.
BECK'S RESTORING LOVE PROGRAM
FBIS Extra
JULY 30, 2012
David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service
P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org
BECK’S RESTORING LOVE PROGRAM
July 30, 2012 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article)
The recent four-day Restoring Love event in Dallas, Texas, with its 40,000 participants, is the latest incarnation of Glenn Beck’s save America campaign. He has also called it the Third Reformation, Divine Destiny, Restoring Honor, and Restoring Courage.
Not content with saving America, Beck’s vision has grown to encompass the globe. He said his Restoring Love campaign “is the beginning of a global movement for freedom for all mankind” (“The Beginning of a Global Movement,” TheBlaze, July 26, 2012).
Restoring Love is a campaign to “make America better” and “reclaim our country.” It is “a new birth of freedom.” Beck promises that “we will have a great country again.” Beck wants to show people throughout the world that “they are not alone; the Americans again have arrived, with honor, courage and love” (“The Transcript of Glenn Beck’s Restoring Love Address,” TheBlaze, July 28, 2012).
The campaign involves political action, social action, and cultural action.
The political action element is large and involves such things as the Tea Party movement (Beck is not the founder and leader of the Tea Party, but he is a big promoter of it) and FreePac, “a national grassroots gathering” held on July 26 in conjunction with Restoring Love.
Beck is urging people to join hands together in social action, such as providing meals for the needy, helping in nursing homes, and putting roofs on churches. Beck claimed that over 30,000 volunteers engaged in such things during the four days of Restoring Love. This is to demonstrate that government social programs are unnecessary, and big government is unnecessary, when the people themselves fulfill their obligations to serve their fellow man.
Restoring Love is also a vaguely-defined campaign “to restore the culture” and “take our rightful place back in society” (“Beckstock?” TheBlaze, July 25, 2012). Beck is involved in music, film, television, entertainment, and the web, and recently hired 200 more people for his various enterprises.
Beck also inconsistently claims that “America is good and America is still good” (“The Beginning of a Global Movement,” TheBlaze, July 26, 2012).
Glenn Beck is doubtless a sincere man who cares deeply for his country, which is commendable, but in the bright light of Holy Scripture, we can see that he is unwittingly part of the problem rather than the solution. Sincerity in error is error still. Beck is the blind leading the blind. His movement is spiritual confusion of the highest order, and it will only lead to greater divine judgment on our nation.
Beck’s movement is a spiritual movement, complete with prayer, preachers, and gospel choirs. Beck says, “America is in its most dangerous hour, and there is only one answer.” That solution, he says, is God. He says, “To have honor, you must be true to God.”
But what God is Beck talking about?
From beginning to end, the Bible warns about false gods, and the New Testament warns about false christs and false spirits. Beck’s Mormon god is a false god. So is the god of Catholicism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. The Mary who is exalted by Rome as the Queen of Heaven and makes appearances and pronouncements about salvation is a demon as clearly identified in Scripture (Jeremiah 7:18).
The eternal God has revealed Himself in the Bible and in the Jesus Christ of the Bible. If this is the true God, then all other gods are false. And the God of the Bible forbids His people to yoke together in spiritual activities with unbelievers and idolators and heretics
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel”? (2 Corinthians 6:14-15).
“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Romans 16:17).
“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:5).
“Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed” (2 John 9-10).
This is not rocket science. Politics are important; politics affect our lives. God’s people should vote and do what they can to affect politics within the bounds of Scripture, but we cannot disobey the Bible and expect God’s blessing.
A Bible-believing Christian can do much to bring God’s blessing on the nation. He can live a godly, separated life in Christ and and seek God’s perfect will and be faithful to a good church and proclaim the gospel and pray for his political leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-2). God’s people do not have to be a majority to have a vast influence if they are in the place of God’s blessing. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
But when God’s people disobey God’s Word for the sake of any pragmatic objective whatsoever--including the right-sounding objectives of restoring love or recovering America--and when they follow a spiritually-deluded pied piper rather than the clear teaching of the Bible, they can expect judgment and confusion rather than blessing.
Some good will come from Restoring Love, just as some good has come from the “conservative” talk radio movement and the Tea Party movement. Some good has come from Catholicism and Mormonism. But the error and spiritual danger far outweigh the good.
BECK’S CAMPAIGN IS IGNORANT OF THE FUNDAMENTAL CAUSE OF AMERICA’S MORAL APOSTASY
Beck’s campaigns are following in a long line of similar campaigns, such as the Moral Majority and D. James Kennedy’s Center for Reclaiming America. The massive amount of activity stirred up by these campaigns hasn’t changed the moral climate of America for the better or even slowed the frightful descent into the depths of depravity. Homosexuality has become mainstream, and those who stand for “traditional” marriage are treated like the very enemies of mankind. The vile pop culture with its open rebellion against God’s holy laws and its “do what you want to do” philosophy is more omnipresent and filthy than ever.
These things are but symptoms of a more foundational issue, which is the apostasy and compromise of the churches.
America is under God’s judgment because it has no fear of God, and it has no fear of God because the fear of God is preached from so very few pulpits. What was true in Israel of old is true in America today: “from the prophets ... is profaneness gone forth into all the land” (Jeremiah 23:15). The problem lies in the pulpits and in the individual lives and homes of professing Christians. The problem lies in the vile theological liberalism that has spread through many Baptist and Protestant churches and that makes Christ a liar when He said that “the scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35) and the apostle Paul a liar when he said that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16).
The problem lies at the feet of “evangelical” leaders, the Billy Grahams and the Robert Schullers and the Max Lucados and the Greg Lauries and the countless preachers of lesser fame who follow in their footsteps instead of proclaiming and obeying the whole counsel of God’s Word, even the unpopular things such as separation, without compromise and fear. The problem lies in the “conservative” evangelical denominations such as Southern Baptist, which are eaten up with worldliness and spiritual compromise and which are lukewarm at very best. The problem lies even at the feet of “fundamentalist Bible-believing” preachers who are more afraid of what their people think than what God thinks, who are allowing the pop culture to take over the lives of their people, who are allowing the world to enter the very worship services of the church, who are following some big-name spiritual hero more than God’s Word, and who draw back from issuing plain warnings.
The “conservative” political movement does not and cannot address any of this, since the vast majority within the conservative coalitions have little or no problem with the sin and spiritual rebellion represented by the pop culture and they lack true spiritual discernment and so many of them are members of the very churches that are the root of the problems the “conservatives” are trying to solve.
Consider Rush Limbaugh, the most prominent “conservative” voice in America today. He is a clever opponent of “liberal, big-government politics,” but spiritually he is part of the nation’s problem rather than its solution, with his unqualified love for rock & roll (he hired the homosexual rocker Elton John to perform for his 2010 wedding), his foul mouth, his use of the name of the Lord in vain, his blasphemy (e.g., calling himself “the all seeing, all knowing, all feeling MahaRushy”), his infuriation toward Bible-believing Christians who have tried to reprove him, his philosophy that homosexuality is not a moral issue since (allegedly) homosexuality is not a choice and that we should not care what people do behind closed doors, his liberal Christian faith (e.g., not believing in God as the Almighty Judge and rejecting the doctrine of hell), his humanism (his “35 Undeniable Truths of Life” are based on humanistic thinking rather than God’s Word), and his four marriages which have made a mockery of the holy marriage covenant.
Consider FOX News, which is more conservative and patriotic than major news outlets, but FOX News is no friend of the truth, and its objective is chiefly to entertain and gather mammon. FOX News is owned by Rupert Murdock, one of the biggest purveyors of filth entertainment on earth. FOX is not a friend of Jesus Christ or the Bible, and that is the proper definition of the truth (John 14:6; 17:17). If you watch FOX much you will hear every sort of sorry humanistic philosophy. With very few exceptions, they push the same moral relativism that CNN and MSNBC push. Do they plainly and consistently oppose the homosexual agenda on biblical moral grounds? Do they expose the godless lies of Darwinism? Those are two of the greatest enemies that Bible believers face today, but FOX is essentially mute in the face of the vicious onslaught against God and truth. If you watch FOX News you will also be bombarded with the filthy pop culture. On that line they worship Hollywood and Nashville as fervently as the Los Angeles Times.
One of my readers recently wrote, “It was only on deputation when we had more access to TV’s and found when we turned them on, hours would easily be wasted, even just watching FOX News. Not to mention having to continually turn the commercials off. It got so annoying you either wanted to just leave it alone and not turn it off or miss something if you did turn it off. Unfortunately, leaving it on would win, and being aware of this we solidified in our minds we would not have a TV in our home, or cable for that matter. Both the programming and the commercials are written by non-Christians who are trying to influence others with their pagan humanistic philosophies and lifestyles. Cheating, illicit sexual acts, drugs, homosexuality, teens in adult situations, Darwinism, cussing, and all kinds of things Christians shouldn’t be setting before their eyes. Numerous times, even on ‘conservative’ FOX News, they had a story on prostitutes and actually showed a video of pole dancers.” That reader has it right. FOX News might be “conservative” by some standard and definition, but it is no friend of God and truth.
Consider Ronald Reagan, the renowned conservative president. Reagan talked about the blessing of small government but he didn’t dismantle any significant part of big government. It was Reagan who launched U.S.-Vatican relations to a new high, which was an abomination in the eyes the Founder of the true church. Under Reagan’s administration formal diplomatic relationships were established between the U.S. and the Vatican. In 1986 Reagan sent a telegram to the Pope commending his syncretistic prayer meeting in Assisi that brought together leaders of Christian denominations and pagan religions to pray for world peace. Reagan exhibited his spiritual blindness by thanking the Pope for his efforts to “lead humanity toward a more tolerant, just and peaceful world” and assured the Mariolator-in-Chief, John Paul II, of his prayers (Christian News, Dec. 22, 1986). (John Paul II was devoted to Mary and had “wholly your’s Mary” embroidered on his robe in Latin.) In November 1987, in an unprecedented act, Reagan flew to Miami just to meet the Pope when he landed on American soil. The President was kept waiting for three hours for an opportunity to have a private audience with the “pontiff.” He said to John Paul II, “As you exhort us, we will listen” (USA Today, Sept. 11-12, 1987).
Consider the religious faith of the prominent “conservative” leaders in America. Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Hugh Hewitt, Carson Daly, Stephen Colbert, Morton Downey Jr., Dennis Miller, and Tim Russert are Roman Catholics. John Ziegler is a “recovering Roman Catholic” who labels himself an agnostic. Ann Coulter speaks at homosexual-rights conferences and lashes out angrily at those who have the audacity to reprove her for this. Michael Medved, Mark Levin, Dennis Prager, Michael Savage, and Laura Schlesinger are Jews who have rejected Jesus as the Christ. Glenn Beck is a New Age Mormon who believes man can be the divine “I Am” and says homosexual marriage is not a problem for America. (When asked by Bill O’Reilly whether “gay marriage is a threat to the country in any way?” Beck replied, “No, I don’t” (The O’Reilly Factor, Aug. 11, 2010).
It is obvious that “conservative” politics and “conservative” political values do not equate spiritual wisdom and do not address the root problems of the nation.
BECK’S RESTORING LOVE IS FOUNDED ON A FALSE GOD AND A FALSE CHRIST
As we have seen, Beck’s Restoring Love campaign is not merely political; it is spiritual. Beck talks much about God and Jesus. He told the crowd at High Point Church in Arlington, Texas, “... because of the saving power of Jesus Christ anything can be done,” and,” The Lord is coming and he is our father in Heaven” (“Any Population That Follows God Wins,” TheBlaze, July 27, 2012).
But Beck’s “Jesus” is the spirit brother of Lucifer. Beck’s “father in Heaven” is an exalted man. He uses biblical terms, but he defines these with a Mormon dictionary.
Raised Roman Catholic, Beck converted to Mormonism in 1999 after “church shopping” with his second wife.
Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church in La Mesa, California, says that he has interviewed persons who have talked with Beck about his salvation and they have affirmed that “Glenn is saved; he understands receiving Christ as Savior.” But the question is not whether Beck believes in “Jesus” or the “gospel” or the “atonement”; the question is whether he believes in these things biblically as opposed to what Mormonism teaches. And if Beck does believe in the biblical gospel--that Jesus is the eternal Son of God and that salvation is solely by grace without works through faith in Christ’s blood--why does Beck identify himself as a Mormon? Why does he not rather warn of Mormonism’s false gospel of works and its false christ and its false god? We are not talking about minor theological issues here. If you get the gospel and Christ and God wrong, you will spend eternity in hell. Heresies pertaining to these matters are “damnable heresies” (2 Peter 2:1-2), meaning that if you hold such heresies you are condemned to eternal hell.
Former Mormon Ed Decker describes the god that Beck worships:
“Glenn Beck is a dedicated Temple Mormon. According to LDS scripture and sacred instructions worthy Mormons receive in the temple, the god Beck serves is a physical, exalted man who lives with a harem of goddess wives on a planet near the great star Kolob. This god, Elohim, is the god of this one planet earth only. He is a man/god raised up from within this universe. The God of the Bible is the One who created the universes. The Bible says that he is not a man, there were no gods before Him, none beside Him or after Him, and He knows not any. This True God created all the heavens and was before all creation. He did not have to earn his godhood being obedient to some other god up the chain of command.
Beyond that, as crazy as this may sound, understand that Glenn Beck learned all the secret/sacred signs, tokens and special handshakes he will need as he, hopefully, enters his own godhood, receives his own planet and goddess wives to help him populate it. Yes, Glenn Beck strives to become a god, himself. The Jesus Beck serves, is not God come in the flesh. He is a separate 'god' who was elected to be our savior by a council of other gods. The Jesus of Mormonism is the spirit brother and equal of Lucifer until the council voted in Jesus. This Jesus died on the cross so all mankind would be resurrected to be judged for their works, their obedience to the laws and ordinances of the [LDS] Gospel” (“Ed Decker Responds,” WorldviewWeekend.com, August 21, 2010; Decker, founder of Saints Alive, was a Mormon for 20 years of his adult life; he was a member of the Melchizedek priesthood, a Temple Mormon and active in many church positions, until he met the real Jesus and was saved biblically).
Beck is not only a Mormon, he also holds New Age beliefs. The following is excerpted from Brannon Howse, “Glenn Beck: Another View of His Crusade,” Resistnet(dot)com (site no longer exists), August 31, 2010:
“I believe that Beck does not only embrace the pagan spirituality of Mormonism but also Cosmic Humanism. Cosmic Humanism is known by most as the New Age Movement. Cosmic Humanism says that man is god. Mormonism says that man can become god. See the similarities? Before you react, listen to what Glenn Beck said on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace on the Fox News Channel. Glenn Beck said that his [Divine Destiny] rally was not political and the reason for his rally was because ‘there's nothing that we can do that will solve the problems that we have and keep the peace unless we solve it through God, unless we solve it in being our highest self. Be your higher-self.’
Beck used the phrase ‘higher self’ three times in the interview with Chris Wallace. No one talks that way unless they know exactly what they are saying. One New Age website says: ‘There are many great words to describe Who or What your highest identity or Self truly is. Below are just a few: Higher Self, I am Presence, I Am That I Am…Cosmic Consciousness, God, Christ, Holy Spirit And the list goes on…’ Notice that ‘I AM that I AM’ is another word for ‘higher self.’ Last week on his radio program Beck said, ‘I Am That I Am is the most powerful phrase in any language as it is the name of god, never use it in vain; use it to create who you want to be. I AM _____________ (you fill in the blank).’
“But I AM is a title that is to be reserved for God Himself. In Exodus 3:13 God told Moses that when the people of Israel ask for My name tell them, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ ... ‘I AM’ is to be reserved as a title for God yet it is being blasphemed in the pagan practice of what is called ‘the law of attraction.’ In the book The Secret, that was promoted by none other than Oprah Winfrey, Rhonda Byrne wrote: ‘The law of attraction is the law of creation. ... You create your life through your thoughts’ (p. 15). ... The fact that people like Beck on the right and Oprah on the left are proclaiming the ‘I AM’ message is a sign that we are living in the last days according to Jesus Himself in Luke 21:7-8” (Brannon Howse, “Glenn Beck: Another View of His Crusade,” Resistnet(dot)com (site no longer exists), August 31, 2010).
That “evangelicals” are jumping on Beck’s bandwagon is not surprising, since evangelicalism today is filled with false gods and false christs and foreign spirits. We have documented this extensively in The Treacherous Waters of the Southern Baptist Convention and Evangelicalism, which is available as a free eBook at the Way of Life web site -- www.wayoflife.org.
Consider just one frightful fact from this book. The false god/goddess presented in The Shack has resonated far and wide within evangelicalism.
Though fictional, the book’s objective is the redefinition of God. It is about a man who becomes bitter at God after his daughter is murdered and has a life-changing experience in the very shack where the murder occurred; but the God he encounters is most definitely not the God of the Bible. Young depicts God the Father as a woman who loves rock & roll, as well as a man with gray hair and a pony tail. Young’s male/female god/goddess is cool, loves rock & roll, is non-judgmental, does not exercise wrath toward sin, does not send unbelievers to an eternal fiery hell, does not require repentance and the new birth, and puts no obligations on people.
Instead of rejecting The Shack and its false god, large numbers of “evangelicals” have embraced it. Its author, William Paul Young, was promoted at the National Pastors Conference in San Diego in 2009, which I attended with media credentials. It was sponsored by Zondervan and InterVarsity Fellowship, and Young was interviewed in a general session by Andy Crouch of Christianity Today. There was not a hint of concern about his unscriptural theology or goddess worship.
Many Southern Baptists love The Shack. I received the following frightful testimony from a pastor who came out of the Convention in 1996:
“Concerning the question about ‘The Shack,’ I have been shocked at the willingness of many of my former SBC friends and acquaintances to receive it as a ‘great’ book. As you know, and have taught, the book presents a picture of ‘God’ that is not biblical. The ready acceptance of this book by the vast majority of those I know, is indicative of a serious lack of discernment. It seems that spiritual discernment is a rapidly dissipating quality today. I have questioned several folk on their acceptance of ‘The Shack’ and its false teaching. Their response has been, ‘But it teaches a good truth about how God loves us.’ This is characteristic of the modern church-growth movement that focuses solely on the ‘love of God,’ and relegates His holiness, righteousness and judgments to the ‘unimportant’” (Marty Wynn, Lighthouse Baptist Church, Columbus, Georgia, e-mail to D. Cloud, May 21, 2011).
That The Shack is very popular in Southern Baptist churches in particular and in evangelical churches in general is clear evidence that the worship of false gods and false christs is rampant. And it is not surprising that those who worship The Shack god/goddess are accepting Beck’s Mormon/New Age god.
BECK’S RESTORING LOVE PROMOTES AN ILLEGITIMATE UNITY
Beck has been calling for an ecumenical social-political unity ever since his Divine Destiny event in August 2010 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Beck has said that he is on a spiritual rather than a political crusade. He calls it a Third Awakening, a “Divine” Destiny, a “God moment.” He is urging his listeners to go to “God’s boot camp.”
The Divine Destiny event was aimed to help “heal the soul” of America by overlooking religious differences to achieve a unity of “shared values and principles.” The event intended to “unite” “pastors, ministers and clergy” of “all faiths.” Beck said he had reached out to “the biggest names in faith” to “ask them to help me put differences aside and to reach out to one another.”
His August 2010 rally featured 240 religious leaders who united behind Beck’s vision. These included James Dobson, John Hagee, Jerry Falwell, Jr., Southern Baptist Richard Land, historian David Barton of Wallbuilders, Dave Roever, Miles McPherson of The Rock Church in San Diego, Jewish rabbi Daniel Lapin, Catholic priest Patrick Lee of Franciscan University, female Word-Faith preacher Gloria Copeland, Muslim imams, and others.
Since then the Beck-inspired ecumenical unity has broadened. In conjunction with his 2012 Restoring Love campaign, “evangelicals” held an ecumenical event of their own. Called “Under God: Indivisible,” this event was held at High Point Church in Arlington, Texas. The objective was to “find common ground for common concerns.” Beck spoke and was given a standing ovation by the 6,000 in attendance. He told them, “Any population that follows God wins!” (“Any Population That Follows God,” TheBlaze, July 27, 2012). But what God?
Other speakers included Kenneth and Gloria Copeland (Word-Faith, prosperity gospel Pentecostals), Betty Robinson (wife of James Robinson), Richard Land (Southern Baptist), Ravi Zacharias, John Hagee, David Jeremiah, Tony Evans, Franklin Graham, David Barton, Ken Hutcherson, Jonathan Morris and Frank Pavone (Catholic priests), and Aryeh Spero (Jewish rabbi).
Music was provided by contemporary Christian musicians Phillips, Craig and Dean. Roman Catholic CCM artist Matt Maher performed “Hold Us Together,” the ecumenical theme song of Beck’s event.
The next day a women’s conference called “Open Your Heart: Faith, Character, Purpose” was held at High Point in conjunction with Restoring Love. Beck’s wife, Tania, spoke, together with Diana Hagee, Michelle Bachmann, and Betsy Morgan (president of Beck’s web publication TheBlaze).
Beck is urging professing Christians to unite with people “of faith” of any and all religious persuasions. This is a direct affront to God’s Word, which forbids true Christians to unite with unbelievers and heretics (e.g., Romans 16:17; 2 Corinthians 6:14-15; 2 Timothy 3:5; 2 John 9-10). These Scriptures could not be plainer. Born again Christians are to separate from apostates and heretics, and Glenn Beck is definitely a theological heretic. God’s people are forbidden to join hands with unbelievers for spiritual activities, and Beck’s Restoring Love campaign is definitely billed as a spiritual activity. How can we possibly “heal our souls” by disobeying God’s Word?
Pastor Ralph Ovadal of Pilgrim’s Covenant Church in Monroe, Wisconsin, rightly observed:
“[M]any evangelical leaders, even pastors, remain stubbornly intent on yoking with the death, darkness, and satanic bondage of Rome in the vain hope of bringing life, light, and liberty to America. There is no doubt that America as a nation is sliding ever deeper into the murky, dangerous depths of immorality and godlessness. But it is just as obvious and more dangerous that much of the conservative, ‘evangelical’ church in this nation is plunging ever deeper into the depths of idolatry, spiritual corruption and utter lawlessness. [M]ost evangelicals ‘will not endure sound doctrine’ and refuse to return to ‘the old paths, where is the good way.’ They continue to follow celebrity personalities who refuse to see the handwriting on the wall and instead plunge drunkenly ahead on their mad course, leading millions along with them. Frankly, as I see it, men like Ravi Zacharias, Tony Evans, and David Jeremiah should be ashamed of themselves” (“Evangelicals Hosting Ecumenical Conference in Conjunction with Glenn Beck Event,” Christian News, July 27, 2012).
This does not add up to a godly, biblical unity.
Even supposed “conservative” Baptists are jumping on Beck’s bandwagon. In April 2010, Beck was one of the commencement speakers at Liberty University, founded by the late Jerry Falwell, who was affiliated with the “fundamentalist” Baptist Bible Fellowship International. Jerry Falwell, Jr., praised Beck as “one of the few courageous voices in the national media standing up for the principles upon which this nation was founded.” The other speaker was Paige Patterson, “conservative” president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Southwestern Baptist Seminary.
Illicit associations is one of the major ways that Bible-believing churches are being weakened and corrupted. “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Cor. 15:33).
BECK’S RESTORING LOVE IS FOUNDED ON A FALSE UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIMES
Beck is big on conspiracies, and while there are doubtless many human conspiracies at work in the world today, the conspiracies that ultimately matter are supernatural and operate beyond the realm of human discovery and can only be known through the Biblical revelation.
There is a divine “conspiracy” whereby God is working out His sovereign plan to put His eternal Son, Jesus Christ, on the throne of this world. This plan cannot be thwarted and it will culminate in the return of Christ to establish His kingdom.
There is also a satanic conspiracy, which is the devil’s plan to put the antichrist on the throne of the world. This will be accomplished when God allows it, but it will only last for a few years and will be crushed at Christ’s Second Coming. The satanic conspiracy is called the “mystery of iniquity” in 2 Thessalonians 2.
These are the conspiracies that one must understand if he is to comprehend current events in the right light, but, sadly, Glenn Beck doesn’t have a clue on this count.
CONCLUSION
I would conclude by challenging my fellow Bible-believing Christians as follows:
First, what are the objectives of the Tea Party or of Beck’s Restoring Love, the latest incarnations of the “conservative” renaissance, and do these objectives address the nation’s root moral and spiritual problems? If every Tea Party candidate were elected, would it change the moral downslide of the nation? Would it result in taking America back to the 18th century by such things as the complete dismantling of the welfare state and the statist public school system and by dismantling every single government program that is not authorized by the U.S. Constitution and by re-criminalizing such things as abortion, homosexuality, pornography, and blasphemy and by making divorce difficult rather than “no fault”? Without major, ground-breaking changes such as these, there is no hope for changing America in a significant way, but I haven’t even heard such things proposed by most prominent conservative leaders, and even if they were proposed, there is no way to accomplish such things politically, seeing that a large majority of the people in the country are addicted to the very things that are causing the nation’s destruction.
Second, how many of the Tea Party leaders and the “conservative” talk show personalities represent true Biblical morality? Politics is dirty business, and effective politics is all about compromise. As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “I think it’s important to have a national party that can win in every part of America. And, if you do that, you’ll have a big group instead of a small group. If we had a group of 30 or so who all agree on everything, we’d be entirely cohesive and totally irrelevant” (“McConnell Embraces Big Tent GOP,” CQ Politics, Sept. 17, 2010). McConnell is right about politics, but that thinking is not Biblical and a Bible-believing Christian is not allowed to disregard Scripture for the sake of a pragmatic political philosophy.
Third, what are you doing in your personal and church life to demonstrate true repentance and godly obedience to God’s laws? This should be our focus, because this is the only hope for America or any other land.
The best thing God’s people can do is to put Christ first (Matthew 6:33), live a pure, consecrated, separated life (Titus 2:11-14), seek God’s perfect will (Romans 12:1-2), be a faithful member of a sound Bible-believing church (Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:25), seek to further the Lord’s Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), pray fervently every day for the nation (1 Timothy 2:1-5), and be ready for Christ’s return (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).
“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Distributed by Way of Life Literature Inc.’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Established in 1974, Way of Life Literature is a fundamental Baptist preaching and publishing ministry based in Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. Brother Cloud lives in South Asia where he has been a church planting missionary since 1979. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 29th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://www.wayoflife.org/publications/index.html. Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but only from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/wayoflife/makeanoffering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org
WAY OF LIFE LITERATURE SHARING POLICY: Way of Life’s content falls into two categories: sharable and non-sharable. Much of our material is available for free, such as the hundreds of articles at the Way of Life web site. These are sharable. Other items we sell to help fund our very expensive literature, video, and foreign church planting ministry. These are not sharable. Things that we encourage you to share include the audio sermons, video presentations, O Timothy magazine, and the hundreds of Fundamental Baptist Information Service (FBIS) articles. You are free to make copies of these at your own expense and share them with friends and family. You are also welcome to use excerpts from the articles. All we ask is that you give proper credit. Things we do not want copied and redistributed are items like the Fundamental Baptist Digital Library, the print and eBook editions of our books, etc. These items have taken years to produce at enormous expense in time and money, and we need the income from the sale of these to help fund the ministry. We trust that your Christian honesty will preserve the integrity of this policy. |
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