Huckabee stands by ‘Christ’ comments

As reported by CNN’s Rebecca Sinderbrand on December 31, 2007.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republican Mike Huckabee said Sunday he would not back down from a 1998 statement in which he said he hoped Baptists would “answer the alarm clock and take this nation back for Christ.”

The ordained Baptist minister made that remark at a meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention nearly a decade ago. On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Huckabee said that “it was a speech made to a Christian gathering, and certainly that would be appropriate to be said to a gathering of Southern Baptists.”[...]

Related video: Huckabee gets tough on Romney as polls tighten

[My Commentary]

It is nice to see that Huckabee is not abandoning his position just because he is running for president as others have done in the past. In the past, others in his position have been pragmatic in their campaigning. In case you may be not remember, I found these quotes from a NY Times article from 1988:

Mr. (Pat) Robertson is the founder of an evangelistic television ministry… But after polls showed that large numbers of voters were opposed to a minister’s running for President, he resigned his Southern Baptist ordination last year with the stroke of a pen.

AND

Mr. Robertson, now seeking to broaden his political base beyond the evangelical Christians who make up much of his support, cites the format of ”The 700 Club” in part when he insists that the news media should describe him, perhaps, as a former ”Christian broadcaster” but never as a former ”television evangelist.”

However, I could go on all day about Pat Robertson, so let me get back to my main focus. I applaud Governor Huckabee for standing firm. Maybe he learned it from Chuck.

Joel Osteen Believes Romney is a Christian

Sunday , December 23, 2007

WASHINGTON —

The following is a partial transcript of the Dec. 23, 2007, edition of “FOX News Sunday With Chris Wallace”:

WALLACE: And what about Mitt Romney? And I’ve got to ask you the question, because it is a question whether it should be or not in this campaign, is a Mormon a true Christian?

OSTEEN: Well, in my mind they are. Mitt Romney has said that he believes in Christ as his savior, and that’s what I believe, so, you know, I’m not the one to judge the little details of it. So I believe they are.

And so, you know, Mitt Romney seems like a man of character and integrity to me, and I don’t think he would — anything would stop me from voting for him if that’s what I felt like.

WALLACE: So, for instance, when people start talking about Joseph Smith, the founder of the church, and the golden tablets in upstate New York, and God assumes the shape of a man, do you not get hung up in those theological issues?

OSTEEN: I probably don’t get hung up in them because I haven’t really studied them or thought about them. And you know, I just try to let God be the judge of that. I mean, I don’t know.

I certainly can’t say that I agree with everything that I’ve heard about it, but from what I’ve heard from Mitt, when he says that Christ is his savior, to me that’s a common bond.

Here is a Youtube clip from Osteen talking about Romney on the Larry King show.

[My Commentary]

Dance, Joel, dance! It is amazing how when he is asked a theological question, he will use his lack of theological education as an excuse and explain with a big smile how the disciples didn’t have formal theological education. My problem Osteen is theological. Mr. Osteen, this what the Apostle Peter says about your preaching.

2 Peter 2:1-2 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

Time: Are Mega-Preachers Scandal-Prone?

With everything that is going on in the Prosperity Gospel movement, I found this Time article today. In it is a quote by Al Molher which I find that very truthful.

By DAVID VAN BIEMA - Friday, Sep. 28, 2007

Juanita Bynum’s story may read like soap opera, but her travails are a reminder of the longtime magnetism between celebrity Pentecostal preachers and scandal. The 48-year-old regular on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) made her reputation with a sermon renouncing pre-marital sex to search for a holy partner. She appeared to find one in a minister named Thomas Weeks III, wed him in a $1 million on-air ceremony, and together they went out to preach and teach the perfect Christian marriage. Then, in August she accused him of badly beating her in a parking lot (he has been charged, but claims he “walked away” from the confrontation), and said she planned to seek a divorce — and to become the “new face of domestic violence.” A dramatic reversal of fortunes, certainly, but hardly the first in her particular corner of Christianity. [...]

Some critics, such as Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Southern Theological Seminary, see the movement as hardwired for scandal. “The Charismatic movement is so driven by emotion and by passion that it sometimes lacks both theological and moral accountability,” he says.

[My Commentary]

Help! I must be stuck in a time warp! I feel like I am living 1987 all over again.

Televangelist refuses to turn over more financial documents

By Carol Costello
CNN Washington Bureau

(CNN) — Georgia televangelist Creflo Dollar is refusing to turn over any more financial documents to the Senate Finance Committee, even though they are overdue.

Creflo Dollar says if Sen. Charles Grassley wants more information, he’ll have to subpoena him to testify.

Last month, the committee’s ranking Republican, Sen. Charles Grassley, asked Dollar and five other TV and megachurch preachers to provide him detailed reports on how they’re spending billions of dollars in church donations. He wants to make sure their ministries aren’t violating their tax-exempt status by spending church donations on personal luxuries.

Five of the six ministries have either turned over documents or asked Grassley for more time, which the senator readily agreed to give them.

But Dollar and his World Changers Church have refused, and he’s hired a lawyer. He said if Grassley wants more information he’ll have to subpoena him to testify before the committee.

The Iowa senator is surprised by Dollar’s ultimatum. “If he sticks to his guns,” Grassley said, “this will be the first nonprofit that I know of that hasn’t cooperated with us over the last five or six years.”[...]

Watch why Dollar doesn’t want to turn over the documents »

[My Commentary]

If I may quote Coskid’s comment: What do they have to hide? The Billy Graham Association always gave its financial records when asked. As Southern Baptists, we can ask our agency heads to give an account as when Ben Cole asked the ERLC for financial records. As Ben Cole said:

…I was grateful that Rev. Lane was so transparent and thorough in his responses, even providing information that I did not request in the interest of full accountability to Southern Baptist churches.

…no Southern Baptist should have cause to question the fiscal responsibility and full transparency of the agency.

So, I ask the question to Creflo Dollar:

What do you have to hide?

Calvinism & Southern Baptists: Frank Page

Posted on Dec 17, 2007 in the Baptist Courier.

TAYLORS, S.C. (BP)–The issue of Calvinism has been at the forefront of many articles and discussions in our convention.

A conference on Calvinism recently was held at Ridgecrest in North Carolina, co-sponsored by Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Founders Ministries. Though I was unable to attend the conference, except for a very brief time of greeting, it is my understanding that the conference was a wonderful event where solid, healthy discussion took place. [...]

For more information on the Church Family Plan or the Church Group Plan, call us toll-free at 1-888-667-4693 or email subs@baptistcourier.com.

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‘Gospel of Wealth’ Facing Scrutiny

By ERIC GORSKI,

AP

Posted: 2007-12-27 14:57:55

The message flickered into Cindy Fleenor’s living room each night: Be faithful in how you live and how you give, the television preachers said, and God will shower you with material riches.

And so the 53-year-old accountant from the Tampa, Fla., area pledged $500 a year to Joyce Meyer, the evangelist whose frank talk about recovering from childhood sexual abuse was so inspirational. She wrote checks to flamboyant faith healer Benny Hinn and a local preacher-made-good, Paula White.

Only the blessings didn’t come. Fleenor ended up borrowing money from friends and payday loan companies just to buy groceries. At first she believed the explanation given on television: Her faith wasn’t strong enough.

“I wanted to believe God wanted to do something great with me like he was doing with them,” she said. “I’m angry and bitter about it. Right now, I don’t watch anyone on TV hardly.”

All three of the groups Fleenor supported are among six major Christian television ministries under scrutiny by a senator who is asking questions about the evangelists’ lavish spending and possible abuses of their tax-exempt status. [...]

[My Commentary]

The six Televangelists are Joyce Meyer, Bennie Hinn, Eddie Long, Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar and Paula White. Cindy Fleenor is not the first person to be in this situation. My father delivered mail after World War II and I remember his stories of seeing poor farm families sending checks to some of the pioneers of the Prosperity Gospel while their children walked barefoot in the winter. My mother worked as a nurse in a nursing home and told me about senior adults who sent their monthly checks to these type of ministries. Michael Reid and Victor Stephens have written well documented articles about the Prosperity Gospel. I recommend for further reading Bill Poore’s post and Dwight Easler’s observations. A book that I found very enlightening was The Agony of Deceit by Michael Horton.

I am reminded of the words of Peter:

2 Pet 2:1-3 [NIV] But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them–bringing swift destruction on themselves.
Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

Huckabee Goes Hunting

WASHINGTON (CNN) — It’s become a campaign staple for all presidential candidates: perform an activity that demonstrates ‘regular-guy’ status.

Republican Mike Huckabee took his turn Wednesday, going on a pheasant hunt in Osceola, Iowa during which the Arkansas governor made it clear he is no stranger to the great outdoors.

“Maybe it will show that I certainly understand the culture of being outdoors,” he said of the expedition. “It’s not something we had to go out and get a primer in. It’s very much ordinary to me.”

Huckabee’s team brought back three pheasants — one of which the candidate claimed he personally shot — and promised they’d be “cleaned and eaten.” [...]

[My Commentary]

Where’s Dick Cheney? He likes to hunt, too!

Hair Promoted At Martha Franks

Hair promoted at Martha Franks
Dina Hair, a longtime staff member at Martha Franks Baptist Retirement Community, has been named administrator of the Laurens facility. Read more.

[My Commentary]

As a follicle challenged male, I am in favor of anyone promoting Hair.

In the words of Foghorn Leghorn, “That’s a joke, son.”

Seriously, the staff and trustees of our Ministries of the Aging have done a fantastic job in managing this vital ministry for our state and putting it on firm footing. Don’t forget the Mother’s Day offering for the Ministry of the Aging will be upon us soon.

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The Kitty of Death

Kitty of Death? Oscar the cat, who lives at a nursing home and hospice in Providence, R.I., showed an uncanny knack for predicting when patients were going to die by curling up next to them during their final hours.

[My Commentary]

I read this on AOL today as one of the weird stories of 2007. I just wonder if the Jaws theme plays when this cat comes down the hall. Wouldn’t you expect a black cat with this nickname?