(lurkers please click on my screen name to see my FR homepage for more information)
Posted on 12/01/2023 10:39:15 AM PST by Morgana
In recent years, James Merritt, former Southern Baptist Convention President and current pastor of Crosse Pointe Church in Duluth, GA, has personally involved himself in several efforts to advance leftist causes in the SBC. At the 2021 convention, Merritt used his position on the resolutions committee to promote resolutions that allowed Critical Race Theory to continue to creep into the SBC on a national level. Merritt even went so far as to claim that opposition to CRT in the convention was responsible for the failure to reach people with the Gospel, stating, “If you would focus on the gospel and not CRT, everybody would be saved by now!”
At the 2023 convention, when messengers overwhelmingly passed an amendment that barred women from holding the office of Pastor, Elder, or Deacon, James Merritt joined former SBC Presidents J.D. Greear and Ed Litton in convincing the convention to pass an amendment that set up a task force to study the definition of “friendly cooperation,” a move intended to effectively upend the implementation of a ban on female pastors that would take place if the amendment that bars women from holding the office of pastor passes a second vote at the 2024 convention.
According to Merritt, however, there is no reason for any concern about drift within the SBC, and all those who have concerns should be ignored.
While working with his institutionalist buddies to promote CRT in the convention and subvert the will of messengers who resoundingly voted to not allow churches with female pastors in the convention, James Merrit also continued to support his son Jonathon, a left-leaning Religion and Culture journalist who officially announced his descent into the depravity of homosexuality in 2021. James has refused to denounce his son’s lifestyle. Jonathon sometimes moonlights in the pulpits of gay-affirming synagogues of Satan. James has even gone so far as to praise Jonathon for his preaching, releasing a message encouraging his thousands of followers to listen to a sermon from his son, commending it as both “brilliant” and “faithful to the gospel despite it being neither.
This is despite the fact that Jonathon is clearly living in open sin and has disqualified himself from teaching and preaching. much less being associated with.
“But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or a greedy person, or an idolater, or is verbally abusive, or habitually drunk, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a person. For what business of mine is it to judge outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the evil person from among yourselves.” 1 Corinthians 5:9-11
The rotten fruit of James Merritt’s refusal to directly address the sin within his own household fell off the tree years ago, and its rotten seeds have now sprouted in the form of grandchildren who now call that which is evil “good.” Jonathan Merritt recently announced that upon his arrival at a family Thanksgiving celebration, his niece presented him with a bracelet she had made for him, a bracelet that bore the word “Guncle,” a term that means “gay uncle.” According to Jonathon, his niece gave him the bracelet to remind him that he was “special.”
Judgment begins in the house of the Lord. Unsurprisingly, when a denomination like the SBC appoints leaders like James Merritt who fail to provide Godly leadership in their own families, the fruit of such leadership is theological downgrade, as can be seen on full display in the current state of the SBC.
Compromise frequently begins on a personal level when leaders have a friend or family member who experiences an emotional or spiritual “experience” that takes them beyond the pale of Biblical orthodoxy. Instead of calling the lost in his own family to repentance, James has chosen to turn a blind eye to sin. Consequently, future generations of his family are now worshiping at the pagan altar of “Guncle” worship, praising that which is an abomination in the sight of God.
***IMAGES ON LINK***
2 Thessalonians 2
New International Version
The Man of Lawlessness
1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters,
2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come.
3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?
6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.
7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie,
10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie
12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
What you said and more
Pay attention, especially, to that last verse...............
Kinda like that verse in Romans where it says “Wherefore God gave them up to the desires of their heart, unto uncleanness, to dishonour their own bodies among themselves.
Romans 1 24
Yes, this is to prevent ‘deathbed’ conversions..............
Oh I think that’s still possible
The important thing is to call upon the Lord while you’re alive; because after you’re dead it is definitely too late.
That is not to encourage sin; much the opposite.
Yes the earlier the better.
It is possible, but God does not want people who live wicked lives and thoroughly enjoy doing it, and then just before they shuffle off to Buffalo, they get ‘religion’.
By giving them ‘delusions’ they believe they are immune from any punishment for their actions.
But they can still be sanctified, even if very late in the 4th quarter and they are down by two scores..............
(Guncle)
Never heard of that. Gay uncle?
There’s hope for those who truly call upon the name of the Lord.
But yes, some can be reprobate. The Pride Parades are a place where there will be much of that.
Parents taking their children there are brainwashing them with a Satanic agenda.
All we can do is preach; to some.
Muslims use violence but that doesn’t convert anyone.
Conversion by the sword..................
The rat poison of homosecuality tastes good. Keep eating.
That’s definitely their method
To some people, apparently.
To others, it smells like poop.
I came up with Nuncle a while back, your mother’s brother who is now a sister.
Kinda funny how women’s ordination becomes the camel’s nose in the tent
Yikes 😳😳
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.