We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum. A.W. Tozer
Therefore let God-inspired Scripture decide between us; and on whichever side be found doctrines in harmony with the word of God, in favor of that side will be cast the vote of truth. --Basil of Caesarea
Once you learn to discern, there's no going back. You will begin to spot the lie everywhere it appears.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service. 1 Timothy 1:12

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Is Barack Obama a Christian as He Claims? Part 1


President Obama claims to be a Christian, and the media gets a lot of mileage out of helping him make this claim.  But just because Obama claims to be a Christian, that doesn’t make it so.  The intent of this article is to examine his claim in light of Scripture.  We need to start with some background information.

Obama attended the Trinity United Church of Christ in the Chicago area, whose pastor was Jeremiah Wright.  Being a UCC assembly, this made them part of the most liberal denomination which still considers itself “Christian.” To back up this charge, let’s look at what the UCC says about their denomination, gleaning from their official web site.

We work with — not against — people of other faiths.  Why? Because God is still speaking.
I’d like to know where they find in Scripture that we are to work with people who are worshipping idols and other gods.  And I’d like to know where they are hearing from God outside of Scripture; in what way is God still speaking?

We believe that all of the baptized “belong body and soul to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” No matter who – no matter what – no matter where we are on life's journey – notwithstanding race, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, class or creed – we all belong to God and to one worldwide community of faith.
Notice they include “gender identity or expression” and “sexual orientation.”  The UCC supports the false idea of “transgenderism,” which refutes the idea that people are created only man and woman and nothing in between.  They enable people who have emotional problems and believe they are what they are not.  The UCC fosters this lie.  The UCC also supports homosexuality, which is abject rebellion against God, as I demonstrated in this article.  Not only do they support homosexuality, but they sanction same-sex unions and perform fake marriages, as well as ordaining homosexuals as pastors.  Before the SCOTUS forced same-sex fake marriage on the entire U.S., the UCC vehemently fought to overturn bans against SSFM.  (They also ordain women as pastors, contrary to 1 Timothy 2.)

Under “Justice Issues,” the UCC shows all their social activism, most of which is socialism (theft from those who have to give it to those who have not) and the “social gospel,” neither of which is biblical.  In reading their numerous links you see more support for sexual perversion, be it homosexuality, bisexuality, transgenderism, or any other permutation other than what God ordained for human sexuality.  The UCC is vigorous in their efforts to support the murder of the unborn, contrary to the 6th commandment against murder.  In this vein they also support euthanasia!  If there is a political or social liberal stance on any topic, the UCC supports it 100%.  They claim Israel is an “occupation” of “Palestine,” and seem to lay all the problems there at the foot of Israel!  In addition to this, they support the very racist “Black Lives Matter” movement.  While some of these issues are not necessarily theological issues, they all form a solitary worldview which is totally anti-biblical “Christianity.”

On their site’s advice column, the response to someone questioning about polyamory/polygamy was ambiguous as to whether it is right or wrong, rather the advice mainly noted problems it causes, and then says there is no right answer to the issue except that the couple has to be on the same page!

The UCC has adopted a resolution opposing hostility towards Islam, without regard to the fact that Islam wants to eradicate all Jews and Christians.

I can’t find any information on their site about their view of Scripture, but I’ve seen many, many of their pastors teaching that Genesis is essentially myth until Abraham.  Of course with a no literal Adam and Eve that leaves no basis for the Jewish or Christian faiths.  I’ve also encountered UCC leaders who teach universalism and that there is no hell.

Let’s look at the official site of the specific assembly which Obama attended for 20 years or so to see their ideology, which is in addition to the UCC denominational ideology.  The first thing you see when you go to their home page is support for “Black Lives Matter.”  Pastor Jeremiah Wright, who was Obama’s pastor, teaches Black Liberation Theology, which is a Marxist, racist version of the social gospel founded mostly by James Cone; and Trinity’s website certainly shows this as a basic belief.  In fact, they say “Trinity UCC is a social justice church.  The heart of our social justice ministry resides within the Liberation and Outreach ministries.”  Additionally, they have a Yoga ministry - a ministry teaching the practices of Buddhism and Hinduism.

Lastly, when observing the church history, you will see they have ordained female pastors, and have promoted racism.

Now that we’ve reviewed the teachings of the denomination and of the individual assembly Barack Obama attended for 20 years, we can understand what his particular beliefs should be, which are totally unbiblical and even racist.  Therefore, their teachings are additions to Christianity, leading them to worship a Jesus and a god with a different identities than those of the Bible.  This Jesus cannot save.


In Part 2, we will examine an interview of Barack Obama in which he tells his testimony and some specific beliefs.

4 comments:

Alec said...

Hi Glenn,

Looking forward to part 2.

On a side note, your article http://watchmansbagpipes.blogspot.com/2010/09/bible-and-homosexual-behavior.html (linked above) is excellent. The exchange in the comments shows in a very clear way the "Achilles heel" in the evangelical church. Drew accepts the Biblical arguments you raise, yet rejects the implications. Your final statement is so helpful to those of us who still struggle with various sins:

What I am saying is that one who claims to be a Christian will not continue to live a lifestyle which is defined by sin. In other words, not that we will cease to sin, but that our lives will not be defined by such...

Those whose lives are defined by the sin are those who don't even repent of it, don't believe it is sinful, etc (e.g., those who live a homosexual lifestyle). And this is what I mean when I say that the one who is truly a Christian will not contine to practice such a lifestlye such that it defines who he is (and if you think about it, those who practice homosexual behavior normally want to be defined by it, which is why they have taken the act and made it into an identifying noun.)


Yes, precisely.

In the end it's about pride.

Alec

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Alec,

Thanks for your kind words! I just posted part 2--enjoy!

Unknown said...

Please write similar articles about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. People need to understand the spiritual implications of voting for either one of them.

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Debbie,

The reason I did this article was because I already knew which Church denomination Obama attended, and I knew which local assembly he attended, and I knew the name of the "pastor" he sat under for 20 years.

The impetus for the article was because the interview was brought to my attention and I decided to give an example of discernment and how to go about it when confronted with false believers or false teachers.

In order to do the same with Clinton and Trump, I'd have to do an awful lot of research. My point here is that we can prove that neither Trump nor Clinton are Christians at least because of their publicly stated beliefs about social and moral issues. And Trump even publicly stated that he has never repented for anything.