Posts Tagged ‘christian left’

 red letter bible

When someone believes social justice is more of a biblical priority than social issues, chances are their faith is based on the politics of man rather than the inspiration of God’s Word. Founded by Jim Wallis and Tony Campolo, Red Letter Christians are one such group of liberal progressives whose purpose is to counter the influences of the conservative Christian movement and traditional evangelicals.

Another founder, Catholic writer Richard Rohr, believes we need to earn our way to heaven. Still another, homosexual advocate Brian MacLaren, refutes the inerrancy of Scriptures. Trying to appear apolitical, these opportunistic ideologues criticize Republicans and conservative Christians while pushing their own political agendas.

According to apologist, Richard Haas

Another major problem with the Red Letter Christian movement is its cherry picking approach to the use of Scripture. This group will concentrate on certain parts of the Bible that promote their agenda while excluding other parts of the Bible that are either contradict or do not fit the Red Letter Christians agenda… Groups like the Red Letter Christians while seeming tolerable and peaceful in their purpose are actually undermining and dishonoring Christ and His kingdom.

The following is an excerpt from the book, ERADICATE: BLOTTING OUT GOD IN AMERICA:

Every word in the Bible is written exactly as God wants it to be. Our faith in the integrity of Scripture begins with permanence:

The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8).

Bible publishers probably had good intentions when they highlighted the teachings of Jesus by printing them in red letters, but this has helped some emergent church leaders find another way to cast doubt on the entire Bible. Jesus Christ is the Truth and He is the Word – the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Jesus came to fulfill the law, the Old Testament. Every letter the apostle Paul wrote points to the perfect person of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament, the Gospels, and the New Testament are all in complete agreement and harmony.

Red Letter Christians teach that the sayings of Jesus are somehow more holy, sacred, or inspired than the rest of Scripture, but we know the whole counsel of God is perfect.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teach­ing, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).

One obvious agenda for this false teaching is to justify homosexual­ity [and minimize abortion].

These popular evangelical authors pit God and the apostle Paul against Jesus by telling their followers Jesus didn’t specifically address homosexuality. By this they imply Jesus must approve of that which He did not address directly. This is ludicrous and would also lead to the false conclusion that Jesus also approves of cannibalism, rape, or vampires since He didn’t specifically mention them. This is their logic.

These leaders argue that since Jesus taught about loving “the least of these,” how can we call someone that Christ commands us to love, sinful? Jim Wallis notes that the early church shared everything when he said,  

“In those red letters, Jesus calls us away from the consumerist values that dominate contemporary American consciousness.”

Wal­lis and Campolo have gained cult-like followings by speaking against the Christian establishment and against Republicans as they make the rounds on the college circuit. They can disagree with parts of the Bible if they’d like, but what amazes me is that people fall for it.

For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished (Matthew 5:18).

Red Letter Christians advocate unrestricted big government, often equating the welfare state with the Kingdom of God.

Jan Markel of Olive Tree Views believes they are practicing a form of Neo-Marxism. Markel points out these leaders promote tolerance and mercy while claiming conservative evangelicals spend too much time worrying about abortion and homosexuality. Markell stated:

“Red-letter Christians champion ‘social justice’, the cause of illegal immigrants, environmentalism, high taxes, discrimina­tion issues, socialized medicine, and getting rid of the death penalty. …This crowd loves to spend other people’s money. They put down conservative Christianity when, in fact, it is conservative Christians who are first to step up to the plate whenever there is a disaster at home or abroad!”

Red Letter Christians profess to hate religion and love Jesus. Though there is not a clear statement of faith on their website, they do list the Apostle’s Creed and give a charge to follow the words of Jesus (not the entire Bible). Their list of contributors and recommended authors is a roll call of the progressive evangelical hall of shame.

When someone’s theology seems to be driven by a desire to justify and promote a political agenda or a sinful lifestyle rather than honestly interpret what Scripture teaches, that’s called handling the Word of God deceitfully. We must confront that which comes against truth.

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 (2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV).

beware_of_false_teachers

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Rethinking Values in the Post-Crisis World: Jim Wallis

In June of 2010, Reverend Jim Wallis was asked if he believed abor­tion and homosexuality were sins. Christian radio station General Manager, Mike Le May, got the answer loud and clear: Wallis shouted at him, called him a “right-wing Kool-Aid drinking Glen Beck follower” and hung up the phone. I documented the divisive controversy that led to this exchange in my book, ERADICATE.

On Monday, Wallis – being faithful to the Democratic Party platform – openly admitted to supporting same-sex marriage. Not surprisingly, a spokesperson for Wallis’ Sojourners magazine could not say whether or not Wallis believes homosexuality is a sin.

Appointed by President Obama to his White House faith council, some say Wallis is a progressive evangelical because his primary support is from leftists.

In 2011, it was revealed by investigative journalists that Wallis’ Sojourners magazine received hundreds of thousands of dollars from radical socialist George Soros. Why would an anti-American financier like George Soros give large grants to Sojourn­ers?

Jim Wallis first denied the Soros connection saying, “No, we don’t receive money from George Soros… Our money comes from Christians who support us and who read Sojourners.”

Soros is a corrupt billionaire from Hungary aiming to destroy America’s Christian ideals and freedoms that made us a great nation. His hatred for America fuels the financing (over $52 million) of left-wing media outlets and groups including those promoting abor­tion, atheism, homosexual activism, socialism, and government expansion. It’s no wonder Jim Wallis tried to hide the truth.

George Soros is working to destroy America’s system of capitalism and this connection between Wallis and Soros should not be ignored.

On their website, Sojourners quotes people like Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, new age leader Marianne Williamson and empha­sizes social justice, environmental activism, diversity, and immigra­tion.

Wallis seems to look at the Bible in light of the world around him rather than looking at the world in light of God’s Word. From his White House platform, he attacks Republicans while calling himself a “nonpartisan evangelical minister,” and is very popular among liberals who routinely vilify Christians for their involvement in political issues.

According to Wallis:

“As more Christians become influenced by liberation theology, finding themselves increasingly rejecting the values of institu­tions of capitalism, they will also be drawn to the Marxist analy­sis and praxis that is so central to the social justice movement.”

Early in his career, Wallis founded an anti-capitalist magazine called the Post-American which identified wealth redistribution and government-managed economies as the keys to achieving social justice. He changed the name to Sojourners in the early 1970s. During his college years at Michigan State, Wallis joined the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), a radical organization that aspired to overthrow America’s institutions. Wallis remains opposed to the free market system in America.

Over the years, Jim Wallis has been pro-Vietcong and actually celebrated America’s defeat in Vietnam, stating:

“I don’t know how else to express the quiet emotion that rushed through me when the news reports showed that the United States had finally been defeated in Vietnam”

In 1979, the journal Mission Tracks pub­lished an interview with Wallis, in which he expressed his hope that “more Christians will come to view the world through Marxist eyes.”

Wal­lis was listed as one of three “Religion and Socialism Commission co-chairs” in a 1982 Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) newsletter. He promotes equally distributed wealth, but this type of socialism has never been able to create the abundance needed to lift the poor out of poverty. Most importantly, his social justice politics cast aside the Great Commission of Christ – to make disciples of all nations – and can be confusing to people.

In 2005, Wallis was hired by Senate Democrats to help turn religious voters into Democrats in part by sprinkling references to God and faith into their speeches to dupe people into thinking they found religion.

The next year, in a 2006 radio broadcast, an interviewer asked: “Are you then calling for the redistribution of wealth in society?” Wallis replied, “Absolutely, without any hesitation. That’s what the gospel is all about.” Whose gospel?

According to 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, the true Gospel is about faith in Jesus Christ for eter­nal salvation:

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, …For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…

Author, editor-in-chief of World Magazine, and Provost of The King’s College, Marvin Olasky has debated Jim Wallis. Olasky writes:

“Biblically, justice – tied to righteousness – is what promotes faith in God, not faith in government… Learn about the biggest institutional hindrance to economic advancement for the poor: the government’s monopoly control of taxpayer funds committed to education and welfare.”

In a 2008 interview with Christianity Today, Wallis promised to “work very hard to make abortion reduction a central Democratic Party plank” for the first time. It’s been seven years since Wallis made that promise and over 1.2 mil­lion babies continue to be aborted every year. He claims “poverty and global inequality” are today’s fundamental moral issues.

The glaring hypocrisy of religious liberal and social activist Jim Wallis has again been exposed, and we should pray for those confused or deceived by this very “different gospel” the Christian Left promotes.

Wallis supporters