Why I Support Jim Bakker

Jim I first want to thank you for sharing the supernatural photos from heritage USA, the last time I was there at Morningside talking about On the Path of the Immortals. Even though I am S. Baptist, (and I know they gave you a hard time in the media.) I am sure you know at least some of them genuinely wanted to protect the church from a percieved scandal. Before, I was a believer, I used to use Jim Bakker as a reason Christians were all hypocrites. But I had never read the Bible and I honestly didn’t want too. So I was worse than a hypocrite anyhow.  Then I met real Christians, not legalists, the kind of people who confessed their own sin and they told me unexpected things like  “If you’re not a hypocrite, your standards are probably far too low. Why not visit our church we always have room for another one!” Although we strive not to judge others hypocritically, we are all hypocrites according to scripture:

For what I am doing I do not understand, because what I want to do, this I do not practice, but what I hate, this I do.(Romans 7:15)

That very same Paul taught the purpose of the law was to gain knowledge of sin, no one other than Jesus was able to keep it perfectly.

For by the works of the law no person will be declared righteous before him, for through the law comes knowledge of sin.: (Romans 3:20)

Paul also taught:

“The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. For there is no distinction,(Romans 3:22)

James was a little more harsh:

“Come now, you rich people, weep and cry aloud over the miseries that are coming upon you! Your wealth has rotted, and your clothing has become moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have become corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you, and it will consume your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure in the last days.(James 5:1–3)

I am convinced Bakker is a redeemed Christian with good intentions who was misled by the prosperity gospel popular in AOG churches during the PTL era. He has now confessed it was wrong. It takes a humbled man to make such an admission, that’s character, that impressed me.

It was my Mom’s church Providence Baptist that led me to Christ, when I was hopeless and suicidal. So I continue to go there. After some struggles, I earned a Masters in Theological studies from Liberty Baptist Seminary because it’s the only accredited school that holds to biblical inerrancy, traditional marriage, creation, and the traditional Gospel that offers most of the curriculum online.   (They taught me to research and write)
I graduated from Liberty but I do not approve of cessionationism, Falwell’s cult of personality, nor  of the way he treated Jim Bakker in the 1980s. Today I believe a small group just wanted to take Bakker’s ministry for themselves, the critics in the church’s motives were not Godly either but just as greedy and more mean spirited. Not that Bakker’s motives were always good, but, frankly, I understand and empathize with Bakker more than the self-righteousness Falwell exhibited – who accepted a lot of money from cultist Sun Myung Moon and was, frankly, a pompous ass himself at times, but, in his defense, Falwell was a an accomplished evangelist and spokesperson for morality.  He’s with the Lord now, so God bless him.

Most people are unaware that the majority Bakkers jail sentence we repealed for lack of evidence. It was trumped up. (At the same time Wachovia bank was laundering Pablo Escobar’s cocaine profits but the NC attorney General was more interested in crucifying Jim Bakker in the media.) So, today, I consider Bakker a Christian  hero for having the courage to “die to self,” admit past mistakes, and ride out an unjust sentence, much like Joseph in Egypt, and, upon release, proclaiming that he’s a new creation in Christ, while preaching against the prosperity Gospel (he used to advocate).

It takes a genuine Christian to admit he was mistaken and humble himself as Bakker did. Bakker truly seem genuine. Instead preaching to itching ears Bakker is now preaching impending judgment on America– the the ongoing apostasy and imminent appearance of antichrist (2 Thes 2:3) and pre-wrath rapture and tribulation judgements. It’s not what most folks like to hear… It takes a genuine anointing from the Spirit of God. No one likes to hear it and tend to shoot messenger.

 In context of the NT era. We Americans (including the unsophisticated folks living in the trailer park down the street)  are “the rich in this present age” –that’s right you are wealthy by biblical standards —that is, the rich being referred to in this convicting and scary passage:

Command those who are rich in this present age not to be proud and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in God, who provides us all things richly for enjoyment,(1 Titus 6:17)

By world standards the average american is quite “rich in this present age. In Pope Francis’ homeland, Argentina, a salary of $30,000 American a year, literally less than what most school teachers make, ranks a worker one of the top 15.3% wealthiest folks in the country. In contrast, in Elzalvador, literally an American fast food job salary can put one under the top 1% richest in the country, (see source) So we Americns, as the rich of this age, have a stewardship and responsibility, to be humble and trust God, not the idol of wealth.
Jim Bakker, in your down moments please recall that VERY FEW preachers from any denomination are willing to call people out for greed and using God like “the tooth fairy .” My wife said it best, “If Christianity is not about forgiveness, then what it is it about?” The church needs more Jim Bakkers and fewer Rick Warrens and Joel Osteens.

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Glen Beck’s Mormon Apologetics at Liberty University

As if cowtowing to Mormon bishop Mitt Romney during the last election wasn’t bad enough, Liberty University invited Glen Beck speak at its annual convocation ceremony.  Beck disingenuously said “I share your faith” calling Mormonism a “different denomination” of Christianity and referred to Joseph Smith as a “martyr” . These statements are far from the truth. Beck does not “share the faith” of  the Baptist student body. Mormonism is not a different denomination but a different religion. Islam is closer to Christian theology than polytheistic Mormonism. The canard that Mormonism is a Christian denomination is patently absurd. The god of Mormons is not the God of the Old and New Testaments but an exalted man. Joseph Smith was not a martyr for his faith. He was in jail for treason against the state of Illinois and destroying the printing press of a newspaper that criticized his polygamy. When an angry mob stormed the jail, Smith died in a shoot out in which he killed two men. The LDS website preserves the  eyewitness testimony of John Taylor:

“I shall never forget the deep feeling of sympathy and regard manifested in the countenance of Brother Joseph as he drew nigh to Hyrum, and, leaning over him, exclaimed, ‘Oh! my poor, dear brother Hyrum!’ He, however, instantly arose, and with a firm, quick step, and a determined expression of countenance, approached the door, and pulling the six-shooter left by Brother Wheelock from his pocket, opened the door slightly, and snapped the pistol six successive times. ….”  (two men were killed by Smith)

LDS.org

No one participating in a gun fight in which they kill some of their opponents is considered “martyred.” Why is Liberty allowing Glen Beck to mislead their students about Mormonism and the false prophet Smith? Liberty is treading the Gospel under foot for political expediency. Liberty University’s status as an evangelical University should be questioned by parents and students. Apparently, Liberty now prefers to be categorized as politically conservative but religiously pluralist institution.

But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.(2 Corinthians 11:3–4)

GK Beale on the Frog in the Kettle & the Mystery of Lawlessness

I have been digging deeply into 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 for my exegetical research paper in Hermeneutics. While I am not in agreement with Beale on his Amillennialism, I do appreciate his scholarship. I found this description of the “mystery of lawlessness” leading to the final apostasy particularly sobering for the contemporary church.

What is it that continually energizes the lawless and worldly spirit of the age throughout history? Why do culture and some sectors of the church promote moral and religious relativity? What is it that makes the spirit of worldliness so attractive and compelling? Paul explains in 2:1–12 that the spirit of the antichrist, “the man of lawlessness,” is already presently working to influence and deceive not only our culture but also the church about the truth. This spirit will effectively deceive some throughout the age, and the deception will reach a climax at some future point. Like the proverbial “frog in a kettle” that is unable, because of its cold-blooded nature, to sense gradual increases in water temperature until it is too late (and it is boiled), God’s people sometimes fail to perceive subtle shifts away from God’s truth. When the spiritual heat of false teaching or deception comes, we sometimes do not readily recognize it because of our spiritual cold-heartedness. Are we like the frog that is beginning to boil? If people have not truly believed that Jesus suffered on the cross the punishment they deserve and that he rose again from the dead to give life, they are presently in a state of deception that could be the beginning of final punishment. Those genuinely having believed need to keep recalling the truth of God’s Word in order to prevent deception.[1]



[1] G. K. Beale, 1-2 Thessalonians, The IVP New Testament commentary series (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 200), 224.

Patrick Heron’s End Time Eisegesis

By Cris D. Putnam

Patrick Heron likely means well but zeal comes before knowledge. He invokes the end times to assert that only now God is revealing special insight on the prophetic scriptures (apparently to himself). In other words, all the great expositors and scholars of the past have unable to decode the prophecies properly, but only now God has granted special insight to a select few, including himself, to warn God’s people… Really? He argues that only now has God “unsealed” the secrets in the book of Revelation and prophetic scriptures. This betrays a serious lack of knowledge of the book in which he claims to be an authority. The book of Revelation was never sealed, it was written to the first century Christians as well as for us today:

And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.(Re 22:10)

But Patrick believes he has been granted special insight and cites,

Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7).

Astonishingly, he actually appears to be implying that he qualifies as such a prophet in this video at :57. I wanted to let it pass, but it seems he really means it because he cites it again at 17:30. Are we really supposed to believe that God will not do anything without letting Patrick Heron, the endtime prophet, know first? Seriously? He certainly implies as much by repeatedly citing it. But citing this verse from Amos is a major abuse of scripture. Amos was a shepherd and farmer called to prophesy during the reigns of Uzziah (792–740 BC) in the southern kingdom and Jeroboam II (793–753 BC) in the north. Amos was not giving his opinions on the interpretation of scripture; rather he spoke the very words of God directly. The Old Testament prophets were not just prognosticators rather they were spokespersons for God and covenant enforcers. This context no longer exists as we are under a new covenant and Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and man. To apply Amos 3:7 to a modern context and especially to yourself is an egregious error and extraordinarily arrogant.

His approach is very condescending as he labels the rendering in all English translations since the 16th century as a “deception.” Yes, even the authorized KJV as well as all modern translations are demonic deceptions according to Heron! The verse in question is:

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;(2 Th 2:3, KJV)

“Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,(2 Th 2:3, ESV)

He desperately wants to believe that apostasia means a “departure” in the sense of the “rapture” the church being gathered bodily directly preceding the Great Tribulation and the coming of the antichrist. The following observations point to the implausibility of this identification.

  • The word apostasia in the Greek Old and New Testaments always refers to a “departure from faith” and never to a “catching away”, “bodily resurrection” or “gathering.”
  • A negatively religious nuance of “departure” is also dictated by the context, since in 2 Thes 2:3 it is conjoined with the man of lawlessness, and in 2 Thes 2:8–12 deception and departing from the faith also appear in conjunction with “the lawless one.”
  • The “gathering” of 2:1 is an allusion to Paul’s earlier teaching on the rapture of God’s people (1 Thess 4:14–17; cf. 1 Cor 15:52). Thus, Paul’s message to the Thessalonians was that they should not be misled because a sure sign of Christ’s return, the apostasy, has not yet taken place. This was Paul’s way of comforting them and reassuring them that they had not missed the Lord’s return. Patrick’s reading misses Paul’s point. We should expect to see a massive apostasy and the rise of Antichrist before the rapture.
  • The coming of Christ can still be imminent like “a thief in the night.” We should allow the possibility that the two signs will take place so quickly that by the time we recognize them as such, Christ’s lightning-like coming will have been set in motion (see Mt 24:27). Even so, Paul says it should not surprise us if we are alert (1 Thes 5:4). But this can be difficult because we live in the “already/not yet” period. Accordingly, the fulfillment of the prophesied apostasy and lawless one’s coming has been inaugurated and has occurred cyclically throughout history. John wrote back in the first century, “Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour” (1 Jn 2:18).  The last hour has been going on for 2,000 years! This explains why throughout the church’s existence many have erroneously claimed that the end has arrived. The claim is understandable, but the error lies in the inability to discern when precisely the apostasy has reached its absolute zenith and when one individual sufficiently incarnates lawlessness to the degree Paul has in mind in 2 Thes 2:4. Because of this no one can responsibly claim with absolute certainty, as Patrick does, that the end times are underway until these two signs have demonstrably occurred.

At 5:45 in the video, Patrick states that, “the answer to error is right doctrine.” This is of course true but right doctrine is derived from a sound hermeneutic which he has already abandoned at the outset with the unsealing of an open book and a gross misapplication of Amos 3:7. Of course, Patrick’s real purpose here is to promote his book and prop up the pretribulation rapture position. The word in question is apostasia. According to the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament:

ἀποστασία.

A later construction for ἀπόστασις. The word presupposes the concept ἀποστάτης “to be an apostate,” and thus signifies the state of apostasy, whereas ἀπόστασις denotes the act. Politically an ἀποστάτης is a “rebel” (Polyb., V, 41, 6; 57, 4: τοῦ βασιλέως; Diod. S., XV, 18: τῆς πατρίδος), and this sense is retained in ἀποστασία (Plut. Galb., 1 (I, 1052e): τὴν ἀπὸ Νέρωνος ἀποστασίαν; Jos. Vit., 43: διὰ τὴν ἀποστασίαν τὴν ἀπὸ Ῥωμαίων; Ap., 1, 135 f.; Ant., 13, 219.

In the LXX it also occurs in the political sense in 1 Esr. 2:23. It is particularly employed, however, in the religious sense, Jos. 22:22; Jer. 2:19; 2 Ch. 29:19 (the apostasy of Ahaz); 33:19 (of Manasseh). Cf. 1 Macc. 2:15 (used absol.); Asc. Is. 2:4. ἀποστάτης has also retained this religious sense, cf. Is. 30:1; 2 Macc. 5:8: Jason ὡς τῶν νόμων ἀποστάτης καὶ βδελυσσόμενος; Nu. 14:9; Jos. 22:16, 19: ἀποστάτης ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου.[1]

At 8:00, Patrick claims that Apostasia did not mean this in the Ancient Greek language. I guess someone forgot to tell the ancient Greeks that. He then cites Bullinger’s 100 year old argument concerning the construction of the term based on its roots. Interestingly, all of the translations he cited are from the 1500s!  Remember Patricks assertion in the beginning of the video that only now in the end times have the prophecies been unsealed… isn’t it odd that all of his sources are over 100 years old? (Patrick repeatedly asserts that scripture cannot contradict itself but apparently its fine when he does). The problem with using antiquated scholarship is that knowledge of the ancient Greek language has increased exponentially due to academic linguistics and archeological discoveries. Hence, today’s scholars are much more authoritative on Greek grammar and etymology. What Patrick has engaged in here is a commonly known exegetical fallacy:

1. The root fallacy

One of the most enduring of errors, the root fallacy presupposes that every word actually has a meaning bound up with its shape or its components. In this view, meaning is determined by etymology; that is, by the root or roots of a word. [2]

He claims a better rendering is “the departure” and then claims that the same term is used 15 times in the New Testament and 12 out of the 15 it is used as a departure. Yet if we search by lemma, meaning the canonical or dictionary morphology, it really only appears twice. One being the verse in question and the other in Acts:

 κατηχήθησαν δὲ περὶ σοῦ ὅτι ἀποστασίαν διδάσκεις ἀπὸ Μωυσέως τοὺς κατὰ τὰ ἔθνη πάντας Ἰουδαίους, λέγων μὴ περιτέμνειν αὐτοὺς τὰ τέκνα μηδὲ τοῖς ἔθεσιν περιπατεῖν.

“and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs.(Ac 21:21)

Hear it clearly means a departure from the faith and a rebellion as well. The important thing is how did first century people use the word. To see how Paul would have understood and used it the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, is  a great source, the term appears four times:

22 Ὁ θεὸς θεός ἐστιν κύριος, καὶ ὁ θεὸς θεὸς κύριος αὐτὸς οἶδεν, καὶ Ισραηλ αὐτὸς γνώσεται, εἰ ἐν ἀποστασίᾳ ἐπλημμελήσαμεν ἔναντι τοῦ κυρίου, μὴ ῥύσαιτο ἡμᾶς ἐν ταύτῃ, [3]

“The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the Lord, do not spare us today.” (Jos 22:22)

(I will not bother to show the LXX for the rest, but I could…)

“All the utensils that King Ahaz repudiated during his reign when he was faithless, we have made ready and sanctified; see, they are in front of the altar of the Lord.”(2 Ch 29:19)

“The king’s officers who were enforcing the apostasy came to the town of Modein to make them offer sacrifice.”(1 Mac 2:15)

“Your wickedness will punish you, and your apostasies will convict you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your God; the fear of me is not in you, says the Lord God of hosts.”(Je 2:19)

So Patrick is just wrong about the common usage of the word. He is engaging in another common fallacy known as “special pleading.” He is allowing his preference for the pretribulation rapture position to cloud his exegesis. I confronted him about his qualifications to dispute the unanimous (since the 16th century anyway) English rendering of the Greek in an email and he cited his Masters degree and Doctorate in Christian Literature. According to Wikipedia:

Heron holds a B.Sc. and M.A. in Business Studies from Trinity College, Dublin. He also holds a Degree in Theology and recently received an Honorary Doctorate in Christian Literature from the California Pacific School of Theology, Glendale, California, as a result of the research done in his book, The Nephilim and the Pyramid of the Apocalypse.[4]

His academic training is in business. So, in reality, he has no Greek exegesis credentials whatsoever and even his gifted doctorate is from an unaccredited institution. I would not have brought this into it, except that he brought it up as way to give himself some credibility. In truth, it does not appear that he put in the hard work to learn Greek that even a seminary trained youth pastor has. Patrick is clearly wrong in his interpretation but that does not mean that any rapture position is necessarily falsified. However, it does seem very clear that the church will see the apostasy and rise of Antichrist. This apostasy will take place within the professing church and will be a departure from the truth that God has revealed in His Word. While it is true that apostasy has characterized the church almost from its inception, Paul referred to a specific distinguishable apostasy that will come in the future (cf. 1 Tim. 4:1-3; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; 4:3-4; James 5:1-8; 2 Peter 2; 3:3-6; Jude). Do not listen to Heron for your comfort, be prepared, listen to Paul:

Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction.(2 Th 2:3)

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,(1 Ti 4:1)

But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1 Th 5:4–9)

And listen to Jesus:

Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come (Mt 24:10–14)

For a more responsible handling of the rapture issue I commend the work of Chris White to you:

 

 



For an excellent scholarly treatment of the subject see: http://www.dbts.edu/journals/1998/combs.pdf

For an editorial see: http://moriel.org/MorielArchive/index.php/discernment/church-issues/end-times/one-insanity-is-but-a-reflection-of-the-other

[1] , vol. 1, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley and Gerhard Friedrich, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964-), 513.

[2]D. A. Carson, Exegetical Fallacies, 2nd ed. (Carlisle, U.K.; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Paternoster; Baker Books, 1996), 28.

[3] Septuaginta : With Morphology, electronic ed. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1979), Jos 22:22.

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Heron_%28author%29

Presbyterian Church of USA Goes Gay

Presbyterians OK gay pastors; Twin Cities cast deciding vote
Church will lift ban in place since the mid-1990s

Updated: 05/10/2011 11:48:22 PM CDT
An amendment to allow Presbyterian congregations across the United States to ordain openly gay pastors won approval Tuesday night, with the pivotal vote taking place in the Twin Cities.
http://www.twincities.com/ci_18036950?nclick_check=1

Confirmed by the PCUSA site here

Christ came to save sinners and of course this includes those who suffer from a sexual attraction disorder. Still yet, loving those who struggle with a sin is an entirely different matter than approving of and endorsing it. The New Testament is very clear on the results of an unrepentant homosexual lifestyle (1 Cor. 6:9) and the qualifications for leadership (1 Tim 3:2).  By allowing Pastors to model a lifestyle that leads to hell, the PCUSA is knowingly leading its sheep to the slaughter. When the ELCA Lutheran denomination passed a similar measure their meeting place was struck by a tornado, prompting John Piper to comment: