I don’t concern myself with the definitions made by men or women as so many do. I concern myself with what the Word of God says compared to what the world says.
Contrary to the teaching of the world and how degenerate and sinful so-called Chrisitan churches have become and the acceptance of terminology such as “progressive Christianity” among other perverted language that is now accepted there are only Christians and then everybody else.
There is no such a thing as a “Christian” that accommodates, affirms, allows, associates, or approves of homosexuality, sexual immoralities, abortion, or other ways to heaven and eternal life than the Lord Jesus Christ, that all faiths are fine and on and on and on it goes!
No, those are not disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those are servants of Satan abiding in, appeasing, and believing if they accommodate and approve and accept these abominations that bring the wrath and judgment of God that people will like them and their so-called churches will fill up. They’ll make people “feel good” about themselves. As they sing inane non-Christian music with repetitive lines consisting of only five words, with the light shows, smoke machines, high wire flying circus acts, and so on. To have someone get up, a practicing homosexual or lesbian, a feminist, a witch, or visiting Hindu or Muslim to tell a little story and make everyone “feel good” because the sign outside reads something something CHURCH!
Progressive worldliness, which is what we’re really writing about here, is NOT Christniaty nor does it have any resemblance to the clear, exclusive authoritative Word of God!
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”
I Never Knew You
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
Matthew 7:15-23 — English Standard Version
God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
Romans 1:18-32 — English Standard Version
Preach the Word
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
2 Timothy 4:1-5 — English Standard Version
You might not like it. You may not agree. It isn’t according to me. Or you. It’s according to the Word of God. Each person on earth is either a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, a true child of God, thus a true Christian which knows believes from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, that knows they are a sinner, that knows what sin is, that was once darkness but they are now light only by the free gift of grace from God, knowing and believing the only way to the Father, to eternal life is through the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And to accommodate, approve, appease, affirm, associate, or allow the ways of the world to intermingle and be permitted on par with the Word of God, to alter, omit, add to, or remove what is contained in the Word of God to please a social movement, some manmade doctrine, or a political agenda, is not and has nothing to do with Christianity.
Or they are a child of disobedience, a child of Satan. The worlds. Foolishly believing they can take what they like and they personally approve of in the Bible ignoring or altering the rest — as if they know better than God and God is incompetent — such a person is not a Christian. Not any kind of Christian.
For there are only Biblical viewpoint and abiding in the whole Word of God people of God. Not adding to or omitting anything from the Bible. Not picking and choosing what they like and discrediting and denying the rest. Not accommodating or affirming the ways and teachings of the world, which are the teachings and ways of Satan.
And everyone else.
There are no variations or different terms to define a Christan. A Christian is defined by the whole Word of God and the changed heart, the changed life which is evidenced in their daily lives.
No variations. No list of different types of Christians. No number of different definitions.
A person either is a Christian or they aren’t. According to the inerrant infallible living Word of God.
Period.
Ken Pullen, A CROOKED PATH, Friday, July 22nd, 2022
What Is ‘Progressive Christianity’?
July 18, 2022
By Michael L. Brown
Reprinted from ASKDRBrown
I was recently asked to debate whether “progressive Christianity” (henceforth PC) was “another religion” (meaning, a religion other than Christianity) based on critical statements I had previously made about this so-called “progressive” version of the faith. The problem was that the professor who invited me to debate him defined PC differently than I did. In fact, he denied that my definition of PC was valid.
In short, I claimed that the “progressive Christians” (henceforth, PCs) I had interacted with affirmed the validity of same-sex “marriage,” supported a woman’s “right” to abortion, and denied that salvation was found exclusively through Jesus.
As for the professor, while not clarifying his views on same-sex “marriage” and abortion, he made clear that PCs did not deny that salvation came exclusively through Jesus.
Which one of us is right?
It depends on which PCs you talk to and how you define PC. Some are more orthodox than others. But those with whom I have interacted have been less orthodox in their beliefs, leading to my strong critiques.
In the end, I declined the debate – as much as I love to debate – because it was simply a matter of definitions. It would be like debating whether I am tall (I’m almost 6’ 3”). Compared to most people, yes; compared to your average NBA player, no. The question, then, comes down to how one defines tall.
In the same way here, the question came down to how we define PC.
For clarity, then, allow me to reference some definitions of PC that support my understanding of the term.
It’s easy, of course, to find negative, heterodox descriptions of PC on websites critical of PC.
Some examples would be the White Horse Inn, which notes that, “Progressive Christianity is a movement that is infiltrating and influencing the Evangelical church. Some of the most high-profile Christian leaders are a part of it. This movement seeks to re-interpret the Bible, re-assess historic doctrines, and re-define core tenets of the faith. While claiming the title ‘Christian,’ and boasting a high view of the Bible, it is sweeping up many unsuspecting Christians into a false view of who God is and how he saves people.”
Similarly, the Got Questions website, while cautioning against painting with too broad a brush, states that “the views of many progressive Christians do not fit with biblical principles.”
There are also some writers who speak of PC in very broad terms, like the Contemplative Life website, which lists some of the leading PCs as Marcus Borg and John Hick, liberal scholars who clearly fall outside the lines of the historic Christian faith.
But what about from the mouths of PCs themselves? What do they have to say?
According to the United Church of Christ in Beaverton, Oregon, PC began as a movement in 2006 “an alternative to the Christian faith portrayed in the public realm.”
The statement continues, “The leaders of Progressive Christianity had grown weary of defining their Christian faith in negative terms: ‘We aren’t fundamentalists. We don’t believe the Bible is the inerrant or infallible word of God. We don’t agree that Creationism should replace the science of evolution in public schools. We don’t believe that God hates gays. We don’t believe that people of other faiths are going to hell unless they convert to Christianity. We don’t deny the right of women to choose what happens to their bodies.’” (Their emphasis.)
That being said, this same webpage makes clear that they do, in fact, affirm these negative statements. See, for example, their second statement of faith: “THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IS OUR WAY OF BEING FAITHFUL TO GOD. BUT IT IS NOT THE ONLY WAY.”
In the same way, the St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church webpage devoted to defining “The Eight Points of Progressive Christianity” offers this for number 2 on the list: “Affirm that the teachings of Jesus provide but one of many ways to experience the Sacredness and Oneness of life, and that we can draw from diverse sources of wisdom in our spiritual journey.”
Number 3 is: “Seek community that is inclusive of ALL people, including but not limited to: Conventional Christians and questioning skeptics, Believers and agnostics, Women and men, Those of all sexual orientations and gender identities, Those of all classes and abilities.”
Similarly, when it comes to abortion, a 2019 article in The Atlantic explains why some progressive pastors support abortion rights.
And what does the Progressive Christianity website tell us? Listed on the PC board are leaders like Rev. Mark Sandlin, “an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA).” He is a vocal proponent of supporting LGBTQ rights, calling it “the Christian thing to do.”
This website also links to the identical listing of “The Eight Points of Progressive Christianity” cited above.
It is based on lists like this and leaders like this that I have based my critiques.
In short, PC, as defined by some of its leaders, denies the absolute authority of Scripture (stating that it is not the infallible Word of God). It denies that salvation and redemption come only through the cross of Jesus. It affirms the validity of same-sex “marriage.” And it affirms a women’s “right” to choose abortion.
And so, it may call itself “Christian,” it may espouse many excellent causes based on the ethical teachings of Jesus, and it may even reveal blindspots and failings among conservative Christians. But it is not, itself, “Christian.” It has “progressed” beyond (and outside of) the Word of God.
For those who define PC differently, I respectfully request that you make your definitions plain, as in a formal doctrinal statement. That way, we can know where we differ and where we agree.
Leave a Reply, please --- thank you.