Can’t make this stuff up folks! The following should not be surprising to anyone. Not in light of the fact of the times in which we live. Sadly, far too many are under the errant belief that anyone coming out of a seminary, a Bible college is a genuine Christian. Well taught, well versed in the complete Word of God. Indwelt of the Holy Spirit and equipped in the Word to shepherd a flock of Christians, to lead others to a belief in Christ and obedience to the whole Word of God.
The truth and reality could not be further from such assumptions.
I hear often, “Oh, these young pastors are just wonderful! So full of energy, so full of good ideas!”
How about instead they are not thought of as wonderful individuals with such delightful and charming personalities, but as servants of the Lord? Little shepherds to lead flocks of believers and unbelievers to the truth of Scripture and a genuine Christian life? How about instead of energy and ideas fed to them by their seminaries, their false teachers, this world and its philosophies they are instead filled with the Holy Spirit? Filled with the knowledge in and belief of every jot, every tittle, every word within the inerrant Word of God not adding or subtracting anything. Not injecting their own interpretations and beliefs. Not concerned with appeasing the world or following earthly science and the lies presented by the Evil One, but rather obeying the Lord? Obeying and knowing Jesus and the Holy Spirit? Wouldn’t that be refreshing in these times!?
Here are some facts about who it is on the pulpits leading, or I should write, misleading those who come into their churches in the hope of being fed the truth of God’s Word:
Do they believe in the virgin birth?
1998: A poll of 7,441 Protestant clergy in the U.S. showed a wide variation in belief. The following ministers did not believe in the virgin birth:
American Lutherans 19%
American Baptists 34%
Episcopalians 44%
Presbyterians 49%
Methodists 60%
2002: Another poll of 140 Church of England (Anglican) clergy found that 27% do not believe in the virgin birth.
2004: A poll of ministers of the Church of Scotland found that 37% do not believe in the virgin birth. Many believe that the virgin birth should be interpreted metaphorically rather than as a description of an actual event.
Do you imagine these figures have improved in the past 15 years? Or are there now a greater number coming out of seminaries and Bible colleges to deny the virgin birth of our Lord as prophesied in Scripture and as occurred in the Gospels?
Survey Finds Most Americans Considering, Calling Themselves Christians Are In Reality Heretics
Record Few Americans Believe Bible Is Literal Word of God
One third of Clergy Do Not Believe In the Resurrection Of Jesus Christ
These are only some of the statistics and facts. More and more refuse to believe in the miracles of Jesus. That Jesus is both God and man. That Jesus is without sin and is the Son of God. And they omit, alter, deny, refuse to believe, or add to — they disobey the instruction given to all who profess with their lips to be His and His disciple and one of God’s own!
This is the state of things as they are. And all the above are either old or growing old surveys, polls and articles. Belief isn’t increasing. It’s waning. Sound doctrine, foundational Scripture truths are being muddied, altered, corrupted and perverted. And it begins in the seminaries, in the Bible colleges, in the churches, in the homes, in schools. By the will of man. Turning from God and His inerrant Word because they think they can form God in their image rather than humbling themselves to allow God to form them in the image of Christ.
Can a righteous person be found?
Is the prophecy of Amos on our doorstep?
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,
but they shall not find it.
Amos 8:11-12 — English Standard Version
The following article may sound like some satire, as the Editor of Christian News Network wrote. Like some lampoon, some farce, a joke played out.
No joke. This is the sad state and reality of how things are in what passes itself off as Christianity in these last of the last days.
Gird your loins dear ones, dear brothers and sisters (and if you do not know what that means then take the time to learn what those words mean historically and why they were used and are important). Gird yourself, equip yourselves in the full armour of God in this onslaught, this ugly, brutal battle of the minds, battle of the souls, battle of the spirits, battle determining each individuals eternity.
We’re in a very turbulent spiritual war which will only rage on greater, harder, more noisy, more confusing ensnaring more, more falling away, more switching sides — and there are only two possible sides to be fighting on. No other options.
Will you please, dear ones, dear beloved brothers and sisters in the faith, and to those wondering, struggling, being tossed to and fro, in belief at times and unbelief at others — turn to, cling to, hold onto the complete, whole inerrant Living Word of God. Every jot. Every tittle. Every word. Not adding or subtracting anything. Not omitting that which the world refuses to understand or believe imagining they know better than God.
Do not waver. Remain faithful. Remain steadfast. Remain immovable in the truth of the whole Scriptures.
And know what is being taught all around us every day. Be aware and equipped and prepared for what is and what is to come.
Remain faithful and fervent fighting the good fight to the end. No matter what may come.
Ken Pullen
ACP — A Crooked Path
Thursday, September 19th, 2019
Seminary Students Repent to Plants, ‘Confess’ and ‘Sorrow in Prayer’ to Vegetation in Chapel Ceremony
Reprinted from: Christian News Network
In a story that would seem to be some kind of satire, a seminary where students gathered together during a chapel ceremony to “confess,” “grieve” and “sorrow in prayer” toward an assortment of potted plants laid out on the floor, actually took place as a part of an activity that, school officials say, was done to “atone for the harm” caused by climate change.
Union Theological Seminary (UTS), a progressive-identifying school located in New York City, which is affiliated with nearby Columbia University, tweeted out a picture and message on Tuesday from a chapel meeting where students gathered around various plants as an “offering” to the “beings who sustain us but whose gift we too often fail to honor.” The tweet asked the question, “What do you confess to the plants in your life?”
Union Seminary TweetToday in chapel, we confessed to plants. Together, we held our grief, joy, regret, hope, guilt and sorrow in prayer; offering them to the beings who sustain us but whose gift we too often fail to honor.
What do you confess to the plants in your life?
In subsequent tweets following the initial announcement, the school continued to refer to plants as “beings,” and acknowledged they were “worshiping,” and “speaking directly in repentance.”
“We’ve had many questions about yesterday’s chapel, conducted as part of @ccarvalhaes‘ class, ‘Extractivism: A Ritual/Liturgical Response.’ In worship, our community confessed the harm we’ve done to plants, speaking directly in repentance,” the tweet reads. “We are in the throes of a climate emergency, a crisis created by humanity’s arrogance, our disregard for Creation. Far too often, we see the natural world only as resources to be extracted for our use, not divinely created in their own right—worthy of honor, thanks and care,” a follow-up post says.
“What’s different (and the source of so much derision) is that we’re treating plants as fully created beings, divine Creation in its own right—not just something to be consumed. Because plants aren’t capable of verbal response, does that mean we shouldn’t engage with them?” another tweet asks.
UTS, which was once connected with the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., is headed by Serene Jones. Jones, who identifies as a feminist and is the author of the book, “Feminist Theory and Christian Theology: Cartographies of Grace,” is the 16th and first woman president of the 179-year-old institution.
Christian News Network reached out to Union Seminary and spoke to Virgina Fischer, the administrative assistant to the president, who was not able to comment on the matter, nor wanted to speak about whether or not she personally confesses to plants, or if she believed in the God of Scripture. Instead, Ms. Fischer referred Christian News to a Facebook post made by Miguel Angel Escobar, in which he writes about wresting with what he deemed “#PlantGate.”
In the Facebook posting, Escobar states that he is “taken aback” and “saddened” by the response from his “respected colleagues from around the Episcopal Church,” which “have ranged from outright mockery to a thoughtful evaluation of the service from an Episcopal/Anglican viewpoint.” Fischer goes on to state the school is an “interdenominational and interreligious seminary” with “a strong Episcopal/Anglican contingent,” but “also [has] a very strong Buddhist and Muslim presence on campus.”
“There are students from many Christian denominations as well as a growing number of students who come from no denomination at all, but who are drawn by the deep social justice values of this seminary. In this religious diversity, Union reflects the world. So too, then, do the noon worship services that happen each day,” he further cited.
The Scriptures state in Romans 1:21-25: “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”
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