C-7 PEOPLE-FILES
- Barry Creamer - Charles F Creech - Mark Creech - Benjamin Cremer - Tony Cribb - Garry Crites - Franco Crosby - Jeff Crosby - David Croteau - Brandon Crow - Ken Cuccinelli - David Curry - Michael Curry - David Curtis - Jesse Curtis -
==barry creamer======
April 18, 2023: Baptist Press: SBC leaders, former presidents react to death of Charles Stanley
“For the past seven decades, Dr. Charles Stanley led faithfully in both his church and broadcast ministry, influencing countless lives through Scriptural exposition. His life provided an essential bridge from the generation of Dr. Criswell, inspiring other expositors to hold Scripture in the highest regard. May all those in Christian leadership emulate his model of fidelity and integrity.”--Barry Creamer, president, Criswell College
“For the past seven decades, Dr. Charles Stanley led faithfully in both his church and broadcast ministry, influencing countless lives through Scriptural exposition. His life provided an essential bridge from the generation of Dr. Criswell, inspiring other expositors to hold Scripture in the highest regard. May all those in Christian leadership emulate his model of fidelity and integrity.”--Barry Creamer, president, Criswell College
==charles F. creech======
Charles F Creech
Peace comes from obeying God’s commandments. A lack of peace comes from being “wicked.” Peace does not come from money or fame or acquiring material possessions. This passage of scripture tells us the truth concerning peace. You obtain peace about yourself and about the world around you by doing the right thing keeping God’s commandments. Human beings are spiritual creatures with a conscience. We become troubled when we know that we have sinned. We become disturbed when we realize that we have failed orally or ethically. The wicked are those who refuse God’s Word and God’s commandments. The wicked become tormented by the knowledge that they are not right with Christ. In Luke 16 Jesus tells us about a rich man who was in hell, and who lifted up his voice and said in Luke 16:12, “And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” Some people are tormented in their minds because of their sins. There are two solutions to this turmoil of mind. One solution is to avoid sin. The more that you avoid sin, the more turmoil and torment that you will avoid for yourself as a result of the sin. There are few things more unsettling than a troubled conscience. If you have sinned, then you can find peace by turning to Christ for forgiveness. The Bible says in First John 2:1-2, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” --Charles F. (Rick) Creech
==mark creech======
Mark Creech
March 3, 2023: Blue Ridge Christian News: ‘In God We Trust’ Would be Placed in N.C. Legislative Chambers Under New Bill
“In Washington, our national motto, ‘In God We Trust,’ appears opposite the President of the United States Senate, who is also the Vice President of the United States. The same phrase in very large letters appears in the marble, and backdrops the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. I know that I speak for all of the churches who support the Christian Action League when I say we are thrilled Rep. (Ben) Moss has filed a bill to have ‘In God We Trust” placed before our state’s Senate and House...........Absolutely necessary to the survival of this nation is this forceful and explicit statement that the hope and strength of our great state and nation is not in our own intellect, ingenuities or even inclusiveness,” Creech said. “Our strength and our hope, as a people, is primarily determined by our trust in the God of the Bible.” --Christian Action League Executive Director Rev Mark Creech 3.3.23
“In Washington, our national motto, ‘In God We Trust,’ appears opposite the President of the United States Senate, who is also the Vice President of the United States. The same phrase in very large letters appears in the marble, and backdrops the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. I know that I speak for all of the churches who support the Christian Action League when I say we are thrilled Rep. (Ben) Moss has filed a bill to have ‘In God We Trust” placed before our state’s Senate and House...........Absolutely necessary to the survival of this nation is this forceful and explicit statement that the hope and strength of our great state and nation is not in our own intellect, ingenuities or even inclusiveness,” Creech said. “Our strength and our hope, as a people, is primarily determined by our trust in the God of the Bible.” --Christian Action League Executive Director Rev Mark Creech 3.3.23
==benjamin cremer======
Rev. Ben Cremer is Campus Pastor at Cathedral of the Rockies in Boise, Idaho. Ben was Home-schooled (K-12) in "a deeply conservative environment in rural Idaho - as far right politically and theologically as you can imagine." Today, he pastors a satellite campus of a progressive, affirming United Methodist congregation in a conspicuously red state.
Trump's use of Bible shows he's a fake Christian and a fraud
Hey Bible salesman, you never attend church, you don’t know a single bible verse, and you don’t know any of the words of the Lord’s Prayer either. That’s because you’re a fake Christian and a fraud. “It is a bankrupt Christianity that sees a demagogue co-opting our faith and even our holy scriptures for the sake of his own pursuit of power and praise him for it rather than insist that we refuse to allow our sacred faith and scriptures to become a mouthpiece for an empire,” said Pastor Benjamin Cremer. (Miami Herald 5/16/24)READ MORE>>>>>
Hey Bible salesman, you never attend church, you don’t know a single bible verse, and you don’t know any of the words of the Lord’s Prayer either. That’s because you’re a fake Christian and a fraud. “It is a bankrupt Christianity that sees a demagogue co-opting our faith and even our holy scriptures for the sake of his own pursuit of power and praise him for it rather than insist that we refuse to allow our sacred faith and scriptures to become a mouthpiece for an empire,” said Pastor Benjamin Cremer. (Miami Herald 5/16/24)READ MORE>>>>>
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How Not to Prove Progressive Christianity’s ‘Moral Superiority’
Progressive Christians are better than evangelicals: Just ask them! They care for the poor, they care for women’s rights, they care for downtrodden and oppressed LGBT people. They actually care about life more than evangelicals and conservative Catholics, whose only real concern is holding power over people. Funny thing, though: For all their moral superiority, they have serious problems with telling the truth. This isn’t just one accommodationist who does that. I see it again and again. Take the Rev. Benjamin Cremer, an ex-evangelical whose Xwitter feed (as I think we should all call it now) is one long rendition of moral superiority. Example One: Imagine if the pro life movement put all the effort it is putting into abortion bans into dismantling poverty, providing healthcare, living wages, access to reproductive education, and advocating equal rights for women rather than criminalizing them. They’d reduce abortion. (Tom Gilson/The Stream 11/12/23) Read More>>>>> 
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==tony cribb======
In 1987, founding pastors Tony & Tami Cribb had a vision placed on their hearts by the Lord to plant Restoration Church in Spartanburg, SC. GraceWay Church was founded & established by Pastor Jan King in 2009. Hope Church was birthed when GraceWay & Restoration Church united in August of 2015. Since then, leadership felt stirred to expand the vision of Hope Church into the upstate of SC through the beginning of multisite campuses in 2017.
Prominent SC evangelical leaders form coalition, back DeSantis in 2024 GOP presidential race
A group of prominent South Carolina faith leaders are rallying support for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in his effort to woo evangelical voters in the 2024 race. Eighteen Christian leaders, including pastors, church leaders and theology experts, will lead a network of 100 members, the Greenville News has learned. The list includes leaders from churches based in the Upstate such as Rev. Tony Cribb at Hope Church, which has branches in Greenville, Spartanburg and Simpsonville. The list also includes educators from Bob Jones University and North Greenville University. Following the publication of this story, a representative from Hope Church reached out to the News and said the endorsement by Rev. Cribb does not reflect the views of the church. The representative said Hope Church is not endorsing a candidate.
(Devyani Chhetri/Greenville News 9/21/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
A group of prominent South Carolina faith leaders are rallying support for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in his effort to woo evangelical voters in the 2024 race. Eighteen Christian leaders, including pastors, church leaders and theology experts, will lead a network of 100 members, the Greenville News has learned. The list includes leaders from churches based in the Upstate such as Rev. Tony Cribb at Hope Church, which has branches in Greenville, Spartanburg and Simpsonville. The list also includes educators from Bob Jones University and North Greenville University. Following the publication of this story, a representative from Hope Church reached out to the News and said the endorsement by Rev. Cribb does not reflect the views of the church. The representative said Hope Church is not endorsing a candidate.
(Devyani Chhetri/Greenville News 9/21/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
==garry crites======
Garry J. Crites serves as church and community engagement manager at World Relief Durham.
I’m an evangelical who believes mass deportations are not the answer
Inauguration Day is coming and if President-elect Trump’s actions match his pre-election rhetoric, one of his first actions will be clamping down on immigration and ramping up mass deportations. While his new border czar has declared the administration’s initial focus will be on those immigrants who have criminal records, many immigrants (and those who work with them), are feeling increasingly anxious about what might come. As an evangelical Christian and an ordained minister within the Congregationalist tradition — the same tradition that gave us Calvin, the Pilgrims and Jonathan Edwards — I preach and teach often about the authority of the Bible and the redemptive work of Christ. But just as often, I emphasize the need for justice and social change, believing both are equally mandated by the Bible and by the example of Christ himself.
(Garry Crites: Baptist News Global 12/2/24) READMORE>>>>>
Inauguration Day is coming and if President-elect Trump’s actions match his pre-election rhetoric, one of his first actions will be clamping down on immigration and ramping up mass deportations. While his new border czar has declared the administration’s initial focus will be on those immigrants who have criminal records, many immigrants (and those who work with them), are feeling increasingly anxious about what might come. As an evangelical Christian and an ordained minister within the Congregationalist tradition — the same tradition that gave us Calvin, the Pilgrims and Jonathan Edwards — I preach and teach often about the authority of the Bible and the redemptive work of Christ. But just as often, I emphasize the need for justice and social change, believing both are equally mandated by the Bible and by the example of Christ himself.
(Garry Crites: Baptist News Global 12/2/24) READMORE>>>>>
==franco crosby======
Sept 26, 2020: Faith On View: A small southern town and her monument
Franco Crosby is the friend who we went out to support that first night of demonstrations. He is an alumnus of Lee University and is starting the Masters in Theology program at Vanderbilt University this fall. He has emerged as a leader in this demonstration and a voice for peace. Under his guidance, the demonstrators no longer yell in response to provocation. They have adopted a stance of non-engagement. They demonstrate peacefully and do not respond to provocations from the pro-monument protesters or motorists. A growing group of demonstrators, dedicated to change, gather virtually every evening to call attention to the issue.
Franco Crosby is the friend who we went out to support that first night of demonstrations. He is an alumnus of Lee University and is starting the Masters in Theology program at Vanderbilt University this fall. He has emerged as a leader in this demonstration and a voice for peace. Under his guidance, the demonstrators no longer yell in response to provocation. They have adopted a stance of non-engagement. They demonstrate peacefully and do not respond to provocations from the pro-monument protesters or motorists. A growing group of demonstrators, dedicated to change, gather virtually every evening to call attention to the issue.
==jeff crosby======
The Top 10 Religion Stories of 2023
6. Seeing the Light on Religious Fiction Jeff Crosby, the executive director of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, is embracing Christian fiction after years as a skeptic, in large part because of the genre’s progress when it comes to adding more diverse voices and a greater range of topics.
(Emma Winner/Publishers Weekly 12/13/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
6. Seeing the Light on Religious Fiction Jeff Crosby, the executive director of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, is embracing Christian fiction after years as a skeptic, in large part because of the genre’s progress when it comes to adding more diverse voices and a greater range of topics.
(Emma Winner/Publishers Weekly 12/13/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
==david croteau======
May 3, 2023: Roys Report: Study Reveals Which Denominations Hold Strongest Beliefs on Tithing
The study released last week by Lifeway Research, a firm affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, found that 77% of Protestant churchgoers in the U.S. affirm that “tithing is a biblical command that still applies today.” Only 10% rejected this belief and another 13% were unsure. Lutherans’ rejection of tithing “makes a lot of sense historically,” said David Croteau, dean of Columbia Biblical Seminary, commenting on the survey. “Martin Luther himself did not believe that Christians were required to tithe,” he told The Roys Report (TRR). In a time of churches’ tightening budgets, Croteau, author of Tithing After the Cross, said he often hears concerns that giving will decline if a church’s teaching shifts away from tithing. But he contends that’s the wrong mindset.
“Ever since the modern emphasis on tithing began—in the 1870s—it has not helped increase giving among evangelicals,” he said. “Giving now is similar to giving during the Great Depression.”
Croteau said he urges pastors and lay leaders to study New Testament principles of “grace giving,” which he defines as systematic, sacrificial, and generous.
“Law is not a good motivator,” he added. “Love is a much better motivator and will last much longer than law.”
The study released last week by Lifeway Research, a firm affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, found that 77% of Protestant churchgoers in the U.S. affirm that “tithing is a biblical command that still applies today.” Only 10% rejected this belief and another 13% were unsure. Lutherans’ rejection of tithing “makes a lot of sense historically,” said David Croteau, dean of Columbia Biblical Seminary, commenting on the survey. “Martin Luther himself did not believe that Christians were required to tithe,” he told The Roys Report (TRR). In a time of churches’ tightening budgets, Croteau, author of Tithing After the Cross, said he often hears concerns that giving will decline if a church’s teaching shifts away from tithing. But he contends that’s the wrong mindset.
“Ever since the modern emphasis on tithing began—in the 1870s—it has not helped increase giving among evangelicals,” he said. “Giving now is similar to giving during the Great Depression.”
Croteau said he urges pastors and lay leaders to study New Testament principles of “grace giving,” which he defines as systematic, sacrificial, and generous.
“Law is not a good motivator,” he added. “Love is a much better motivator and will last much longer than law.”
==brandon crow======
Brandon Crow Files
James uses the term “double-minded” to refer to religious hypocrites. Following his half-brother Jesus, James is tough on those who claim to be religious but who aren’t truly committed to the Lord. Jesus critiqued those who honored God with their lips but whose hearts were far from him (Isa. 29:13; Mark 7:6–7), and he compared the scribes and Pharisees to whitewashed tombs (Matt. 23:27). James claims that true devotion is caring for those in need (James 1:26–27) and that to be a friend of the world is to be an enemy of God (4:4). These are additional ways James warns against double-mindedness without using the precise term. To be double-minded is to break the first great command to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37–38). The double-minded aren’t fully committed to God; they don’t truly love him with their whole selves. --Brandon Crow; Gospel Coalition; Am I Double-minded?
==david curry======
Christian watchdog group pushes back against Pew report suggesting decline of Christians in China
The leader of a Christian nonprofit watchdog group is pushing back against a recent Pew Research report suggesting that the number of Christians in China could have declined in recent years amid a crackdown by the Chinese Communist Party. "A recent Pew Research Report measuring religion in China suggests that Christianity in the country has stagnated and is perhaps even in decline," Global Christian Relief President and CEO David Curry wrote in a Nov. 19 op-ed for Fox News Digital about the Chinese Christian population (Jon Brown/Christian Post 11/26/23) Read More>>>>>
The leader of a Christian nonprofit watchdog group is pushing back against a recent Pew Research report suggesting that the number of Christians in China could have declined in recent years amid a crackdown by the Chinese Communist Party. "A recent Pew Research Report measuring religion in China suggests that Christianity in the country has stagnated and is perhaps even in decline," Global Christian Relief President and CEO David Curry wrote in a Nov. 19 op-ed for Fox News Digital about the Chinese Christian population (Jon Brown/Christian Post 11/26/23) Read More>>>>>
==michael curry======
Rev. Michael Bruce Curry is Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church. He is the Chief Pastor and serves as President and Chief Executive Officer, and as Chair of the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church. Bishop Curry was installed as the 27th Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church on November 1, 2015. He was elected to a nine-year term and confirmed at the 78th General Convention of The Episcopal Church in Salt Lake City, UT, on June 27, 2015.
In a Time of Change, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry Says, He Kept His Eye Trained on Love
Bishop Michael Curry may best be remembered for his electrifying sermon on the power of love at the 2018 royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. To Episcopalians who knew Curry as their presiding bishop, his turn on the world stage was merely recognition of Curry’s rock star preaching skills. Fluent in a Black preaching tradition, he is able to captivate both the well-heeled and the working class. But when COVID-19 hit and churches closed, Episcopalians also saw his down-to-earth skills of improvisation. Staffers at the denomination’s New York headquarters had appealed to the boss to deliver his online Easter message from a local church, using a stained-glass window as a backdrop.
(Word & Way 11/1/24) READMORE>>>>>
Bishop Michael Curry may best be remembered for his electrifying sermon on the power of love at the 2018 royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. To Episcopalians who knew Curry as their presiding bishop, his turn on the world stage was merely recognition of Curry’s rock star preaching skills. Fluent in a Black preaching tradition, he is able to captivate both the well-heeled and the working class. But when COVID-19 hit and churches closed, Episcopalians also saw his down-to-earth skills of improvisation. Staffers at the denomination’s New York headquarters had appealed to the boss to deliver his online Easter message from a local church, using a stained-glass window as a backdrop.
(Word & Way 11/1/24) READMORE>>>>>
Michael Curry
I realize that some notable folk interpreted what Jesus was saying when he says, “A new commandment I give you that you love one another, for by this, everyone will know that you are my disciples.” It was this saying was attributed to Prime Minister Disraeli. It was also attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, but I never met either one of them. I heard it at a concert from Jimi Hendrix. And I don’t know if Jimi was actually consciously doing a riff off Jesus, but the Spirit was moving. And he may not have even known it.
Because when Jimi, I think, heard Jesus say, “A new commandment I give you that you love one another”—and then after he says all of that, toward the end of these sayings, he says, “In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” And Jimi heard that saying about the power of love. And he said this—like I said, I didn’t hear Gandhi say it, and I didn’t hear the prime minister say it, but I heard Jimi say it. I was a teenager, and I heard Jimi say it. This was before the internet.
Jimi said it this way: “When the power of love overcomes the love of power”—y’all with me now? “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will know peace.” Oh, oh, then the world, then the world, then the world will know peace. Then there will be justice. Then truth will be told in public squares. Then we will learn how to lay down our swords and shield down by the riverside and study war no more.
“When the power of love”—repeat after me—“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will know peace.” It is all about love. Oh, turn and tell your neighbor, it’s all about love. Go on, tell them. It’s all about love. All about love. All about love. It’s all about love.
Something dawned on me when I was getting ready for this, and I don’t think it was the medicines that I’m taking, but I hadn’t thought about it before. But it dawned on me that in that last week of Jesus’ earthly life, before the crucifixion, it dawned on me that Jesus was entering Jerusalem, which was a center of the Roman empire occupying Palestine. He was going to the heart of the beast in the Middle East. Did you like that? And he went there, it dawned on me, to confront an empire in love with power, with the power of love.
That’s why he went there. And when he went there, he deliberately provoked the empire that was in love with its power … Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, right? And he did it timing it with the entrance of Pontius Pilate, the governor of Rome. Pilate was coming in from the west side of the city, having been in his palace at Fortress Antonia. Jesus came in on the eastern side of the city, the Mount of Olives in that area.
--Michael Curry; Anglican Ink; Address to the “All about Love” festival delivered by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry 7.11.23
Because when Jimi, I think, heard Jesus say, “A new commandment I give you that you love one another”—and then after he says all of that, toward the end of these sayings, he says, “In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” And Jimi heard that saying about the power of love. And he said this—like I said, I didn’t hear Gandhi say it, and I didn’t hear the prime minister say it, but I heard Jimi say it. I was a teenager, and I heard Jimi say it. This was before the internet.
Jimi said it this way: “When the power of love overcomes the love of power”—y’all with me now? “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will know peace.” Oh, oh, then the world, then the world, then the world will know peace. Then there will be justice. Then truth will be told in public squares. Then we will learn how to lay down our swords and shield down by the riverside and study war no more.
“When the power of love”—repeat after me—“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will know peace.” It is all about love. Oh, turn and tell your neighbor, it’s all about love. Go on, tell them. It’s all about love. All about love. All about love. It’s all about love.
Something dawned on me when I was getting ready for this, and I don’t think it was the medicines that I’m taking, but I hadn’t thought about it before. But it dawned on me that in that last week of Jesus’ earthly life, before the crucifixion, it dawned on me that Jesus was entering Jerusalem, which was a center of the Roman empire occupying Palestine. He was going to the heart of the beast in the Middle East. Did you like that? And he went there, it dawned on me, to confront an empire in love with power, with the power of love.
That’s why he went there. And when he went there, he deliberately provoked the empire that was in love with its power … Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, right? And he did it timing it with the entrance of Pontius Pilate, the governor of Rome. Pilate was coming in from the west side of the city, having been in his palace at Fortress Antonia. Jesus came in on the eastern side of the city, the Mount of Olives in that area.
--Michael Curry; Anglican Ink; Address to the “All about Love” festival delivered by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry 7.11.23
Mar 7, 2023: Christian Post: Frank Griswold, former head of Episcopal Church, dies at age 85
Current Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said Griswold was "a remarkable and faithful servant of God" and asked for prayers for "Bishop Griswold, and the souls of all the departed."
Current Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said Griswold was "a remarkable and faithful servant of God" and asked for prayers for "Bishop Griswold, and the souls of all the departed."
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Bishop Michael Curry’s Full Sermon From the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry & Meghan Markle
And now in the name of our loving liberating and life giving God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, amen.
From the Song of Solomon in the Bible: Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is as strong as death, passion as fierce as the grave, its flashes of flashes of fire, a raging flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it out
The late Dr. Martin Luther King once said, and I quote: we must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love, and when we do that we will make of this old world a new world. For love is the only way.
There’s power in love. Don’t underestimate it. Don’t even oversentimentalize it. There’s power, power in love. If you don’t believe me, think about a time when you first fell in love. The whole world seemed to center around you and your beloved. There’s power, power in love.
Not just in its romantic forms but any form, any shape of love. There’s a certain sense in which when you are loved and you know it, when someone cares for you and you know it, when you love and you show it, it actually feels right. There’s something right about it.
And there’s a reason for it. The reason has to do with the source. We were made by a power of love. And our lives were meant and are meant to be lived in that love. That’s why we are here.
Ultimately the source of love is God himself, the source of all of our lives. There’s an old medieval poem that says, “where true love is found, God himself is there.”
The New Testament says it this way, “beloved, let us love one another because love is of God and those who love are born of God and know God, those who do not love do not know God. Why? For God is love. There’s power in love. There’s power in love to help and heal when nothing else can. There’s power in love to lift up and liberate when nothing else will. There’s power in love to show us the way to live. Set me as a seal on your heart. A seal on your arm. For love it’s strong as death.
But love is not only about a young couple. Now the power of love is demonstrated by the fact that we are all here. Two young people fell in love and we all showed up. But it’s not just for and about a young couple who we rejoice with.
It’s more than that. Jesus of Nazareth on one occasion was asked by a lawyer to sum up the essence of the teachings of Moses. He went back and reached back into the Hebrew scriptures, to Deuteronomy and Leviticus, and Jesus said you shall love the lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength.
This is the first and great commandment and the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself. And then in Matthew’s version, he added, he said, on these two Love of God and Love of Neighbor, hang all the law, all the prophets, everything that Moses wrote, everything in the holy prophets, everything in the scriptures, everything that God has been trying to tell the world. Love God, love your neighbors, and while you’re at it, love yourself.
Now someone once said that Jesus began the most revolutionary movement in all of human history, a movement grounded in the unconditional love of God for the world. A movement mandating people to live that love. And in so doing, to change not only their lives but the very life of the world itself.
I’m talking about some power, real power. Power to change the world. If you don’t believe me, well, there were some old slaves in America’s antebellum south who explained the dynamic power of love and why it has the power to transform. They explained it this way. They sang a spiritual, even in the midst of their captivity, it’s one that says there’s a balm in Gilead. A healing balm, something that can makes things right.
There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul. One of the stanzas actually explains why: they said, If you cannot preach like Peter and you cannot pray like Paul, you just tell the love of Jesus how he died to save us all. Oh that’s the balm in Gilead. This way of love is the way of life. They got it, he died to save us all. He didn’t die for anything he could get out of it. Jesus did not get an honorary doctorate for dying. He wasn’t getting anything out of it. He gave up his life, he sacrificed his life for the good of the others, for the good of the other, for the well-being of the world. For us, that’s what love is.
Love is not selfish and self-centered. Love can be sacrificial. And in so doing, becomes redemptive, and that way of unselfish, sacrificial, redemptive love, changes lives. And it can change this world. If you don’t believe me, just stop and think or imagine. Think and imagine, well, think and imagine a world where love is the way. Imagine our homes and families when love is the way. Imagine neighborhoods and communities where love is the way. Imagine governments and nations where love is the way. Imagine business and commerce when love is the way. Imagine this tired old world when love is the way, unselfish, sacrificial redemptive. When love is the way, then no child will go to bed hungry in this world ever again. When love is the way, we will let justice roll down like a mighty stream and righteousness like an ever-flowing brook. When love is the way, poverty will become history. When love is the way, the earth will be a sanctuary. When love is the way, we will lay down our swords and shields down, down by the riverside to study war no more. When love is the way, there’s plenty good room, plenty good room, for all of God’s children. Because when love is the way, we actually treat each other, well, like we are actually family. When love is the way, we know that God is the source of us all and we are brothers and sisters, children of God. My brothers and sisters, that’s a new heaven, a new earth, a new world, a new human family. And let me tell you something, old Solomon was right in the Old Testament, that’s fire.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and with this, I will sit you down. We’ve got to get you all married.
French Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was arguably one of the great minds, one of the great spirits of the 20th century. A Jesuit, Roman Catholic priest, scientist, a scholar, a mystic. In some of his writings, he said from his scientific background as well as his theological one. In some of his writings, he said as others have, that the discovery or invention or harnessing of fire was one of the great scientific and technological discoveries in all of human history. Fire to a great extent made human civilization possible. Fire made it possible to cook food and to provide sanitary ways of eating which reduced the spread of disease in its time. Fire made it possible to heat warm environments and thereby made human migration around the world a possibility, even into colder climates. Fire made it possible, there was no Bronze Age without fire, no Iron Age without fire, no industrial revolution without fire. The advances of science and technology are greatly dependent on the human ability and capacity to take fire and use it for human good.
Anybody get here in a car today? An automobile? Nod your heads if you did, I’m guessing, I know there were some carriages. But those of us who came in cars, the controlled harnessed fire made that possible. I know that the Bible says, and I believe it, that Jesus walked on the water, but I have to tell you I didn’t walk across the Atlantic Ocean to get here. Controlled fire in that plane got me here. Fire makes it possible for us to text and tweet and email and Instagram and Facebook and socially be dysfunctional with each other. Fire makes all of that possible and de Chardin said that fire was one of the greatest discoveries in all of human history. And he then went on to say that if humanity every harnesses the energy of fire again, if humanity ever captures the energy of love, it will be the second time in history that we have discovered fire.
Dr. King was right, we must discover love. The redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world. My brother, my sister, God love you. God bless you. And may God hold us all in those almighty hands of love.
From the Song of Solomon in the Bible: Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is as strong as death, passion as fierce as the grave, its flashes of flashes of fire, a raging flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it out
The late Dr. Martin Luther King once said, and I quote: we must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love, and when we do that we will make of this old world a new world. For love is the only way.
There’s power in love. Don’t underestimate it. Don’t even oversentimentalize it. There’s power, power in love. If you don’t believe me, think about a time when you first fell in love. The whole world seemed to center around you and your beloved. There’s power, power in love.
Not just in its romantic forms but any form, any shape of love. There’s a certain sense in which when you are loved and you know it, when someone cares for you and you know it, when you love and you show it, it actually feels right. There’s something right about it.
And there’s a reason for it. The reason has to do with the source. We were made by a power of love. And our lives were meant and are meant to be lived in that love. That’s why we are here.
Ultimately the source of love is God himself, the source of all of our lives. There’s an old medieval poem that says, “where true love is found, God himself is there.”
The New Testament says it this way, “beloved, let us love one another because love is of God and those who love are born of God and know God, those who do not love do not know God. Why? For God is love. There’s power in love. There’s power in love to help and heal when nothing else can. There’s power in love to lift up and liberate when nothing else will. There’s power in love to show us the way to live. Set me as a seal on your heart. A seal on your arm. For love it’s strong as death.
But love is not only about a young couple. Now the power of love is demonstrated by the fact that we are all here. Two young people fell in love and we all showed up. But it’s not just for and about a young couple who we rejoice with.
It’s more than that. Jesus of Nazareth on one occasion was asked by a lawyer to sum up the essence of the teachings of Moses. He went back and reached back into the Hebrew scriptures, to Deuteronomy and Leviticus, and Jesus said you shall love the lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength.
This is the first and great commandment and the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself. And then in Matthew’s version, he added, he said, on these two Love of God and Love of Neighbor, hang all the law, all the prophets, everything that Moses wrote, everything in the holy prophets, everything in the scriptures, everything that God has been trying to tell the world. Love God, love your neighbors, and while you’re at it, love yourself.
Now someone once said that Jesus began the most revolutionary movement in all of human history, a movement grounded in the unconditional love of God for the world. A movement mandating people to live that love. And in so doing, to change not only their lives but the very life of the world itself.
I’m talking about some power, real power. Power to change the world. If you don’t believe me, well, there were some old slaves in America’s antebellum south who explained the dynamic power of love and why it has the power to transform. They explained it this way. They sang a spiritual, even in the midst of their captivity, it’s one that says there’s a balm in Gilead. A healing balm, something that can makes things right.
There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul. One of the stanzas actually explains why: they said, If you cannot preach like Peter and you cannot pray like Paul, you just tell the love of Jesus how he died to save us all. Oh that’s the balm in Gilead. This way of love is the way of life. They got it, he died to save us all. He didn’t die for anything he could get out of it. Jesus did not get an honorary doctorate for dying. He wasn’t getting anything out of it. He gave up his life, he sacrificed his life for the good of the others, for the good of the other, for the well-being of the world. For us, that’s what love is.
Love is not selfish and self-centered. Love can be sacrificial. And in so doing, becomes redemptive, and that way of unselfish, sacrificial, redemptive love, changes lives. And it can change this world. If you don’t believe me, just stop and think or imagine. Think and imagine, well, think and imagine a world where love is the way. Imagine our homes and families when love is the way. Imagine neighborhoods and communities where love is the way. Imagine governments and nations where love is the way. Imagine business and commerce when love is the way. Imagine this tired old world when love is the way, unselfish, sacrificial redemptive. When love is the way, then no child will go to bed hungry in this world ever again. When love is the way, we will let justice roll down like a mighty stream and righteousness like an ever-flowing brook. When love is the way, poverty will become history. When love is the way, the earth will be a sanctuary. When love is the way, we will lay down our swords and shields down, down by the riverside to study war no more. When love is the way, there’s plenty good room, plenty good room, for all of God’s children. Because when love is the way, we actually treat each other, well, like we are actually family. When love is the way, we know that God is the source of us all and we are brothers and sisters, children of God. My brothers and sisters, that’s a new heaven, a new earth, a new world, a new human family. And let me tell you something, old Solomon was right in the Old Testament, that’s fire.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and with this, I will sit you down. We’ve got to get you all married.
French Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was arguably one of the great minds, one of the great spirits of the 20th century. A Jesuit, Roman Catholic priest, scientist, a scholar, a mystic. In some of his writings, he said from his scientific background as well as his theological one. In some of his writings, he said as others have, that the discovery or invention or harnessing of fire was one of the great scientific and technological discoveries in all of human history. Fire to a great extent made human civilization possible. Fire made it possible to cook food and to provide sanitary ways of eating which reduced the spread of disease in its time. Fire made it possible to heat warm environments and thereby made human migration around the world a possibility, even into colder climates. Fire made it possible, there was no Bronze Age without fire, no Iron Age without fire, no industrial revolution without fire. The advances of science and technology are greatly dependent on the human ability and capacity to take fire and use it for human good.
Anybody get here in a car today? An automobile? Nod your heads if you did, I’m guessing, I know there were some carriages. But those of us who came in cars, the controlled harnessed fire made that possible. I know that the Bible says, and I believe it, that Jesus walked on the water, but I have to tell you I didn’t walk across the Atlantic Ocean to get here. Controlled fire in that plane got me here. Fire makes it possible for us to text and tweet and email and Instagram and Facebook and socially be dysfunctional with each other. Fire makes all of that possible and de Chardin said that fire was one of the greatest discoveries in all of human history. And he then went on to say that if humanity every harnesses the energy of fire again, if humanity ever captures the energy of love, it will be the second time in history that we have discovered fire.
Dr. King was right, we must discover love. The redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world. My brother, my sister, God love you. God bless you. And may God hold us all in those almighty hands of love.
==david curtis======
David Curtis
The late author and astronomer, Carl Sagan, said, "The universe is all that ever was and ever will be." As an astronomer who studied the heavens, he didn't see the glory of God, he didn't see God at all. Julian Huxley, who was an English evolutionary biologist, said, "It is all accident, all a matter of chance. No reason, no end, no purpose at all." These men didn't just view, they studied God's creation, and they never saw Him or His glory. Natural man says that the matter of which the universe is made somehow over billions of years organized itself into all that we see without any outside assistance or intelligence.
What is called, "natural or general revelation" will not bring anybody to God; just like special revelation won't bring anybody to God. The only way man comes to God is if God draws him to Himself:
"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. John 6:44 NASB
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 1 Corinthians 2:14. The man without the Spirit cannot appreciate God's glory through the heavens, or through special revelation. God must first effectually call a man, then man can see His glory in creation and in the Word. How much do dead men see of the glory of God?:
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 1 Corinthians 1:21 NASBThis verse destroys every variety of "natural revelation" and natural theology: "The world through its wisdom did not come to know God." Knowledge of God comes only through His propositional revelation. --David B Curtis; Berean Bible Church; They Knew God? (Romans 1:19-23) 1.3.16
What is called, "natural or general revelation" will not bring anybody to God; just like special revelation won't bring anybody to God. The only way man comes to God is if God draws him to Himself:
"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. John 6:44 NASB
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 1 Corinthians 2:14. The man without the Spirit cannot appreciate God's glory through the heavens, or through special revelation. God must first effectually call a man, then man can see His glory in creation and in the Word. How much do dead men see of the glory of God?:
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 1 Corinthians 1:21 NASBThis verse destroys every variety of "natural revelation" and natural theology: "The world through its wisdom did not come to know God." Knowledge of God comes only through His propositional revelation. --David B Curtis; Berean Bible Church; They Knew God? (Romans 1:19-23) 1.3.16
Pastor David B Curtis
Now, being rich has its share of problems, just as being poor has its share. The temptation to the rich is to trust in riches, while the temptation to the poor is to doubt God's provision. But in both cases the Lord is saying, "I have a perspective for you. If you are rich or poor, your focus is to be on Me." For example, in verse 21 He says, "Put your treasure in heaven, because that is where I want your heart." In verse 33 He says, "But seek ye first the kingdom...." In other words, "Put your heart in heaven and don't worry, I will give you what you need." The focus of the rich in the world is to lay up treasures on earth (v. 19). The focus of the poor in the world is to seek after what they will eat, drink, and wear for clothing. If you are rich, pursue a heavenly investment; if you are poor, pursue the kingdom of God. When it comes to money and possessions, our focus is to be on God and not on possessions. We are not to grasp and claw after things, we are to seek God and allow Him to fulfill His promises and provisions to us.
The emphasis of verses 25 through 34 is on the subject of anxiety or worry. Three times in these verses, Christ gives the admonition, "Do not be anxious." We live in a society which is characterized by worry over material things. -David B Curtis; Berean Bible Church; Stop Worrying, Start Trusting! Matthew 6:25-27 03/02/2003
The emphasis of verses 25 through 34 is on the subject of anxiety or worry. Three times in these verses, Christ gives the admonition, "Do not be anxious." We live in a society which is characterized by worry over material things. -David B Curtis; Berean Bible Church; Stop Worrying, Start Trusting! Matthew 6:25-27 03/02/2003
==ken cuccunelli======
Mar 30, 2023: Religious News Service: Can DeSantis break Trump’s hold on the religious right?
A super PAC backing DeSantis has already snagged several notable veterans of Ted Cruz’s 2016 run, as well as former Trump administration official Ken Cuccinelli, a conservative Christian who has visited four early primary states seeking support for DeSantis. The governor has also garnered Nate Hochman, a young writer nurtured in the MAGA-adjacent conservative movement who describes himself as “a culture warrior first and foremost.”
A super PAC backing DeSantis has already snagged several notable veterans of Ted Cruz’s 2016 run, as well as former Trump administration official Ken Cuccinelli, a conservative Christian who has visited four early primary states seeking support for DeSantis. The governor has also garnered Nate Hochman, a young writer nurtured in the MAGA-adjacent conservative movement who describes himself as “a culture warrior first and foremost.”
==jesse curtis======
David A Hollinger
We now have a formidable body of scholarship that establishes the depth and extent of these features of the American evangelical tradition, confirming and expanding on Richard Hofstadter’s legendary analysis in his 1964 book, Anti-intellectualism in American Life. This new body of scholarship is the work of a remarkable generation of young historians who have yet to receive the credit they’re due, so I name some of them here: Darren Dochuk, Matthew Sutton, Anthea Butler, Timothy Gloege, Jesse Curtis, Lerone Martin, J. Russell Hawkins, Stephen Young, Daniel Hummel, Daniel Silliman, and—the only one in this cohort to gain wide media recognition--Kristin Kobes Du Mez, author of the justly famous and marvelously titled, Jesus and John Wayne. Sadly, while the majority of these scholars have written for Religion Dispatches, the conclusions of these bold and creative scholars have been largely ignored in the discussion of religion and politics found in the pages of The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other media of comparable reach and influence.
--David Hollinger; Religion Dispatches; The Critiques of Evangelical Writers Opposing Christian Nationalism Fail to Recognize Evangelicalism’s Troubling History 6/18/24
--David Hollinger; Religion Dispatches; The Critiques of Evangelical Writers Opposing Christian Nationalism Fail to Recognize Evangelicalism’s Troubling History 6/18/24
