Critics call it a ‘clear and tragic departure from Biblical Christianity’
Published September 21, 2023
(CHRISTIAN HEADLINES) – An upcoming conference hosted by Andy Stanley’s church for ministry leaders and parents of LGBTQ children is being called a “clear and tragic departure from Biblical Christianity” by a prominent evangelical leader, who says the lineup of speakers reveals the event’s theological position.
Stanley’s North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Ga., is hosting the Unconditional Conference, a two-day event Sept. 28-29 “for parents of LGBTQ+ children and for ministry leaders looking to discover ways to support parents and LGBTQ+ children in their churches,” its website says. Stanley is one of the speakers.
“You will be equipped, refreshed, and inspired as you hear from leading communicators on topics that speak to your heart, soul, and mind,” the website says. “We deeply desire this time will bring about healing and restoration. No matter what theological stance you hold, we invite you to listen, reflect, and learn as we approach this topic from the quieter middle space.”
I sometimes wonder how some people can be so insensitive to sin, without a bit of guilt or remorse. I’m thinking about those who do sin for a living and think nothing of it. They seem to thrive in it, and the gospel has no effect on them.
I’ve been reading The Gospel According to Jesus, by John MacArthur. He has some very good incites on the parable of the soils from Matthew 13:3-9.
And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 “And others fell upon the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6 “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 “And others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8 “And others fell on the good soil, and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 “He who has ears, let him hear.”
First we need to explain that the seed represents the Word of God and the gospel; the sower is one who presents the gospel to the unbeliever; the soil is the human heart—or the people; and the birds that ate the seed is Satan.
The purpose of sowing the seed is to build the kingdom of God—to save souls for His kingdom. In the parable, Jesus describes four kinds of soils (or four kinds of people) that the seed falls on. The first three described (vs. 4-7) is soil that is not prepared correctly for the seed of the gospel to germinate. These people will not be saved. Only the fourth kind of soil—good, fertile soil—will respond to the gospel and be saved.
In this blog we will focus on the first soil mentioned (v. 4). The sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some of the seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.
This first soil is soil that is hard-packed. It is soil that is on a path that has been packed down by people constantly walking on it. The seed that lands on this path, as you can imagine, has no chance of taking root. The hard-packed soil represents people with a hard heart. Like the hard-packed soil, their heart is hard. It has been hardened by repeated sin and abuse. The Old Testament called these people “stiff-necked.” Their repeated sins and rebellion against God has made them what they are: unresponsive to the gospel (and the Word of God), unconcerned, indifferent, even hostile to the gospel. These are definitely unsaved people; because a believer will commit sins and even be rebellious, but he will not stay that way. The Holy Spirit will cause him to repent and he will be delivered.
Hence, this parable is directed to unsaved people. They need a heart change. The soil of their heart needs conditioning. The hard-hearted person has no chance of being saved unless his heart is softened. How?
By prayer and by the Word of God and by love from a kind friend.
It is a sad thing to see this person; they have no understanding of the gospel and no sorrow over their sin, because the devil has plucked all the seeds of the gospel away. They seem to be so oblivious to sin, to living a sinful life. These are the ones who march for Pride month; these are the ones who fight for abortion rights; these are the ones who sell themselves to pornography and also the ones who love viewing it; these are the ones who have no understanding of the truth and the Word of God and will call Christians and conservatives extremists. They fight for global government and for the climate change movement. Most of them will not repent and be saved. Much prayer is needed for the few who will be saved.
There are a few of these on a lake nearby my place. It looks a little like a Great Cormorant but not quite. I finally found it in Wikipedia. It’s definitely a Green Heron.
The green heron is relatively small; adult body length is about 44 cm (17 in). The neck is often pulled in tight against the body. Adults have a glossy, greenish-black cap, a greenish back and wings that are grey-black grading into green or blue, a chestnut neck with a white line down the front, grey underparts and short yellow legs. The bill is dark with a long, sharp point. Female adults tend to be smaller than males, and have duller and lighter plumage, particularly in the breeding season. Juveniles are duller, with the head sides, neck and underparts streaked brown and white, tan-splotched back and wing coverts, and greenish-yellow legs and bill. Hatchlings are covered in down feathers, light grey above, and white on the belly.[4][5][6]
The green heron’s call is a loud and sudden kyow; it also makes a series of more subdued kuk calls. During courtship, the male gives a raah-rahh call with wide-open bill, makes noisy wingbeats and whoom-whoom-whoom calls in flight, and sometimes calls roo-roo to the female before landing again. While sitting, an aaroo-aaroo courtship call is also given.[5][6]
Whether it is coming or not, we know now what to do. We know that masking does not help, nor does any more shots. I think the best thing to do is let ourselves get it so we can get some immunity. I think it is also wish to just go about our normal way of life and refuse to be afraid–refuse the lock downs…if possible. At any rate, I will go about my normal business and will not just stay in my apartment. Being out in the fresh air is the best things we can do anyway.
It is all hands on deck right now to bring back Covid mandates. Mask mandates are slowly making a comeback in schools across the country. Joe Biden recently announced he will be wearing a face mask since Dr. Jill supposedly tested positive for Covid.
Los Angeles County may bring back mask mandates due to the new Covid variants BA.286 and EG.5 New Yorkers were told to mask up over the Labor Day weekend.
The World Health Organization sounded the alarm over a new wave of Covid.
“We continue to see concerning trends for COVID-19 ahead of the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere,” WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said Wednesday at a press conference.
I was just taking a walk in my usual place and I happened to see this big bird way up in this tree, just sitting there. First I thought it was an Osprey. They are most common around here. But then I said, No, this one’s bigger and the feathers are darker. I think it may just be a Bald Eagle. On my way back home I ran across an old man on a bench. He said, “Did you see the bald Eagle?”
I have just finished writing my latest book, THE TRIBULATION. I think it is my best book and I hope you will consider getting it. It is available now at my Lulu website:https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/lordteachustopray/
As I have noted on the book description,
This is not a book on all the personal tribulations/trials we may go through [now]. It is on the seven-year Tribulation written about in the book of Revelation, and also in the Old Testament prophetical books. The Tribulation is a product of my study of Scripture, and also from a few other bible scholars whom I trust. As to its content, about half of the book introduces the Tribulation, giving important information as to it setting, its purpose, and its nature. Then in the second half, the judgments (the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls) are expounded on, and each Tribulation event is highlighted. I’m sure that this book will serve you well in your understanding of The Tribulation as it is given to us in the Scriptures.
Oh oh. Here we go. I just hope blogging isn’t in trouble—or my Christian books. I wonder how long it will take to get here to America. We already know that some things are affected, like certain Presidential candidates and what they say on Twitter. Conservative speech, and Christian speech is pretty much hate speech these days.
Censorship of the Internet has been getting worse for years, but we just crossed a threshold which is going to take things to a whole new level.
On August 25th, a new law known as the “Digital Services Act” went into effect in the European Union. Under this new law, European bureaucrats will be able to order big tech companies to censor any content that is considered to be “illegal”, “disinformation” or “hate speech”.
That includes content that is posted by users outside of the European Union, because someone that lives in the European Union might see it. I wrote about this a few days ago, but I don’t think that people are really understanding the implications of this new law.
In the past, there have been times when governments have requested that big tech companies take down certain material, but now this new law will give government officials the power to force big tech companies to take down any content that they do not like. Any big tech companies that choose not to comply will be hit with extremely harsh penalties.
Beware of the AI-Bible and the AI-Jesus. They are the newest thing in our global world. I am afraid that young people will be drawn to it—because it will give them just what they want.
The Ai-bible is mostly our bible with additions and subtractions; subtractions that will take away the things that they don’t want, and additions that add things that are new and more up-to-date.
The AI-Jesus is more of a robot Jesus that will point people to the AI-Bible. He (it) will be a new Jesus created by man in our image. So, he will be just what we want—what makes us happy. Each person can have his own AI-Jesus and he will point us to the truth(?)—our own truth.
I say beware of these things because of what the Bible says in Revelation 22:18-19:
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
In reference to AI-Jesus, Jesus has warned us of it in Matthew 24:5:
For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.
I am sure that this AI-Jesus is just one version of all that will come in Jesus’ name, but it is a big one. Beware!
In the last one-hundred years there has been an effort to divide Christians into two groups: carnal and spiritual (Read 1 Cor. 2:14-3:3). And they have likewise said that many have received Christ as Savior, but not as Lord. They would be the carnal ones. They would be saved but not really committed to Christ.
And surprisingly, some have been okay with this, because they say that if they accept Him as Lord they would be guilty of human works.
But this is crazy, because that would be dividing Christ. For He is both Savior and Lord. And so, when we seek to be saved we must accept all of Him, in all that He is—Savior and Lord. He must be our Savior and our Lord. If He is not, we really haven’t accepted Him (the real Him) at all.
And, as far as being guilty of “human works,” Jesus tells us that true faith requires works (James 2:14-26); that without works faith is dead. And works is not something we do without His help. He is the worker in us. When we are saved He gives us a new life, a life that naturally does the work of God.
And by the way, if you are called a carnal Christian, you may not be a Christian at all. Because carnality is not of God. A carnal person is a person void of spirituality, or void of the Holy Spirit. So here it is: a carnal person is a pagan, not a Christian; and a Spiritual person is a Christian, because he walks by the Spirit and he does the works of God (Romans 8:9-11).
However, there will be periods in the Christian’s life when he takes the wrong road or gets off track. But that will be only temporary. God provides for him a way to get back on track—he will just need to repent of his sins and start again. And this will happen many times because we are still in our fleshly body. And God understands this—and so should we. But we endeavor to abide with Him from day to day failing along the way, but getting back up again and again. And thank God that He has provided for us constant forgiveness and cleansing (1 Jn 1:9).
We depend on His constant forgiveness and cleansing; yet we strive to abide with Him and trust Him more.
Stephen Nielsen 