of the brethren like that. 

Yes, for those concerned about how wokeness has infiltrated the Anglican Church in North America, there are any number of clergy that approve of the Big Smear and at least one diocesan Canon who publicly approves of this article.  I am not mentioning her by name because I do not want to single her out when it is a much wider problem in ACNA and other church bodies.   

The Woke Big Smear must be rejected by both Christians and non-Christians before it further poisons and divides our churches and our country.