Carlton Pearson, Dave Hunt & Truth Bombs on Fire

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people [saints].  For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. (Jude 3,4)

 

 

Carlton D'metrius Pearson (b. 1953) was mentored by Oral Roberts (d. 2009) and sang with the World Action Singers.  Oral called Pearson "his Black son." 

You may have seen Pearson on TBN.   Pearson's transformation into a hell denier is recounted in the Netflix film Come Sunday (2018).  I've been to ORU and seen the praying hands.  I went to HS in Tulsa for two months (East Central).  My Mom took a course at ORU years ago. 

 

The cast of Come Sunday includes:

Martin Sheen (Apocalypse Now) - Oral Roberts

Condola Rashad - Gina Pearson (Carlton's wife)

Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) - Carlton Pearson

Nic Starr - Terry Allen

Danny Glover (Life by the Numbers) - Quincy

 

 

YouTuber Prescribed Truth, a former Pentacostal who now adopts the 5 Solas (see below), has an superb review of Come Sunday.  Verdell Wright, writing for Medium, details the time when Pearson decided to switch rather than fight (cf. 1 Tim. 6:12, 2 Tim. 4:7): "In the early 2000s, Pearson said that he doubted the existence of hell and the idea that God would reject some people from entering heaven.  According to Pearson, this change in beliefs came after a series of personal experiences and revelations he attributes to God." 

 

The candy coated gospel of TBN is not orthodox.  Hank Hanegraaff, the Bible Answer Man, wrote this summary of TBN teaching in Christianity in Crisis:

 

God had pulled off the coup of the ages.  Not only had He tricked Satan out of his lordship, using Jesus as the bait, but He had also caught Satan on a technicality through which Jesus could be born again.  But that's not all!  You see, because Jesus was re-created from a satanic being to an incarnation of God, you, roo, can become an incarnation - as much an incarnation as Jesus Christ of Nazareth!  And, as an incarnation of God, you can have unlimited health and unlimited wealth - a palace like the Taj Mahal with a Rolls Royce in your driveway.  And if I could shock you (and maybe I should), you, my friend, are a little messiah running around on earth!  All it takes now is to recognize your own divinity.  You, too, can harness the force of Faith.  Never again will you have to pray, "Thy will be done."  Rather, your word is God's command.  By simply using your tongue, you can literally speak whatsoever you desire into existence; and then you can live happily ever after on this planet of prosperity.[1]

 

Consider this truth from Proverbs: "Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life" (Pr. 22:4).  Is the Lord promising me that next week a 

2022 Genesis G90 will show up in my driveway?  I think not.  Although we appreciate the great research and documentation of Christianity in Crisis (especially the audio edition with its direct quotes from the prosperity teachers), we do not endorse the Eastern Orthodoxy which Hanegraaff is now a part of.

 

Dave Hunt & T.A. McMahon said in their blockbuster The Seduction of Christianity:

 

Most Christians are now in agreement that something was terribly wrong with Jim Jones [d. 1978]; yet until the mass suicide in Jonestown almost no one recognized that fact.  Even those who had suspicions were unwilling to probe deeply enough to be certain.  We now know that this attitude was an unfortunate mistake.  It took the deaths of nearly a thousand well-meaning people to awaken consciences to the dangers of cults and cult leaders.  There is now general agreement that "cultism" is dangerous, though definitions still differ. ...

[spiritual seduction within the Church] has already begun, and the reason is fairly obvious: Christians are quite comfortable in discussing cults existing outside the traditional church, such as the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, or Hare Krishnas.  The New Age movement, however, involves things that are firmly entrenched within the church, such as psychotherapy, visualization, meditation, biofeedback, Positive Confession, Positive or Possibility Thinking, hypnosis, Holistic medicine, and a whole spectrum of self-improvement and success/motivation techniques.[2]

 

Is the Bible clear about the doctrine of hell?  I think so ...

Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. ... In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion.  They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 5,7)

 

 

Do I have anything good to say about TBN (cf. Rev. 2:2,3,13,19 etc.)?  The Heidelberg Catechism was once a TBN "love gift" (I have one).  R.C. Sproul was once on "Praise the Lord" to plug his book, Reason to Believe (1982).  If you want to see Carlton Pearson dancing at church go here (1990).  Finally, I religiously watched Real Videos (Randy Stonehill, Michael Sweet, early Christian rap - "here we go now" ♫) every weekend.  This Christian alternative to MTV (Empty Vee ☺) was hosted by Matt Crouch.

How to avoid the Quul-Ade the next time you visit a new church:

1) Ask one of the parishioners, "If you were to die tonight, are you sure that you're going to Heaven and if so, why?"

2) Ask them "Are you Born Again?" as explained in the Gospel of John 3:1-21.

3) Does the church hold to the 5 Solas (see below)?

5) How does this body of believers treat the traditional creeds (see below)?

4) How does this fellowship interpret the early chapters of Genesis (see below)?

Missional Wear has a great cap with the logo above.  The Five Solas of the Reformation are Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), Solus Christus (Christ alone), Sola Fide (faith alone), Sola Gratia (grace alone), and Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone).

 

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.  Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear ... (Jude 20-23)

 

Here are the key doctrinal statements: Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed,  Athanasian Creed and the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon.

 

Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.  So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.  “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.  I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. (Acts 20:30-33)

 

Did you catch the TBN Creation Debate featuring Hugh Ross, Ken Ham, Sean McDowell, Eric Hovind and Ray Comfort?  It was hosted by Matt Crouch and is well worth your time to watch.  Jude, who wrote the book next to Revelation, was Jesus' half-brother.  Jude's theme is warning against false brethren.  What was Jude's take on the early chapters of Genesis?

 

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jude 14,15)

 

Some who hold to an old earth would say that there are gaps in the chronologies found in Genesis chapters five and eleven.  Jude says that from Adam to Enoch you have seven generations, not 57 (sorry Heinz).  Speaking of Father Adam, did he believe in hell?   

 

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. (Heb. 6:1,2)

 

Heresy Begets Heresy.  The struggle of the Slippery Slope is real.  Here we have it straight from Pearson's own website:

 

We believe that experience is not only what happens to you, but what you do with what happens to you. Faith is an action and fear is a reaction. ... Questions are answers in seed form. It takes talent to answer them, but genius to ask them. We don't seek to be a place where every question is answered, but a community of faith where you can feel safe asking them. We endeavor to not only answer questions, but question answers and continue our personal and collective ongoing evolution. We take the Bible seriously, just not always literally. We think it is more important what Jesus said about God than what the church tends to say about Jesus. We seek to help teach and remind people of their personal and powerful and often forgotten Divinity…Jesus said, “Ye are gods.”  This Reality (God) manifests itself in and through all creation, but is not totally defined by or confined to it (to that creation).​  The manifest universe is the bodily expression of this Reality referred to by some as God, not so much as a Person, but as a Principle.

 

 

After you've trekked through Come Sunday, my recommendation for your next "flick nite" is The Love Bug (starring Dean Jones).

 

Notes:

1) Christianity In Crisis: The 21st Century by Hank Hanegraaff (Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN, 2009), p. 6.

https://www.amazon.com/Christianity-Crisis-Century-Hank-Hanegraaff/dp/0849964598

2) The Seduction of Christianity: Spiritual Discernment in the Last Days by Dave Hunt and T.A. McMahon (Harvest House Pub., Eugene, OR, 1985), pp. 7,8.

 

**Note: kudos to Cultish for the graphics at the top.

#CarltonPearson #DaveHunt #TruthBomb #Fire #ComeSunday #Hanegraaff #Crisis #Heresy #Jude #Cultish #JimJones #OralRoberts #ORU #TBN #DeanJones #hell #KenHam #FiveSolas #Creation #Genesis #MattCrouch #RealVideos #NewAge #LoveBug #Ejiofor #MartinSheen #Tulsa #EricHovind

 

 

 

The Wedding That Never Was

A Riddle ...

My father served in WWII.  My wife is ten years younger than I.  When my parents wed, they were seventeen years apart.  How old am I? (I hope you're laughing).  From Seattle Bride we learn this profound wisdom:

 

The Goldilocks Theory - “The ideal age to get married, with the least likelihood of divorce in the first five years, is 28 to 32,” says Carrie Krawiec, a marriage and family therapist at Birmingham Maple Clinic in Troy, Michigan. “Called the ‘Goldilocks theory,’ the idea is that people at this age are not too old and not too young.”  Krawiec explains that people should be “old enough” to understand the difference between true compatibility and puppy love, yet “young enough” that they’re not set in their ways and unwilling to make adjustments to habits and lifestyle.

 

Where do we get our moral notions regarding nuptial bliss?  According to Nancy Pearcey (Love Thy Body):

 

lf nature is teleological, and the human body is part of nature, then it is likewise  teleological.  It has a built-in purpose, part of which is expressed as the moral law.  We are morally obligated to treat people in a way that helps them fulfill their purpose.  This explains why biblical morality is not arbitrary.  Morality is the guidebook to fulfilling God's original purpose for humanity, the instruction manual for becoming the kind of person God intends us to be, the road map for reaching the human telos.  This is sometimes called natural law ethics because it tells us how to fulfill our true nature, how to become fully human. [1]

 

It is not the purpose or function for babies to have babies.  Babies don't raise other babies and teach them the four R's - Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmetic (Maths) & Religion.  Omniculturalism, which values the true, good and beautiful from all cultures from all time, teaches us that weddings and marriage are proper.  Freddy should not marry a one-year-old. 

 

Do you recall the version of the Golden Rule as stated by Confucius (d. 479 BC)?   "Do not impose on others what you do not wish for yourself."  When I was around twelve years old and living in Northern Virginia, we had a group riding bikes throughout the neighborhood.  One of the younger kids was tragically abducted.  He was later reunited with his parents.  I thank God that I was not the one taken. 

 

You may have heard of the foolishness from Dr. Stephen Kershnar (SUNY -  Fredonia) regarding extreme conjugal relations.  If Kershnar's view becomes widespread, will trafficking and child abduction skyrocket?  Kershnar is the author of Total Collapse: The Case Against Morality and Responsibility.

 

Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father.   Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. (1 Tim. 5:1,2)

 

 

Note:

1) Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality by Nancy  Pearcey (Baker, Grand Rapids, MI, 2018), p. 23.

 

p.s.:  you may contact Dr. Kershnar here:

Dr. Stephen Kershnar

SUNY - Fredonia, Fenton Hall 2110

280 Central Ave

Fredonia  NY  14063

OR

Stephen.Kershnar@fredonia.edu

 

#Omniculturalism #Marriage #Weddings #Children #Kids #Babies #Infants #Teens #Youth #Kershnar #SUNY_Fredonia #Ethics #Morality #CommonSense

#Sister #Foolish

Common Dogs & Henry the 23rd (WASP LEG)

So, so, thou common dog, didst thou disgorge

Thy glutton bosom of the royal Richard;

And now thou wouldst eat thy dead vomit up,

And howl'st to find it.

Henry IV (Part 2), 1.3.101-4, Archbishop of York

 

There have been eight kings of England named Henry.  King Henry I of England (d. 1135) was the son of William the Conqueror.  Twenty three Henry's?  That would be too many, right?  Well, what about eating too much food (I must admit that I'm preaching to the choir here).

When I say "WASP LEG" what pops in your mind?  The seven deadly sins according to Christian tradition are Wrath (rage), Avarice (covetousness), Sloth (lazy), Pride, Lust, Envy and Gluttony.  Chris Donato has provided some tasty thoughts on intemperance.  Consider these versus from Proverbs:

 

When you sit down to dine with a ruler,

Consider carefully what is before you,

And put a knife to your throat

If you are a man of great appetite.

Do not desire his delicacies,

For it is deceptive food. (Pr. 23:1-3)

 

Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine,

Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;

For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,

And drowsiness will clothe one with rags. (Pr. 23:20,21)

 

Have you found honey? Eat only what you need,

That you not have it in excess and vomit it. ...

It is not good to eat much honey,

Nor is it glory to search out one’s own glory.

Like a city that is broken into and without walls

Is a man who has no control over his spirit. (Pr. 25:16,27,28)

Puritan Richard Baxter (d. 1691) wrote A Christian Directory which contains over one million words. His pastoral guide, The Reformed Pastor, is still widely read.  Baxter had this say to those who over-gourmandize (from the Christian Directory):

 

Another time-wasting sin is needless and tedious feastings, gluttony, and tippling [excessive drinking]: which being of the same litter, I set together.  I speak not against moderate, seasonable, and charitable feasts: but alas, in this luxurious, sensual age, how commonly do men sit two hours at a feast, and spend two more in attending it before and after, and not improving the time in any pious or profitable discourse... You spend not so much time in the daily addresses of your souls to God, and reading his word, and taking an account of the affairs of conscience, and preparing for death, as you do in stuffing your guts, perhaps at one meal. And in taverns and alehouses among the pots, how much time is wasted by rich and poor! O remember, while you are eating and drinking, what a corruptible piece of flesh you are feeding and serving; and how quickly those mouths will be filled with dust! and that a soul that is posting so fast unto eternity, should find no time to spare for vanity; and that you have important work enough to do, which if performed, will afford you a sweeter and a longer feast. [1]

 

Note:

1) The Practical Works of Richard Baxter, Vol. 1 (Soli Deo Gloria Pub., Morgan, PA, 2000), p. 244.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/41633/41633-h/41633-h.htm

 

#Gluttony #WASP_LEG #gourmandize #temperance #DeadlySins #foodie #RichardBaxter #Puritans #KingHenry #Shakespeare #ChristianDirectory #tippling #vomit

Biological Essentialism and Mr. Rogers

What is biological essentialism?  If you search online, you will get a wide variety of answers.  Historically, biological essentialism is the view that bats are bats, cats are cats and your long-lost cousin was not an ape.  Even a three-year-old can tell the difference between elephants, which can save a calf from a flooded river, and exploding ants.

 

What’s the connection to Mr. Rogers?  He said that you are not just advanced protoplasm without purpose.  I’m sure you recall the famous song:

 

You are my friend

You are special …

You are the only one like you.

Like you, my friend, I like you …

You’re special to me.

There’s only one in this wonderful world

You are special.

 

BTW, I highly recommend the film.

My latest book has a chapter on Human Nature.  Within that chapter, I investigate the reality of Human Exceptionalism.  This holds that humans are truly special and not just advanced primates.  Please get your copy of Biological Essentialism today! 

Did Koko & Friends ever build a Space Shuttle (which I saw in OKC along with ¼M others)?  Can we find something like the Wren Library (Cambridge) in the Valley of the Apes?

 

Fred McFeely Rogers (d. 2003) was a Presbyterian minister and his kids show lasted from 1968 to 2001.  He left no doubt about the “humans are special” controversy:

 

As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has - or ever will have - something inside that is unique to all time.  It's our job to encourage each other to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression.

 

Rogers also made this profound statement in his commencement address at Dartmouth in 2002:

 

When I say it's you I like, I'm talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch.  That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive.  Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed.

 

Mr. Rogers knows the difference between a dog and a Mog (Bob the Dog).

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 

I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. (Eccl. 3:11,14)

#MrRogers #BobDog #Dartmouth #Biological #Essentialism #Science #cats #bats #YouAreSpecial #HumanExceptionalism #TrueTruth #IMSpecial #IMHuman

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Biological essentialism holds that there exists Essential Types of Life (ETL's), such as bears and penguins - these are distinct kinds of organisms that do not have a common ancestor and organic variation has limits.

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Kindly,

Jay Hall M.S. (Math, 53 hrs. Science)

fmr. Asst. Math Prof. – Howard College (12 years)

fmr. Journalist – interviewed Maya Angelou

my site: https://totalyouth.us/  (TotalYouth.us)

author of Is a Young Earth Possible?