We should not be surprised in the least. Some 2000 years ago Jesus and the disciples warned us quite clearly that many would fall away, many would sell out on the faith, many would fall for lies and deception, and many would seek to lead others astray.
They made it so very plain that false prophets, false shepherds and false apostles would freely roam among believers, leading many away from the Word of God and biblical morality. And we see this happening all over the place today, especially with the issue of homosexuality.
One so-called Christian leader after another is abandoning the faith, spitting in God’s face, and calling him a liar, as they come out and join the world in affirming, promoting and celebrating the sin of homosexuality. As I have said before, this is the defining issue of our day, and it is separating the sheep from the goats.
In that sense all this is a good thing: it is demonstrating who are the apostates, and who are the true disciples of Jesus Christ. The latest wolf in sheep’s clothing to come out of the theological closet is American evangelical leader Tony Campolo.
Of course anyone even remotely knowledgeable about him and his teaching over the years knows this was inevitable. Not only has his wife been 100% pro-homosexuality for ages now, but he has been at best wishy-washy on this topic for decades.
Now he openly tells us what we all knew: he finds nothing at all wrong with homosexuality or sodomite marriage. Welcome to the apostasy club where there are plenty of other like-minded folks. They all exult in their “progressive” position, as they jump in bed with atheists, homosexualists, and secular humanists, all telling us God is wrong and his Word is not reliable.
Here in part is what Campolo said:
I believe the Bible to have been written by men inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit. I place my highest priority on the words of Jesus, emphasizing the 25th chapter of Matthew, where Jesus makes clear that on Judgment Day the defining question will be how each of us responded to those he calls “the least of these”….
In my own life, my wife Peggy has been easily the greatest encourager of my relationship with Jesus. She has been my prayer partner and, more than anyone else, she has discerned my shortcomings and helped me try to overcome them. Her loving example, constant support, and wise counsel have enabled me to accomplish Kingdom work that I would have not even attempted without her, and I trust she would say the same about my role in her life. Each of us has been God’s gift to the other and our marriage has been a mutually edifying relationship.
One reason I am changing my position on this issue is that, through Peggy, I have come to know so many gay Christian couples whose relationships work in much the same way as our own. Our friendships with these couples have helped me understand how important it is for the exclusion and disapproval of their unions by the Christian community to end. We in the Church should actively support such families. Furthermore, we should be doing all we can to reach, comfort and include all those precious children of God who have been wrongly led to believe that they are mistakes or just not good enough for God, simply because they are not straight.
As a social scientist, I have concluded that sexual orientation is almost never a choice and I have seen how damaging it can be to try to “cure” someone from being gay. As a Christian, my responsibility is not to condemn or reject gay people, but rather to love and embrace them, and to endeavor to draw them into the fellowship of the Church. When we sing the old invitation hymn, “Just As I Am”, I want us to mean it, and I want my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to know it is true for them too.
So, here he spills the beans – big time. He rejects Jesus, 2000 years of church consensus on this, and the Word of God. He repeats here how the words of Jesus (as understood or misunderstood by him) get his ” highest priority”. In other words, forget what the rest of the Bible says on this issue.
That is not just my spin on his thinking: he has been pushing this “red letter” understanding of the Bible for years now, where he actually claims we should put more weight on the words of Jesus (the red letter words). I have dealt with the worrying way of approaching Scripture elsewhere: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2008/03/03/on-reading-jesus/
By the way, if he is so keen on stressing the words of Jesus, how come he completely ignores the words of Jesus as found in the book of Revelation? Is it because all those red letter words about wrath, judgment to come, and the holiness of God don’t fit into his man-made image of Jesus who accepts everyone and everything?
Also notice how it is his finite, fallen and fallible wife who he seems to get his main guidance from on this issue, not the infallible Word of God. And it appears that it is his experience and interaction with others that determines what is right and wrong, true and false in this regard.
And, um, no, homosexual couples are not just the same as heterosexual couples. For one, they are of the same sex. Marriage has always been about joining two people of the opposite sex. And it has been this way for one vital reason: only a man and a woman can have children, and marriage as an institution has always been concerned about children, about the next generation.
That is why marriage exists. It is the means by which we protect and nurture children born from a heterosexual relationship. And Scripture even pictures and illustrates the Christ/church relationship with the man/woman marriage relationship.
Christ is not the same as the church, just as a man is not the same as a woman. They are different, brought together in a marriage relationship – physically for human marriage, and spiritually for the relationship of Christ and the church.
And no, God did not create homosexuals. He created us to be heterosexual, but in a fallen world of course everything is adversely impacted. Because of sin in the world – not God’s good original purposes – people can be born minus a limb or with six fingers.
In the same way, people can be born with a disposition or orientation to anger, overeating, or same-sex desire. They are not part of how God first created the world, but part of a fallen and messed up world which Christ came to fix and restore.
God never endorses any sinful lifestyle, but always demands that we allow Christ to set us free and remake us in his holy image. That is why Christ came. He died so that we sinners might be transformed and set free, not left in our dead-end sinful condition.
So far down the theological gurgler is Campolo that he can’t even get basic biblical teaching right, even as expressed in simple hymns. When we sing “Just As I Am” at an evangelistic meeting, we affirm the truth that we are all sinners and can bring nothing to God to get right with him.
All we do is bring our sinful self and acknowledge our overwhelming need for grace, forgiveness and healing. So of course we come to God through Christ just as we are. But we were never meant to sing ten choruses of that at a meeting and leave just as we were.
When we come to Christ and become a child of God, all things become new. The old man is abandoned and the new man is formed in us. We are never to stay the same, we are never to cling to our sin, and we are never to make excuses for behaviours and lifestyles which God clearly condemns.
So the good news is we come to Christ just as we are. But he loves us far too much to leave us just as we are. Christ is in the change business, and as countless ex-homosexuals know full well, God can change our lives radically if we let him. But we do God no favours when we tell him he is wrong on the issue of homosexuality, and we know better than he does.
Indeed, that is the height of rebellion and idolatry. We are then shaking our fists at God, telling him we will call the shots and we will determine if something is sinful or not. That arrogant defiance of God is what brings his wrath down upon sinful and rebellious man.
Let me remind Campolo of what the inspired apostle Paul wrote on these matters in Romans 1:18-32:
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Sorry Tony, but I will stick with what the inspired Word of God says on this matter any day of the week over your humanistic and twisted spin. God is right on this issue, and you are wrong. End of story.
29 Replies to “No Surprises Here: Campolo, Another Sell-Out”
Our pastor quoted Campolo on a completely different issue last Sunday. That was fine. But I remember thinking “isn’t he the bloke who’s namby-pamby on homosexuality ..”
Googled him. Yep, that’s the bloke.
Seems now he’s even more namby-pamby on this issue than I read 2 days ago, but that’s not a surprise.
Bill, that has to be one of the best posts that you have written. Full of reality and “God will not be mocked” theology. What you might call “straight down the line and no holds barred.”
I am so pleased that for every Tony Campolo there is a Bill Muehlenberg. It s so sad that Tony is rejecting the salvation that God offers for EVERYONE.
Never heard of him. Never read any of his writings, never listened to any of his sermons.
knew this type of thing was coming, which is why I don’t follow all the yippy, yay, paaarrrraise God, give me ten dollars and God will make you a millionaire, types.
I echo what Roger Marks has said above. Thank you, Bill.
Bill,
I remember this man from the late 70’s, early 80’s, whereby he entertained me when I was a nascent Christian. He’s the same man who was often seen with Bill Clinton, to my dismay at the time. Now, this. He’s changed, or has he? Hmm.
Good article. Very revealing. Very unfortunate for him.
Dear Bill
I am not surprised, Tony Campolo is anti Israel and pro the Muslim arabs, wrongly described as “palestinians” full of the doctrine of hate, surely another litmus test of true faith ?
Dear Bill and Roger and Brenda et al
Praise God Bill is not the only God fearing person writing sensibly about the pagan sexual perversion of homosexuality. There is what pastor and US attorney Dr Scott Lively wrote only yesterday.
King Obama has NO Legal Authority Over the Church
by Dr. Scott Lively, June 8, 2015
One week from today on June 15th 2015, the world will celebrate the 800 year anniversary of the Magna Charta, the “Great Charter of Liberties” which the Archbishop of Canterbury and the medieval Barons of England famously forced King John to sign in the fields at Runnymede, June 15, 1215 near Windsor (which castle still houses the British monarchy). Importantly, the first priority of this venerable charter was the recognition of the sovereignty of the Christian church:
“[1] In the first place we grant to God and confirm by this our present charter for ourselves and our heirs in perpetuity that the English Church is to be free and to have all its rights fully and its liberties entirely. We furthermore grant and give to all the freemen of our realm for ourselves and our heirs in perpetuity the liberties written below to have and to hold to them and their heirs from us and our heirs in perpetuity.”
As I wrote previously in my essay The Death of Human Rights, that first principle of the Magna Charta survived nearly eight centuries — until it was effectively neutralized and superseded by so-called “gay rights” in the body of UK laws known collectively as “Sexual Orientation Regulations” (SORs) http://www.scottlively.net/2012/12/10/the-death-of-human-rights/
These SORs are indeed like open sores on the body politic, and are increasingly used to punish and suppress public expressions of Biblical truth about homosexuality and related perversions, as in the case of preacher Dale McAlpine:
The Magna Charta (or Carta, both spellings are correct), is heralded as the cornerstone of modern human rights law, and indeed was a legal milestone of enormous significance. But there is a much greater foundation-stone beneath the Magna Charta, the Holy Bible, upon which all human rights ultimately rest.
It was no accident that King John was called to account by the Archbishop of Canterbury, for while it was the English Barons whose grievances forced the issue, it was the church which held the independent legal power to force the change. That’s because from the earliest days of western legal history there has always been a “Separation of Church and State,” meaning that the king and the church occupy separate and independent spheres of power and authority within the larger society.
When the legitimate grievances of English Barons were disregarded by the Court of Law (the realm of King John), they appealed to the Court of Equity (the realm of the church).
This separation of powers goes all the way back to the time of Moses and the Biblical “Cities of Refuge,” under the control of the Levitical Priests, where an accused murderer could flee for sanctuary pending a trial to determine his guilt or innocence (Numbers 35:9-28).
Classic film buffs will recognize this church/state separation in the story of Quasimodo, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, safe only so long as he remained in the cathedral, but subjected to the lash and pillory under the King’s law when he ventured out of his “city of sanctuary” for the distressed damsel, Esmeralda.
And, of course, the concept of “sanctuary cities” has been recently misapplied by the ever lawless Obama administration and co-conspirator Democrat city mayors to shield illegal aliens from deportation. But I digress…
Importantly, like the Magna Charta, the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution also sets as its first principle the sovereignty of the Christian church (as indeed “religion“ was largely synonymous with “Christian denomination“ to the drafters):
“Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….” states the First Amendment.
And importantly, here in the United States as in Europe, it is the redefinition of various sexual perversions as “human rights” that threatens true human rights as understood from the earliest beginnings of human rights jurisprudence. I summarized this history in 2006 in the Riga Declaration on Religious Freedom, Family Values and Human Rights here:
I am writing this article to remind all of us that the church is and has always been legally free from the control of Kings and Presidents and remains so today. There has been lots of talk lately from the reprobate left to the effect that churches should “lose their tax exempt status” if they refuse to “marry” homosexuals after the Supreme Court rules such unions to be constitutionally protected later this month (as many, including this writer, assume will occur).
However, neither King Obama, nor Congress, nor the United States Supreme Court, nor the UK, nor the EU, nor any human government, has the legal authority to strip the church of its rights and liberties. She is a separate sovereign subject to the Law of God, not the rule of man. The government did not “give” tax exemption to the church, it was and is hers by right, as is the power and duty to reject the redefinition of God’s institution of marriage.
And as a sovereign, these rights are for her inalienable wherever she operates under the legitimate unction of God on behalf of His Kingdom anywhere in this world. This was true before the Magna Charta acknowledged it in 1215 and its is true today and tomorrow irrespective of the opinion of any earthly ruler.
Our mailing address is:
Committee to Elect Scott Lively
PO Box 4335
Springfield, MA 01101
By my reckoning homosexual “marriage” breaches eight of the ten commandments but I’m happy to make a “red letter” case too.
If fornication is OK why is it that Jesus says:-
Mat_5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
So clearly even though Jesus is adamant that marriages should remain intact fornication is beyond even that consideration. Clearly fornication is worse than the implication of adultery that normally arises from a marriage breakup.
Also Jesus lists the big sins:-
Mat 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Notice too that fornications is plural and notice the company of sins Jesus lists together. Clearly from Jesus’ (red letter) words this is not a matter like wearing cotton and wool together as some apostates would have us believe. Also notice that Jesus lists fornications as separate from adulteries even though both (being against the OT law) are fornication. Also note that fornication proceedes from people’s hearts – its not something people are born with.
It is absurd for people to say “Jesus never mentioned homosexuality” when it is absolute absurd and outrageous nonsense to suggest that Jesus would stand there and itemize all the various ways of fornicating. Fornication is made abundantly clear in the OT law as an abominable sin and Jesus certainly never made the slightest effort to change that definition but clearly reinforced it.
Jesus is God, The Scriptures are the Word of God, consequently the Old and the New testaments are the Words of Jesus! They are all Red Letters!
He’s always been a wolf.
The only problem with your earlier comment, Neil, is that Tony Campolo is the opposite of the type of person you describe: He is a sociologist (not a minister), very concerned for the poor, and very anti-prosperity teaching. I got to know him well when we were in Israel together in 1991. However there are several beliefs I do NOT share with him – probably a lot more now than back then!
Back in the 80s, Tony wrote a book “20 Hot Potatoes Christians are Afraid to Touch”. In it is a chapter called “Does Christianity have any Good News for Homosexuals?”. Here he says that we should treat homosexuals with compassion and justice, and that their condition is the result of the fall (he quotes Romans 1 in this context). He then goes on to say that he makes a clear distinction between homosexual orientation and homosexual behaviour. He argues that while the former may be out of their control, the latter is clearly wrong. He then advocates for people to enter into a homosexual ‘covenant’ which allows fellowship in Christ between homosexuals, living as a community, but that they should remain celibate. In other words, a bit of a ‘half-way house’! (Probably not a very safe option given their ‘fallen nature!)
Obviously he has now stepped over the boundary and is expressing his support for homosexual behaviour – that’s if I’m reading the reports rightly. And yes, I do remember thinking that his attitude was likely to change, because his stance back then was very tenuous! And yes, clearly Peggy (his wife) has had a lot of influence on him in this regard. He needs our prayers.
A great reference on this subject is Proverbs 20:11 (for those who don’t think people should be accountable for certain of their very own behaviors):
“Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure and whether it be right.”
Proverbs 17:15 is also good re those who embrace abominations:
“He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.”
Once again thank you Bill for being one of the very few courageous Christians prepared to speak out with the biblical view on this.
This week 38 religious leaders across Australia signed a joint letter to our PM Tony Abbott affirming their opposition to gay marriage.
While this is a step in the right direction it is very disappointing that some of our biggest denominations and well known Christian leaders did not sign it.
To read this document and see who signed (and who didn’t) see the ACL website at:
Why is the sad story of Sodom and Gomorrah included in the Bible is there is nothing wrong with homosexuality?
In the passage you quoted Bill from Romans 1, the word love is absent. The attraction for the same sex has and always will be driven by lust and totally unnatural desire for each other. Brilliant article Bill
Great article, Bill.
Clear and well-written – and directly quoting Campolo…
He has long been semi-supportive – and has obviously now been ‘persuaded’ by his wife.
Pity he didn’t try persuading her instead…
When a husband and wife have DIFFERENT public positions on such a key issue, there is trouble ahead – someone has to give way!
Tony has now associated himself with President Barack Obama’s June, 2015 being declared GLBTQAI Pride Month and the President’s special praise for Frank Kameny back on June 29, 2009 during that year’s G and L Pride Month. It was Kameny, however, who insisted that Tony’s “God of Leviticus (and of the whole Bible) is clearly a sinful homophobic bigot. He should repent of his sinful homophobia. He should atone for that sin, and he should seek forgiveness for the pain and suffering which his sinful homophobia has needlessly inflicted upon gay people for the past 4,000 years.” Tony comfortable with his new friends? David A. Noebel
Thank you Roger for saying what I was going to say! Bill is my hero. I’m glad you didn’t stay in Hawaii. We need you here even though it’s cold!
Dear All
Here is more from Scott Lively on how the pro (possibly even former homosexual) Obama is impacting international relations entirely because of his pro homosexual stance. This thing is bigger, deeper, wider than people see on the surface.
DefendTheFamily.com Alert
Obama Orchestrated Ukraine Coup to Re-Start Cold War and Prevent Russia from Leading Global Revolt Against LGBT Agenda
I have come to believe that Obama orchestrated the Ukraine coup to re-start the cold war to prevent Russia from leading a global revolt against his most sacred cow, the LGBT agenda. While there were clearly important geo-political factors in Obama’s decision to initiate regime change in Ukraine, I am convinced that the primary impetus was to nip opposition to the international LGBT political steamroller in the bud. I have written about that topic here:
Now comes evidence that Obama pal George Soros (funder of the Marxist law firm suing me for “Crimes Against Humanity” for preaching against homosexuality in Uganda) is a key puppet master in the Ukraine civil war, something I have publicly surmised without proof, until now:
Unfortunately, Obama’s strategy has worked and Russia has been forced from its former trajectory toward global cooperation with the west into an increasingly adversarial posture as Obama and the GOP Establishment Neo-Cons (united by perversion) continue to portray Russia as a pariah state while simultaneously attempting “regime change“ within its borders.
I believe a consequence of the “punish Russia” strategy is (dangerously for Israel) the transformation of Iran into the key player of the Middle East and the US has been forced to become a suitor (e.g. the sweetheart nuke deal) to our “former” arch-enemy in an attempt to thwart the strengthening of Russian/Iranian relations as Russia turns eastward away from the cold shoulder of the west. And, of course, (dangerously for us) Russian/Chinese relations have warmed considerably for the same reason.
I place the blame for this disturbing transformation squarely at the feet of Obama, whose allegiance to the LGBT agenda supersedes all other concerns, even the very real and growing risk of nuclear war.
I still believe that Russia offers an albeit imperfect model for the west on standing up to the Cultural Marxists but with the US push toward revival of the cold war, the incessant anti-Russian propaganda in the western media, and Russia’s increasing political shift to the east, I hold less hope for an international Russian-led cultural revolution in family values.
Ironically, however, if any hope remains, it may be kept alive by Ukraine, itself. As an astute political observer of my acquaintance recently noted, Kiev thought the West offered them bread but instead gave them LGBT propaganda. Now Ukrainians are protesting in the streets against the “gay” agenda.
Obama might yet fail in poisoning the western world against Russia, as he has failed in so many areas of foreign policy. I for one would like to see a restoration of the cooperative trends we saw in US/Russian relations before Obama decided to sabotage them, and in the aftermath of that failure I think unity on family values would go a long way toward healing the rift he has exacerbated between Russia and Ukraine and toward weakening the US/EU perversion agenda in the rest of Eastern Europe and the Baltics.
I emailed him and asked him if he was saying that homosexual behaviour was not a sin, or was he saying that it was a sin, but Christians didn’t need to eliminate sin from their lives. Waiting on a response.
What a sell-out.
I used to have a high respect for Tony Campolo in the past as one of the evangelical leaders, but now I changed my mind no longer doing so because he compromised his Christian faith standing with the world instead of standing with his God and the biblical truth like prophet Daniel. I thought when a man of God is getting older he would be wise and more committed to Christ and his teachings but Compolo allowed himself to be influenced by the power of darkness. He shouldn’t be allowed to teach at the evangelical seminaries.
Damian – thank you for the excellent cartoon site link. It is just what I needed.
The sound of the rubber hitting the road … From Pastor and attorney Dr Scott Lively
DefendTheFamily.com Alert
A Request for Prayer
Friends,
On June 23rd, I will be deposed in the case of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) v. Scott Lively by at SMUG’s attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), in the offices of their allies from Dorsey and Whitney, a large international law firm based in New York City. I do not know how many of SMUG’s 11 lawyers will participate in the deposition, but on my side will be Attorney Harry Mihet of Liberty Counsel. I am being sued for “Crimes Against Humanity” for preaching against homosexuality in Uganda, in a case filed in United States District Court here in Springfield, Massachusetts, in March 2012.
A deposition is oral testimony of a witness for later use in court if a case goes to trial. Mine will be video-taped. It is the opportunity for the Marxist activist attorneys of CCR to put me on the hot seat, under oath, for two seven-hour days, to attempt to elicit from me any statements that
support their accusation that I orchestrated a campaign of persecution of homosexuals in Uganda.
The truth is that I have never, ever advocated or condoned hatred, persecution or violence against homosexuals anywhere. In Uganda I urged the Ugandans to emphasize prevention and recovery rather than punishment in their law and policy. My beliefs and advocacy on these issues is well documented (see http://www.DefendtheFamily.com and http://www.ScottLively.net) and has been consistent throughout my entire 25-year ministry in which I have always attempted to be an example of boldness for truth balanced with compassion for homosexual sufferers.
However, these lawyers don’t care what the truth is. This is the same law firm that lied to Judge Ponsor (by omission of inconvenient facts) to imply that my preaching against homosexuality in Uganda incited the murder of SMUG leader David Kato, though they knew that Kato’s confessed killer Sidney Nsubuga Enoch (now serving a sentence of 30 years in a Ugandan prison) was actually a male prostitute who Kato bailed out of jail to be his live-in lover and house-boy. Nsubuga bashed in Kato’s skull with a hammer after Kato refused to pay him as promised. Their entire case is built on falsehoods and misrepresentations.
CCR’s goal is to destroy me as the primary international symbol of opposition to their agenda, as indeed they and their political allies have carefully set me up for this purpose since 2009 in hundreds of news stories, numerous “documentaries” including “God Loves Uganda,” and a Hit List created by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) which names me LGBT International Public Enemy #1. The common theme is that I inspired and advocated for, if not outright masterminded, the so-called “Kill the Gays Bill” in Uganda — the very theme of this “Crimes Against Humanity” lawsuit I have been enduring for over three years now. That also is a false charge.
They are, of course, using the Saul Alinsky strategy against me:
1.Pick a Target to be the Symbol of Your Opposition,
2. Freeze the Target in Place through “Branding” by Media Allies, then
3. Publicly Destroy the Target as a Warning to Others.
And they are backed financially by billionaire George Soros and politically/ideologically by Barack Obama, both of whom are not only zealous proponents of the “gay” agenda globally, but are also eager for the legal precedents of the far-left European Union (on which SMUG case depends) to be embraced in American federal courts.
They have picked me as a target because I am (from a human perspective) a relatively powerless figure who happens to have been in the right place at the right time to be their scapegoat. I have no significant following or political connections, a very modest budget, and no effective means of countering their global propaganda campaign against me.
Thank God for Mat Staver and Harry Mihet of Liberty Counsel who have had the courage to stand up for me through this persecution!
From the spiritual perspective, however, I rest in the knowledge that “greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.”
I don’t know what lies ahead in this fiery trial: legal victory or political martyrdom, but I have put my trust in Jesus and resolved to continue to speak the plain truth of the Bible without compromise or apology.
I covet your prayers.
In Him,
Pastor Scott Lively
As you hint, Bill, Tony Campolo is described in Wikipedia thus:
“Campolo is known as one of the most influential leaders in the Evangelical left and has been a major proponent of progressive thought and reform within the evangelical community.”
Praying for Pastor Lively.
Dear Readers,
In terms of reasons why President Obama is pushing homosexual unions (SSM) so hard, there may be an obvious reason that may not be readily realized by most. That is, that President Obama may actually be a homosexual.
Regarding his homosexuality, there are numerous YouTube video testimonies from people who claim to have had homosexual relations with him in Chicago. In fact, two of Obama’s ex mates (Larry Bland and Nat Spencer ) were allegedly eliminated prior to Obama taking office.
Here are some YouTube videos you can watch:
Larry Sinclair, who claims he had multiple sexual and drug encounters with Barack Obama in 1999, and wrote a book, Barack Obama & Larry Sinclair: Cocaine, Sex, Lies & Murder?, tells his whole story in Part 1 of this interview:
Please do our own research carefully as I don’t make a habit of spreading unsubstantiated rumors but there are serious questions about Obama’s sexual preferences and his marriage to Michelle or should I say Michael.
On a different topic, I expect to see a major crash in the US Markets by year end and the US population will witness what a farce the “so called economic recovery” under President Obama has been. I will post further details on this when I get some time.
My wife and I have cashed up and sold 95% of all our shareholdings. The US sharemarket may well close for a extended period of time if it really gets bad. I don’t know when this will occur but I believe it will happen in 2015. Reference Terry Bennett and Neville Johnson and others who prophesied this occurrence.
God Blessings to you all,
2015 will be a very difficult year
Regards
Phil Browne
Now he openly tells us what we all knew: he finds nothing at all wrong with homosexuality or sodomite marriage. Welcome to the apostasy club where there are plenty of other like-minded folks. They all exult in their “progressive” position, as they jump in bed with atheists, homosexualists, and secular humanists, all telling us God is wrong and his Word is not reliable.
Our pastor quoted Campolo on a completely different issue last Sunday. That was fine. But I remember thinking “isn’t he the bloke who’s namby-pamby on homosexuality ..”
Googled him. Yep, that’s the bloke.
Seems now he’s even more namby-pamby on this issue than I read 2 days ago, but that’s not a surprise.
Bill, that has to be one of the best posts that you have written. Full of reality and “God will not be mocked” theology. What you might call “straight down the line and no holds barred.”
I am so pleased that for every Tony Campolo there is a Bill Muehlenberg. It s so sad that Tony is rejecting the salvation that God offers for EVERYONE.
Never heard of him. Never read any of his writings, never listened to any of his sermons.
knew this type of thing was coming, which is why I don’t follow all the yippy, yay, paaarrrraise God, give me ten dollars and God will make you a millionaire, types.
I echo what Roger Marks has said above. Thank you, Bill.
Bill,
I remember this man from the late 70’s, early 80’s, whereby he entertained me when I was a nascent Christian. He’s the same man who was often seen with Bill Clinton, to my dismay at the time. Now, this. He’s changed, or has he? Hmm.
Good article. Very revealing. Very unfortunate for him.
Dear Bill
I am not surprised, Tony Campolo is anti Israel and pro the Muslim arabs, wrongly described as “palestinians” full of the doctrine of hate, surely another litmus test of true faith ?
Dear Bill and Roger and Brenda et al
Praise God Bill is not the only God fearing person writing sensibly about the pagan sexual perversion of homosexuality. There is what pastor and US attorney Dr Scott Lively wrote only yesterday.
King Obama has NO Legal Authority Over the Church
by Dr. Scott Lively, June 8, 2015
One week from today on June 15th 2015, the world will celebrate the 800 year anniversary of the Magna Charta, the “Great Charter of Liberties” which the Archbishop of Canterbury and the medieval Barons of England famously forced King John to sign in the fields at Runnymede, June 15, 1215 near Windsor (which castle still houses the British monarchy). Importantly, the first priority of this venerable charter was the recognition of the sovereignty of the Christian church:
“[1] In the first place we grant to God and confirm by this our present charter for ourselves and our heirs in perpetuity that the English Church is to be free and to have all its rights fully and its liberties entirely. We furthermore grant and give to all the freemen of our realm for ourselves and our heirs in perpetuity the liberties written below to have and to hold to them and their heirs from us and our heirs in perpetuity.”
As I wrote previously in my essay The Death of Human Rights, that first principle of the Magna Charta survived nearly eight centuries — until it was effectively neutralized and superseded by so-called “gay rights” in the body of UK laws known collectively as “Sexual Orientation Regulations” (SORs) http://www.scottlively.net/2012/12/10/the-death-of-human-rights/
These SORs are indeed like open sores on the body politic, and are increasingly used to punish and suppress public expressions of Biblical truth about homosexuality and related perversions, as in the case of preacher Dale McAlpine:
http://blog.speakupmovement.org/church/uncategorized/christian-preacher-arrested-for-saying-that-homosexual-behavior-is-a-sin/
The Magna Charta (or Carta, both spellings are correct), is heralded as the cornerstone of modern human rights law, and indeed was a legal milestone of enormous significance. But there is a much greater foundation-stone beneath the Magna Charta, the Holy Bible, upon which all human rights ultimately rest.
It was no accident that King John was called to account by the Archbishop of Canterbury, for while it was the English Barons whose grievances forced the issue, it was the church which held the independent legal power to force the change. That’s because from the earliest days of western legal history there has always been a “Separation of Church and State,” meaning that the king and the church occupy separate and independent spheres of power and authority within the larger society.
When the legitimate grievances of English Barons were disregarded by the Court of Law (the realm of King John), they appealed to the Court of Equity (the realm of the church).
This separation of powers goes all the way back to the time of Moses and the Biblical “Cities of Refuge,” under the control of the Levitical Priests, where an accused murderer could flee for sanctuary pending a trial to determine his guilt or innocence (Numbers 35:9-28).
The concept of law vs. equity was central to common law jurisprudence and survives even to this day in the U.S. courts, though few understand its roots. Here’s a simple explanation of it http://patch.com/florida/templeterrace/court-of-law-vs-court-of-equity-why-it-matters-to-you-9. Here is a more substantial treatise
http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/jurisdiction_equity.html
Classic film buffs will recognize this church/state separation in the story of Quasimodo, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, safe only so long as he remained in the cathedral, but subjected to the lash and pillory under the King’s law when he ventured out of his “city of sanctuary” for the distressed damsel, Esmeralda.
And, of course, the concept of “sanctuary cities” has been recently misapplied by the ever lawless Obama administration and co-conspirator Democrat city mayors to shield illegal aliens from deportation. But I digress…
Importantly, like the Magna Charta, the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution also sets as its first principle the sovereignty of the Christian church (as indeed “religion“ was largely synonymous with “Christian denomination“ to the drafters):
“Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….” states the First Amendment.
And importantly, here in the United States as in Europe, it is the redefinition of various sexual perversions as “human rights” that threatens true human rights as understood from the earliest beginnings of human rights jurisprudence. I summarized this history in 2006 in the Riga Declaration on Religious Freedom, Family Values and Human Rights here:
http://www.defendthefamily.com/intl/
I am writing this article to remind all of us that the church is and has always been legally free from the control of Kings and Presidents and remains so today. There has been lots of talk lately from the reprobate left to the effect that churches should “lose their tax exempt status” if they refuse to “marry” homosexuals after the Supreme Court rules such unions to be constitutionally protected later this month (as many, including this writer, assume will occur).
However, neither King Obama, nor Congress, nor the United States Supreme Court, nor the UK, nor the EU, nor any human government, has the legal authority to strip the church of its rights and liberties. She is a separate sovereign subject to the Law of God, not the rule of man. The government did not “give” tax exemption to the church, it was and is hers by right, as is the power and duty to reject the redefinition of God’s institution of marriage.
And as a sovereign, these rights are for her inalienable wherever she operates under the legitimate unction of God on behalf of His Kingdom anywhere in this world. This was true before the Magna Charta acknowledged it in 1215 and its is true today and tomorrow irrespective of the opinion of any earthly ruler.
Copyright © 2015 Committee to Elect Scott Lively, All rights reserved.
Thank you for your continuing support for my campaign for Governor of Massachusetts
Our mailing address is:
Committee to Elect Scott Lively
PO Box 4335
Springfield, MA 01101
By my reckoning homosexual “marriage” breaches eight of the ten commandments but I’m happy to make a “red letter” case too.
If fornication is OK why is it that Jesus says:-
Mat_5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
So clearly even though Jesus is adamant that marriages should remain intact fornication is beyond even that consideration. Clearly fornication is worse than the implication of adultery that normally arises from a marriage breakup.
Also Jesus lists the big sins:-
Mat 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Notice too that fornications is plural and notice the company of sins Jesus lists together. Clearly from Jesus’ (red letter) words this is not a matter like wearing cotton and wool together as some apostates would have us believe. Also notice that Jesus lists fornications as separate from adulteries even though both (being against the OT law) are fornication. Also note that fornication proceedes from people’s hearts – its not something people are born with.
It is absurd for people to say “Jesus never mentioned homosexuality” when it is absolute absurd and outrageous nonsense to suggest that Jesus would stand there and itemize all the various ways of fornicating. Fornication is made abundantly clear in the OT law as an abominable sin and Jesus certainly never made the slightest effort to change that definition but clearly reinforced it.
A number of politicians are fighting to keep marriage as man and woman:
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/samesex-marriage-not-inevitable-conservatives-warn-tony-abbott-20150608-ghivd0.html?eid=email:nnn-13omn656-ret_newsl-membereng:nnn-04/11/2013-news_am-dom-news-nnn-smh-u
Keep encouraging them:
https://www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm
http://preservingmarriage.acl.org.au/
http://family.org.au/component/elookup/?option=com_elookup&task=emailPoliticians&ph=4fe77974e63a47e0f54bcfff740f2353&dt=70be0637b11e8a38f56c864ff334718c1432640381
Jesus is God, The Scriptures are the Word of God, consequently the Old and the New testaments are the Words of Jesus! They are all Red Letters!
He’s always been a wolf.
Adam4d has a few comics on this recently:
http://adam4d.com/never-said/
http://adam4d.com/1cor6-9-10-apv/
http://adam4d.com/marriage-equality/
http://adam4d.com/whos-the-bigot/
The only problem with your earlier comment, Neil, is that Tony Campolo is the opposite of the type of person you describe: He is a sociologist (not a minister), very concerned for the poor, and very anti-prosperity teaching. I got to know him well when we were in Israel together in 1991. However there are several beliefs I do NOT share with him – probably a lot more now than back then!
Back in the 80s, Tony wrote a book “20 Hot Potatoes Christians are Afraid to Touch”. In it is a chapter called “Does Christianity have any Good News for Homosexuals?”. Here he says that we should treat homosexuals with compassion and justice, and that their condition is the result of the fall (he quotes Romans 1 in this context). He then goes on to say that he makes a clear distinction between homosexual orientation and homosexual behaviour. He argues that while the former may be out of their control, the latter is clearly wrong. He then advocates for people to enter into a homosexual ‘covenant’ which allows fellowship in Christ between homosexuals, living as a community, but that they should remain celibate. In other words, a bit of a ‘half-way house’! (Probably not a very safe option given their ‘fallen nature!)
Obviously he has now stepped over the boundary and is expressing his support for homosexual behaviour – that’s if I’m reading the reports rightly. And yes, I do remember thinking that his attitude was likely to change, because his stance back then was very tenuous! And yes, clearly Peggy (his wife) has had a lot of influence on him in this regard. He needs our prayers.
A great reference on this subject is Proverbs 20:11 (for those who don’t think people should be accountable for certain of their very own behaviors):
“Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure and whether it be right.”
Proverbs 17:15 is also good re those who embrace abominations:
“He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.”
Once again thank you Bill for being one of the very few courageous Christians prepared to speak out with the biblical view on this.
This week 38 religious leaders across Australia signed a joint letter to our PM Tony Abbott affirming their opposition to gay marriage.
While this is a step in the right direction it is very disappointing that some of our biggest denominations and well known Christian leaders did not sign it.
To read this document and see who signed (and who didn’t) see the ACL website at:
http://www.acl.org.au
I can only conclude that too many of our churches and leaders have a paralysing fear of man which far outweighs their fear of God.
Hi again Bill, I thought you and your readers might find this interesting.
The British war on religion.
http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/the-british-states-war-on-religion/17049
Why is the sad story of Sodom and Gomorrah included in the Bible is there is nothing wrong with homosexuality?
In the passage you quoted Bill from Romans 1, the word love is absent. The attraction for the same sex has and always will be driven by lust and totally unnatural desire for each other. Brilliant article Bill
Great article, Bill.
Clear and well-written – and directly quoting Campolo…
He has long been semi-supportive – and has obviously now been ‘persuaded’ by his wife.
Pity he didn’t try persuading her instead…
When a husband and wife have DIFFERENT public positions on such a key issue, there is trouble ahead – someone has to give way!
Tony has now associated himself with President Barack Obama’s June, 2015 being declared GLBTQAI Pride Month and the President’s special praise for Frank Kameny back on June 29, 2009 during that year’s G and L Pride Month. It was Kameny, however, who insisted that Tony’s “God of Leviticus (and of the whole Bible) is clearly a sinful homophobic bigot. He should repent of his sinful homophobia. He should atone for that sin, and he should seek forgiveness for the pain and suffering which his sinful homophobia has needlessly inflicted upon gay people for the past 4,000 years.” Tony comfortable with his new friends? David A. Noebel
Thank you Roger for saying what I was going to say! Bill is my hero. I’m glad you didn’t stay in Hawaii. We need you here even though it’s cold!
Dear All
Here is more from Scott Lively on how the pro (possibly even former homosexual) Obama is impacting international relations entirely because of his pro homosexual stance. This thing is bigger, deeper, wider than people see on the surface.
DefendTheFamily.com Alert
Obama Orchestrated Ukraine Coup to Re-Start Cold War and Prevent Russia from Leading Global Revolt Against LGBT Agenda
I have come to believe that Obama orchestrated the Ukraine coup to re-start the cold war to prevent Russia from leading a global revolt against his most sacred cow, the LGBT agenda. While there were clearly important geo-political factors in Obama’s decision to initiate regime change in Ukraine, I am convinced that the primary impetus was to nip opposition to the international LGBT political steamroller in the bud. I have written about that topic here:
http://www.scottlively.net/2015/02/25/russia-vs-the-lgbt-globalists-a-climate-of-hate-and-fear-part-two/
Now comes evidence that Obama pal George Soros (funder of the Marxist law firm suing me for “Crimes Against Humanity” for preaching against homosexuality in Uganda) is a key puppet master in the Ukraine civil war, something I have publicly surmised without proof, until now:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-01/hacked-emails-expose-george-soros-ukraine-puppet-master
Unfortunately, Obama’s strategy has worked and Russia has been forced from its former trajectory toward global cooperation with the west into an increasingly adversarial posture as Obama and the GOP Establishment Neo-Cons (united by perversion) continue to portray Russia as a pariah state while simultaneously attempting “regime change“ within its borders.
I believe a consequence of the “punish Russia” strategy is (dangerously for Israel) the transformation of Iran into the key player of the Middle East and the US has been forced to become a suitor (e.g. the sweetheart nuke deal) to our “former” arch-enemy in an attempt to thwart the strengthening of Russian/Iranian relations as Russia turns eastward away from the cold shoulder of the west. And, of course, (dangerously for us) Russian/Chinese relations have warmed considerably for the same reason.
I place the blame for this disturbing transformation squarely at the feet of Obama, whose allegiance to the LGBT agenda supersedes all other concerns, even the very real and growing risk of nuclear war.
I still believe that Russia offers an albeit imperfect model for the west on standing up to the Cultural Marxists but with the US push toward revival of the cold war, the incessant anti-Russian propaganda in the western media, and Russia’s increasing political shift to the east, I hold less hope for an international Russian-led cultural revolution in family values.
Ironically, however, if any hope remains, it may be kept alive by Ukraine, itself. As an astute political observer of my acquaintance recently noted, Kiev thought the West offered them bread but instead gave them LGBT propaganda. Now Ukrainians are protesting in the streets against the “gay” agenda.
russia-insider.com/en/politics/thousands-march-anti-government-protest-kiev/ri7797?utm_source=Russia+Insider+Daily+Headlines&utm_campaign=19efe6c212-
Russia_Insider_Daily_Headlines11_21_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c626db089c-19efe6c212-179866425&ct=t%28Russia_Insider_Daily_Headlines11_21_2014%29
Obama might yet fail in poisoning the western world against Russia, as he has failed in so many areas of foreign policy. I for one would like to see a restoration of the cooperative trends we saw in US/Russian relations before Obama decided to sabotage them, and in the aftermath of that failure I think unity on family values would go a long way toward healing the rift he has exacerbated between Russia and Ukraine and toward weakening the US/EU perversion agenda in the rest of Eastern Europe and the Baltics.
I emailed him and asked him if he was saying that homosexual behaviour was not a sin, or was he saying that it was a sin, but Christians didn’t need to eliminate sin from their lives. Waiting on a response.
What a sell-out.
I used to have a high respect for Tony Campolo in the past as one of the evangelical leaders, but now I changed my mind no longer doing so because he compromised his Christian faith standing with the world instead of standing with his God and the biblical truth like prophet Daniel. I thought when a man of God is getting older he would be wise and more committed to Christ and his teachings but Compolo allowed himself to be influenced by the power of darkness. He shouldn’t be allowed to teach at the evangelical seminaries.
Damian – thank you for the excellent cartoon site link. It is just what I needed.
The sound of the rubber hitting the road … From Pastor and attorney Dr Scott Lively
DefendTheFamily.com Alert
A Request for Prayer
Friends,
On June 23rd, I will be deposed in the case of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) v. Scott Lively by at SMUG’s attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), in the offices of their allies from Dorsey and Whitney, a large international law firm based in New York City. I do not know how many of SMUG’s 11 lawyers will participate in the deposition, but on my side will be Attorney Harry Mihet of Liberty Counsel. I am being sued for “Crimes Against Humanity” for preaching against homosexuality in Uganda, in a case filed in United States District Court here in Springfield, Massachusetts, in March 2012.
A deposition is oral testimony of a witness for later use in court if a case goes to trial. Mine will be video-taped. It is the opportunity for the Marxist activist attorneys of CCR to put me on the hot seat, under oath, for two seven-hour days, to attempt to elicit from me any statements that
support their accusation that I orchestrated a campaign of persecution of homosexuals in Uganda.
The truth is that I have never, ever advocated or condoned hatred, persecution or violence against homosexuals anywhere. In Uganda I urged the Ugandans to emphasize prevention and recovery rather than punishment in their law and policy. My beliefs and advocacy on these issues is well documented (see http://www.DefendtheFamily.com and http://www.ScottLively.net) and has been consistent throughout my entire 25-year ministry in which I have always attempted to be an example of boldness for truth balanced with compassion for homosexual sufferers.
However, these lawyers don’t care what the truth is. This is the same law firm that lied to Judge Ponsor (by omission of inconvenient facts) to imply that my preaching against homosexuality in Uganda incited the murder of SMUG leader David Kato, though they knew that Kato’s confessed killer Sidney Nsubuga Enoch (now serving a sentence of 30 years in a Ugandan prison) was actually a male prostitute who Kato bailed out of jail to be his live-in lover and house-boy. Nsubuga bashed in Kato’s skull with a hammer after Kato refused to pay him as promised. Their entire case is built on falsehoods and misrepresentations.
CCR’s goal is to destroy me as the primary international symbol of opposition to their agenda, as indeed they and their political allies have carefully set me up for this purpose since 2009 in hundreds of news stories, numerous “documentaries” including “God Loves Uganda,” and a Hit List created by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) which names me LGBT International Public Enemy #1. The common theme is that I inspired and advocated for, if not outright masterminded, the so-called “Kill the Gays Bill” in Uganda — the very theme of this “Crimes Against Humanity” lawsuit I have been enduring for over three years now. That also is a false charge.
They are, of course, using the Saul Alinsky strategy against me:
1.Pick a Target to be the Symbol of Your Opposition,
2. Freeze the Target in Place through “Branding” by Media Allies, then
3. Publicly Destroy the Target as a Warning to Others.
And they are backed financially by billionaire George Soros and politically/ideologically by Barack Obama, both of whom are not only zealous proponents of the “gay” agenda globally, but are also eager for the legal precedents of the far-left European Union (on which SMUG case depends) to be embraced in American federal courts.
They have picked me as a target because I am (from a human perspective) a relatively powerless figure who happens to have been in the right place at the right time to be their scapegoat. I have no significant following or political connections, a very modest budget, and no effective means of countering their global propaganda campaign against me.
Thank God for Mat Staver and Harry Mihet of Liberty Counsel who have had the courage to stand up for me through this persecution!
From the spiritual perspective, however, I rest in the knowledge that “greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.”
I don’t know what lies ahead in this fiery trial: legal victory or political martyrdom, but I have put my trust in Jesus and resolved to continue to speak the plain truth of the Bible without compromise or apology.
I covet your prayers.
In Him,
Pastor Scott Lively
As you hint, Bill, Tony Campolo is described in Wikipedia thus:
Praying for Pastor Lively.
Dear Readers,
In terms of reasons why President Obama is pushing homosexual unions (SSM) so hard, there may be an obvious reason that may not be readily realized by most. That is, that President Obama may actually be a homosexual.
Regarding his homosexuality, there are numerous YouTube video testimonies from people who claim to have had homosexual relations with him in Chicago. In fact, two of Obama’s ex mates (Larry Bland and Nat Spencer ) were allegedly eliminated prior to Obama taking office.
Here are some YouTube videos you can watch:
Larry Sinclair, who claims he had multiple sexual and drug encounters with Barack Obama in 1999, and wrote a book, Barack Obama & Larry Sinclair: Cocaine, Sex, Lies & Murder?, tells his whole story in Part 1 of this interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLhqVU4-psU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QK0eGp3N6A
Please do our own research carefully as I don’t make a habit of spreading unsubstantiated rumors but there are serious questions about Obama’s sexual preferences and his marriage to Michelle or should I say Michael.
On a different topic, I expect to see a major crash in the US Markets by year end and the US population will witness what a farce the “so called economic recovery” under President Obama has been. I will post further details on this when I get some time.
My wife and I have cashed up and sold 95% of all our shareholdings. The US sharemarket may well close for a extended period of time if it really gets bad. I don’t know when this will occur but I believe it will happen in 2015. Reference Terry Bennett and Neville Johnson and others who prophesied this occurrence.
God Blessings to you all,
2015 will be a very difficult year
Regards
Phil Browne
Thank you Phil
That is both very interesting and very useful.
Blessings, Naomi