More Presbyterian Sins and The Fall of the Presbyterian Church USA

Now Presbyterians Call on the U.S. government to end aid to Israel. What will they do next?

The fall of the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) into apostasy can be directly attributed to the long-time infiltration of far left components into the bureaucracy and leadership of all of the mainline Christian denominations. This has been a growing theological cancer for much of the 20^th century. We are finally at a point in time where these once venerable denominations have become merely Christians in name only. They are, for all intents and purposes, nothing more than the religious arm of leftist politics (see Liberation Theology and Marxist Christianity). The Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) is now captive to and a willing dupe of the far left politically powerful zealots within this denomination.

The following is an excerpt from a report by Mark Braverman on the outcome of the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA with regard to Israel-Palestine conflict.

Presbyterians Insist On 'Breaking Down The Walls' In Israel/Palestine Despite Pressure From Jewish Community

The PC(USA) is at the epicenter of the struggle of the Christian community in the U.S. to come to terms with the challenge of the Israel-Palestine conflict. . .

While strongly asserting the church’s commitment to Israel’s security and wellbeing, the Study Committee’s report as presented to the General Assembly clearly presents the narrative of Palestinian dispossession and suffering.  It asserts that Israel’s actions, illegal and in violation of international law, are an “enduring threat to peace in the region.” It receives the Palestinian Kairos document, a courageous and heartfelt call of Palestinian Christians “from the heart of Palestinian suffering” to the churches of the world, and recommends it for study by Presbyterians. It calls on the U.S. government to end aid to Israel unless the country stops settlement expansion in Palestinian territories. . .

Bernice Lipkin, editor of Think-Israel.org, sent me the following links to two articles concerning the anti-Israel agenda of the PCUSA.

THE U.S. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH'S RENEWED ATTACK ON ISRAEL
by Dexter Van Zile

  In this well-documented yet readable article, Dexter Van Zile reviews the sorry history of the Presbyterian Church's efforts to divest itself and others from investments in Israel, using attacks on Israel, partial withdrawal, and then renewed attacks. The point of view of the activists who control official reports is solidly in sympathy with the Palestinians, who are visualized as the suffering victims of a harsh and illegal occupation by Israel. As VanZile writes, "Leveling chimerical accusations at Israel in the name of peace, these activists seek to enlist their fellow Presbyterians - and the church's bureaucracy - into their efforts to banish the modern state of Israel from the community of civilized nations and portray it as uniquely worthy of criticism and condemnation." With each swing of the pendulum, the Church -- by backing these activists -- makes more obvious a more basic agenda: the delegimization of the State of Israel. How long will it be before crude anti-Jewish statements -- not clothed in pseudo theology or in a view of Middle East history that ignores most of the facts -- will be acceptable?

Continued here

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH HAS ATTITUDE TOWARDS ISRAEL
A Q and Q with Will Spotts by Bernice Lipkin

  Anticipatory stories of the 2010 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church were filled with reports that there were to be motions for divestiture/boycott of Israel that would position the Presbyterian Church more strongly and intemperately in the ranks of the Palestinian sympathizers. I had some specific questions. I asked Will Spotts for clarification. We also include an addendum: Spotts's analysis after the ball was over, the General Assembly ended.

Continued here

This week Faultline USA contributors have posted four additional articles, due to their timely nature, concerning the sins of mainline Christianity and in particularly, those of the Presbyterian Church USA:

Liberation Theology Moves to the Border

The far left Presbyterian (PCUSA) has joined the Arizona Boycott and refuses "to hold national meetings in Arizona and any states that adopt strict immigration laws such as Arizona's new Senate Bill 1070." . . .

Continued here

The Demise of Mainline Religious Denominations in America

. . .Look, churches cannot claim to be representatives of God on this earth, a Christian church, and then teach a congregation a lifestyle that is not Christian and certainly not in keeping with what the scriptures tell us God/Christ taught us -- and demands of us. It is as simple as that.

Continued here

The Evils of Collective Salvation

. . .You may have first heard about “collective salvation” from the infamous “Rev.” Sun Myung Moon in his 1997 address Personal Salvation and Collective Salvation. With the growth of religious pluralism over the last decade, much of Mainline Christianity seems to have blindly joined this chorus rooting for “collective salvation” while blissfully unaware that this is all part of the revolutionary move toward a new global church based upon the old Marxist notion of . . .

Continued here

The Paganism of the PCUSA?

. . .An Orthodox Church theologian who was invited to greet the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has criticized its approval of non-celibate homosexual clergy.

The Reverend Siarhei Hardun of Belarus said that vote and efforts to approve same-gender "marriage" looked to him like an attempt to "invent a new religion -- a sort of modern paganism." . . .

Continued here

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Liberation Theology Moves to the Border

The far left Presbyterian (PCUSA) has joined the Arizona Boycott and refuses "to hold national meetings in Arizona and any states that adopt strict immigration laws such as Arizona's new Senate Bill 1070."

Dozens of municipalities and private organizations have announced various types of boycotts or protests over the policy. But no religious groups were included as of Friday on lists assembled by the Arizona Republic newspaper and a private, pro-boycott organization called Arizona Boycott Clearinghouse. . .

"Our work will always be to stand with those who are the most marginalized," said Rick Ufford-Chase of New York, a former moderator of the denomination who for years worked with immigrants in Tucson, Ariz.

The PCUSA, which is on it's last legs as a viable mainline denomination, has given itself over to the open pandering of all so-called "marginalized" groups, and to heretical leftist theology in an attempt to bolster it's sagging membership rolls.

Read  The Demise of Mainline Religious Denominations in America

It would appear that the truly marginalized are the long-suffering legal residents of Arizona and of all the border states, who have had to put up with the continued onslaught of violent and deadly crime brought about by the massive illegal invasion from across the deliberately unsecured border!!!

These panderers, who call themselves Christians, have a completely different "progressive" agenda and they are hardly champions of the marginalized, who are ultimately their pawns.

Read The Evils of Collective Salvation

The best way in the world to deceive believers is to cloak a message in religious language and declare that it conveys some new insight from God. (Charles Stanley, How to Listen to God, p.50)

 But there is hope!!!

Houston Religious Leaders Support Arizona with the God Bless Arizona tour.

1. Secure the borders 1st

2. Reform the immigration system

3. Deal humanely with those who are here illegally

. . . Activists across the country have organized boycotts against the state and some Houstonians have jumped on board. "We wanted to counter the boycotts with our very own boycott," said Craig Winfree, who is part of a Houston group that organized the God Bless Arizona Tour.

For three days, the group toured the sunshine state showing their support for Governor Brewer's law. "(She) has been the first to stand up and pass the legislation to secure the border to keep the people of Arizona safe." said Winfree. With so much controversy on both sides, Houston religious leaders said the immigration debate has become a crisis. "We feel like there is a need for a moderating voice," said Steve Riggle, a pastor at Grace Community Church.

On Wednesday, the group of pastors announced a declaration calling all political leaders to set aside their differences. "Secure the border first, second reform the immigration system and third deal humanely with those who are here illegally," said Pastor Riggle. So while the state of Arizona and the government prepare to duke it out in court. "I would rather see the feds and the state of Arizona not fighting and go fix this problem, said Riggle. Religious leaders hope their declaration will help bring a peaceful solution.

Source: http://www.39online.com/news/local/kiah-religious-leaders-immigration-debate-story,0,3400320.story

Glenn Beck Monday on Black Liberation Theology

This is the ideology of Barack Obama's church for 20 years, and the theology of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. The Black Panthers believe in Black Liberation Theology. Glenn plays some of the audio from the man who started the Black Liberation Theology movement and explains how it pertains to today. Check it out from radio.( Transcript, Insider Audio)

Be sure to watch and record Glenn Beck today, July 13th. The entire program will be devoted to the issue of Collective Salvation.

Search Faultline USA (left side bar) for several articles on Liberation Theology.

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The Demise of Mainline Religious Denominations in America

The Demise of Mainline Religious Denominations in America
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

*******************

America is in trouble. BIG TROUBLE! I write not of the financial mess in which we find ourselves embroiled. No. The crisis of which I speak is a crisis of the soul of every individual American. And the blame for this endangerment of the souls of Americans can be laid at the feet of the hierarchy of the mainline religious denominations in America.

This nation, whether you choose to believe it -- or not, was founded as much on biblical scripture as it was on common law. America used to be a “God-fearing” nation filled with people who KNEW they relied upon the kindness and the grace of an omnipotent God to guide them through any troubles they/we as individuals, and as a nation, faced. That is no longer the case. The result of of switching America’s fealty from God to man is plain for all to see. We are today – a pitiful nation in decline.

America resembles nothing less today than a once powerful, muscular, man whose body is riddled by cancer and has shrunken to a shell of its former being.

When America was young and vital the ministers of the mainline denominations took to their pulpits to preach from the Scriptures. They told their parishioners of the story of God’s benevolence, his faithfulness, and they told us of his jealousy. They reminded Americans that God himself said: “I am a jealous God!”

Those of us perched in the pews knew there was a price to be paid for willfully disconnecting oneself from the power source that is God. Equally as important, I think, we Americans knew, in those days, that America was no accident. We KNEW that America was to us as the Promised Land had been, and remains, to the Jewish people.

The extreme importance the ministers, priests, and rabbis of the churches and synagogues cannot be overestimated. It was they who shepherded the huge flock known as America in the way they should go. And America was so much better for it.

The bitter truth is, in my opinion, the church has turned its collective back on the One they purportedly serve and now serve, instead, their own interests, their own, politics, their own politically correct philosophy of what God ought to be, and, in so doing, they have created God in their own image. And what a pitiful god they have created!

Moral equivalence has no place in the pulpit. When God, Himself, refers to some action, or inaction of man as a sin, then it is not left to the ministers to equivocate. They are bound to pass God’s pronouncement on to the sheep of their flock. For a pastor to do less cannot be defined as being honest with either man or God.

There was a time, not so long ago, when ministers were the pillars of their community, both the religious community and the secular community. They were solid citizens. They could be looked up to, relied upon, and trusted. In many cases they were role models for youngsters who would later join their ranks as pastors, priests, and rabbis. That was then. This is now.

Those members left in the congregations of today’s mainline churches are growing older as the rolls continue to shrink. Attendance at services is very low. In some of the denominations there seems to be an on going struggle of wills between the membership and the hierarchy of the churches. Such an atmosphere is not conducive to worship. Sniping? Maybe. Worship? No.

So what has happened? It has been my personal observation that the hierarchy of the mainline churches went left and adopted so much of the philosophy of the left that many of their members left. I don’t mean the membership went left, also. I mean they LEFT as in: They went away. In fact, many of them went right. That is just another way of saying they began to associate themselves with churches that still believe, preach, and practice the scriptures. That explains why the evangelical churches in America are growing by leaps and bounds.

Look, churches cannot claim to be representatives of God on this earth, a Christian church, and then teach a congregation a lifestyle that is not Christian and certainly not in keeping with what the scriptures tell us God/Christ taught us -- and demands of us. It is as simple as that.

Somehow, the mainline denominations have made a turn away from God, away from those age-old lessons He has taught us through the authority of the scriptures, and now they find themselves blindly stumbling down the road to complete oblivion. And the really sad thing -- they don’t understand why.

I know this is not the popular explanation for what has befallen those shrinking denominations – I do. But when you clear all the smoke away, get past all the excuses, and really, REALLY, look at how the churches got into this fix, there is only one answer.

Look, I am a refugee from one of those churches. I saw this coming. I fought it for about five years, or so. I argued my way up the hierarchical ladder to the top – only to have my national bishop tell me I didn’t know what the dickens I was talking about (in a kindly and gentle fashion, of course). It was then that I decided to cut my losses and hit the door. I did so amidst numerous accusations that I would not stay and fight from within the church. My answer was that I was following the teachings of the scriptures in getting myself “OUT from among them.”

I hold that the collapse of the mainline denominations not only will have, but already HAS had, an extremely negative effect on America. All one has to do is consider our society today, our government, our education system, practically every facet of American life which was so carefully influenced by the church in the early days of America. Observe how it has all become so crass, so unkind, and so angry. It is obvious that something is missing. The churches in America once provided that missing thing.

There was a time when the church not only set the standards for American society, often times it WAS the standard for our society. They spoke with the authority of the scriptures. When the mainline denominations turned their backs on the scriptures they began losing their authority… and their followers who, naturally, sought green pastures and still waters in the flocks of the evangelicals who still believe that being biblically correct rather than politically correct is the path to righteousness and the guarantee of eternal rest.

Why is this so difficult for our mainline denominations to understand?

J. D. Longstreet

The Evils of Collective Salvation

Christians, what you don’t know about so-called “collective” or “communal salvation,” aka “Social Justice,” could pave your road to hell! I won’t pull any punches here. Christians must become grounded in sound Biblical truths so as not to be easily led astray. Today there are literally thousands of “Christian” churches here in the United States, and several denominations, that are Christian in name only and have completely abandoned all sound traditional Christian doctrine.

You may have first heard about “collective salvation” from the infamous “Rev.” Sun Myung Moon in his 1997 address Personal Salvation and Collective Salvation. With the growth of religious pluralism over the last decade, much of Mainline Christianity seems to have blindly joined this chorus rooting for “collective salvation” while blissfully unaware that this is all part of the revolutionary move toward a new global church based upon the old Marxist notion of redistribution of wealth.

Below are excerpts from a variety of articles dealing with various aspects “collective salvation” as an integral part of the left’s assault on Christianity through misguided notions born of religious pluralism.

Those who teach this grave Theological error are promoting a socialistic community based upon Marxist thought. Read this excerpt from the Emergent Manifesto. Please note that the use of the term “emergent” when attached to Christian = progressive=leftist=Marxist thought.

This new collective spirituality leads people into a socialistic community where rituals, practices, and social justice become a means of salvation, but not the salvation you think of in a personal sense of being born-again through Jesus Christ. This is a collective salvation [1] that includes whole cultures and communities who follow the way of someone referred to as Jesus.

Here’s an excerpt from Pledging Your Moral Stand for Immigrants Rights

. . .Most church attendees have no idea of what’s actually going on behind the scenes in their particular denominations. There’s a certain comfort in knowing that you are worshiping in the same faith tradition as your parents and grandparents. Unfortunately, the only intact part of that traditional faith may be the denominational name. Few Christian parishioners have any idea where the money they donate actually ends up. Here’s a clue:

The money sent to ministries sponsored by the NCC go to support a variety of Social Justice values – many of which are clearly Marxist/socialistic values: communal salvation (as opposed to individual salvation), open borders, sanctuary for illegal aliens, an immediate end to the war in Iraq, and eradicating America’s Whiteness (White Privilege) once and for all. Warfare conducted by a nation (bad) is not viewed in the same light as a revolution (good). Social Justice, born of Marxist Liberation Theology, promotes the view that Jesus was a revolutionary leader and any revolution by an oppressed people against the established order is considered a Christian duty. Need I go on? . . .

Evangelicals should read “Treason in the Church”. Here’s an excerpt:

"Various churches and denominations claim to be undergoing 'transformation.' This word no longer refers to the humble sanctification of the individual believer. Rather, it now refers to an orchestrated, systemic and revolutionary overhaul of the global church, including the 'transformation' of cities, societies, cultures, marketplaces, and more. . ."

Meanwhile numerous mainline Protestant denominations and some evangelical churches are actively implementing the NCC’s: For the Peace of the World: A Christian Curriculum on International Relations

For a frightening overview of what is happening in many churches today right beneath our collective noses, please read: United Nations Entrenched Within Most Christian Denominations

Here’s an excerpt from The Road to Islamification is Paved by Religious Pluralism

Social Justice (as commonly understood today): Social justice mostly refers to an ideal of society, where "justice" refers to economic status rather than to the administration of laws. It is based on the idea of a society which gives individuals and groups fair treatment and a just share of the benefits of society, although what is "fair treatment" and a "just share" must remain unclear or subject to interpretation. . .

Think: Redistribution of wealth from wealthy (imperialistic) nations of the West to poor 3rd and 4th world nations.

Read this from Glenn Beck - July 9, 2010 Update

Obama: Individual salvation depends on collective salvation

It's a phrase he's mentioned a few times, but could explain much of why the President is jamming a Marxist agenda down the throats of Americans. He believes in collective salvation, and that's an idea straight out of the Jeremiah Wright playbook. Remember, Obama credits Jeremiah Wright with bringing him to faith. Glenn explains more about this ideology that is directly at odds with traditional Christianity. ( Transcript, Insider Audio)

GLENN: . . .Collective salvation, excuse me for being a Jesus freak, is from Satan. Collective salvation is from the devil, not God. And we have some audio of the president talking about his collective salvation. His personal salvation will not happen unless there is collective salvation, that is evil. . . .

STU: What does that even mean, collective salvation? How did he mean?
GLENN: Collective salvation, unless we all are saved, none will be saved, okay? Jesus came to save you, okay? Let me just give you the — real quick, you've got to take it back, you've got to take it back to the war in heaven. War in heaven with the angels and everything else, and they have this war and Lucifer says, "I'm going to save all of them. Just give me the glory." And God says, no, I don't think so. And he selects, he selects the plan of Christ which, I'm going to send a savior down and he will save each individual, okay? That's why he's — that's why God came — that's why, you know, God came down and saved the — saved us all because of individual salvation. You accept the atonement of Jesus Christ and you are saved. Collective salvation is, I can't be saved on my own, I can't be. I have to make sure and ensure everyone else's salvation and then we're all saved together. . . .

GLENN: This is the same way, this is the same thing that — this is the root of social justice. Social justice has to happen because we all are in this together. It also is the way that you can excuse killing cracker babies. You can kill millions of people because they don't get it, and if we don't get them out of the way, we can't all be saved. Now, this is the religious context. Now, not everybody who is — you know, most people who are like Stalin, they don't believe in the religious side. But the American social justice progressive, in the way the early 20th century or Jeremiah Wright understand collective salvation, this is it. And it is out and out evil. And I want you to hear what the president has said about his own salvation, how he cannot achieve it without collective salvation. We'll play that for you in about a half an hour. . . .

And Finally here is an excerpt from Michelle's Boot Camps For Radicals

Published 9/4/2008 in INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

The Obamas discourage work in the private sector. "Don't go into corporate America," Michelle has exhorted youth. "Work for the community. Be social workers." Shun the "money culture," . . .

Barack added. "Individual salvation depends on collective salvation." . . .

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The Paganism of the PCUSA?

 

The following is from OneNewsNow.com

PCUSA's 'gay' measures reflect 'modern paganism'

Associated Press - 7/11/2010 4:20:00 AM

MINNEAPOLIS - An Orthodox Church theologian who was invited to greet the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has criticized its approval of non-celibate homosexual clergy.

The Reverend Siarhei Hardun of Belarus said that vote and efforts to approve same-gender "marriage" looked to him like an attempt to "invent a new religion -- a sort of modern paganism."

"Christian morality is as old as Christianity itself. It doesn't need to be invented now," he said of attempts to create what he described as a "new morality."

Hardun added, "When people say that they are led and guided by the Holy Spirit to do it, I wonder if it is the same Holy Spirit that inspired the Bible."

The Orthodox priest's remarks drew applause from conservative Presbyterians who made similar arguments at the gathering in Minneapolis.

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