How The New Religious Right Assisted in the Re-Election of President Obama And Are Hastening God's Judgment of America
Opinion and commentary by Brannon Howse
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Note: I call this new generation of pro-family leaders the "New Religious Right" because I do not believe many of the now deceased leaders of the Religious Right from the 1970s, such as Dr. D. James Kennedy and Dr. Adrian Rogers, would agree with the theological and doctrinal compromises made by many of today's NRR leaders.
Please understand that this article is written out of my Biblical concern for the church and in defense of the Gospel. I have endeavored to be as gracious as possible. A few years ago I had to repent of raising the flag above the cross and I want to speak from my mistakes and plead with you not to make the same mistake and thus waste the precious time we have left for what will really count for eternity. With that being said let me tell you as lovingly as I can that I believe pro-family groups and evangelicals that united up with false teachers for one prayer rally and spiritual event after another in hopes of defeating Obama not only failed politically but they also failed Biblically. Thus, I believe the New Religious Right bear some of the responsibility for the re-election of President Obama and for what appears to be God's hastening in His giving our nation over as described in Romans chapter one.
God's Word tells us in 2 Corinthians 6:17 that if Christians unite with false teachers then God will not welcome, receive, or have favor on them. God has not shown favor with the re-election of President Obama and I believe one reason is due to the Biblical compromise of the New Religious right and modern-day evangelicalism in aggressively uniting up with false teachers in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
In an August 2010 article I warned the New Religious Right that they were going to hasten God's judgment on our nation with their unbiblical spiritual enterprises, with New Age Mormon Glenn Beck in clear violation of 2 John 9-11, 2 Corinthians 6:14, and Romans 16:17. Beck's Restoring Honor Rally was described as a spiritual event by Beck Himself. It was in 2010 that I wrote:
The compromise by evangelical leaders and pastors by spiritually uniting with "all faiths" with the theme of "looking to the one god", as described by Beck, has laid the foundation for untold numbers of self-professing Christians to now embrace pluralism and pagan spirituality. Pastors and evangelical leaders literally locked arms with all faiths, including Imams, in a spiritual endeavor despite the clear Biblical warnings of 2 Corinthians 6:14.
Again in August of 2011, I warned the New Religious Right about taking part in and organizing Governor Rick Perry's "The Response" prayer rally that included a mixture of the New Religious Right and some of the world's most popular false teachers. In a 2011 article I warned:
I do not believe this event will aide in reclaiming the country, restoring liberty, or prosperity and it certainly will not prompt God to bless America. I believe such an event will actually hasten God's judgment on our nation…God is watching and I contend that our efforts are being thwarted by God as Divine judgment for setting aside Scriptural warnings and uniting with false teachers in spiritual enterprises intertwined with our Christian activism.
In my book Grave Influence that was published in 2009, I wrote that God was giving America over as described in Romans 1. Romans 1:28 tells us that one of the signs that God is giving over a nation is that they become debased. Debased means that they don't pass the test spiritually and one of the signs of a debased mind according to Romans 1:32 is that people lack discernment. Why is it that we have so many people, including religious leaders, lacking discernment?
When the New Religious Right and evangelicals unite up with false teachers then I believe that this is proof they lack discernment. In my latest book Religious Trojan Horse I wrote:
If embracing false teachers is how you reclaim the culture I don't want to be a part of it. Besides, there is no reclaiming the culture apart from God. Romans 1, explains that compromise and uniting with those who embrace and promote pagan spirituality is how you destroy a culture and speed up God's judgment. When God finally brings judgment upon America, I believe you will be able to point to some of America's favorite "evangelical" and pro-family leaders and say, "you and your organizations are as responsible, if not more responsible, for the Divine judgment on our nation than any secular company or organization in America, because you gave credibility and rise to Satan's number one tool-false teachers-to wage war against Satan's number one earthy adversary, the true Church."
Let me give you some examples of why I believe this is a true statement:
· Jerry Falwell Jr., on Glenn Beck's radio program in 2010 declared, "If we don't hang together we'll hang separately. I mean, that's what my father believed when he formed Moral Majority, an organization of Mormons, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, people of no faith. And there are bigger issues now. We can argue about theology later after we save the country. "[source]
· Just a few days before the Presidential election, The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association removed the reference to Mormonism as a cult from their website. [source]
· In 2012, Shirley Dobson appeared on New Age, Mormon Glenn Beck's radio program to talk about prayer and God. In the process, she praised Beck for his "great job" and "good work." Again, how can Beck's promotion of another Jesus and another gospel be a good work, and why do "evangelical" leaders seem eager to compromise the admonishments of 2 Corinthians 6:14, Romans 16:17, and 2 John 9-11? [source]
· According to news reports, in 2008, James and Shirley Dobson joined New Apostolic Reformation personality and assistant pastor at the International House of Prayer, Lou Engle, for "The Call" in San Diego. [source]
· In March 2012, James Dobson interviewed Lou Engle on his radio program. He praised Engle and his "ministry." [source]
· Numerous New Religious Right personalities and evangelicals have defended or praised Glenn Beck, or talked with him about God, or joined him in one of his spiritual enterprises. Christians and Mormons do not follow the same God. Why would self-professing Christians unite in a spiritual enterprise with non-Christians? The answer seems to be to reclaim America but how is that working out for them? They are not reclaiming America but I believe compromising the church and the Gospel and hastening God's judgment. [source] [source] [source] [source] [source] [source]
If you are not aware of why the New Apostolic Reformation is so dangerous to the church you need to read my new book Religious Trojan Horse. You should also watch this short video clip by Dr. John MacArthur on Lou Engle, Cindy Jacobs, C. Peter Wagner, and Mike Bickle.
Until pro-family organizations take a strong stand on the Word of God and use the culture war as a platform to preach the Gospel, I believe they will continue to spend millions of dollars with little to show for it. When James Dobson gave his retirement speech to the Focus on the Family board and employees, he all but admitted that there has been little success in the culture war:
James Dobson, 72, who resigned recently as head of Focus on the Family-one of the largest Christian groups in the country-and once denounced the Harry Potter books as witchcraft, acknowledged the dramatic reverse for the religious Right in a farewell speech to staff.
"We tried to defend the unborn child, the dignity of the family, but it was a holding action. We are awash in evil and the battle is still to be waged. We are right now in the most discouraging period of that long conflict. Humanly speaking, we can say we have lost all those battles." [source]
Pat Roberston has also expressed doubt on how much his culture war activities have really accomplished:
In a reflective mood for Easter, evangelical icon and onetime presidential candidate Pat Robertson echoes the Rev. Billy Graham's recent acknowledgement that he wished he had spent less time on politics and more time on the ministry and his family.
"When you get it all said and done, what did my work accomplish in the political realm?" Robertson wondered rhetorically during an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV in which he offers an inspirational Easter message. [source]
The pragmatic and ecumenical strategy of the New Religious Right has failed and I believe President Obama's re-election is proof of this fact. In Matthew 23:13-29, Jesus uses the word "woe" eight times when speaking to the scribes, Sadducees, and Pharisees. "Woe" means "judgment upon you," and Jesus pronounced judgment on them because they were more interested in moralizing and legislating morality than in understanding, accepting, and preaching the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Christians should be involved in good works such as defending the lives of the unborn, caring for widows and orphans, and running crisis pregnancy centers. The reason, though, is that people will see the transforming power of the Gospel in our lives. Good works when used as a platform for the Gospel offers unbelievers the chance to see the light of Christ within our lives and to give glory to our heavenly Father. This is the Biblical meaning of being salt and light. The light is the Gospel not good works or moralizing.
Christian activism apart from the Gospel has no eternal value and is, in fact, a sin because we are not obeying God and fulfilling the Great Commission. Uniting with false teachers in spiritual enterprise for political gain is not proclaiming the Gospel but compromising the Gospel.
It is past time that we follow the example of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5, where he declares that his first priority is the gospel:
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
Christian pro-family leaders would do well to examine every initiative, project, book, speech, broadcast, and conference in light of whether it will further the proclamation of the biblical Gospel or compromise scriptural principles clearly laid out in God's Word.
If the New Religious Right were truly committed first and foremost to sound biblical theology and doctrine, they would not be involved in spiritual enterprises with those who participate in the New Age Movement, the New Apostolic Reformation, ecumenicalism, globalism, communitarianism, the Church of Rome, the Word of Faith movement, social justice, and the social gospel.
Most pro-family organizations claim to be Christian and boast that they embrace "Christian values" because the majority of their supports call themselves "Christian." However, when it comes to defining what it means to be a Biblical Christian, most of the New Religious Right will not reflect Biblical Christianity because they don't want to offend their Catholic, Mormon, Word of Faith, or New Apostolic Reformation donors. So, in the end, I believe the New Religious Right betrays the Gospel in deference to "another" gospel embraced by these disparate groups.
Yes, I voted, and I hope you did as well but post-election I have read where pro-family and "evangelical" leaders are lecturing Christians that the election of President Obama is what happens when Christians are not committed to Christian activism. Wrong! This is what happens with Christian leaders are committed to ecumenicalism, pragmatism, and give credibility to false teachers all in violation of God's Word and God's warning.
I think the question that needs to be asked now is who will you follow going forward? How will you respond when New Religious Right leaders try to convince you that you need to continue to follow them in order to win the culture war? I for one rejected the culture-war industrial complex for what I think it is really all about some time ago.
The first sentence of my 2009 book Grave Influence was "We've lost the culture war." The culture war is the symptom of the problem and unless we preach the Gospel and defend the Gospel there is not only no hope for the culture but no hope for the lost.
Do you really think God is pleased by political pragmatism over Biblical truth? Uniting with false teachers in spiritual enterprises for political pragmatism is not defending the Gospel but giving credibility to a false gospel.
It is time for true Christians with Biblical discernment to follow the instructions of Romans 16:17-"Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to doctrine which you learned, and avoid them."
The election results do not change the fact that God is still in control. Our mission has not changed; we are to continue to preach the Gospel and disciple fellow believers. Our mission on the day before the election was the Great Commission and today is still the Great Commission. If your life is largely committed to the culture war then you will feel very defeated by the re-election of President Obama-and well you should be because your life is not going to have an eternal impact and your focus is also not a good sign of your spiritual condition. However, if your life is committed to the defense and proclamation of the Gospel and Biblical discipleship then you realize that our success is not defined by earthly elections which have nothing to do with God's plan for eternity.
Our main focus should be preaching the Gospel to the lost, defending the gospel, and protecting the church from false teachers and pro-family leaders that have allowed certain men to rise from within (Acts 20:28-31).
If you want to pull the rug out from underneath the same-sex marriage agenda or the abortion agenda then preach the gospel to the unsaved. If they hear the gospel and respond through faith and repentance then just watch as their worldview changes, their values change and ultimately their conduct.
We cannot reclaim the culture but we can contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). This involves exposing today's religious Trojan horse that has breached the walls of modern-day evangelicalism through patriotic ecumenicalism and other such schemes of the evil one.
So, to my fellow Bereans, press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:14).