Surviving the Liberal Left

Today as America remembers the 7th anniversary of 9/11 I came across an article posted on the Reuters new service "No consensus on who was behind Sept 11 - global poll". Considering Osama Bin Laden's boasting of having coordinated the dastardly deed, his failed 1st attempt at mass murder in 1993 and the thousands of terrorist wannabes dancing in the streets of Jenin; I suspect we know whodunit.

Tragically, since 9/11, the "American" liberal left have increasingly sown doubt and division for the purpose of political gain while putting the lives of thousands of people worldwide in peril. The terrorists are grateful for their allies in the the liberal left as they have lost substantial credibility (the terrorists) since the outing of Pallywood. If you are not familiar with the term, Pallywood is the slang name applied to the staged propaganda "news footage" terrorist give to liberal western media outlets who then report it as fact. Perhaps my favorite is the Palestinian funeral procession of a man "killed" by the Israelis who jumps back on the bier when the pallbearers drop him.

Muslims blame the Jews for 9/11 (as they do for everything from sun spots to bad breath) but it's hard to take Islamic news agencies seriously when they freely peddle fictions like Jews murdering Christians to use their blood to make matzo bread for passover. I expect Muslims to hate America because they are spoon fed hatred for the west from birth but what can you say for "American" liberals? A number of them act like they are in competition with Muslims to put Americans in harms way? Rosie O'Donnell on nationwide TV accused our troops of torturing a forced confession out of Osama Bin Laden's right hand man. And thanks to Michael Moore some now believe that George Bush planned 9/11 as an excuse to invade Iraq. Even liberal church pastors are buying into the hate America mantra.

Rich Nathan, pastor of the 7000 member, Vineyard Church of Columbus, has joined the liberal left and has repeatedly scolded the evangelical Christian right from the pulpit as being "the most pro-war constituency in America". Mr. Nathan's biased remarks are not only rude and offensive but they are slanderous and inaccurate. I can not say that I know of one evangelical who is "pro war" but I know of many who are aware of the 11,900+ terrorist attacks worldwide in the 7 years since 9/11. We fight against a culture of death, where Muslim mothers praise the virtue of Jihad and send their children off to become human bombs in the name of "The Religion of Peace".

Since it's miraculous rebirth in 1948 the tiny nation of Israel has born the brunt of relentless terrorist attacks on a daily basis. Regarding their many military conflicts with the Arabs, Golda Meir, their 4th Prime Minster said:

We don’t thrive on military acts. We do them because we have to, and thank God we are efficient.

We too are faced with with a prolonged war against stateless terrorists but America liberals are encouraging terrorists to keep fighting the good fight while demoralizing our citizens and our troops. In his misguided ambition Mr. Nathan went so far as join 138 "Christian" leaders to "apologize" to Muslims in the name of "the All-Merciful One" for the Crusades and for being proactive in trying to prevent another 9/11:

we want to begin by acknowledging that in the past (e.g. in the Crusades) and in the present (e.g. in excesses of the “war on terror”) many Christians have been guilty of sinning against our Muslim neighbors. Before we “shake your hand” in responding to your letter, we ask forgiveness of the All-Merciful One and of the Muslim community around the world.

Referring to God as the "All-Merciful One" sounds like they're afraid to say "Jesus" to Muslims, and leaves the impression that they think Muslims are not smart enough to see through a childish word play. As Muslim clerics have not come forth with a similar "apology" for the 11,900+ terrorist attacks since 9/11 or the abuses of the Ottoman empire, some of us can't get over the feeling that Muslim clerics are having a good laugh at our expense while they sharpen their swords for war.

If that were not enough, Rich Nathan hosted a 3 day "Justice Revival" back in April with Jim Wallis of Sojourners as the featured speaker. You may recall Barack Obama's radical pastor Jeremiah Wright. Jim Wallis defended Jeremiah Wright's radical "God d**n America" rantings referring to them as "prophetic truth telling". Jim Wallis has so distinguished himself in the hate America brigade that he has achieved the dubious honor of a pat on the head by the Aljazeera news website. Aljazeera, the favorite news agency of Islamic terrorists everywhere lavished high praise on Jim Wallis referring to him as an "American wise clergyman" for his denunciation of the "American extremist right". Aljazerra also recently gave Cindy Sheehan face time to bash America, stump for her run for political office (in America) and protest the trial of 40 Muslim Brotherhood terrorist suspects.

Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler lead to a far longer and far more costly WWII and to his enduring shame he bartered away strategic defensive positions of someone else's country (Czechoslovakia) for an empty promise of "peace in our time". No one seems to know who asked Rich Nathan or Jim Wallis to be our spokesmen or to make American evangelicals look like fools. They have given credibility to the lie that Islamic terrorists have valid reasons for wanting to commit mass murder in the name of "the religion of peace". The Arabs do not have peace because they do not want peace. Golda Meir said it so very well:

Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.

These liberal pastors make like to bask in the sunshine of the praise of terrorists but they are putting the lives of thousands of people in danger. Lets hope these liberals figure that out before we see a mushroom cloud over New York.

Sojourning Socialists: an INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY editorial

Election '08: Barack Obama has joined forces with a white socialist he calls a "good friend" — the Rev. Jim Wallis, founder of "Sojourners." He too believes in "liberation theology," sans the black nationalism. In fact, Wallis is the white version of Jeremiah Wright, sans the black rage.

In addition to publishing "Sojourners" magazine, Wallis runs Call to Renewal — a network of liberal churches and activist groups "committed to ending poverty and racism."

Wright once joined Wallis at the U.S. Capitol in an anti-poverty "preach-in" sponsored by Call to Renewal.

Jim Wallis is more eloquent than Obama's former mentor, Jeremiah Wright, but preaches the same anti-American message.

Wallis and his Washington-based operation have essentially replaced Wright and his militantly Afrocentric Chicago church, which Obama expediently dumped in the heat of the primary race after videos surfaced of his fire-breathing preacher damning America.

The avuncular, noncombative Wallis offers Obama a voting bloc that Wright could never help deliver: white Christian evangelicals, if in Birkenstocks.

At the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Obama tapped Wallis to oversee the drafting of the faith-based plank of the party platform (which, by the way, champions outreach programs for "ex-offenders").

"This is a very faith-friendly convention," Wallis said. "I think Democrats have really gone through an important change." But their newfound faith is not one most mainline Christians would even recognize, let alone embrace.

Like Wright and Obama, Wallis believes that biblical faith compels radical social action. Their political ministry is called the "social gospel," but it's really just socialism dressed up in a cheap tunic. They refuse to separate personal faith from political activism, whether at home or abroad.

In the '80s, for example, Wallis and Wright rallied to the cause of the communist regime in Nicaragua, and protested the U.S. arming of the Contra rebels. Wallis, in fact, marshaled thousands of "Witnesses for Peace" and joined them in Nicaragua, making it known they were willing to take a bullet to stop the anti-communist insurgency.

Wallis is more eloquent than Wright, but he preaches the same anti-American message. According to discoverthenetworks.org, he once called the U.S. "the great power, the great seducer, the great captor and destroyer of human life, the great master of humanity and history in its totalitarian claims and designs."

Like Obama, Wallis got his start in Chicago, where he too was involved in community organizing. He forged ties with black gang leaders, including at least one known cop-killer.

While agitating in Chicago, Wallis published a newspaper called the "Post-American," which was printed by the same radicals who put out the Black Panther paper. Now in D.C., he presides at funerals of gangbangers and runs a commune in the ghetto that romanticizes blight and mocks efforts at urban renewal.

"I don't know which is the worst evil," he said in a 1994 interview with the Los Angeles Times magazine, "the crackhouse or the gentrified house."

Wallis agrees with Obama that American racism and capitalism are to blame for inner-city poverty, and echoes his oft-repeated call for "economic justice." They share a spread-the-wealth vision, including subsidizing the working poor beyond expanded tax credits and minimum-wage hikes.

"The Bible says prosperity has to be shared," Wallis said in a January 2000 interview with IBD. "It's very simple."

"So far the rising tide is lifting all the yachts, but not the boats the poor inner-city kids are in," he said, adding that the stock market has created a "casino economy."

Wallis likes to think of himself and his sojourners as "progressives." But "they're really just socialists," said David Kelley, director of the Objectivist Center in New York.

Wallis may couch his Bolshevist views today. But in 1979, he was quoted in the journal "Mission Tracks" saying he hoped that "more Christians will come to view the world through Marxist eyes."

Obama is one who's seen the light. While delivering the keynote address for Wallis at his Call to Renewal 2006 conference in Washington, he condemned the "idolatry of the free market" and professed: "I believe in the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change."

Wallis says Obama is the kind of leader he's been searching for, one who's "responsive to social movements." "Barack Obama talks about 'being our brother's keeper' and how he finds a faith that does justice to be compelling to him," he said in a recent interview.

But it's not just "movements" that Wallis has in mind. He recently wrote the foreword to a leftist book titled, "The Revolution: A Field Manual for Changing Our World."

Wallis is also an anti-military pacifist who fasted for 47 days to protest last decade's popular Gulf War.

Like his fellow traveler Obama, he believes 21st Century America is guilty of "structural injustice and social oppression" aimed at blacks. His Sojourners magazine features radical professor Cornel West as a contributing editor. West, a black Marxist, is working as an adviser to Obama's campaign.

Wallis put another radical professor, James Cone, on his Sojourners editorial board. Cone is Wright's mentor and the father of black liberation theology, a Marxist version of Christianity that worships a white-hating black Jesus.

"Together," Cone said, "black religion and Marxist philosophy may show us a way to build a completely new society."

Wallis, who once regularly attended black liberation churches in his hometown of Detroit, has no problem with that. He says his mission is to "sojourn with others in different faith and traditions" toward a common goal of "social justice."

Now he's hoping to sojourn his way into the White House with Obama, whose favorite scripture happens to be a verse from Chronicles referencing sojourners: "For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers." (He quotes from it in his first memoir; in fact, it sits strangely alone on what should be his dedication page.)

Such foes of capitalism and apologists for communism belong in communes, not national leadership. Better they sojourn their way completely out of American politics.

Vineyard Columbus, Sojourners and paganism

Vineyard Columbus hosted a 3 day "Justice Revival" in April 2008 featuring Jim Wallis of Sojourners as the featured speaker. Some were highly concerned that Vineyard Columbus should allow Jim Wallis, a far left political figure to be the featured speaker at a "revival". Jim Wallis; founder of Sojourners also hosts the controversial and far left "God's Politics" blog site. The far left political nature of Jim Wallis is abundantly clear in his "God's Politics" blogs. Mr Wallis writes love letter blogs for even the most pro-abortion liberals and blistering attacks for conservatives. Mr Wallis continued to stump for liberal politics at the Justice Revival. The politics were slightly more veiled but it was still political stumping.

Competing with the concerns over Jim Wallis's politics were the Sojourners magazines being passed out at the "revival". Many valid Christian organizations have periodicals but no "Christian" magazines I know of carry ads for retreats that teach Buddhism or workshops for pagan idol worship. Additionally, the Sojourners magazine itself is a laundry list of far left political politics including articles like "The Green Gospel" which argued that the essential moral assignment of our time was caring for the environment.

The September 2007 issue of Sojourners Magazine we obtained from the Sojourners table at the revival had a large 1/2 page ad for the "Mandela Center" (www.mandalacenter.org)

The Merriam Webster online dictionary defines "Mandela" as:

a Hindu or Buddhist graphic symbol of the universe; specifically : a circle enclosing a square with a deity on each side that is used chiefly as an aid to meditation

An excerpt from the The Mandala Center's mission statement:

The Mandala Center has an inclusive view on how each person may experience God. There are many pathways, many understandings of God. God is far more expansive than one person can understand, and we are not limited to one interpretation of the Divine.

The ads for a Buddhist retreat and a "Divine Feminine" workshop were among the retreats on the large 1/2 page ad.

• What is Buddhism? An exploration of Buddhist teachings and practice. (Oct 5 - 7); Introduction to Buddhism for those who want to understand this spiritual tradition. Teaching, discussion, instruction and experience in Tibetan Buddhist Meditation. Taught by Don Handrick, Buddhist practitioner and teacher.

• Ancient images/Modern Icons: art making and the Divine Feminine (Oct 10 - 14); Hands on workshop combines interactive pictorial lectures with studio art making as participants develop their understanding of the Sacred Feminine (taught by Mary Saracino).

If you do not know what "the Divine Feminine" is, please review this additional information from the teacher's (Mary Saracino) website:(http://www.marysaracino.com/index.html)

Divine Feminine Workshops

Mary’s been an independent scholar of the Divine Feminine for over 30 years.

In addition to self-study and research, she has participated in two Dark Mother study tours (Sicily in 2001 & Sardegna in 2004) guided by Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, Ph.D., author of Black Madonnas and Dark Mother.

Mary’s Divine Feminine workshops are an interactive, pictorial adventure. Full of 100s of images of the feminine face of God, the information she presents arises from experiential research, on-site visits to archaeological ruins, museums, and churches as well as her insatiable appetite for reading scholarly works on all aspects of women’s spirituality.

Reclaiming Our Mother:
A three-part workshop on the Feminine Divine

Join Mary in a pictorial exploration of Paleolithic cave art and goddess figurines, Neolithic icons and modern-day Black Madonna images. Trace the multi-millennial memory of the Sacred Feminine and uncover the roots of the primordial “Mother of Us All.”

Humankind’s first deity was dark, female, and African. Who is this Feminine Face of the Divine? And what can contemporary society glean from her values of justice with compassion, mercy, equality and transformation?

To Jim Wallis and Sojourners I must ask: Why is Sojourners, a supposedly Christian ministry, accepting advertising for Buddhism retreats and Divine Feminine workshops featuring "100s of images of the feminine face of God"?

A number of people were very grieved when they discovered that materials including pagan ads had been passed out at the Justice Revival, by Sojourners. Consequently, some (including myself) brought it to the attention of senior Columbus Vineyard pastors. What was very disturbing was how quickly Vineyard pastors dismissed materials they had not even seen. On June 5th I asked Rich Nathan and another senior Vineyard pastor if they had read any of Jim Wallis extremely partisan "God's Politics" blogs and they both said no. I asked them if they would be interested in being given a copy of the Sojourners magazine with the pagan ads but they declined. Rich Nathan brushed aside the pagan ads saying that because it was an ad and not an article that it was not really a problem. Rich Nathan continued to maintain that Jim Wallis was a model Christian and was fully open to bringing him back.

Several people (including 2 or 3 Vineyard pastors) tried to warn Rich Nathan about Jim Wallis before the Justice Revival but he continues to defended the Justice Revival citing the 150 people that came forward as evidence of good fruit. In response, I must point out that an unspecified number of people including kinship leaders and long time members permanently left Vineyard Columbus because they were distressed by the politicization of the church. One kinship leader said that he noticed that attendance was down by several hundred people immediately following the revival. What value should we place on those people who consciences were so wounded as to compel them to leave?

And how do we measure the influence (good or bad) that mixing paganism with Jesus will have? Will the Holy Spirit of God be pleased or offended and what will the consequences be? What value should we place on that? I must ask: Was there no one available to speak who would not open a door to demonic realms with ads for pagan worship? Was there no one available who was not deeply embroiled in partisan politics?

Finally, when Jesus told told the disciples to let down their nets for a catch the results were nothing short of miraculous. When Billy Graham came to speak at Cooper stadium thousands of people came forward. Just last month, a small church just down the road from my house had 300 people come forward during their 3 day outdoor tent revival. While we rejoice with every salvation; 150 people coming forward at a 7000 member mega church does not seem like feasting, it seems more like famine.

Jim Wallis, Sojourners and abortion

One of the Sojourners buzz words is "A consistent ethic of life". This quirky sounding phrase is the latest catch phrase for opposing capital punishment. Knowing that the Bible lists about 30 capital crimes (for crimes such as rape and murder) one wonders why Sojourners (supposedly Christian) would advocate something clearly contrary to Biblical law which we know to be Pure, Holy, Righteous and given by inspiration of God.

Knowing that Jim Wallis is a far left liberal, I was tempted (at first) to take consolation in the thought that he would at least protect the lives of unborn children (part of a "consistent ethic of life") but that hope was short lived.

If you don't want to end abortion, then you don't really think it's murder in the 1st place. Jim Wallis claims to be pro-life but considering his writings and actions, it's hard to put any stock in that claim.

Consider this book excerpt:

If the Democrats could take the opportunity of a political defeat to really reassess their language and style, the way they morally frame public policy issues, and their cultural disconnect with too many Americans including many people of faith, they could transform the political discourse. But it will require a serious re-assessment. And if they are further willing to re-examine their positions on some of the cultural/moral issues the Republicans beat them with in 2004, they could virtually change the political landscape. If the Democrats could be persuaded by both good political sense and sound moral values to moderate some of their positions by becoming anti-abortion without criminalizing an agonizing and desperate choice, and being pro-family without being anti-gay, they would change politics in America by giving permission to millions of voters who would naturally vote for them except for the cultural and moral divide they feel with Democratic language and policies.

"becoming anti-abortion without criminalizing an agonizing and desperate choice". Wallis pro-life "stance" is a gutless, hand wringing, retreat, compared to the rage filled, blistering personal attacks he has launched against various political enemies. Jim Wallis began frothing at the mouth in February when some local Cincinnati DJ kept referring to Barack Obama as Barack "Hussein" Obama. Why could not Jim Wallis save some of that rage in an effort to save millions babies from "an agonizing and desperate choice".

Not to make too fine of a point but Obama is so staunchly pro-abortion that he even voted against the Illinois Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Bill which would have protected babies who managed to survive botched abortions. Live babies were left to die after surviving botched abortions, yet Wallis has continually come out swinging hard and fast against Obama's political opponents. In contrast, even NARLA did not oppose the bill.

Save the serial killers but unborn babies are little more than mud to be scrapped off on the unwelcome mat. I console myself with the thought that the Lord Jesus will carry those little ones to a place so wonderful that the horror of their premeditated murder will be but a memory too faded to remember. As for Jim Wallis, I guess whatever political candy Wallis thinks Obama will be handing out is more valuable than the lives of the 1,000,000 + babies who will die this year in the name of convenience.

Holy Father how did we come to this? Our nation is not fit to live, please either remove this murder of infants from us or in mercy, end our lives that we not continue in this shame and wickedness.

As Ohio Goes, So Goes This Nation

At a "Justice Revival" in April 2008, hosted at the 7000 member mega church Vineyard Columbus, Rich Nathan the senior pastor said not once but twice that the "revival" was not about politics. If that was not strange enough, Rich Nathan insisted that the "revival" would be "pushed into the tired political boxes of right and left". Unable to imagine Billy Graham making such a pronouncement at his revivals, the mere fact that Mr Nathan felt he had to quash criticism with a preemptive strike is a splinter in rational minds. How could a "revival" possibly be confused with politics? It soon became clear that Rich Nathan's comments were meant to quell murmurings about some of the highly controversial speakers, such as Jim Wallis who fiercely advocates political solutions to national and global social problems.

Mr. Wallis is very controversial and is a liberal left political figure as deeply involved in partisan politics as Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. Mr Wallis hosted "Pentecost 2007", a political rally for liberal democrat presidential candidates; Edwards, Hillary and Obama.  Mr Wallis's blog "God's Politics" came out swinging to defend Barack Obama (who advocates abortion and gay marriage). Wallis even defended Obama's pastor Jeremiah Wright's hate speech as "prophetic truth telling".
Minutes after assuring the audience that the revival was not about politics, as though he had not heard himself, Rich Nathan added:

"part of the reason we are doing this Justice revival in Columbus is because you know, as Columbus goes so goes Ohio, and as Ohio goes so goes this nation"

--> This statement (repeated several times during the Justice Revival) makes little sense outside the purely political fact that Ohio is a vital election swing state. Historically which ever candidate wins Ohio wins the presidency. Wikipedia said this regarding "swing states" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_state

"Ohio has often been considered a swing state, particularly during the 2004 election, having voted with the winner in every election since 1948 except for 1960. It has often been said that "as Ohio goes, so goes the nation."

1. As Ohio Goes, So Goes the Nation...Again, Kate Snow, ABC World News, November 6, 2007
2. As Ohio Goes, So Goes The Nation. Sometimes., "The Washington Post" March 6, 2008

There was much more about the Justice Revival that smacked of liberal partisan politics than can be mentioned here but the idea that the Justice Revival was not about politics is just plain wrong.  Mr Wallis's "God's Politics" blog site gushes praise for even the far left liberal politicians like Ted Kennedy and Barack Obama while aiming un-christ like blistering criticism of conservative politicians (like President Bush).

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but let's not wrap our politics in swaddling clothes and claim that it's a revival.

Social Justice, Vineyard Columbus and "gay rights"

The Vineyard Church of Columbus, a the 7000 member mega-church pastored by Rich Nathan hosted a 3 day “Justice Revival” back in April. On the 2nd night attendees were scolded by Shane Claiborne because he said the church was perceived as being "anti-gay". Mr Claiborne ended in a high spirited proclamation that the Vineyard was going to show that they weren't “anti-gay, judgmental and hypocritical”. Mr Claiborne is one of several "friends” who writes blogs for Jim Wallis “God's Politics” blog (as does Rich Nathan). It should be noted that Jim Wallis, the featured speaker at the “Justice Revival” openly promotes homosexual rights as a “Social Justice” issue. Considering that only homosexuals were mentioned in Mr Claiborne's generous proclamation (and not generically extended to all the lost and fallen) serious Christians rightly question if Mr Claiborne was merely advancing a shared goal from the Vineyard Columbus pulpit.

During the”Justice Revival” Mr Wallis, who founded Sojourners repeatedly referred to evangelist Charles Finney who signed people up at his revivals to end slavery. About 3 weeks after the Justice Revival, Sojourners sent a “survey” to revival attendees which included an invitation for volunteers to work on a bounty of liberal political issues including “GLBTQ rights” (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer "rights"). Will Vineyard members be helping homosexuals fight for same-sex-marriage and adoption "rights" during this election year cycle?

Several comments by Rich Nathan have made it into several openly gay news and blog sites including an Associated Press story is also being quoted in gay news sites. 365gay.com had an article “Evangelical Group Seeks To Move Away From Anti-Gay Focus”:

An evangelical group that wants to reshape the movement's political reputation for being focused on opposing abortion and same-sex marriage is hoping that a series of meetings stressing its roots in women's suffrage and abolition will help it break out of the mold.

"Lots of people feel that the evangelical label has been taken captive by a very narrow political program," said the Rev. Rich Nathan, senior pastor at The Vineyard Church of Columbus, which is hosting the revival. "Folks don't feel that that represents them. Many of the so-called evangelical leaders are saying, we didn't elect these people, they don't represent us. How did they become our spokespeople? How did this narrow agenda become our agenda?"

The Bible is very clear about what is sin and what is not. Rich Nathan may argue that he does not support gay rights or marriage but when he says such things and allows such things to happen in his church at a so called “Justice Revival” mature Christians may rightly raise questions.

Rich Nathan's hand is on the tiller of the Columbus Vineyard and he is responsible not only for what his guest speakers say but also where his guest speakers lead the sheep under his charge.

The Desperate Need To Learn Wisdom

In his May congregational email entitled “The Desperate Need To Learn Civility As A Church And As A Culture” Rich Nathan, a gifted public speaker, expressed dismay and scolded the uncivil language a number of people used when expressing how upset they were about the Justice Revival. But just last month Mr Nathan threw civility under the bus taking potshots at creationists and global warming skeptics from the pulpit. Nathan performed impersonations of creationists and global warming skeptics as 2 dimensional, Archie Bunker stereotypes at a service for teenagers and 20 somethings. Using creationists and global warming skeptics as object lessons of people who “were not the brightest or sharpest knife in the drawer” Nathan went so far as to imply that they were waging a “culture war against science”. The teenagers roared with laughter at Nathan's uncivil remarks but those of us with gray hair know that you have to watch what you say to the young-uns as they are not known for their discernment and will learn to mimic his contempt and unchrist like treatment of others (especially creationists).

As Paul's letters to Timothy point out; church leaders need to be held accountable to a high standard of conduct but when that involves a popular speaker like Nathan, bringing accountability becomes not only more difficult but also more important. Hero worship of a charismatic leader can lead to a feeling of invincibility in a pastor and the feeling that the pastor can say or do no wrong in the congregation. When combined with a Jesus as pacifist mentality in the congregation, holding a pastor accountable becomes even harder.

I hope that the parents of all those teenagers are merely unaware of Mr Nathan's bad behavior and not condoning it by their silence.

Peeling back the veil of Social Justice

Rich Nathan and Jim Wallis hosted a so called “Social Justice” revival back in April of 08 and Nathan continues to advocate "Social Justice" from the pulpit. Not being a biblical term, "Social Justice" is little more than a fuzzy buzz word to most people. If you asked 10 people what “Social Justice” was you would likely get 11 different answers (yes, I meant to say 11). What exactly is Social Justice?

Ever heard of Barack Obama's friend and political fund raiser (**) William (Bill) Ayers? Bill Ayers is a leading Social Justice advocate. He has written books on Social Justice including “Teaching for Social Justice” and as a tenured professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago is teaching “social justice” to your children's future teachers. Here us a link to one of his many “Social Justice” books:

William [ Bill ] Ayers - Teaching for Social Justice: A Democracy and Education Reader

Did you hear the joke... what do Barack Obama and Osama Bin Laden have in common??? They both have friends who bombed the nation's capitol. A few may recall that Bill Ayers is a 70's era domestic terrorist from a group called the "weathermen". The weathermen bombed about 2 dozen buildings across America (police stations, the Capitol and the Pentagon) to aid the Vietnamese communists during the Vietnam war. Bill Ayers published his book "Fugitive Days" on 9/11, 2001 and on this dark day in American history, as America was reeling from it's deadliest terrorist attack on American soil was quoted as saying "I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough". Mr. Ayers, published a memoir celebrating his exploits, and once described himself as ''guilty as hell, free as a bird.''

You don't have to dig too deep to discover that Social Justice is just the modern buzz word for Marxism (which Ayers advocates). Here are a few quotes from Bill Ayers:

“We need to look beyond our isolated situations, to define our problems globally. We cannot be child advocates . . . in Chicago or New York and ignore the web that links us with the children of India or Palestine.”

“In a truly just society there would be a greater sharing of the burden, a fairer distribution of material and human resources.”

For another course, titled “Improving Learning Environments,” Ayers proposes that teachers “be aware of the social and moral universe we inhabit and . . . be a teacher capable of hope and struggle, outrage and action, a teacher teaching for social justice and liberation.”

Here are 2 articles revealing some of the very disturbing things Ayers and friends are teaching our children's teachers about “Social Justice” such as "Math for Social Justice".

The Ed Schools’ Latest—and Worst—Humbug by Sol Stern

Obama's Little Red Schoolhouse

One of Ayers' descriptions for a course called "Improving Learning Environments" says a prospective K-12 teacher needs to "be aware of the social and moral universe we inhabit and . . . be a teacher capable of hope and struggle, outrage and action, teaching for social justice and liberation."

Rich Nathan may object saying that he is not advocating bombings (and he is not) but the very real and dangerous point, is the meaning of this very fuzzy, un-biblical term "Social Justice". As Bill Ayers is writing the leading educational text books on Social Justice. And he is teaching the teachers who will be in our classrooms and on our school boards, about Social Justice, I would say that Ayers has the last say on what "Social Justice" will or will not mean to the millions of school children who will be indoctrinated into what this unrepentant domestic terrorist has to say.

** Ayers and Obama served on the woods board together and Ayers hosted fund raiser parties for Obama at his house.

Understanding Jim Wallis

In April of 2008 I attended what was called a “Justice Revival.” With my wife, we attended all three nights, plus the special workshop on justice on Friday. Before attending, I read Wallis’s book, “The Great Awakening” twice. I then began reading Wallis’s blog, as well as his other books. The following is my response to the “Revival” and Wallis’s theology.

There are a lot of us evangelicals who have found ourselves increasingly uncomfortable with the media’s selection of a few people of decidedly conservative politics who are regularly called our spokespeople. Whenever I hear this handful of people talk, I think: This person doesn’t speak for me…Don’t you hate it when someone’s views are 180 degrees out of sync with yours and yet they are called your spokesperson? You say, “When did I vote for them?” (The Great Awakening, Rich Nathan, Sr. Pastor of the Vineyard Church of Columbus)

I could not agree with him more. Yet, in April of 2008, The Columbus Vineyard, sponsored a conference called a, “Justice Revival”. The main speaker was Jim Wallis of the Sojourners Community. During the “Revival”, Bishop Timothy Clark is quoted as saying on two separate nights that Jim Wallis was a prophet.

The first night: “A theologian and I think the outspoken and I would even dare to say, the most powerful prophet for Justice in this nation.”

The third night: Bishop was comparing Wallis with John the Baptist in regards to Jesus’ word concerning John. Clark then said, “I don’t know what you came to this Justice Revival expecting, but there is no doubt in my mind we are in the presence of a prophet, a man of God, with a word from God.”

Who is Jim Wallis? What are his ideologies, and theologies? This writing will explore these questions. Then, you decide for yourself if Jim Wallis speaks for you? Is he a true prophetic voice for the church or does he speak just for himself?

This is the first installment regarding Jim Wallis and his theology. I do this due to the length of the theological questions involved as to get a better understanding of Wallis’s theology, and ideologies. I resourced quotes from Wallis’ recent book, “The Great Awakening”, his other books, his writings, and from “The Red Letter Christians”, by Tony Campolo. Other research will be quoted from additional sources in order to get a better understanding of Jim Wallis.

Who is Jim Wallis?

Jim Wallis’s bio as it appears on the Sojourners web site sates:

Jim Wallis is a bestselling author, public theologian, speaker, preacher, and international commentator on religion and public life, faith and politics. His latest book is The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith & Politics in a Post–Religious Right America (HarperOne, 2008). His previous book, God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It (Harper Collins, 2005), was on the New York Times bestseller list for 4 months. He is President and Chief Executive Officer of Sojourners; where he is editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine, whose combined print and electronic media have a readership of more than 250,000 people. Wallis speaks at more than 200 events a year and his columns appear in major newspapers, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and both Time and Newsweek online. He regularly appears on radio and television, including shows like Meet the Press, the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the O'Reilly Factor, and is a frequent guest on the news programs of CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and National Public Radio. He has taught at Harvard's Divinity School and Kennedy School of Government on "Faith, Politics, and Society." He has written eight books, including: Faith Works, The Soul of Politics, Who Speaks for God? and The Call to Conversion.

Jim Wallis was raised in a Midwest evangelical family. As a teenager, his questioning of the racial segregation in his church and community led him to the black churches and neighborhoods of inner-city Detroit. He spent his student years involved in the civil rights and antiwar movements at Michigan State University. While at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois, Jim and several other students started a small magazine and community with a Christian commitment to social justice, which has now grown into a national faith-based organization. In 1979, Time magazine named Wallis one of the "50 Faces for America's Future."

Jim lives in inner-city Washington, D.C. with his wife, Joy Carroll, one of the first women ordained in the Church of England and author of Beneath the Cassock: The Real-life Vicar of Dibley; and their sons, Luke (9) and Jack (4). He is a Little League baseball coach.

There is additional information regarding Wallis’ life that his bio failed to mention. Wallis protested the Vietnam War (no big deal, a lot of us baby boomers did, even me), but he did a lot more than just protest. In my opinion, Wallis became the “Jane Fonda” of the Christian Left.

After South Vietnam fell to the communist Wallis “criticized” those who were fleeing the country. He believed that those fleeing the new regime were “to support their consumer habits in other lands.” (www.traditionalvalues.org/print.php?sid=2664)

In addition, Traditional Values Coalition states:

In 1983, Joan Harris with Accuracy in Media published a lengthy book on the far-left policies of Sojourners and Jim Wallis.

In The Sojourners File, Harris took 53 political positions of Sojourners on such issues as the right of Israel to exist, human rights, terrorism, socialism, capitalism, etc., and compared those positions to the official positions of the Soviet Union.

In all 53 position statements, Sojourners’ views were in line with the positions of the Soviet Union.

This is an amazing discovery. Yet, it is not so surprising given Jim Wallis’ consistent support for socialism and against capitalism or the American way of life throughout his writings. In fact, in 1979, the journal Mission Tracks published an interview with Wallis. He told the reporter it was his hope that “more Christians will come to view the world through Marxist eyes.” (www.traditionalvalues.org/print.php?sid=2664)

Jan Harris, who wrote “The Sojourners File,” writes on page 43:

“Sojourners never criticizes a Marxist state. … The United States and the West are the only violators of human rights to Sojourners because they are the capitalists. Marxists, by Sojourners definition, cannot violate human rights.”

Discover the Networks web site reports that Wallis backed the Sandinista regime in Central America:

Wallis published bitter denunciations of the American government’s sponsorship of anti-Communist Contra rebels against Nicaragua’s Sandinista dictatorship. After visiting Nicaragua in 1983, in the company of the pro-Sandinista group Witness for Peace, Wallis and then-Sojourners associate editor Joyce Hollyday co-authored several articles in which they whitewashed the brutality of the Sandinista government while condemning the United States for waging an “undeclared war” against “the people of Nicaragua.” One representative issue of Sojourners from the time condemned the “suffering created by U.S. policy against Nicaragua,” and urged the “U.S. government to re-examine and change its policy toward Nicaragua, and establish a relationship of trust and friendship between the people of Nicaragua and the people of the United States.”

In keeping with his enthusiasm for Nicaragua’s Communist regime, Wallis also criticized conservative evangelical leaders such as Pat Robertson for siding with the rebel opposition. “To allow political ideology to overshadow human needs and fundamental issues of life and death is to go seriously astray,” Wallis self-righteously remarked in one such attack. (http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/articles/jimwallisexpanded.html)

Wallis was also influenced by the writings of Karl Marx, the author of the Communist Manifesto, Che Guevara, Castro right hand man who went into the Congo and Bolivia to spread communism into these countries, and Ho Chi Minh, the communist leader of North Vietnam. These men influenced Wallis’s philosophies and beliefs for his life’s work as a social activist.

Additional information that his bio did not address:

He is the co-founder of the Red Letter Christians, along with Tony Campolo, a political action group who is dedicated to social activism to bring God’s Kingdom to the earth by influencing political action and social justice.

He is a follower of the Social Gospel based in Liberation Theology ideology. On liberationtheology.org web site, Sojourners has a direct link and is listed under Organizations and Advocates.

Wallis is also quoted as saying:

“As more Christians become influenced by liberation theology, finding themselves increasingly rejecting the values and institutions of capitalism, they will also be drawn to the Marxist analysis and praxis that is so central to the movement. That more Christians will come to view the world through Marist eyes is therefore predictable.” (Mission Trends No. 4, 1979, “Liberation Theologies in North America,” pp.54-55)

What movement is Wallis speaking about? Social Justice.

This list is far from being exhaustive. As you read this paper you will begin to understand that his values and beliefs are not only in conflict to Biblical concepts, but they are in direct conflict to the values and beliefs of the Vineyard Church.

The next part of this paper is exploring Wallis’s theologies. I will look at four areas, but this may expand to additional ones if needed. The first is the Kingdom of God. Second: Jubilee Year, the third: Christ’s Mission, and the fourth: Justice.

The Kingdom of God

The very first area I want to write about is the Kingdom of God. It is the very heart of the message of Christ. Plus, the Vineyard Church bases its foundation on the Kingdom of God theology as espoused by George Ladd.

What is definition of the Kingdom of God? It basically means the rule or reign of God. Jesus inaugurated it at His first coming, and will bring the kingdom to its fullness when He returns.

As Ladd and others have defined it is that Jesus is the king, and His kingdom is now here in Jesus. It is present with Him, but not fully realized, “The here but not yet,” kingdom. God’s kingdom is demonstrated in Jesus by His words and His power. In fact Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with careful observation, nor will people say ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within (or among, or in your midst) you.” (Lk 17:20-21).

We will see the fullness of God’s Kingdom when Jesus comes again. In Revelation 11:15, “The kingdom of this world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ…”.

This kingdom is a kingdom that is not of this world. We can only experience God’s kingdom when He breaks into this world and reveals what His kingdom is, no sickness, pain, sorrow, and oppression of any kind. Until then we are to preach and demonstrate God’s kingdom with Jesus’ words and His power. This is not a political or social kingdom.

According to the New Dictionary of Theology,

“The kingdom proclaimed by Jesus is not an ideal moral order”

Wallis' view of the Kingdom of God is different.

“Jesus’ kingdom is not like the other kingdoms of the world, and that’s the point. It’s a different kind of kingdom than the worldly kingdoms based on money, power, violence, and sex. The Kingdom of God, which Jesus came to inaugurate, is meant to create an alternative reality in this world and, ultimately, to transform the kingdoms of this world.” (Page 56)

Also,

Wallis believes that Jesus had various political options to follow, but decided to inaugurate a political one himself.

“Jesus clearly rejected all the main political options of his time and inaugurated one that was completely new-called the kingdom of God, which brings a different kind of revolution, one of both love and justice.” (Great Awakening, page 58)

“In Mathew 5,6, and 7, Jesus offers the Sermon on the Mount, which serves as the manifesto of his new order, the Magna Carta of the new age, the constitution of the kingdom. It utterly reverses the logic of this world, all its earthly kingdoms, and its political options.” (Page 62)

Wallis continues:

“In the end, Jesus clearly rejected all the main political options of his time and inaugurated one that was completely new – called the kingdom of God, which brings a different kind of revolution, one of both love and justice.” (Page 58)

Campolo’s agrees with Wallis. From the “Red Letter Christians”:

“First-century Jews, to whom Jesus initially addressed His message of the Kingdom, had a firm grasp on what He was talking about…(Then he went into a quote from Isaiah), The Jews knew that it was not about some ‘”pie in the sky by and by”’ escape from the bad old world. Instead, the Kingdom was to be a new kind of society, wherein the effects of poverty and physical suffering would be no more.” (Pages 31-32) and

“The Kingdom of God is transformed people living in a transformed society, and when we preach this message to people in our day, we are preaching the gospel, the Good News. This hope for God’s Kingdom on earth has been, since Christ, in the process of being actualized.” (Page 33, emphasis mine)

God’s kingdom is not of this world. Jesus Himself proclaimed this at His trial:

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” (John 18:36)

If Jesus were trying to establish an earthly kingdom, as Wallis and Campolo state, why would Jesus say His kingdom is not from or of this world? After all the Jews were expecting a political kingdom. This is seen even after Jesus’ resurrection:

“… but we hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel…” (Luke 24:21a)

“So when they met together, they asked him, ‘”Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”’ (Acts 1:6)

The IVP Bible Background Commentary states,

“The idea that Jesus’ kingdom is not based on military or political force is repeated throughout the Gospel, but Jesus’ Jewish hearers never grasp the meaning in his words (after all, why call it a ‘”kingdom”’ if it was nonpolitical?).” (Page 309)

Then in New Testament Theology, by Donald Guthrie states:

“…it is advisable before considering the evidence to bear in mind that the term does not refer to the establishment of a messianic political kingdom on earth.” (Page 410)

Whatever Wallis, Campolo and Sojourners are preaching is not the true Gospel of Christ’s Kingdom, but the social gospel, and the social gospel is not what Jesus presented. It is all through his book, as well as Campolo’s book. But what is the social gospel?

“This is one point at which the social gospel differs from the traditional gospel of the New Testament. The social gospel concentrates not so much on individual salvation of one’s own soul, but rather on the “evangelization” and “conversion” of social structures and institutions to a “Christian” form, culminating in the promised kingdom of God.” (A Brief History of the Social Gospel, Dr. John Battle, Professor of NT and Theology, Western Reform Seminary)

“…Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918), whose major work was A Theology for the Social Gospel (1919). He claimed that all theology must stem from the central idea of the kingdom of God, believing that when Jesus spoke about the kingdom this meant, not the community of the redeemed, but the transformation of society on earth. It meant social and political action.” (Page 594, Eerdman’s Handbook to the History of Christianity)

Historically, the social gospel is a much-weakened movement. Those churches and/or denominations that embrace this theology have seen a marked decline in membership.

“Since the 1930s the Social Gospel has disappeared as a movement in its own right, but its influence remains, both in the more liberal, mainline denominations and in the renewed social concern displayed by American evangelicals since the 1960s.” (New Dictionary of Theology, Page 647, 2^nd column)

Finally, pastor, preacher, and theologian D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, from his study, “Studies in the Sermon on the Mount”, which is Jim Wallis motivation for social justice.

There was once the so-called ‘social gospel’ view of the Sermon on the Mount. What it comes to is this, that the Sermon is in reality the only thing that matters in the New Testament, that there, in it, is the basis of the so-called social gospel. The principles, it was said, were there laid down as to how life should be lived by men, and all we have to do is to apply the Sermon on the Mount. We can thereby produce the kingdom of God on earth, war will be banished and all our troubles will be ended. That is the typical social gospel view, but we do not need to waste time with it. It has already become outmoded; it is found only amongst certain people whom I can describe as remnants and relics of the mentality of thirty years ago (that would be around 1929 when this was written). The two world wars have shaken that view to its very foundation. Critical as we may be in many respects of the Barthian movement in theology, let us pay it this tribute: it has once and for ever made the social gospel look utterly ridiculous. (Page 9)

In summary, the Kingdom of God according to Jim Wallis is a social/political kingdom. Wallis’s view of God kingdom, is a new order or “an alternative reality in this world and, ultimately, to transform the kingdoms of this world.” Wallis believes that Jesus rejected all other political options and set up a new political force of His own, God’s Kingdom. The scriptures fully demonstrate that God’s Kingdom is not a political kingdom, but a spiritual one. It is the here and not yet, to be fully entered into when Jesus comes again. According to the scriptures God’s kingdom is not of this world, but one-day God’s Kingdom will be manifested when God’s proclaims it so, not man.

Submitted by Colen

Jim Wallis and Sojourners

We strongly encourage you to look into it as we did but as this can very time consuming we hope to shorten the time that you could spend wading through the sea of literature to help you get at the truth about Jim Wallis and Sojourners. But before you begin, please remember that you are responsible before The Lord for that which you know about. The servant who knows his masters will and does not do it will be beaten with many blows. We strongly encourage you to look into it because the Columbus Vineyard is being changed into another political organ for liberal politics rather than the beautiful bride of Christ. You just have to ask yourself the question "does it matter to you"?

A number of us began doing research and asking questions about Jim Wallis and Sojourners when our home church the Vineyard Church of Columbus (VCC) hosted a so called "Justice Revival" in April of 2008. During my own research, the more I looked into it the more sick to my stomach I became. Jim Wallis is far more interested in partisan politics than in advancing the kingdom of The Lord. His "God's Politics" blogs are best described as a pound of partisan liberal politics and an optional teaspoon of Christianity. It seems many have just been willing to drink the koolaid that Jim Wallis and Rich Nathan served up, sweeping aside deep concerns by many mature Christians that Jim Wallis is not another Billy Graham.

Does it matter to you that Jim Wallis and Sojourners consider homosexual rights as a "Social Justice" issue they are fighting to advance?

Does it matter to you that the 150 "new converts" at the Justice Revival were given (as their discipleship materials) a Sojourners booklet called "Hungry for Justice" telling new converts to "Join the movement; 10 ways you can put your faith into action at Sojo.net". Prayer team members, at the revival, saw the discipleship materials that Sojourners distributed to new believers and obtained a copy. As I recall from the June 5th meeting, Rich Nathan insisted that Sojourners would not have given new believers this material. The discipleship materials consisted of 10 steps, 9 steps regarded becoming involved in Sojourner political issues; such as:

• Read the "God's Politics" blog

• Apply to become a Sojourners intern

• make a donation and invest in the movement for justice

• find out how to start a local social justice group (remember, this was given to a brand new baby Christian)

• subscribe to Sojourners magazine

• Sign up for Sojo Mail, a free weekly ezine

Only one step mentioned anything potentially nurturing to a baby Christian; which was using Sojo.net to "search for a church near you". Curious as to what churches Sojourners was recommending, I went to sojo.net, specified a search radius of 40 miles (centered on my Columbus area zip code) and was given the names of only 3 churches. In a circle 80 miles across and covering all of Columbus, Sojourners only found 3 churches worth recommending. What is so special about those churches? What kind of kool-aid do they serve?

Does it matter to you that Jim Wallis was introduced at the Justice Revival as "the most powerful prophet for justice in this nation". I am deeply disturbed at the abusive application of the title "prophet" to a deeply partisan political operative.

Does it matter to you that the literature on the Sojourners table at the Justice Revival contained advertisements for conferences like:

• Introduction to Buddhism, Teaching, discussion, instruction and experience in Tibetan Buddhist Meditation?

• Art making and the "Divine Feminine" (participants develop their understanding of the Sacred Feminine)?

One article in a Sojourner magazine (at the revival) had in extra large print, a title and tag line that read:

"The Green Gospel; we firmly believe that addressing the degradation of God's sacred earth is the moral assignment of our time, comparable to the civil rights struggles of the 1960s."

I don't recall Jesus preaching or teaching anything even remotely like this in the sermon on the mount, nor in his 3 1/2 year ministry, nor do I recall the apostles ever placing any importance on this topic. I considered the title and tag line so absurd (the moral assignment of our time) that I read them to Rich at the June 5th meeting. Rather than find it offensive, I was taken back when Rich said that he could not disagree with it.

Does it matter to you that Sojourners were given the names and email addresses of those who attended the Justice Revival; who were then solicited by Sojourners to work on political issues such as "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Issues"?

Does it matter to you that Rich Nathan knows these things, but does not regret inviting Jim Wallis to speak and is fully open to having him back in the future?

Does it matter to you that Rich Nathan spoke at a “Vote Your Values” Rally the Thursday night before the Ohio Nov. elections 2006, with Wallis and Sojourners and laid out his own political stances – giving the appearance that VCC supports these same causes? Rich definitely does not speak for me.

Does it matter to you that Rich Nathan spoke at a Sojourners conference called "Pentecost 2007". The name sounds Christian but it was actually a partisan political rally promoting only the Democrat presidential candidates: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards (all who support unrestricted abortion and "gay rights")? I am very bothered by the fact that they showed no fear of God when they prostituded the name of a sacred biblical holiday to Christianize a partisan political rally.

Sojourners even gets funding from staunchly anti-Christian billionaire Atheist George Soros. Sojourners received funding and donations in the name of fighting poverty but they give no gifts to the poor (as do Samaritans Purse and World Vision). They believe their political activism is their service to the poor as stated in this letter from Sojourners.

Hi, ________. Thanks for your note. Sojourners is an advocacy organization, so our work to overcome poverty is largely through media, messaging, policy, and mobilizing. Through Jim Wallis’s ministry of preaching and teaching across the country (and the world), as well as our resources, we call people to a faith that does justice, especially as it relates to overcoming poverty. This year we are engaged in a Vote Out Poverty campaign, to get poverty on the agenda of the 2008 elections. We deal with many justice issues, and we find that almost all of them have some connection to poor people.

As you may know, Sojourners has been rooted in the Southern Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C., since we arrived here. Over the years, we have also run a tenants union, daycare center, and neighborhood center. Changes in the neighborhood have caused us to close those ministries, and we have since focused on our particular mission to advocate for change. We partner with groups who provide a variety of direct services, with the goal of expanding both our work and that of our partners.

I hope this helps to explain our work. Please let me know if you have further questions. –Blessings, Karen

Karen L. Lattea
Chief Administrative Officer
Sojourners
(202) 745-4605
3333 14^th St. NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20010
www.sojo.net

Jim Wallis claims to be non-partisan but after having read his deeply partisan "God's Politics" blogs for many hours, I was hard pressed to find one bad thing he had to say about Democrat politicians (like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Ted Kennedy). I was equally hard pressed to find one good thing he had to say about Republican politicians like George Bush.