Pastor Scott Lively Corrects Andrew Torba re: "Christian Nationalism"

 

Scott Lively's Mission Dispatch, September 22, 2022, Observations and Action on Current Events, History and Theology. Photo above is at Tel Gezer archaeological site looking west toward Jaffa, Israel. Subscribe HERE. Contact/Comment HERE.  DONATE HERE.

Open Letter to Andrew Torba re “Christian Nationalism” Dear Brother Andrew. I am a Hebraic-oriented Evangelical Christian attorney, pastor and historian who has devoted my entire adult life in Christ to Christian social, cultural and political activism. I bought your book “Christian Nationalism” to support the mission of Gab Social, and want to offer you some constructive criticism.  At the outset, I want to commend you for your courage and vision in taking on the powers and principalities of the present age by working to break the chains of censorship and suppression of free speech, particularly of the biblically-informed views that so powerfully contradict the secular humanist dogma of our Marxist would-be masters. They are the true enemies of “Judeo-Christian” civilization, and of course I choose that phrase intentionally to respectfully contradict your well-intentioned but misguided representation of its meaning and purpose relative to our national identity and heritage.  I will also add that I am both a member of Gab and a vehement defender of your right to address the distinctions between Judaism and Christianity. I do not consider you an anti-Semite, and in fact believe that the secularized ethnic Jews working to destroy your work are actually far more anti-Semitic than they claim you are in that they deny and/or defy the Torah, whereas you worship and revere its Author.  What defines a “Semite” (Shemite) if not Yahweh-worship? It certainly can’t be an ethnic connection to Shem (or Abraham or even Jacob) which virtually all humanity now shares because of genetic diffusion over millennia. No, it must be the practice of true Judaism, whose terms are defined by the Torah and Tanach (Old Testament Scripture), NOT the Talmud (commentaries on the Scripture by various Hebrew scholars with widely divergent views, values and validity).  Indeed, Judaism itself is as factional as Christianity but on a smaller scale, only because it’s so much smaller in numbers. Jews are not just doctrinally divided, but notoriously so! As the famous old joke goes “Ask two Jews, get three opinions.” Thus, to cite the view of any Talmudic “sage” as representative of all Jews or Judaism itself (as you did on page 56) is as intellectually dishonest as an anti-Christian Jew or Secular Humanist cherry-picking from the collective works of Christian scholars to define all Christianity.   You begin Chapter 4 “This is Not a ‘Judeo-Christian’ Movement” asserting that “Christianity and Judaism are totally distinct, incompatible, and irreconcilable religions.” In one essential sense that is true because, as you emphasize, Judaism denies that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. BUT, unlike all the other people groups of the world that also deny Christ (including all the secular factions in our diverse MAGA and populist/conservative movements whom you rightfully seem very comfortable collaborating with), true Torah-faithful Jews believe in A Messiah who will do all the things that Christians anticipate Jesus Christ will do on His second coming. Most Jews simply “missed the bus” on Jesus/Yeshua during His first advent (by God’s own plan), but remain standing in line for the next one, which Romans 11 tells us they WILL catch, when (as God adds in Zechariah 12:10) “I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced [and] mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”  You and I presumably share all or most of that would be considered the most fundamental tenets of the Christian faith, and many non-essential doctrines too. But we differ strongly on “supersessionism” (replacement theology) which you defend as the justification for your personal theology. Importantly, what you have laid out in “Christian Nationalism” is your personal theology, which does not represent Christianity as a whole, but only one slate of views among the constellation of denominations. That’s not a problem insofar as you admit it, and don’t attempt to impose your interpretations on non-essentials as dogma on the rest of Christendom. The flaw in your analysis of supersessionism (page 57) is the appeal to tradition (one of the classic fallacies of formal logic)  Whenever we justify ourselves by church tradition instead of the Bible itself, we depart from sound Holy Spirit guidance to tenuous worldly humanism – the common error behind Roman Catholicism’s self-authorizing “Magisterium” theory and Talmudic Judaism’s self-authorizing “Revered Sages” club. Correcting that error in Christendom was the implicit premise of the Reformation, but unfortunately, the reformers failed to reform numerous extra-biblical human-created doctrines in Protestantism, including the RCC’s dramatic changes to the God’s holiday calendar, the presumed right of the church to enforce dogma through murder (i.e. Calvin’s execution of Michael Servetus), and a severe Greco-Roman cultural bias in interpreting Scripture that differs markedly from the Hebraic cultural perspective of the Apostles and the Prophets. Many of those human-created doctrines were quickly jettisoned as Protestantism splintered into numerous factions, such as Presbyterianism that made the world-changing quantum shift from the top-down ecclesiastical power-pyramid exemplified by the papacy (and Anglicanism) to bottom-up self governance authorized by the “priesthood of all believers” and organized like the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15. THAT is the deepest foundation-stone of America and of the modern movement for constitutionalism (foreshadowed by the Magna Carta in 1215, also heavily influenced by Jews).  The process of getting from Scottish Presbyterianism to the Pilgrim Separatism of the Plymouth Colony was heavily influenced by Christian-Jewish cross-pollination. Indeed, I know from my studies of this, that there would never have been a US Constitution or the populist overthrow of the western monarchies if not for the 16th and 17th Century Hebraic Movement in Holland and Great Britain. And that is why America is and has always been “Judeo-Christian.” It has nothing to do with how many Jews were active in the physical founding of America, or how Christian-centric the first state constitutions were, it is simply an honest acknowledgment of the Jews’ role in nudging Christians back to their First Century heritage that made America possible: a shared intellectual property right, if you will, like co-authors of a book or a scientific theory.  Lastly, you asserted on page 61 “It is impossible to overstate the importance of the historic cataclysm that was the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD.” Sorry, but it not only IS possible, you have done it. If that post-millennial doctrine were true, the real proof would have been unmistakable over the next thousand years, especially the end, but of course, it didn’t look at all like the Millennial Kingdom of prophecy – because Christ’s earthly kingdom, while very near, has not yet begun. You would know that if you studied the Bible from the literal Hebraic perspective, but you don’t and I respect that as your right within the bounds of Christian liberty.  My point with the prior paragraph is to illustrate that factionalism will be the death-knell to any attempt to build unity on a theological foundation, which is why the Founders and subsequent Christian generations chose the broadest possible platform – Bible-based Yahweh-honoring monotheism (exemplified in our national motto, “In God we trust”) – and not any flavor of Christian sectarianism (which led to many serious conflicts among the denominations in our early days as a nation and thus the ban on establishing state “religions” – meaning “denominations” -- in the “Establishment Clause” of our constitution.)   I don’t expect you to change your theology based on one letter from me, but I do hope you will reconsider your gratuitous exclusionary rhetoric regarding our spiritual cousins in the House of Judah, treating at least the many who share our cultural values (and the all-important Creationist paradigm) with the same basic respect and comradery you show to Atheists in the MAGA and conservative movements. And I offer my assistance in making this necessary course-correction if you care to accept it.  Pastor Scott Lively, J.D., Th.D.

OUTRAGEOUS! Idaho Family Policy Center Cancelled by Tech Provider

 

Friends, We both know that standing for biblical principles can have serious ramifications. This reality hits us close to home. Recently, Idaho Family Policy Center was cancelled by the tech provider that distributed our email newsletter, maintained our lists, hosted our event registrations, processed our gifts, and facilitated our action center. Why? Supposedly we violated their arbitrary terms by supporting the sanctity of preborn life as well as advocating biblical marriage, gender, and sexuality. Frankly, we were cancelled because we're making a difference—and because our victories keep piling up. Perhaps they thought that they could slow us down by cancelling us. But if that was their goal, they made a major miscalculation. We are in the process of replacing our previous tech provider with new ones that share our values. At huge expense to our organization, we were able to salvage everything we need to keep operating. Thankfully, my team and I were prepared for this incident. Otherwise, it would have crippled our ministry. We knew this was going to come at some point. They want to silence anyone who stands for biblical truth and constitutional values—and they’re not going to stop until they successfully silence all of us. Will you help us stand strong against the woke leftist mobs aiming to destroy the Christian foundations of American society? A recurring gift of $35, $75, or $150 monthly – or a generous one-time gift of $200, $500, or $1,000 – will help us get back on our feet so we can keep advancing the lordship of Jesus Christ in the public square. We covet your prayers during these uncertain times, and we appreciate your continued support. By God’s grace, our path forward remains clear as we keep walking in obedience by faith.   Standing in the gap,

Blaine Conzatti President, Idaho Family Policy Center

P.S. We’re relaunching our podcast, Idaho Family Report! New episodes will feature my new co-host, Pastor Josh Bales of The Well Church, and will now be released weekly. On this week’s episode, Idaho Senate candidate Ben Toews (R - Coeur d’Alene) joins us to discuss the problematic drag shows that recently took place in front of children at Boise and Coeur d’Alene public parks. Idaho Family Report is currently available for you to stream or download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Anchor.

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Kari Lake for the Win: The Problem is the Whole System

Arthur,   What is it with the establishment elites HIDING from the people?   Joe Biden's been in the basement for months.    He pops out - delivers a massively unpopular plan for student loan forgiveness - and goes back to avoiding the public.    That peek-a-boo act must be written into the official Democrat playbook because my opponent, Katie Hobbs, is doing the exact same thing!    She refuses to debate. She refuses to show her face to the people of Arizona. If she's not making a plea to the radical left for more Soros money to fund her campaign, no one hears from her at all.   This unaccountable, ridiculous behavior is so typical of a political establishment that does not value the voice of the people. FIGHT BACK >>    Now, it should be clear by now...    I'm not hiding. That's because I'M NOT AFRAID.   I speak with the people every day because I believe that WE THE PEOPLE deserve to hear from both sides and get a fair idea of who will stand for you and who won't.   The silence is deafening.    While conservative leaders like me on the NEW RIGHT are open books...   The failing establishment elites are closed doors.  It's time for us to say OUT WITH THE OLD, and in with the NEW (RIGHT) so we can SAVE AMERICA from these out-of-touch narcissists. Are you with me?

SUPPORT KARI LAKE NOW >>

I'm telling you right now that I am a strong conservative who can get things done. I'm the transformative leadership we need. But you don't need to just take my word for it.    I'm endorsed by: President Donald Trump Governor Ron DeSantis Rudy Giuliani Marjorie Taylor Green Sheriff Joe Arpaio Richard Grenell  General Michael Flynn, and more...

JOIN PRESIDENT TRUMP: SUPPORT KARI LAKE >>

Together, we're going to unite to solve the problems America is facing right now. And trust me... there's a lot to do.  But I know I can make it happen because I've always been able to do anything I set my mind to. And that's not going to stop now!

I grew up in Iowa. There's not a lot to do there, but that's where I honed my work ethic.    I worked hard. I learned to fight. I gained that fighting spirit the old establishment GOP never had - that's what makes me a part of the NEW RIGHT.    I developed that backbone of steel - that "BDE" that President Trump and Governor Ron DeSantis have. And frankly, that we want all of our elected leaders to have.   Someone even recently told me "Kari, you're going to be the DeSantis of the West."    Other than being called "Trump in a Dress - which is my favorite compliment of all - that is the greatest compliment you could pay me.   To me, that means that you know when you elect me, you're going to get someone who fights for you every single day.    We are going to be so effective in Arizona.

SUPPORT KARI LAKE >>

Arthur, I promise you this, as the governor of Arizona, I will be the biggest pain in the ass Joe Biden's ever experienced.    I will unite with conservatives across the country to protect Arizona from this out-of-control federal government. We will save our states and return the power to WE, THE PEOPLE, where it belongs.   This is our moment to make it happen.

Arthur, let's not forget that the race for Governor of Arizona is one of the most important fights in the entire country.   It's our chance to prove to corporate media that we are stronger than the lies.    It's our chance to prove to the establishment elite that the NEW RIGHT is here to stay.   And it's our chance to SECURE OUR BORDER, defend our small businesses, defeat inflation, end leftist indoctrination and get our nation back on track.   Though the results took longer than they should have, Arizonans who have been forgotten by the establishment already delivered a POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE in the GOP primary. We won every single county in Arizona!   Now, all eyes are on us.    It's game time.   And I need you on my side.   Will you support our momentum?

Now, I don't care if you're with the Democrat Party, the Independent Party, the Republican Party, the Pizza Party, or the Pool Party - our policies are going to help every American.   We have to stand together and defeat the left so we can save America.    I hope that you will chip in now to support my campaign for Governor of Arizona.

SAVE AMERICA: SUPPORT KARI LAKE >>

Sincerely,

Kari Lake Candidate for Arizona Governor

Montana State Senate Candidate Pushes for Porn in Libraries

Kyle Waterman is an openly gay, Christian (?), Democrat running for Montana State Senate District 4.

He is trying hard to make himself seem bipartisan, when clearly he is a committed leftist trying to play off his Montana roots to turn Montana into New York or California.

What's worse, he wants to protect and promote pornography in Montana libraries. He stands with obscenity and perversion, all under the guise of "Diversity, Equity, Inclusion."

He brazenly claims to support literacy by promoting one of the most loathsome, offensive, pornographic books yet put into print: GenderQueer

Kyle Waterman, Fake Montanan
pushing porn on children in libraries

If you think that "GenderQueer" is safe reading for children, think again.

Here are some of the many perverse sections in the book (viewer discretion advised):

Daydreams of being a homosexual male and masturbating ...

Here, the girl is drawn to look convincingly like a teen boy while her sister persuades her to taste her vaginal fluid.

The mental illness in the LGBT "community" is understandable after seeing all this - clearly written by an "insider" to that sordid lifestyle.

 

More daydreams that these authors would like your kids to have ...

 

Take another look at the pages above, and ask yourself:

"Do you think a grown man who thinks images like the above should be available to children, should represent Montanans in Helena?"

There are pictures promoting sexual perversion and destruction, including pedophilia! Why would any right-thinking adult promote such vile material in any library, to any child?

Kyle Waterman wants everyone to think of him following in the footsteps of his liberal mother, who had served a long time ago in the state senate.

But the truth is that any man who thinks that pornography should be pushed on kids in libraries should not be trusted with any form of authority whatsoever.

REJECT Kyle Waterman for Montana State Senate District Four.

For more information, please visit MassResistance:

www.massresistance.org 

Phone: (781) 890-6001

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson: Rise UP, Pastor!

 

Watch as North Carolina's Lt. Governor Mark Robinson exhorts America's Pastors

My wife Cindy and I spent last weekend in Los Angeles with North Carolina Lt. Governor Mark Robinson and his wife Yolanda. As a quick reminder, we hosted 13 North Carolina pastors’ luncheons across the state featuring the Lt. Governor in 2021. 2,700 NC pastors and spiritual leaders participated. Of the 50 NC pastors and spiritual leaders who on May 17, 2022, ran for local office across the state, 25 won their primary, meaning that 25 will be on the November 8 ballot.   We are planning to organize another round of NC pastors’ luncheons in 2023, in order to recruit an additional 50, or even 75 North Carolina pastors and spiritual leaders to run for local office in 2024. This obviously will provide the best and most direct counterweight to cultic secularism’s heavy-handed manipulation of American culture and society.   A Christian counterweight is urgently needed. As Baptist theologian James Robert White expresses it: “History teaches us that enduring works of Christian insight flow forth from times of persecution and attack. As secularism rushes toward its inevitable totalitarian solutions, Christians need to think deeply concerning the issues that now confront us.”1   Cultural theologian and Christian apologist Dr. Joseph Boot latest book, Ruler of Kings: Toward a Christian Vision of Government, calls attention to the threat to freedom: “The current reality of the Church’s submission in the West to the cult of the State [with its] surrender to unprecedented lockdowns and illegal interference in church gathering, the collapse of civil liberties, the total control of education, expanded abortion, euthanasia, no-fault divorce law, the definition of marriage and family, homosexuality, and transgender issues [is clear].   “Because of the steady triumph of pagan humanism in the West, the modern world has seen the re-emergence of many archaic oddities, one of which is a self-anointed elite class - the intelligentsia - a secular substitute for pastor and priest.”2   To reinforce this point, a simple reading of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 shall be a boon for those obedient and a bane for those disobedient to God’s law and the covenant relationship with Him:   • You shall have no other Gods before me. • You shall not make for yourselves an idol. • You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God. • Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. • Honor your father and your mother. • You shall not murder. • You shall not commit adultery. • You shall not steal. • You shall not give false testimony. • You shall not covet.

In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court removed the Ten Commandments from public schools, courthouses, and government buildings in Stone v. Graham. In a 5-to-4 per curiam decision, the Court found that the requirement that the Ten Commandments be posted “had no secular legislative purpose” and was “plainly religious in nature.” The Court noted that the Commandments did not confine themselves to arguably secular matters [such as murder, stealing, etc.], but rather concerned matters such as the worship of God and the observance of the Sabbath Day.3   The ruling tied in with an earlier decision in the 1963 Abington School District v. Schempp case, in which an 8 to 1 vote led to the removal of the Bible from public education. The U.S. Supreme Court thereby established secularism as America’s official religion, based on the calculated but improvident view of secularism as being “neutral” and “non-religious”. Justice Potter Stewart [1915-1985] was the only one not fooled by the argument, rightfully asserting that the decision did not lead “to true neutrality with respect to religion, but to the establishment of a religion of secularism.”   The calamitous outcome of the secular religious creed of man as his own god and moral arbiter by now is clearly visible in present-day America’s steep moral decline and its wholesale diversity of perversity. Nihilism and hedonism set the discordant tone in today’s nation.   At the time when it still was One Nation [for each and every person] Under God, early America belonged to Christ alone. This will be confirmed by studying the state Charters and Constitutions of the original 13 colonies: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland ... as they established a Christian nation throughout the 17th and 18th century.

FREE Click on the image to receive your free e-book ‘The Original 13 A Documentary History of Religion in America’s first Thirteen States’ courtesy of author William J. Federer.   The American Founders understood that “fear of the Lord” above anything else is the prerequisite for acquiring knowledge and wisdom, as pronounced in Proverbs 1:7 and Proverbs 9:10. The Hebrew word translated into ‘awe’ in the Bible is yirah. It often directly translates into fear, like “fear of the Lord,” but it’s better understood as meaning respect, reverence, and worship. Respect for and obedience to God’s Word has been discarded completely over the last 75 years, resulting in such absurdities as secular education theories and the transgender reversal of biological laws.

Last Tuesday, September 15, we hosted our first Texas pastors’ event and our goal is to hold 20 TX pastors’ luncheons across the state in 2023. There are 13 congressional districts in North Carolina and 36 in Texas. For reaching an equivalent of our NC success in 2021, hosting 20 TX pastor luncheons in 2023 may lead to 125 to 150 TX pastors and spiritual leaders running for local offices across the state in 2024.   Cultural transformation is coming, thereby displacing the standard way of the last 100 years of measuring success in American Christendom with its buildings, budgets, and butts configuration. It entails a new model for apostolic leadership, where pioneers develop a multitude of leaders instead of merely feeding flocks of sheep. The new standard for measurement thus becomes: “How is the culture in my community doing?”4    Watch the last 5 minutes of our Dallas pastors’ luncheon:

Gideons and Rahabs are beginning to stand.   David Lane American Renewal Project   1. James R. White, apologist, theologian and author, and Director of Alpha and Omega Ministries in Phoenix, Arizona. 2. Joseph Boot, Ruler of Kings: Toward a Christian Vision of Government. 3. www.oyez.org/cases/1980/80-321 4. Joe Nicola, Ekklesia: The Government of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.