This week’s posts to ponder include a good amount of controversy. I’m careful to not include controversies that are clearly fruitless. These articles are a selection largely to make us think about things in a productive way. The first article is not as much controversy as it is helpful in our times. It is written by Andrée Seu Peterson who is a senior writer for WORLD Magazine. I found out recently there have been several resignations at the end of the year in 2021 from this magazine. And their opinion section is including quite a slate of solid writers. I had unsubscribed from them after seeing them flip flop on issues during the election and scamdemic. But they’ve got my attention again, so they are in my news feed for now. The other articles are listed because they are less likely to be read elsewhere. I try to find articles that need to be seen, read and thought about. I pray these are truly helpful. Blessings! The Truth is stronger still!

Good Fear, Bad Fear

“Any fearful thing you are made to focus on day after day will become hyper-magnified in your mind. There are 6 million car accidents a year in this country, and 90 people a day die in them. If the Market Street boys wanted to get us to stop driving, they could feature a car crash death a day on the front page. Just saying. The news is what they want the news to be, and it is well to keep that in mind.”

How The Federal Government Used Evangelical Leaders To Spread Covid Propaganda To Churches

Major church leaders used their positions to become mouthpieces for government’s Covid propaganda and helped NIH director Francis Collins suppress news about the lab-leak theory that would have been damaging to him.

The Marrow Controversy

Grace precedes faith and repentance and there is no warrant needed to believe in Jesus. This statement was controversial in Scotland but makes all the difference in defining legalism at the level of justification. The Christian would do well to be aware of this controversy and ponder its implications. One caveat, sometimes in this controversy Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress gets a bad wrap being called preparationist. However, Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress is saved at the Wicket Gate, and receives assurance at the Cross. Moreover, Christiana’s testimony is different, together with her children. She follows and has a different testimony. Bunyan simply shares an autobiographical sketch of his testimony in allegory, but also shares how God works in others. So it is important not to mischaracterize that great book as teaching preparationism, because it does not. Nonetheless, I find some help in knowing the Marrow Controversy. I was first introduced to it through a book by Sinclair Ferguson called the Whole Christ. But please keep my caveat in mind if you read it.

Reasons Churches Leaving SBC

This church gives reasons for leaving that are spot-on. This is a good summation of why many churches are leaving the SBC:

• The godlessness that was displayed in the opening moments of the Convention from the stage in what was referred to as “worship” was appalling. Worship was certainly the objective, but it was clear that man, not Jesus, was the intended object of that worship.

• The evasiveness of Kevin Ezell of NAMB, and the lawyer they employed when asked from the floor to provide transparency concerning salaries within the organization. The end result of this exchange was essentially, “We’re qualified. Trust us. Please pass the microphone to the person behind you and take your seat.”

• The use of a young lady, seemingly as a pawn, by Grant Gaines and others, by putting her on display for everyone to see and attempting to utilize her tragic situation to manipulate the emotions of those in attendance

• The unrelenting onslaught of conversations and the adoption of useless platitudes concerning sexual issues as a clear signal of capitulation to and allegiance with a watching world

• The secular political tactics employed against candidate Mike Stone

• The public, real-time endorsement of a candidate by Danny Akin, a seminary head, clearly seeking to use his platform within the SBC to affect the election

• The election by the messengers of the Convention of the most liberal candidate by far of the four candidates available to us, Ed Litton. Litton appears to have been the widely endorsed candidate of the powers-that-be, which reeks of secular politics and the ways of the pagan world.

• The fact that Al Mohler supporters preferred this establishment candidate spoke volumes

• James Merritt’s still yet unrebuked condescension and beratement of the messengers in what can no doubt be classified as an ungracious rant by an angry man in an attempt to bully voters toward his preferred result

• Outgoing President Greear’s ridiculous “sermon” which was no sermon, but was instead a castigation of opposition and an agenda promoting political speech with a Bible verse or two mixed in for effect

• The refusal of the Resolutions Committee to propose a vote on a resolution repudiating Critical Race Theory. The proposed resolution was submitted to the Convention by a record-shattering 1,300 messengers!

• The reasoning for this course of action can only be explained by a fear of man and a desire to placate men such as Dwight McKissic who had publicly threatened to leave the SBC if this issue was addressed in a manner that he deemed to be unfavorable.

• The unrelenting use from the stage of phrases such as, “The world is watching” made it absolutely clear who we were expected to please with our votes and our actions and it was not Jesus Christ

• The perverted use of numerous times of “prayer” which were not times of prayer to our God, but were instead prostituted opportunities to preach at the messengers and reiterate how they were expected to vote

Philippians 4:8 ESV “¶ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”