Inauguration Nation
Everybody is buzzing about tomorrow's "historic day" for our nation. That is definitely a way to make it sound as positive as possible considering the dark times that our nation is facing. By dark I am not merely referring to the economic woes or war but more to the spiritual state of our country or better yet countrymen. Below is a copy from Dr. Voddie Baucham's blog that I thought I could not improve on in the least. I hope it serves as a wake up call to all those who think that the next leader of our country is a Christian or even to those who thought that Bush was too simply because they are good moral people with great families who go to church and claim "Christianity" as their religion. Enjoy!
Warren Vs. Robinson: Who Should Be Offended?
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Let me say at the outset that I am not at all excited that Dr. Warren has accepted Mr. Obama’s invitation to serve as an evangelical pawn at the upcoming inauguration. And anyone who doubts the aforementioned assessment (that Warren is merely a pawn and Mr. Obama is no friend of evangelicals) need only look at the rest of the festivities in Washington, D.C. this week.
Perhaps the most egregious turn of events is Mr. Obama’s decision to inject Gene Robinson into the mix. Bishop Gene Robinson is not a well-known theologian; he is not a “National hero;” he is not a prominent pastor; he is not even a praiseworthy man. On the contrary, Bishop Robinson is an admitted alcoholic who abandoned his wife for another lover! I mention these things because they are direct violations of the Bible’s teaching regarding the qualifications for pastors (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9).
So what is so special about Bishop Robinson? What would prompt the President-elect to tap him for a ceremonial prayer to inaugurate the administration of “Hope and Change?” Is Bishop Robinson a prayer warrior who will offer up a stirring invocation that will call down heaven? Not exactly. In fact, Robinson is a theological liberal who vows not to pray in Jesus name, or even to pray to the God of the Bible, for that matter. Instead, he will pray to (I’m not making this up) “the god of our understanding!” (look here for the CBN story) In an interview with NPR, Robinson said:
I have actually read back over the inaugural prayers of the last 30 or 40 years and frankly I’ve been shocked at how aggressively Christian they are. And my intention is not to invoke the name of Jesus but to make this a prayer for Christians and non-Christians alike. Although I hold the scripture to be the word of God, those scriptures are holy to me and Jews and Christians, but to many other faith traditions they have their own sacred texts. And so rather than insert that and really exclude them from the prayer by doing so, I want this to be a prayer to the god of our many understandings and a prayer that all people of faith can join me in.
Aggressively Christian? What exactly does that mean? Whatever it means, it is an absolute affront to the gospel. Robinson is the epitome of those who “have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” (Jude 4)
So why Robinson? It is actually quite simple. Bishop Gene Robinson was the first ‘openly’ homosexual man appointed to the office of Bishop by the Episcopal Church. He represents the “real Christians are not bigoted homophobes” school of thought. Robinson also represents an olive branch for the angry, anti-Christian, pro-homosexual marriage crowd that has been howling since the Warren announcement. So what hope is there for those of us who follow Christ? Do we simply throw up our hands and give up? Or do we jump on the Obama bandwagon and hope we can spur him on to love and good deeds?
God has ordained the Church, not the state, to bring true hope and change. Just as those on the right were wrong to view the inauguration of George W. Bush as a prophetic fulfillment, those on the left are wrong to view the inauguration of Barack Obama as the coronation of the political Messiah. The State is not the answer (to paraphrase Ronald Reagan); the gospel is the answer. The more we trust in the State, the less we trust in the Lord. A prayer offered by a mega-church pastor will not change the fact that we are living in a wicked land. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20 ESV) Or in the case of Gene Robinson, Woe to those who would call an alcoholic who left his wife and family in pursuit of sodomy, Bishop. And woe to those who would call upon such a man to invoke the God of Heaven at any event.
Paul’s words at the end of Romans 1 should give us pause: “Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” (Romans 1:32) May the Lord have mercy on us as the leader of our country gives open approval to sodomy (just as Bush did), and as a man who is disqualified to hold office in the Lord’s church represents Christians in an ‘official’ and very public capacity.
VB
Warren Vs. Robinson: Who Should Be Offended?
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Let me say at the outset that I am not at all excited that Dr. Warren has accepted Mr. Obama’s invitation to serve as an evangelical pawn at the upcoming inauguration. And anyone who doubts the aforementioned assessment (that Warren is merely a pawn and Mr. Obama is no friend of evangelicals) need only look at the rest of the festivities in Washington, D.C. this week.
Perhaps the most egregious turn of events is Mr. Obama’s decision to inject Gene Robinson into the mix. Bishop Gene Robinson is not a well-known theologian; he is not a “National hero;” he is not a prominent pastor; he is not even a praiseworthy man. On the contrary, Bishop Robinson is an admitted alcoholic who abandoned his wife for another lover! I mention these things because they are direct violations of the Bible’s teaching regarding the qualifications for pastors (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9).
So what is so special about Bishop Robinson? What would prompt the President-elect to tap him for a ceremonial prayer to inaugurate the administration of “Hope and Change?” Is Bishop Robinson a prayer warrior who will offer up a stirring invocation that will call down heaven? Not exactly. In fact, Robinson is a theological liberal who vows not to pray in Jesus name, or even to pray to the God of the Bible, for that matter. Instead, he will pray to (I’m not making this up) “the god of our understanding!” (look here for the CBN story) In an interview with NPR, Robinson said:
I have actually read back over the inaugural prayers of the last 30 or 40 years and frankly I’ve been shocked at how aggressively Christian they are. And my intention is not to invoke the name of Jesus but to make this a prayer for Christians and non-Christians alike. Although I hold the scripture to be the word of God, those scriptures are holy to me and Jews and Christians, but to many other faith traditions they have their own sacred texts. And so rather than insert that and really exclude them from the prayer by doing so, I want this to be a prayer to the god of our many understandings and a prayer that all people of faith can join me in.
Aggressively Christian? What exactly does that mean? Whatever it means, it is an absolute affront to the gospel. Robinson is the epitome of those who “have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” (Jude 4)
So why Robinson? It is actually quite simple. Bishop Gene Robinson was the first ‘openly’ homosexual man appointed to the office of Bishop by the Episcopal Church. He represents the “real Christians are not bigoted homophobes” school of thought. Robinson also represents an olive branch for the angry, anti-Christian, pro-homosexual marriage crowd that has been howling since the Warren announcement. So what hope is there for those of us who follow Christ? Do we simply throw up our hands and give up? Or do we jump on the Obama bandwagon and hope we can spur him on to love and good deeds?
God has ordained the Church, not the state, to bring true hope and change. Just as those on the right were wrong to view the inauguration of George W. Bush as a prophetic fulfillment, those on the left are wrong to view the inauguration of Barack Obama as the coronation of the political Messiah. The State is not the answer (to paraphrase Ronald Reagan); the gospel is the answer. The more we trust in the State, the less we trust in the Lord. A prayer offered by a mega-church pastor will not change the fact that we are living in a wicked land. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20 ESV) Or in the case of Gene Robinson, Woe to those who would call an alcoholic who left his wife and family in pursuit of sodomy, Bishop. And woe to those who would call upon such a man to invoke the God of Heaven at any event.
Paul’s words at the end of Romans 1 should give us pause: “Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” (Romans 1:32) May the Lord have mercy on us as the leader of our country gives open approval to sodomy (just as Bush did), and as a man who is disqualified to hold office in the Lord’s church represents Christians in an ‘official’ and very public capacity.
VB
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