York County pastors call on Christians to love Muslims, ‘fear not’:Taqiyya

He and 23 other York County religious leaders submitted a letter to The Herald on Friday stating they are “opposed to any acts of violence or threats of violence against anyone due to their religious affiliation.”

The letter also states: “Any Christian who uses their faith as a basis for bringing harm upon another has completely misunderstood what it means to lift up the Lordship of Jesus Christ.”

The pastors who signed come from churches in the county’s urbanized areas such as Rock Hill and Fort Mill and from rural towns such as Sharon.

Fear, McGregor said, has driven many Christians to disparage Muslims, shun interactions with other faith groups, and not take a stand against violence and hateful rhetoric. That behavior isn’t in line with Jesus’ teachings, he said.

“The God who made me is the same God that made every other human on this Earth. ... We are all brothers and sisters,” McGregor said.

He also said he’s proud of York County Sheriff Bruce Bryant, who recently said his deputies will remain vigilant in protecting Islamville – the same way they’ll protect every other resident, regardless of religious beliefs.

Sharon pastor the Rev. Barry Lambert says Christians need to remember that “the Lord Jesus Christ was unconditionally loving.”

Some Christians and others who are fearful of the Islamic faith have attempted to make Muslims “the enemy” by spreading lies about people who live and worship in communities like Islamville, Lambert said.

“We should be able to embrace anyone who has different beliefs, simply because they are our neighbors,” he said. Lambert has spent more than 30 years as a pastor, including eight years at Woodlawn Presbyterian Church.

As the leader of a church, he said, he’s called on to be a “peacemaker” and to “call all communities together to understand one another.”

Though Muslims and Christians may have different religious teachings or beliefs, he said, Christianity and Islam, along with Judaism, all have the same roots in the Old Testament.

Inside each of those religions, he said, there are various sects or denominations offering a range of different views. Those differences, Lambert said, should not be feared.

The sign at Woodlawn in Sharon currently says: “Perfect love casts out fear.”

‘We are all God’s creatures’

McGregor said the Bible makes frequent references to surrendering control to God and not living in fear. In scripture, angels often appear and say first, “Fear not.”

Christians who believe God is in control are not afraid of people who may hold different religious beliefs, he said. “Nothing good comes when we react out of fear,” McGregor said.

Often, Lambert said, Americans are afraid of Muslims out of “ignorant fear” derived from not understanding the Islamic faith, its teachings or the worship style.

The letter from the pastors is a call for dialogue among followers of Jesus, Muslims, and other religious people, Lambert said. He hopes local Christian churches will plan joint events with the Islamville community and open their hearts and minds.

Some members of the Rev. Jeff Lingle’s Epiphany Lutheran Church in Rock Hill have visited Islamville in York. Open conversations and learning from one another are ways to combat fear and the “tunnel vision” or “unfair” view that some people have about Muslims, Lingle said.

“Jesus taught to love all people,” he said.

Too often, Lingle said, people become self-centered and lose sight of Jesus’ basic teachings of love and peace. For some Christians, he said, they are more concerned about being “right” than loving their neighbor.

McGregor, too, encourages more interactions.

Understanding and learning from people who believe differently, he said, does not mean a Christian must give up his or her own values or abandon beliefs.

“I’m not going to give up my belief that Jesus is God’s son and Jesus is my savior,” he said, adding that engaging in dialogue with those who believe differently is not about conversion or persuasion.

Over recent years, McGregor has met with Islamville leaders and participated in joint events. In some ways, he said, he does not agree with Muslim beliefs and teachings. But, he says, he won’t allow the differences between his faith and the Islamic faith to keep him from learning from other people.

Christians leaders who prefer to “throw stones” at Muslims are not acting Christ-like, McGregor said. The model he believes Christ has given his followers is to walk beside those people who may believe differently and not “cast aspersions” about your neighbor.

His stance, McGregor says, may be unpopular. He expects he and other pastors who signed the letter may be bombarded with angry emails or phone calls.

Already, he said, in developing the letter, two local pastors disagreed with calling Muslims their “brothers and sisters.” Those two people did not sign McGregor’s letter, he said, because he wouldn’t change the wording.

“I said, ‘Thanks, but that change will not be made.’ ... We are all God’s creatures and that makes us brothers and sisters.”

Anna Douglas • 803-329-4068

THE LETTER “In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his listeners ‘Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God.’ We are 24 Christian pastors from various denominations across York County who stand with our Muslim brothers and sisters who live in and around the community called Islamville. We stand opposed to any acts of violence or threats of violence against anyone due to their religious affiliation. We stand with law enforcement as they seek to protect all residents of York County regardless of their race or religious expression. Any Christian who uses their faith as a basis for bringing harm upon another has completely misunderstood what it means to lift up the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We urge all Christians to unite together and speak out against any threats of violence against their York County neighbors in Islamville and throughout York County.”

Participating pastors:

Rev. Dr. Sam E. McGregor Jr.; Rev. Dr. Mark Verdery; Mr. Mike Conn, CRE; Rev. Dr. Barry W. Lambert; Rev. David Brown; Rev. Jeff Lingle; Rev. Chris Stoxen; Rev. Jeff Bryan; Rev. David D. McManus; Rev. Sonya Burns; Rev. Matthew B. Horne; Rev. Robert O. Moss III; Rev. James Carrot Williams; Rev. Rett Haselden, all of Rock Hill

Rev. Brandon Lazarus; Rev. John O’Kain; Rev. Dr. Douglass Key; Rev. Thelma Gordon, all of Clover

Rev. Trey Doyle; Rev. Neill McKay; Rev. Dr. Sheila Elliot, all of York

Rev. Dr. Joanne Sizoo of Tega Cay

Rev. Gayle G. Montgomery of Lake Wylie

Rev. Edgar McCall of Fort Mill

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/news/local/article21978831.html#storylink=cpy

South Carolina Pastors Join in Taqiyya: Call on Christians to View Anti-Christ Muslims as “Brothers and Sisters”
WRITTEN BY: TIM BROWNPUBLISHED ON: JULY 22, 2015

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In York County, South Carolina, a group of 23 “pastors” (and yes, I use the term lightly) have gotten behind a push by a liberal PCUSA pastor to call Christians to view Islamists as “brothers and sisters.”

Sam McGregor, pastor at Allison Creek Presbyterian Church near Lake Wylie, spoke with Sons of Liberty Media following a local article that stirred up a hornets’ nest.

McGregor wrote the following letter:

“In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his listeners ‘Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God.’ We are 24 Christian pastors from various denominations across York County who stand with our Muslim brothers and sisters who live in and around the community called Islamville. We stand opposed to any acts of violence or threats of violence against anyone due to their religious affiliation. We stand with law enforcement as they seek to protect all residents of York County regardless of their race or religious expression. Any Christian who uses their faith as a basis for bringing harm upon another has completely misunderstood what it means to lift up the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We urge all Christians to unite together and speak out against any threats of violence against their York County neighbors in Islamville and throughout York County.”
Pick up Bradlee Dean’s powerful testimony, illustrated by former DC Comics artist Danny Bulanadi, in the Sons of Liberty Store.
While one can agree that we should not be instigators of violence against anyone, what Mr. McGregor fails to point out is the ideology behind Islam is responsible for over 20,000 Islamic jihad attacks since 9/11. Well, Mr. MacGregor, yours truly is speaking out. The Koran “your brothers and sisters” hold to issues threats of violence against all Christians. What will you do about it?

“If there is one God, one Creator, then we are all God’s children because God has created all of us,” McGregor told Sons of Liberty Media. “Because we all have the same parent, whether we acknowledge that, you know, whether we’re atheist,… deny it, whether we call God different names, whether we seek after different gods.”

Now, I did have him clarify that what he was referencing was the Created order. This is the idea that all men are created in the image of God.

“I affirm my belief in Genesis one and two that God created us all,” he said. “Therefore, since God created all of us… that means that every human being on this earth… is my brother or sister.”

He even went on to say that because of his belief he was able to learn of Allah from his “brothers and sisters” and they learn from him. “Together, we learn more about this God who created all of us.”

How is that? How are those who are anti-Christs able to teach Christians about the true God (1 Jn. 2:27)?

Far from calling Muslims (anti-Christs) his brothers, the apostle John, whom Jesus loved, penned the following:

And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it. For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. -2 John 1:6
Anti-Christ is not a person, it’s a doctrine, and John clears that up in his epistles. Islam rejects that God came in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ (Jn 1:1-13; 1 Jn. 1:1ff). Therefore, they are anti-Christ’s and as such, Mr. MacGregor is not only deceived and engaging in deception, but is in the middle of a snake pit.

Yet, when asked if he viewed Muslims as brothers and sisters in Christ, he dodged the question, not once, but several times; and this is where the deception comes into play. He referenced books and other people, but not once addressed such passages as when Jesus said the religious leaders of His day were of their father the devil (Jn. 8:44). Not once did he address the apostle Paul when he wrote that we all were children of disobedience (Eph. 2:2-30) until we were adopted into the family of God and made brothers and sisters in Christ (Eph. 1:5; 2:12-20). He had no answer for the fact that it is Jesus who grants to men the power to become sons of God (Jn. 1:12-13).

All of this comes as the Gospel of the person and work of Jesus Christ is presented to sinners (yes, just like me) and God graciously works in their hearts through the power of His Holy Spirit.

When I provided the above references to Mr. MacGregor, he tried to point to the fact that Muslims, Christians and Jews trace their lineage back to Abraham as though it is the same religion. It is not. Islam began five centuries after Christ and though Islam claims to extend from Abraham through Ishmael, the covenant from God does not extend through that line, neither is it an “Abrahamic religion” because it does not follow the covenant religion. (See my previous address of this subject.)

He then dropped the bombshell that he just began to read a book that claims to correct “misapprehensions about Jesus in the Koran.” Immediately red flags go up. Consider that Mr. MacGregor has a PhD, so there is no excuse for his ignorance of history, Islam, the Christian faith or the Bible. I have read the Koran. I have read numerous commentaries on the Koran. MacGregor did not assert that he had even fully read the book he was referencing nor did he assert the fact that he had read the Koran fully. From the interview, I got the sense he is not familiar enough with the Christian Scriptures to answer basic theological questions. As one who calls himself Presbyterian, I’m sure John Calvin is rolling over in his grave.

The problem with Mr. MacGregor’s position in all of this is the fact that Scripture is not his final authority. Over and over I asked him why share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those he considers his brothers and sisters. He had no answer. When asked his purpose in sharing the Gospel, he had no purpose.

To further demonstrate that Mr. MacGregor does not adhere to God’s Word as the final authority, but rests in his opinion and “belief,” I asked him, since he is a part of the apostate PCUSA, if he agreed with women elders and marrying those who engage in sodomy.

He laughed and said those were “loaded questions.” However, they are simple “yes” or “no” questions. While he did affirm his approval of women elders, in spite of the specific commands from Scripture (1 Tim. 3; Titus 1), he would not elaborate on sodomy-based “marriage,” which tells me that he is in league with the apostates of his denomination in affirming what God calls an abomination.

MacGregor is in the snake pit and it won’t be long before he gets bit. Perhaps one day soon, when they are sawing his head off for all to see, reality will catch up to him. Until that time, I told Mr. MacGregor that it was my Christian duty to command him to repent of his sin and open deception concerning the Gospel, God and Islam. With that, he mockingly told me to “have a blessed day.”

If you want to know why America and the Church in America is in the position we are, you need to look no further than people like Sam MacGregor. Please warn your friends in the York, South Carolina area of Mr. MacGregor’s church and all those who promote the assimilation with the anti-christ religion of Islam.

Finally, according to Anna Douglas, there were at least two pastors who would not sign the letter because of the deceptive language of referencing Muslims as brothers and sisters. Good for them!

The following are other pastors in the area who are apparently leading their flocks astray:

Rev. Dr. Sam E. McGregor Jr.; Rev. Dr. Mark Verdery; Mr. Mike Conn, CRE; Rev. Dr. Barry W. Lambert; Rev. David Brown; Rev. Jeff Lingle; Rev. Chris Stoxen; Rev. Jeff Bryan; Rev. David D. McManus; Rev. Sonya Burns; Rev. Matthew B. Horne; Rev. Robert O. Moss III; Rev. James Carrot Williams; Rev. Rett Haselden, all of Rock Hill

Rev. Brandon Lazarus; Rev. John O’Kain; Rev. Dr. Douglass Key; Rev. Thelma Gordon, all of Clover

Rev. Trey Doyle; Rev. Neill McKay; Rev. Dr. Sheila Elliot, all of York

Rev. Dr. Joanne Sizoo of Tega Cay

Rev. Gayle G. Montgomery of Lake Wylie

Rev. Edgar McCall of Fort Mill

When will the imams tell Muslims to love Christians and Jews? Inquiring minds want to know.

Now here’s a group that needs to win a free trip to Syria, to visit the Muslims who live there, so that they can show their solidarity with them.

Two dozen Christian pastors in York County have joined together to publicly call on members of their faith to embrace Muslims as their brothers and sisters.
___

These pastors are fools. May God help them see the error of their ways.

embrace Muslims as their brothers and sisters.

I will, if they repent of their satanic religion and follow Christ.

While he has a point God also gave us the spirit of discernment. He has also commanded the Jewish people to kill other people at one time or another because they were evil and knew the outcome ofthey were tolerated and assimilated into their people. He also told us to sell our cloak and buy a sword.

I can love them from a godly point of view but I’m not going to be walking in their mosques or invite them into my homes any time soon.

I ran the name of my old church up there and didn’t see the current pastor of the family church on this list. Good for him.

I’d like to go some Sunday. My wife doesn’t since she isn’t big on Baptists. I’m still not that much of a Lutheran apparently. It’s only 90 miles away.

I am never surprised at how much worse the herald can get. It was terrible back in the 70s when I was a kid and stayed that way.

As Christian pastors, it would seem that your duty would be to encourage your congregations to CONVERT Muslime, win souls for Christ. Isn’t that the point?

Muslims are immigrating into western countries, bringing murder with them, and are we calling Muslims out? Are the communities under pressure to out the jihadists? No, we're supposed to accept all this.

No thanks.

Stupidity can not be corrected.

Of course these "Pastors", most likely also believe that there are many paths to God.

If you're wrong on basic Theology, you're wrong on everything else.

>>“I’m not going to give up my belief that Jesus is God’s son and Jesus is my savior,” he said, adding that engaging in dialogue with those who believe differently is not about conversion or persuasion.

Really? Christians know who Jesus is and what he did for all of humanity. Muslims deny who he is and what he did.

If we “engage them in dialogue” but let them continue to wallow in their sin and works-based salvation that Jesus taught us DOES NOT WORK, then we are not salt, not a lamp in a window.

Of course, most of our churches will not preach against fornication, adultery, homosexuality, and divorce for the same reasons.

A$$wholes. They aren’t nice, peaceful, kind, tolerant, non-violent creatures.

>>The Rev. Sam McGregor, pastor at Allison Creek Presbyterian Church near Lake Wylie

A PCUSA pastor, of course.

We’ll have to forgive them as they know not what they do. sarc/

Fools they are.

Not unlike in the 30’s where rabbis were asked to tell their congregations to love Nazi’s. (/sarc

“We are all brothers and sisters,” McGregor said.

This pastor rejects the uniqueness of Jesus, then, if he thinks all of humanity are “brothers and sisters.” We are siblings in Christ. We are not siblings apart from Christ.