End Times and Current Events

General Category => False Religions => Topic started by: Psalm 51:17 on April 18, 2013, 12:15:15 pm



Title: Liberty University, working for the New-Age to come, one world.
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 18, 2013, 12:15:15 pm
Edit: Disclaimer: Doctrinally, this writer has some pretty big flaws - so when it is discussing doctrine, please search the scriptures...

Liberty Univ. Under Fire for ‘Destructive’ Counseling, Winking at Sexual Immorality on Campus
http://christiannews.net/2013/04/10/liberty-univ-under-fire-for-destructive-counseling-winking-at-sexual-immorality-on-campus/
4/10/13

Lynchburg, Virginia – Liberty University is coming under fire following a recent essay released by a former student who shared his story of being a practicing homosexual on campus.

As previously reported, The Atlantic published an essay last week penned by former Liberty student Brandon Ambrosino, outlining his personal experience of life on campus after coming out as a homosexual.

“When people find out I underwent therapy at Jerry Falwell’s Christian college, they assume I went through something like gay reparative therapy. But that isn’t what happened,” he wrote in the piece, entitled Being Gay at Jerry Falwell’s University. “I saw two counselors at Liberty … and neither of them ever expressed an interest in ‘curing’ me. Did they have an agenda? Yes. Their goal, which they were very honest about, was to help me to like myself, and to find peace with the real Brandon.”

Christian News Network contacted Ambrosino to obtain further clarification about his story, and while he advised that he was told by staff that homosexuality is a sin, he declined to comment about the approach of counselors in not seeking to “cure” him or change his lifestyle.

Another Side to the Story

One of Ambrosino’s former professors told Christian News Network that to her knowledge, Liberty University does not use reparative therapy as an approach.

“As I understand it, this is not the form of counseling used by those at LU who counseled Brandon,” stated English professor Karen Swallow Prior, who maintains a friendship with Ambrosino. Prior was the first to suggest that the student talk with a counselor on campus, and directed him to Dr. Kenneth Reeves, who Ambrosino outlined sought to “help [him] to like [himself], and to find peace with the real Brandon.”

When asked about her role and response in the matter, Prior explained that while she “ndoubtedly and repeatedly in love” told Ambrosino that homosexuality is a sin, she is unsure whether someone who is living an unrepentant homosexual lifestyle will inherit the Kingdom of God.

“I do not know,” she replied. “I am not the one to judge Brandon’s salvation; God is
.”

Prior also pointed to Mark 3:28-30, which states, “Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme, but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation,” but would not explain what she meant by referring to the passage.

Ambrosino wrote about Prior in his essay, commenting that she shattered “every stereotype I’d held about Bible-believing, right-leaning, gun-slinging Christians.” He noted it was Prior who suggested that he sit down and chat with the counselor — if he wanted to.

“After I came out to Dr. Prior, she told me about her friend from church, Dr. Reeves, who talked to one of her other gay students. She told me he was a counseling professor, and had a clue about life,” he outlined. “‘You want him to cure me?’ I asked. ‘No,’ and she rolled her eyes, ‘just to talk with you. If you even want to talk.’”

While some are concerned with Prior’s response, as well as the approach of the on-campus counselor that she recommended, she asserted to Christian News Network, “The article at The Atlantic by Brandon was about how he was received–in love. It is not the whole story, but part of the story. I believe Brandon was affirmed as a person, not in his lifestyle.”

However, Ambrosino now credits Prior as being among those that helped him to believe that Jesus loves him just the way he is.

“I decided that if Jesus met me some time, and if he got to know me, and hear my ideas, and listen to me laugh, then he would like me,” he stated. “What made me come to that conclusion? Meeting people like Dr. Prior and Dr. Reeves. All these people—including Jerry Falwell—helped teach me about Jesus, and I figured that if they liked me, then maybe Jesus might, too.”

As Ambrosino and Prior remain in contact as the student is now a writer for The Huffington Post, Prior was asked if 1 Corinthians 5:11 applies to their relationship, which exhorts Christians not to have fellowship with professing believers who live in willful rebellion.

“Yes,” she replied, “but I do not know how exactly to apply that in each situation. I am surrounded daily by slanderers, greedy people, and heterosexual immorality as well.”

Ambrosino’s counselor, Dr. Kenneth Reeves, and professor James Borland, who were both mentioned in Ambrosino’s account, did not return requests for comment.

‘Destructive’ Counseling v. Biblical Counseling

Dr. Paul Michael Raymond, pastor of Reformed Bible Church and professor at New Geneva Christian Leadership Academy in nearby Appomattox, Virginia, told Christian News Network that he is deeply concerned about both the counseling provided to Ambrosino and the comments made by Prior.

“We might as well all be Buddhists if we can’t answer these questions,” he stated. “It’s very convenient for these novice theologians who want to transfer the Christ of Scripture into the modern Christ to isolate the Scriptures.”

Raymond said that the Scriptures are clear on how we can know in the here and now if one has eternal life.

“Without repentance there can be no forgiveness,” he said. “1 Corinthians 6:9 says, ‘Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?’”

“God has already judged,” Raymond continued. “His word is the judge. We are judged by the word. … The Apostle Paul said to judge ourselves and see if we are in the faith.”

He lamented that, according to his understanding of Ambrosino’s essay, the counselors at Liberty did not use Scripture as the sole and final authority, but rather took a humanistic approach to the student’s struggles.

“I remember one time telling Dr. Reeves I felt like I was being a different Brandon to each person in my life,” Ambrosino outlined in his article, discussing in part his counseling sessions on campus. “Dr. Reeves raised his eyebrows and asked, ‘Isn’t that exhausting?’ Dr. Reeves and Ryan knew I was tired of hiding and lying, and living in fear and subjection to others’ opinions; and so they told me that I should try liking myself because, after all, I was a likable guy and they enjoyed spending time with me.”

“The task of the Christian counselor is not to make the [individual] feel better about themself or to love themself, or to accept their situation,” Raymond declared after reading the piece, “but to conform it and reform it by the transforming power of Scripture and by the Spirit of God.”

“God’s word is the standard of all behavior and thinking,” he said. “Once the thinking is tweaked to move toward humanism, then the counseling is null and void.”

He stated that he was not surprised by Ambrosino’s essay, however, because the counseling goals that the student outlined are common among counselors nationwide.

“Some of the things that I read in the Atlantic article are typical. [They are] typical types of counseling sessions at these types of universities,” Raymond advised. “[They teach you that] Jesus wants me to love myself. No, Jesus wants you to obey; that is the Scripture. Jesus said if you love Me, you will keep my Commandments.”

He said that he supports the ambition to be kind and loving to those who are struggling, as no one seeks to stone those who are fighting temptation, but that Liberty University and other educational institutions are mistaken about what love looks like.

“What is love? How is it defined?” Raymond asked. “If you really love me, you will not let me continue in a path of destruction. You will do everything within your power to keep me out of the evil way.”

He provided an example of love between a parent and a child.

“If I have a child, and that child is getting ready to run out into traffic, I am going to do everything within my power to protect that child,” Raymond said. “But these people are not counseling truth, and they are not protecting, but destroying. … These folks that are counseling this young man to continue and find peace with himself are culpable and they will be judged accordingly.”

He asserteed that instead of counseling a student to learn to love themselves, every Christian is mandated by Scripture to die to self daily and to be crucified with Christ.

“[In counseling], we’re not trying to be their friend,” Raymond explained. “We don’t want to help them satisfy their lusts, but to mortify their lusts.”

“All sin must be mortified,” he continued. “Certain people have certain tendencies one way or another to their sinful desires. This man has [homosexual] tendencies. Fine; it’s a product of The Fall. But we are to restore a man or a woman from sin into obedience to righteousness. We are not to allow them to go into sin.”

Raymond said that if Scripture is the final authority in counseling, and is the only well from which instruction is drawn, then the individual will either be broken before God or will walk away in rebellion.

“Most times, the homosexual, if they are bent on their ways, they will denounce that kind of counseling, but there are times when the individual says, ‘You know what? This is really bad. I am going to abstain and I am going to seek God’s help and God’s favor,” he outlined. “But when they are just blatantly desiring to walk down the path that they have chosen for themselves, then they’re not going to listen to any kind of counsel other than what they want to hear.”

Raymond, who teaches classes on Biblical counseling at New Geneva Christian Leadership Academy, opined that the “love yourself” mentality is prevalent among many churches.

“This is why we have megachurches,” he said. “These megachurches will win people with ‘We love everyone no matter what.’ So, now everyone’s satisfied with who they are. They don’t want to be conformed into the image of Christ. They want to be conformed into the image of what they believe the image of themselves should be.”

“And this is why we have popularity at Liberty University,” Raymond contended. “If Liberty University was really preaching the Gospel, they wouldn’t be as big as they are.”

Sexual Immorality Rampant at Liberty?

“Before I moved off-campus, I lived with the coolest group of guys in perhaps the coolest and most esteemed hall on campus: E-6,” Ambrosino divulged in his essay in The Atlantic. “When we weren’t jumping off the James River bridge naked, we were four-wheeling naked. And when we weren’t playing naked ‘Man Games’ on Thursday night (which were a two-hour series of homoerotic slap-and-tickle games), we were sneaking into the East Campus pool after hours… naked. Everyone on campus loved our guys because they were cool; I loved them because they were constantly naked.”

Liberty University honors graduate Jesse Boyd (class of 1997), who now serves as a missionary to Asia as director of Full Proof Gospel Ministries, told Christian News Network that although he was saddened when he read the candid accounts in Ambrosino’s  article, he was not surprised.

“The types of things mentioned in this article were almost word for word identical to the things we were told went on at the school when I attended,” he stated. “During my first year at school, I was friends with guys who had connections with the basketball dorm and had specifically seen and been made privy to the same types of homoerotic games that were mentioned in the article.”

“[G]uys were wrestling naked, and they would have these dorm ‘circle jerks,’ where those who lost the wrestling matches would have to get into the middle of the circle while guys in the circle would ****e on the person,” he said. “It was general knowledge with a lot of students that it took place in the ‘cool dorms.”

Boyd said that he was aware that sexual immorality was occurring in his own dorm.

“When I lived in the baseball dorm, all kinds of stuff went on,” he stated. “People got caught having sex with girls in their room, people set off fireworks in the middle of the night, and guys wouldn’t get punished for it like normal students would.”

“I knew a student that was in the female dorms, and she walked into the bathroom one night and saw two sets of feet in the shower. There were two girls in there,” Boyd recalled. “There was also an RA on campus while I was there that was caught having homosexual sex, and those things always just kind of quietly went away.”

Boyd continued by explaining that there were other known issues with the campus worship leader.

“This young man who had been leading all the worship, it was discovered, had been living an open homosexual lifestyle — living with a boy and having a relationship for a while,” he said. “And the university just completely swept it under the rug and it went away.”

Pastor Raymond said that he was also aware of inappropriate behavior from students.

“We [know] someone very close who worked at the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center, and you’d be surprised how many Liberty students are pregnant without having the covenant of marriage behind them — wanting abortions, by the way,” he advised. “So, it’s a real mess, and it’s only going to get worse because it’s not being dealt with.”

Raymond stated that his son-in-law attended the university and was disappointed with the immorality on campus.

Boyd said it breaks his heart to see the university in such a condition.

“It makes me very sad,” he stated. “It did go on then, so I am not surprised that it goes on now.”

“I think an apology needs to be made,” Boyd asserted. “Parents and alumni needs to be assured that the university is teaching historical Biblical doctrine and is looking to call sin sin.”


Title: Re: Liberty Univ. Under Fire for ‘Destructive’ Counseling, Winking at Sexual Immoral
Post by: Kilika on April 18, 2013, 01:26:57 pm
Wow, that is one article chock full of false doctrine and deceptions. Not even sure where to start! I think I'll just sum it up...

Liberty University is an apostate Christian organization of the world, that has it's gay graduates go to work for places such as the Huffington Post.

If I had hair, I'd pull it out! ::)


Title: Re: Liberty Univ. Under Fire for ‘Destructive’ Counseling, Winking at Sexual Immoral
Post by: Mark on April 05, 2014, 06:10:01 am
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY PARTNERING WITH BENNY HINN?

(http://i2.wp.com/apprising.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/aaq0.jpg?resize=479%2C228)

That’s what well-respected Southern Baptist Tom Ascol, senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church and executive director of Founders Ministries, also thought based on his post Liberty University Partners with Benny Hinn.

Here’s where it all begins as Apprising Ministries shows you below what Hinn has stated on his website concerning that possibility (click to enlarge):

(http://i1.wp.com/apprising.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/1w2.jpg?resize=362%2C328)

Word Faith “healer” Benny Hinn also provided a video promoting this supposed partnership with Liberty University, from which the exclusive video clips to follow below were taken.

Appearing with Hinn in the first clip are Dan Reber, Director of Liberty University Institute of Biblical Studies and Dr. Ronald Godwin, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs/Provost for Liberty University.1

By holding up one of Liberty’s diplomas, it would seem pretty clear below that Hinn is telling us those who complete the course would indeed receive a diploma from Liberty University:

rest+vids: http://apprising.org/2014/04/03/liberty-university-partnering-with-benny-hinn/


Title: Re: Liberty Univ. Under Fire for ‘Destructive’ Counseling, Winking at Sexual Immoral
Post by: Mark on April 05, 2014, 06:23:08 am
Liberty University Hires Open Homosexual Advocate to Choreograph ‘Mary Poppins’ Production

Liberty University, which is considered the world’s largest Christian university, has hired an open homosexual advocate to choreograph its upcoming Broadway-style presentation of Mary Poppins.

The university recently published an article regarding the production, which it celebrates as being the school’s “largest to date.” The article notes that Alluvion Stage Company, an arm of the university’s Department of Theater Arts, “has hired a guest music director, a flight director, and a Broadway choreographer” to assist with the presentation.

“We are very excited to have all of these guest artists join us … They bring a whole new level of excellence,” stated artistic director Linda Nell Cooper. “Our goal with Alluvion is for every show to raise the bar somehow; they have helped us to do that.”

The selected choreographer is Geoffrey Goldberg, a New York City-based artist who has been involved with professional theater for over a decade, and traveled the country for five years assisting with the production of Mary Poppins, among others.

Goldberg’s bio on his website outlines that in addition to being involved with productions such as Grease, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Yankee Doodle, Goldberg also recently directed and choreographed a new musical entitled Bradley Cole. An online review of the musical explains that “Bradley Cole is enriched with contemporary issues such as … shame and confusion over same-sex attraction.” It outlines the plot, where “Ian is secretly, repressively, in love with Ben,” although one of his female friends expresses interest in him.

GoldbergGoldberg’s social media pages also indicate his support and advocacy for the homosexual agenda, posting “Happy pride, everyone” in June of last year, which was designated as Homosexual Pride Month by Barack Obama. Goldberg is also a member of the Facebook group Marriage Equality New York.

Goldberg’s Pinterest page likewise features a board dedicated to weddings, which includes pins for “gay wedding cake toppers,” “custom modern groom invitations for gay weddings or same-sex ceremonies” and a “gay wedding cake” with rainbow stripes.

Director Linda Nell Cooper told Christian News Network that Alluvian/Liberty University was not aware of Goldberg’s beliefs about homosexuality, but stated that one’s “personal life” is not a factor in the hiring process.

“He was hired based on his professionalism and his talent like everyone else,” Cooper explained. “It never came up in the conversation, nor would it have. … We do not ask about their personal life.”

“We work under professional guidelines. No one knows anything about anyone’s personal lives,” she reiterated.

Liberty University is not new to controversy surrounding the issue of homosexuality. As previously reported, The Atlantic published an essay last year written by Liberty University graduate Brandon Ambrosino, in which the former student outlined his personal experience of coming out as a homosexual on campus.

“When people find out I underwent therapy at Jerry Falwell’s Christian college, they assume I went through something like gay reparative therapy. But that isn’t what happened,” he wrote in the piece, entitled Being Gay at Jerry Falwell’s University. “I saw two counselors at Liberty … and neither of them ever expressed an interest in ‘curing’ me. Did they have an agenda? Yes. Their goal, which they were very honest about, was to help me to like myself, and to find peace with the real Brandon.”

Ambrosino went on to enroll as a graduate student in Liberty’s seminary program.

http://christiannews.net/2014/04/04/liberty-university-hires-open-homosexual-advocate-to-choreograph-mary-poppins-production/


Title: Re: Liberty Univ. Under Fire for ‘Destructive’ Counseling, Winking at Sexual Immoral
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 05, 2014, 11:29:07 am
Considering Falwell's "ministry" was paid off millions of dollars way back in the 70's - not surprised that it's come down to THIS load of leaven.

And for that matter too - Falwell's intent was to make Christianity look foolish from the get-go.


Title: Re: Liberty Univ. Under Fire for ‘Destructive’ Counseling, Winking at Sexual Immoral
Post by: Kilika on April 06, 2014, 07:18:31 am
The Green Family of Hobby Lobby bailed Falwell out, and Oral Roberts University, not that no long ago.


Title: Re: Liberty University, working for the New-Age to come, one world.
Post by: Mark on May 05, 2014, 06:17:55 am
Glenn Beck Invokes Joseph Smith, Mormon Beliefs During Liberty University Speech

Liberty University and its president, Jerry Falwell Jr., recently invited Glenn Beck to take center stage to address thousands of students during its annual convocation ceremony, whose speech included references to Joseph Smith and Mormon theology.

The outspoken conservative talk show host, and founder of the news outlet The Blaze, compared Mormonism to Christianity during his half-hour speech and cited that the Lord gave him a message of coming back to “settle scores.”

“I am Mormon and share your faith,” Beck asserted during his spiritually-mixed charge to students, as he stood in front of a large banner bearing the university’s motto, “Training Champions for Christ.”

Beck was introduced by President Jerry Falwell, who noted that the university presented the political commentator with an honorary doctorate in 2010 as he likewise addressed the students during that time. Falwell remarked that the “Sounds of Liberty” also performed at Beck’s “Restoring Honor” event that year in Washington, which the university chancellor attended.

“I heard him yesterday on the radio,” Falwell remarked. “He probably didn’t realize this, but he was using Liberty’s verse—sort of our motto here—’Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.’”

Beck then took the podium to applause and cheers, explaining on a lighthearted note that he ran into Falwell at Billy Graham’s birthday party earlier this year. He then fought tears as he told the audience that he believed he was given a message from God that day to share with the students.

“Are you willing to give your life?” Beck asked fervently. “What are you willing to do? What is it that means something to you?”
Connect with Christian News

“Days before Joseph Smith was martyred he was taken out by the sheriff; they tried to tar and feather him several times,” he explained. “The last time they took him, they said, ‘You owe $25.’ He said, ‘No, I don’t owe a man anything.’ They said, ‘No, you stole a stove’—one of the most ridiculous charges I’ve ever heard.”

“At that time, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his pocket watch,” Beck continued, displaying the relic that he said belonged to Smith, considered a prophet of God in Mormonism. “He gave it to the sheriff and said, ‘I owe no man nothing.’ They let him go. They killed him, but on the warrant for his arrest, he wrote on the back of his warrant to his people, ‘Put down your guns. No matter what happens, put down your guns. Put down your guns and trust in the Lord.’”

He then compared Smith’s story to the challenges that Liberty students may face in the days ahead.

“You are going to be pushed and challenged every step of the way,” Beck said. “What is it that you truly believe?”

Later in his message, the Mormon talk show host told the students that “no one in the Grand Councils” sent them to earth just to make a living. Beck was referring to the Mormon belief that human souls pre-existed in heaven, and that a gathering of heavenly beings known as the Grand Councils, send certain individuals to earth to accomplish a special purpose.

“You didn’t come down for a job. You came to this university maybe thinking, ‘I have to have an education to get a job.’ You need this education from Liberty University because of your only true job, the purpose you were sent here for,” he said.

Beck’s comments were met with cheers and applause during several points in his speech, and was given a standing ovation by many in attendance upon his conclusion.

Liberty University, which is considered to be the nation’s largest Christian university and whose motto is “Training Champions for Christ” has been under fire for continuing to drift from biblical Christianity.

As previously reported, concerns were expressed last month after the university minimized objections to the utilization of a homosexual advocate to teach students choreography in its presentation of Mary Poppins. Many also expressed disagreement when Brandon Ambrosino, a Liberty student that came out as an open homosexual on campus, was allowed to enroll as a graduate student in Liberty’s seminary program.

http://christiannews.net/2014/05/04/glenn-beck-invokes-joseph-smith-mormon-beliefs-during-liberty-university-speech/


Title: Re: Liberty University, working for the New-Age to come, one world.
Post by: Mark on May 05, 2014, 06:29:12 am
Glenn Beck at Liberty University

As many of you have heard by now, Glenn Beck spoke at Liberty University last week (watch above, read here and here). He spoke at the final convocation meeting of the semester and delivered a rousing address invoking God and the Bible as the foundation for personal redemption and civic freedom. It was clearly not a secular address. It was a sermon that called for Liberty students to expect “miracles” and to witness “the awesome power of Jesus Christ and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Beck’s sermon invoked unity between his own faith and Liberty’s and downplayed differences. At one point during the message (14:37), Beck said this:

I share your faith. I am from a different denomination, and a denomination quite honestly that I’m sure can make many people at Liberty uncomfortable. I am a Mormon, but I share your faith in the atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ.

Beck also claimed to be worshiping the same God as the evangelical students assembled in the room. He said, “God is our God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

But there weren’t merely expressions of solidarity. Beck also invoked distinctive aspects of the Mormon faith. He told an emotional story about the “martyrdom” of Joseph Smith and how Smith stands as an example of how to “trust in the Lord” in the face of persecution. Joseph Smith is of course the great false teacher that founded Mormonism. Beck also mentioned the Grand Council. In Mormon theology, the Grand Council consists of gods over other planets who convened a meeting before the world began and decided who the savior of planet Earth would be. This teaching—along with Mormonism’s other well-known errors—is not merely outside the mainstream of Christianity. It is outside of Christianity.

Some will say that Beck’s error is mitigated by the setting of his sermon. This was, after all, a convocation meeting and not a chapel service. And Liberty intends for its convocation meeting to include a broad range of speakers from a variety of perspectives. In other words, the setting is more like Mars Hill and less like a church.

Nevertheless, that distinction seems like a facile one in this case. A quick look at Liberty’s convocation schedule reveals that the regular expectation for this meeting is Christian preaching. Yes, there is an occasional politician or public figure included. But even then, they tend to come from a Christian background and are not the type who would be advancing tenets of a non-Christian religions such as Mormonism. But even if we grant a distinction between convocation and a chapel service, we must question the wisdom of giving any platform to a false teacher without alerting students that they are in fact about to hear from a false teacher. Beck sermonized as if he were a Christian just like the Liberty students—just from a different denomination.

I don’t know why an evangelical school like Liberty would invite someone like Beck to deliver a message like he gave. I have had lots of friends from Liberty over the years. In the church where I serve now, we have had lots of Liberty graduates as members and one as a fellow pastor. I have friends who now work and teach at Liberty University. I know for a fact that none of them would recognize Glenn Beck’s faith as Christian. Liberty has always been a stalwart evangelical institution. So that is why Beck’s appearance last week is so perplexing.

I am viewing this as an outsider. Without a word of clarification from the university, I think Beck’s appearance in this context leaves one of two impressions:

1. That Mormonism is a Christian denomination with no essential theological differences from other evangelical denominations. Or,

2. That even though Mormonism is not a Christian denomination, Liberty’s agreement with Beck politically is more important than Liberty’s Christian distinctives. Political solidarity trumps Christian truth.

I hope neither of these impressions is correct. But without a clear word from the university, what’s to stop people from coming to either of those two conclusions?

http://www.dennyburk.com/glenn-beck-at-liberty-university/


Title: Re: Liberty University, working for the New-Age to come, one world.
Post by: Mark on May 06, 2014, 06:03:51 am
Ex-Mormons Decry Liberty University for Welcoming Gospel of Glenn Beck at Convocation

Ex-Mormons across the country are decrying Liberty University’s decision to feature Glenn Beck at their recent convocation ceremony, who invoked the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith and referenced LDS doctrine before the thousands of students in attendance.

“I am Mormon and share your faith,” the outspoken conservative talk show host asserted during his spiritually-mixed charge to students, as he stood in front of a large banner bearing the university’s motto, “Training Champions for Christ.”

As previously reported, Beck was introduced by President Jerry Falwell, who noted that the university presented the political commentator with an honorary doctorate in 2010 as he likewise addressed the students during that time. Beck then took the podium to applause and cheers, explaining that he believed he was given a message from God that day to share with the students.

“Are you willing to give your life?” Beck asked fervently. “What are you willing to do? What is it that means something to you?”

“Days before Joseph Smith was martyred he was taken out by the sheriff; they tried to tar and feather him several times,” he explained. “The last time they took him, they said, ‘You owe $25.’ He said, ‘No, I don’t owe a man anything.’ They said, ‘No, you stole a stove’—one of the most ridiculous charges I’ve ever heard.”

“At that time, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his pocket watch,” Beck continued, displaying the relic that he said belonged to Smith, considered a prophet of God in Mormonism. “He gave it to the sheriff and said, ‘I owe no man nothing.’ They let him go. They killed him, but on the warrant for his arrest, he wrote on the back of his warrant to his people, ‘Put down your guns. No matter what happens, put down your guns. Put down your guns and trust in the Lord.’”

He then compared Smith’s story to the challenges that Liberty students may face in the days ahead.

“You are going to be pushed and challenged every step of the way,” Beck said. “What is it that you truly believe?”

Later in his message, the Mormon talk show host told the students that “no one in the Grand Councils” sent them to earth just to make a living. Beck was referring to the Mormon belief that human souls pre-existed in heaven, and that a gathering of heavenly beings known as the Grand Councils, send certain individuals to earth to accomplish a special purpose.

“You didn’t come down for a job. You came to this university maybe thinking, ‘I have to have an education to get a job.’ You need this education from Liberty University because of your only true job, the purpose you were sent here for,” he said.

Beck’s comments were met with cheers and applause during several points in his speech, and was given a standing ovation by many in attendance upon his conclusion.

But those who have come out of the Mormon religion are expressing dismay at why Liberty University—considered the nation’s largest Christian university—provided Glenn Beck a platform, which he used to preach Mormon doctrine.

“[I ]t exceeds my capacity to understand how one of the great Christian universities with a steadfast commitment of ‘Training Champions for Christ’ could invite an elite cultist to stand before its entire student body and give them spiritual instructions for life,” Ed Decker, former longtime Mormon and founder of the ex-Mormon ministry Saints Alive, wrote in an article provided to Christian News Network.

“Is it that, as educated as they seem, they just don’t know that Mormons worship an exalted man/god, serve a different Christ, offer a different salvation, stand on the foundation of false prophets and seek to earn their own godhoods?” he asked.

“It’s completely outrageous for Liberty and Jerry Falwell Jr. to bring Glenn Beck in [and allow him] to spew his false and blasphemous doctrine, which is an affront to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to shape these young, eager minds in a way that distorts the gospel,” added Tricia Erickson, daughter of a former Mormon bishop and author of Can Mitt Romney Serve Two Masters?

“It’s wrong,” she continued. “It’s like me opening my front door and saying to a Muslim, ‘Come on in. If they like what you have to say, it’s up to them. They can decide; you can just preach to them.”‘

Decker noted that although Beck excelled at his oration skills, quoted Scripture and was generally well-received by the audience, his presentation of Mormon doctrine was troubling.

“Beck talked about what a great man Joseph Smith was. He talked about his dying a martyr for Christ, dying for his faith,” he said. “[B ]ut he also ignored the historical fact that Smith wasn’t quite as innocent as Beck claimed. He was in jail for leading his militia into town and destroying a newspaper press and burning the place down. He didn’t like what the paper had said about his many well-known adulteries.”

“Beck told the gathering that Smith told his followers in a note to lay down their arms and act in peace,” he said. “He forgot to mention Smith’s loaded pistol or the gunfight [where he killed two people].”

Decker said that he also took note of Beck’s reference to the  Mormon doctrine of the “Grand Councils.”

“He forgot to talk about his heavenly mother who gave birth to us as spirit beings there before we were sent to earth,” he outlined. “Mormons are told that they are a special people, chosen by God for such a time as this. Beck offered that same word to his audience.”

Erickson agreed.

“Mormons believe that when they die, that they become gods and get their own planet. And then, the man calls the woman onto his planet by her secret name that is given to her only in the secret Mormon ceremonies, which puts him in charge of her salvation,” she explained. “[T]hen they have spirit babies and and populate their planet. And their spirit babies pop down into our baby’s bodies here on Earth to walk out their eternal progression to godhood.”

She stated that false religion should be exposed, not given an appearance of credibility.

“If you’re a parent, certainly you’re not going to have someone come into your home [and be] around your children that is going to distort their judgment of Christianity, and that’s going to tell them things that are blasphemous to a living God and pose them as the truth,” Erickson said. “At universities, we as adults have to protect our youth. These are going to be our future leaders.”

“[liberty University has] allowed Glenn Beck to come in and basically distort the gospel of Jesus Christ by the comments that he made. We don’t know if these students have enough discernment to know that it was a distortion of the truth because he’s posing as an angel of light,” she lamented. “He’s posing as a Christian.”

http://christiannews.net/2014/05/05/ex-mormons-decry-liberty-university-for-welcoming-gospel-of-glenn-beck-at-convocation/


Title: Re: Liberty University, working for the New-Age to come, one world.
Post by: Mark on May 22, 2014, 05:48:33 am
Liberty University Defends Glenn Beck’s Sermon to Students Despite Mormon Doctrine

Liberty University is defending its decision to invite Glenn Beck to take center stage to address thousands of students during its annual convocation ceremony, whose speech included references to Joseph Smith and Mormon theology.

As previously reported, the outspoken conservative talk show host, and founder of the news outlet The Blaze, compared Mormonism to Christianity during his half-hour speech-turned sermon last month and cited that the Lord gave him a message of coming back to “settle scores.”

“I am Mormon and share your faith,” Beck asserted during his spiritually-mixed charge to students, as he stood in front of a large banner bearing the university’s motto, “Training Champions for Christ.”

Beck was introduced by President Jerry Falwell, who noted that the university presented the political commentator with an honorary doctorate in 2010 as he likewise addressed the students during that time. Falwell remarked that the “Sounds of Liberty” also performed at Beck’s “Restoring Honor” event that year in Washington, which the university chancellor attended.

“I heard him yesterday on the radio,” Falwell remarked. “He probably didn’t realize this, but he was using Liberty’s verse—sort of our motto here—’Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.’”

Beck then took the podium to applause and cheers, explaining that he believed he was given a message from God that day to share with the students.

“Are you willing to give your life?” Beck asked fervently. “What are you willing to do? What is it that means something to you?”

“Days before Joseph Smith was martyred he was taken out by the sheriff; they tried to tar and feather him several times,” he explained. “The last time they took him, they said, ‘You owe $25.’ He said, ‘No, I don’t owe a man anything.’ They said, ‘No, you stole a stove’—one of the most ridiculous charges I’ve ever heard.”

“At that time, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his pocket watch,” Beck continued, displaying the relic that he said belonged to Smith, considered a prophet of God in Mormonism. “He gave it to the sheriff and said, ‘I owe no man nothing.’ They let him go. They killed him, but on the warrant for his arrest, he wrote on the back of his warrant to his people, ‘Put down your guns. No matter what happens, put down your guns. Put down your guns and trust in the Lord.’”

He then compared Smith’s story to the challenges that Liberty students may face in the days ahead.

“You are going to be pushed and challenged every step of the way,” Beck said. “What is it that you truly believe?”

Later in his message, the Mormon talk show host told the students that “no one in the Grand Councils” sent them to earth just to make a living. Beck was referring to the Mormon belief that human souls pre-existed in heaven, and that a gathering of heavenly beings known as the Grand Councils, send certain individuals to earth to accomplish a special purpose.

“You didn’t come down for a job. You came to this university maybe thinking, ‘I have to have an education to get a job.’ You need this education from Liberty University because of your only true job, the purpose you were sent here for,” he said.

Beck’s comments were met with cheers and applause during several points in his speech, and was given a standing ovation by many in attendance upon his conclusion.

But some expressed dismay at the invitation, including ex-Mormons who said that those of other religions should not be given the platform, which creates an appearance of credibility.

“It’s wrong,” Tricia Erickson, daughter of a former Mormon bishop and author of Can Mitt Romney Serve Two Masters? told Christian News Network. “It’s like me opening my front door and saying to a Muslim, ‘Come on in. If [my children] like what you have to say, it’s up to them. They can decide; you can just preach to them.’”

“If you’re a parent, certainly you’re not going to have someone come into your home [and be] around your children that is going to distort their judgment of Christianity, and that’s going to tell them things that are blasphemous to a living God and pose them as the truth,” she said. “At universities, we as adults have to protect our youth. These are going to be our future leaders.”

On Monday, Jonathan Merritt of Religion News Service published a response from Liberty University regarding Beck’s appearance, stating that the university often uses its convocation services to present those of diverse beliefs, which it believes can be beneficial for students’ faith.

“You should remember that Liberty University’s Convocation is not a church service,” Johnnie Moore, senior vice president of communications, told Merritt. “We have explained over the decades repeatedly that convocation is an opportunity for students to hear from people of all faiths and from all walks of life. Liberty has also made it clear repeatedly that it does not endorse any statements made by any convocation speaker.”

“College is about learning. How can you defend what you believe if you don’t understand what others believe?” he continued. “I believe our students are stronger in their faith because of our convocation speaker series and the wide diversity of views that they have been privileged to hear in person over the last few decades.”

Moore also asserted that he had been informed that Beck recently had become born again.

“By the way, many conservative evangelical leaders who are closer to Beck than me have told me that they believe Beck has had a born again experience recently,” he explained. “I do not know his heart but our audience knows that he was speaking only for himself and expressing his personal opinions and beliefs, not those of Liberty University or even of Mormonism generally.”

“As Jerry Falwell, Sr., our founder, often used to say about speakers at Liberty who had different views than him, Liberty students are smart enough to eat the fish and spit out the bones! I believe that’s as true today as it was in his day,” Moore concluded.

Beck likewise went on the defense during his radio show on Tuesday, acknowledging that his faith is unlike that of Liberty University, while denouncing those who disagreed with his speech.

“This is why your churches are dwindling,” he said. “You think you’re standing for something, when indeed, you’re standing for hate and bigotry. I think Jesus was hanging out with prostitutes and sinners, wasn’t He?”

“You won’t even listen to a man who says … ‘I challenge you to know your faith—not my faith—your faith so well that you’re willing to die for it. Stand with one another,’” Beck continued. “That frightens you so much? If it does, you might want to consider that you’re on the wrong side.”

Still, some remain concerned over the invitation, stating that the university seemed to embrace Beck rather than repudiate his Mormon teachings.

“The alarming feature of [the] message is that Beck did not appear as a political or cultural leader; instead, he used his time to preach a message full of theological assertions that were unchallenged by the university, and which received a standing ovation from Jerry Falwell at the end of the event,” wrote James Duncan, an associate professor of communication at Anderson University in South Carolina, in a recent blog post. “Liberty’s website boasted of the event’s success, again without providing any disclaimer from or correction to Beck’s deceptive and anti-Christian teaching.”

“Glenn Beck was invited to a Christian university and was able to preach to thousands of its students as if he were a brother in Christ,” he said. “If Liberty’s administrators knew [his beliefs], they did not warn their students of Beck’s apostasy, and in so doing flatly ignored Paul’s instructions on how to treat such teachers.”

Duncan then pointed to Galatians 1:6-8, which says in part, “If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”

According to reports, as with other convocations, students who skipped the event were fined $10 for their failure to attend the ceremony.

Liberty University did not respond to requests for further clarification.

http://christiannews.net/2014/05/21/liberty-university-defends-glenn-becks-sermon-to-students-despite-mormon-doctrine/


Title: Re: Liberty University, working for the New-Age to come, one world.
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 22, 2014, 09:47:41 am
Quote
“You didn’t come down for a job. You came to this university maybe thinking, ‘I have to have an education to get a job.’ You need this education from Liberty University because of your only true job, the purpose you were sent here for,” he said.

Look at that New Age buzzword - purpose - Rick Warren, Mitt Romney, AND Oprah Winfrey stress this too! IOW, the Christian life is lead by the HOLY SPIRIT, and is NOT "purpose driven".





Title: Re: Liberty University, working for the New-Age to come, one world.
Post by: Mark on November 07, 2014, 07:10:15 am
Liberty University Student Editor Raises Concern After Calling for ‘Common Ground’ With Homosexuals

An editor of Liberty University’s student newspaper is raising concern after releasing an article that calls upon Christians and homosexuals to find “common ground.”

“Common ground is what makes the world continue to move, grow and advance,” wrote Tre Goins-Phillips, opinion editor of The Liberty Champion, named after the university’s motto “Training Champions for Christ.”

His comments were in response to an opinion piece written by Apple’s Tim Cook and published by Bloomberg Businessweek, in which Cook came out as a homosexual.

“While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven’t publicly acknowledged it either, until now,” he wrote. “So let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.”

“Being gay has given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority and provided a window into the challenges that people in other minority groups deal with every day. It’s made me more empathetic, which has led to a richer life,” Cook continued. “f hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it’s worth the trade-off with my own privacy.”

According to reports, Cook is the first openly homosexual CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Following the publication of the piece, Goins-Phillips published his own commentary, stating that Cook’s views on sexual identity were “thoughtful and refreshing.”

In an article published by Religion News Service, Goins-Phillips pointed to Cook’s remarks stating that a person “is not defined only by one’s sexuality, race, or gender,” and asked that people embrace him rather for the interests and abilities that he possesses.

“In a time of adamant activism and partisan politicking, Cook’s words seem to be a rare commodity,” he wrote. “With pro-gay, anti-gay, and I-don’t-know-yet-gay groups advocating for one thing or another, the individual lives behind these labels of sexual orientation have been lost.”

“This is not to say that one’s sexual choices and orientations are unimportant. Because they are. They just do not, or should not, box us in, hold us back, or shut us down,” Goins-Phillips continued. “These individuals are human beings first—intellectuals first, entrepreneurs first, engineers first, visionaries first, artists first.”

He then contended that it is important that those who have differing opinions about homosexuality find common ground.

“Cook gets it,” the editor from what is stated to be the world’s largest Christian university said. “He understands the weight of his announcement. He understands its importance, but also sees that there are things in this life of even greater importance—what it means to be human.”

But some have expressed concern over Goins-Phillips’ comments and progressive tone, including Dr. Paul Michael Raymond of New Geneva Christian Leadership Academy and Reformed Bible Church in Appomatox, Virginia.

“The common ground that we are to have with homosexuals is the gospel,” he told Christian News Network. “If they reject the gospel, then we are to reject them and pray that they repent—and it is possible that they do so, as Paul the apostle had many in the Church of Corinth who were repentant [former] homosexuals, effeminate individuals, and they were sanctified and experienced the grace of God.”

“We don’t have to be unkind to them or hateful or smearing—I don’t think that’s the right approach—but we do have to be steadfast in our doctrine and in our belief when it comes to their practice,” Raymond continued. “We out-and-out say, ‘No, I’m sorry, this is against God’s law and I pray that you see the error of your ways,’ but we cannot have real intimate fellowship with [them] or tolerate sin.'”

He said that he found Goins-Phillips’ assertions to be like those of many professing Christians today—rooted in humanism rather than Scripture.

“The Christian community is trying to think from a humanistic standpoint. They have failed to look through the eye of God upon what is happening in their world,” Raymond stated. “Their worldview is tweaked, corrupted and twisted by these humanistic vantage points. … Maybe this student’s words aren’t precise enough where he’s [really] saying, ‘We shouldn’t condemn them; we should preach the gospel to them,’ but … I just don’t believe it.”

The pastor and Bible teacher further expressed his concern with the current state of American Christianity.

“The culture is the report card of the Church, and we have failed,” he declared. “I think we not only have a collapse in the culture, but we have an ultimate graveyard spiral in the Church and in so-called Christian universities.”

Liberty University is not new to controversy surrounding the issue of homosexuality. As previously reported, The Atlantic published an essay last year written by Liberty University graduate Brandon Ambrosino, in which the former student outlined his personal experience of coming out as a homosexual on campus.

“When people find out I underwent therapy at Jerry Falwell’s Christian college, they assume I went through something like gay reparative therapy. But that isn’t what happened,” he wrote in the piece, entitled “Being Gay at Jerry Falwell’s University.” “I saw two counselors at Liberty … and neither of them ever expressed an interest in ‘curing’ me. Did they have an agenda? Yes. Their goal, which they were very honest about, was to help me to like myself, and to find peace with the real Brandon.”

Ambrosino went on to enroll as a graduate student in Liberty’s seminary program.

Liberty also defended itself after it was revealed that a homosexual activist had been hired to choreograph its “Mary Poppins” production earlier this year. As previously reported, New York-based artist and photographer Geoffrey Goldberg was hired by Alluvion Stage Company, an arm of the university’s Department of Theater Arts, to work with students for the production.

“He was hired based on his professionalism and his talent like everyone else,” artistic director Linda Nell Cooper told Christian News Network. “[His homosexual advocacy] never came up in the conversation, nor would it have. … We do not ask about their personal life.”

“The choreographer in question is an independent contractor, supplied to the university through a third party association … who has never applied for employment at Liberty University and has never been an employee of Liberty,” Johnnie Moore, the Senior Vice President of Communications for Liberty University, also wrote in a statement. “Liberty has never required vendors who provide goods and services to the university to adhere to the university’s doctrinal beliefs.”


- See more at: http://christiannews.net/2014/11/06/liberty-university-student-editor-raises-concern-after-calling-for-common-ground-with-homosexuals/#sthash.gr0cBwer.dpuf



Title: Re: Liberty University, working for the New-Age to come, one world.
Post by: Mark on May 12, 2015, 06:47:28 am
Liberty University Invites Catholic Presidential Hopeful Jeb Bush to Address Students

The world’s largest evangelical university welcomed practicing Roman Catholic and brother of former president George W. Bush to speak to students on spiritual matters on Saturday as he considers his run for president of the United States.

Jeb Bush, a former Episcopalian, converted to Roman Catholicism in 1996—the faith of his Mexican-born wife Columba. He spoke about religious freedom in America to over 30,000 students at Liberty University during this weekend’s commencement ceremony.

“How strange, in our own time, to hear Christianity spoken of as some sort of backward and oppressive force,” Bush said. “Outside these seven thousand acres of shared conviction, it’s a depressing fact that when some people think of Christianity and of Judeo-Christian values, they think of something static, narrow, and outdated.”

“We can take this as unfair criticism, as it typically is, or we can take it as further challenge to show in our lives the most dynamic, inclusive, and joyful message that ever came into the world,” he continued. “These are the days, as Chesterton remarked, in which Christians are expected to praise every faith but their own.”

Bush made reference to Roman Catholic figures in his speech on a few occasions, stating that Christianity is “a voice like no other, whether it is captured on scrolls and paper, or in bits of data; seen in the example of Francis the saint, or of Francis the pope…”

He also spoke of recent situations where the government has applied unjust requirements on religious groups, such the Obamacare abortion pill mandate, which was challenged by a number of faith-based entities, including the Catholic organization Little Sisters of the Poor.

“So we find officials in a major city demanding that pastors turn over copies of their sermons. Or federal judges mistaking themselves for elected legislators, and imposing restrictions and rights that do not exist in the Constitution,” Bush said. “Or an agency dictating to a Catholic charity, the Little Sisters of the Poor, what has to go in their health plan—and never mind objections of conscience.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m betting that when it comes to doing the right and good thing, the Little Sisters of the Poor know better than the regulators at the Department of Health and Human Services,” he continued. “From the standpoint of religious freedom, you might even say it’s a choice between the Little Sisters and Big Brother—and I’m going with the Sisters.”

While the former governor of Florida did not mention his potential run for president, he did outline whether or not he believes one’s faith should influence their decisions in government. He stated that he believes a variety of religions—as well as unbelievers—share common moral values.

“It can be a touchy subject, and I am asked sometimes whether I would ever allow my decisions in government to be influenced by my Christian faith. Whenever I hear this, I know what they want me to say,” he stated. “The simple and safe reply is, “No. Never. Of course not.” If the game is political correctness, that’s the answer that moves you to the next round. The endpoint is a certain kind of politician we’ve all heard before—the guy whose moral convictions are so private, so deeply personal, that he refuses even to impose them on himself.”

“The mistake is to confuse points of theology with moral principles that are knowable to reason as well as by faith,” Bush said. “And this confusion is all part of a false narrative that casts religious Americans as intolerant scolds, running around trying to impose their views on everyone.”

He therefore called for unity between those of different beliefs, as well as those those who do not profess any faith.

“There is so much that we share in common, across all the lines of region, religion, and demography that are constantly being talked about,” Bush stated. “In my experience, at least, you generally find the same good instincts, fair-mindedness, and easygoing spirit among Americans of every type—including, of course, the many who belong to no church at all.”

“That’s a lot to work with, if the aim is to accept differences instead of exploiting them, and get on with life in this free country,” he said.

Liberty University has invited other Roman Catholics to address students in the past, including Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Congressman Newt Gingrich, as well as Mormons such as Glenn Beck and Mitt Romney.

Some expressed concern over this pattern following Bush’s appearance, including JD Hall of Pulpit & Pen.

“It would be one thing if a speaker like Jeb Bush came onto the stage and discussed his political aspirations, gave political commentary, and provided political solutions. But that’s not exclusively what happened,” he wrote. “Instead, rather, Bush merged politics with what he calls Christianity—which problematically is the Roman Catholic church.”

“For Jeb Bush, Roman Catholicism is the same as Christianity and he’s using the terms interchangeably from an ostensibly Christian podium,” he stated. “And tragically (but predictably), no one at the Christian university corrected him.”

http://christiannews.net/2015/05/11/liberty-university-invites-catholic-presidential-hopeful-jeb-bush-to-address-students/