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Tuesday, September 25, 2018

PROJECT VERITAS UNMASKS #DEEP STATE : IRS OFFICIALS SAYING "YOU SHOULD GIVE INCREASED SCRUTINY" TO CONSERVATIVES

PROJECT VERITAS UNMASKS #DEEP STATE : IRS OFFICIALS SAYING "YOU SHOULD GIVE INCREASED SCRUTINY" TO CONSERVATIVES 
"I don’t give a s**t if that is a crime” See the full report: https://www.projectveritas.com/2018/0... Officials at the IRS in Austin and DC spill the beans about the 2013 IRS Lois Lerner scandal, targeting conservative non-profits, celebrating potentially illegal activity, and admit “mistakes were made.” Newsletter: https://www.projectveritas.com/sign-u... Website: http://projectveritas.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProjectVeritas Twitter: https://twitter.com/Project_Veritas Buy James O’Keefe’s book: http://www.americanpravdabook.com
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IRS Tax Examiner: Target Conservative Groups Because They Are “… just f***ing fronts for the Koch brothers.”
Deleting IRS Emails is “… so cool… [conservatives] could not hold any evidence against… ” Former IRS Commissioner John Koskinen “…I don’t give a s**t if that is a crime.”
IRS Attorney on Lerner Scandal: “All that stuff we saw in the news, yeah mistakes were made.”
IRS is Comfy Gig, Democratic Socialist of America Gets “… a lot of paid time off and sick days” to Use for Activism
Contempt for America: “Unfortunately, I am not allowed by the bylaws of my union to go against the Constitution.”

This is a breaking news story. Refresh the page for updates. 
UPDATE: Sep 25, 2018, 2:36 PM | Project Veritas attorney Ben Barr submitted this complaint to the Department of Justice regarding the findings of this investigation.

(Washington DC) Project Veritas has released the fourth story in a series of undercover reports which unmask the Deep State. This report features two Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officials who candidly discuss the IRS’s unfair treatment of conservative non-profit groups. The two officials in the report are Thomas Sheehy, an IRS tax examiner and member of the Austin Democratic Socialists of America in Texas, and Jerry Semasek, an IRS attorney in Washington, DC.
The Austin Democratic Socialists of America is a socialist group that works to advance ‘progressive issues’ in Austin, Texas.
Flagrantly Targeting Conservative Groups
Sheehy boasts about and appears to justify former disgraced IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, who was mired in scandal for losing tens of thousands of emails regarding the Lois Lerner controversy. The Lois Lerner controversy occurred in 2013 and involved revelations showing that the IRS unfairly scrutinized conservative groups.
SHEEHY: “John Koskinen. He got a lot of flak for giving increased scrutiny to these Tea Party groups. Conservatives got really mad at him, he was so cool though because he deleted all the emails, so they could not hold any evidence against him.”
Sheehy continues:
SHEEHY: “Yeah, I don’t give a s**t if that is a crime for doing that because… you should give increased scrutiny to those groups because a lot of them are just f***ing fronts for the Koch brothers or whatever.”
Mistakes Were Made
In a separate meeting, attorney Semasek discloses to Project Veritas multiple times that “mistakes were made,” during the 2013 scandal when conservative non-profits were targeted when applying for tax-exempt status.
SEMASEK: “… you know what, for what it’s worth, on the record, I know people in Tax Exempt Government Entities. All that stuff we saw in the news, yeah mistakes were made”
Attorney Semasek, who worked for the IRS during the 2013 scandal, continued:
SEMASEK: “… The law requires that an organization can’t be political, it can’t be partisan to be tax exempt… Those employees in Cincinnati Ohio started to separate them and put them in a pile. And it turns out that they were like the Tea Party group of people. And I think they did, like Lois Lerner and maybe some of her employees were more liberal leaning or Democrats so I don’t know if they disallowed them, but they required them to produce more documentation to try to prove that they weren’t partisan.”
He repeated that mistakes were made:
SEMASEK: “… and that was bad. I think, from what people tell me, that really know about, there were mistakes made, but the problem with what happened… And again, there were mistakes made, and I think probably some people that were advised against conservative groups did make some mistakes.”
Socialist Abuses Work Benefits
Sheehy, like individuals featured in the previous reports in this series, is also a member of a political activist group. Sheehy implies that he abuses his work benefits, including paid time off and sick days in order to engage in socialist activism for Austin Democratic Socialists of America.
SHEEHY: “I will say, I just really like the benefits. I get a lot of paid time off and sick days. So, like, for DSA stuff, I can just honestly… I will just stay late for a period. So, I will just call in for the next day.”
SHEEHY: “I mean, as long as like the manager doesn’t find out and you don’t explicitly say “hey I’m calling in sick to do Democratic Socialist of America work” then I mean like yeah. You know, you just gotta, you just gotta like sort of manage, you know, when and where you’re like doing, like, the work you do.”
More Democratic Socialists of America at IRS
Sheehy reveals there are more socialist activists at the IRS, referring to a friend of his who works on national communications for the Democratic Socialists of America, as well as writing bylaws for the political organization.
SHEEHY: “My friend Chris, like he does a lot of like tech stuff. He even runs the f**kin’, I was looking over his shoulder once at the electoral forum and I noticed that he actually is on the national social media working group. So, he helps run the national twitter account. He also runs our local twitter account. He also is one that does all the bylaws and stuff…. he also works for the IRS.”
Sheehy remarks about his disdain for the Constitution of the United States.
SHEEHY: “Unfortunately, I am not allowed by the bylaws of my union to go against the constitution.”
JOURNALIST: “Would you?”
SHEEHY: “Yeah.”
Deep State Unmasked
This is the fourth release in a series Project Veritas began publishing in September 2018 unmasking corrupt actors in the federal government. Project Veritas will publish more undercover video of federal employees shedding light on the Deep State resistance.
Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe added:
“As our deep state investigation continues to unfold, four government agencies have responded resulting in the removal of two federal employees from their job duties. Stay tuned to see which Government Agency we unmask next.“

See the other videos in this series:
See the responses and statements made by government agencies following these stories’ publication.
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PRESIDENT TRUMP SPEAKS AT U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY

PRESIDENT TRUMP SPEAKS 
AT U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
Donald Trump spoke at the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday morning. President Donald Trump‘s Tuesday speech at the United Nations General Assembly marked a shift in tone on NK as he moved away from rhetoric and expressed praise for dictator Kim. “I would like to thank chairman Kim for his courage and for the steps he’s taken, though much work remains to be done,” Trump said. “I also want to thank the many member states who helped us reach this moment.” The U.N. General Assembly laughed at Trump within the first minute of his speech before the body, after a particularly lofty brag about his administration’s accomplishments. “In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country,” Trump said.

Trump Silences The Laughter At The UN

The hornet's nest of globalists swarming within the United Nations assembly laughed openly at President Donald Trump after he informed the assembly of his administration’s America first progress in just two years. The reaction didn’t stop Trump from zeroing in on his Administration's aggressive stance towards the Iranian regime's threat to peace.

Trump to UN: “We Reject the Ideology of Globalism”

BY ALEX NEWMAN
SEE: https://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/north-america/item/30174-trump-to-un-we-reject-the-ideology-of-globalism?vsmaid=1217&vcid=3987; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
In his second speech to the United Nations, President Donald Trump delivered a stinging rebuke to globalism and “global governance,” calling on responsible nations everywhere to defend their national sovereignty from all attacks. The U.S. president also ridiculed key globalist institutions such as the disgraced UN “Human Rights Council” and the Orwellian “International Criminal Court.” Instead of globalism, Trump called for patriotism. Instead of global governance, he touted unique nations protecting their own cultures, traditions, and sovereignty. Obviously, the globalists and tyrants in the room were not amused. Some even laughed out loud, literally. But if Trump plays his cards right, he and the American people will have the last laugh.  
After blasting various globalist institutions and schemes, including UN bureaucracies and the mass migration agenda, Trump got to the point. “America is governed by Americans,” he said. “We reject the ideology of globalism, and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism.” Trump gave a powerful nod to nations, too, noting that everyone in the room was the emissary of a “distinct culture, a rich history, and a people bound together by ties of memory, tradition, and the values that make our homelands like nowhere else on Earth.” That is why “America will always choose independence and cooperation over global governance, control, and domination,” he said, vowing that the United States would respect the right of all nations to pursue their destiny without telling them how to “live or work or worship.”
“We only ask that you honor our sovereignty in return,” he said.
Trump profusely praised patriotism — and the concept of nationhood itself — as one of the foundations for progress, peace, freedom, magnificent art, scientific breakthroughs, and prosperity. “The whole world is richer, humanity is better, because of this beautiful constellation of nations, each very special, each very unique, and each shining brightly in its part of the world,” the president explained in a dramatic contrast to his predecessors globalist rhetoric. “Sovereign and independent nations are the only vehicle where freedom has ever survived, democracy has ever endured, or peace has ever prospered. And so we must protect our sovereignty and our cherished independence above all.”
Urging other nations to pursue their own unique futures, Trump also outlined a powerful vision for America among the constellation of nations. “As for Americans, we know what kind of future we want for ourselves. We know what kind of a nation America must always be,” he said. “In America, we believe in the majesty of freedom and the dignity of the individual. We believe in self-government and the rule of law. And we prize the culture that sustains our liberty -– a culture built on strong families, deep faith, and fierce independence. We celebrate our heroes, we treasure our traditions, and above all, we love our country.”
But beyond globalism, there are other threats to national independence, too, Trump warned. “Around the world, responsible nations must defend against threats to sovereignty not just from global governance, but also from other, new forms of coercion and domination,” Trump continued. At the top of his list was energy, a jab at the stranglehold that Moscow has acquired over certain European nations — “former” communist Angela Merkel's Germany in particular — due to their dependence on Russian oil. “In America, we believe strongly in energy security for ourselves and for our allies,” he said, adding that America was now the largest energy producer and was ready to export those resources. Trump also blasted OPEC for “ripping off the rest of the world.”   
Among other accomplishments, Trump celebrated concrete actions taken by the U.S. government in defense of American sovereignty since he took office. For instance, speaking of the dictator-dominated UN “Human Rights Council,” which is literally made up of mostly tyrants and Third World autocrats, Trump said it was a “grave embarrassment to this institution, shielding egregious human rights abusers while bashing America and its many friends.” It refused any reforms despite repeated warnings, he said. And so, the United States took what Trump described as the “only responsible course”: “We withdrew from the Human Rights Council.”
The U.S. president also lambasted the self-styled “International Criminal Court,” saying the U.S. government would provide no support or recognition to the body. “As far as America is concerned, the ICC has no jurisdiction, no legitimacy, and no authority,” he said. “The ICC claims near-universal jurisdiction over the citizens of every country, violating all principles of justice, fairness, and due process. We will never surrender America’s sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable, global bureaucracy.” The U.S. government has never ratified the agreements creating the global kangaroo court, and yet it continues to pretend like it can put Americans on trial. In recent weeks, the administration warned that any effort to prosecute an American in the discredited “court” would be met with firm resistance, including criminal prosecution and sanctions against all involved.
Going a step further, the president blasted some of the crucial mechanisms used by the Deep State to advance its globalist agenda. On the mass importation of Islamic immigrants into the West by the UN under the guise of humanitarianism, for example, Trump highlighted an alternative long touted by genuine humanitarians and critics of open borders. “I commend the people of Jordan and other neighboring countries for hosting refugees from this very brutal civil war,” Trump said, referring to the ongoing war in Syria. “As we see in Jordan, the most compassionate policy is to place refugees as close to their homes as possible to ease their eventual return to be part of the rebuilding process. This approach also stretches finite resources to help far more people, increasing the impact of every dollar spent.” Estimates suggest it costs 20 to 50 times more to “re-settle” a refugee in America or Western Europe than to keep him or her close by.
On the massive illegal immigration swamping the United States and Europe — a key vehicle that even national leaders have said is aimed at undermining nationhood and national identity — Trump also spoke out, calling “uncontrolled migration”  a threat to national sovereignty, security, and prosperity. “We recognize the right of every nation in this room to set its own immigration policy in accordance with its national interests, just as we ask other countries to respect our own right to do the same — which we are doing,” he said, adding that the U.S. government would not participate in the UN's new “Global Compact on Migration” that aims to globalize migration policy and flood the West with endless numbers of migrants. “Migration should not be governed by an international body unaccountable to our own citizens.”
Pointing to the imploding and brutal socialist regime enslaving Venezuela and its murderous Cuban sponsors — some two million victims have already been forced to flee the starving but oil-rich nation — Trump also slammed statism, socialism, and communism as a threat to everything decent and good. “Virtually everywhere socialism or communism has been tried, it has produced suffering, corruption, and decay,” Trump warned, calling on the nations of the world to condemn Venezuela's oppressive rulers. “Socialism’s thirst for power leads to expansion, incursion, and oppression. All nations of the world should resist socialism and the misery that it brings to everyone.”
On trade policy, Trump vowed that globalist “free trade” agreements would no longer be allowed to continue facilitating the looting of America. Blasting “discredited ideologies,” Trump said America would support fair and reciprocal trade. “The United States will not be taken advantage of any longer,” he warned assembled government leaders. “For decades, the United States opened its economy — the largest, by far, on Earth — with few conditions.... Yet, other countries did not grant us fair and reciprocal access to their markets in return. Even worse, some countries abused their openness to dump their products, subsidize their goods, target our industries, and manipulate their currencies to gain unfair advantage over our country. As a result, our trade deficit ballooned to nearly $800 billion a year. For this reason, we are systematically renegotiating broken and bad trade deals.” He touted the new U.S.-Mexico trade deal and the South Korea-U.S. deal as examples.
Trump took direct aim at the communist Chinese regime's “trade” machinations, too. “Countries were admitted to the World Trade Organization that violate every single principle on which the organization is based,” he said. “While the United States and many other nations play by the rules, these countries use government-run industrial planning and state-owned enterprises to rig the system in their favor. They engage in relentless product dumping, forced technology transfer, and the theft of intellectual property. The United States lost over 3 million manufacturing jobs, nearly a quarter of all steel jobs, and 60,000 factories after China joined the WTO. And we have racked up $13 trillion in trade deficits over the last two decades.”
“But those days are over,” Trump said. “We will no longer tolerate such abuse. We will not allow our workers to be victimized, our companies to be cheated, and our wealth to be plundered and transferred. America will never apologize for protecting its citizens.” As part of that, Trump spoke of massive new tariffs he is imposing on Chinese imports, saying, “China’s market distortions and the way they deal cannot be tolerated.” Among the measures being implemented are stronger controls over threats to national security from foreign investment in sensitive industries and sectors. In recent months, Trump has also threatened to blow up the architecture of globalist “free trade,” too, although so far those threats have not materialized in reality.   
However, for whatever reason, the president also gave several subtle nods to globalism. For instance, he spoke of working with the "Gulf Cooperation Council," an emerging European Union-style regime on the Arabian peninsula that fits neatly into the Henry “New World Order” Kissinger vision of globalist regional governments merging into a global order. Trump also praised the alleged UN work that supposedly helps people “build better lives,” as if other organizations or churches could not do far better for a fraction of the cost. But despite that, Trump vowed to keep working to change the way UN contributions are assessed. He said he would work toward a “voluntary” system of contributions rather than “assessed” ones so that the U.S. government can “target American resources to the programs with the best record of success.” He did not specify which programs those might be.  
On the wars and neoconservatism, his speech likely left something to be desired for non-interventionists, as well. Speaking of Syria, he called for the "the United Nations-led peace process be reinvigorated." And he threatened to intervene in Syria if Assad used chemical weapons, despite massive amounts of evidence showing the previous attacks were likely false flags orchestrated by globalist-backed al-Qaeda forces waging war on the Assad regime. Finally, Trump sounded like he was being persuaded to bang the war drums against Iran again, suggesting neoconservative John Bolton, a member of the global government-peddling Council on Foreign Relations who now serves as Trump's National Security Advisor, played a large role in writing parts of the speech.
But Trump concluded his speech much like it began — with a rousing defense of sovereignty and nationhood, as well as a call for nations and peoples to be thankful to God. “So together, let us choose a future of patriotism, prosperity, and pride,” he said. “Let us choose peace and freedom over domination and defeat. And let us come here to this place to stand for our people and their nations, forever strong, forever sovereign, forever just, and forever thankful for the grace and the goodness and the glory of God. Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the nations of the world.”
Obviously, globalists everywhere — especially within the establishment media and the within the globalist institutions of “global governance” at the UN and beyond — were furious with the speech. Some could barely contain their rage. Others acted as if it was a joke, with some attendees at the speech actually laughing when Trump touted his administration's accomplishments. But regardless of what globalists and the establishment want, elections and opinion polls around the world show that patriotism is rising as globalism becomes increasingly toxic and discredited with the people. Americans and all those who value liberty must remain active to build on the momentum.
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SELECTED ARTICLES FROM LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS RESEARCH ABOUT CONTEMPLATIVE MYSTICISM, DECEPTION, APOSTASY, NEW AGE PRACTICES, UNIVERSALISM

LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS RESEARCH ARTICLES SEPTEMBER 2018
SEE: https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/newsletters/2018/newsletter20180924.htm; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
To Lighthouse Trails:
Walk to Emmaus logoWalk to Emmaus logo from the Upper Room website (used in accordance with the US Fair Use Act for the purpose of critique, review, and education)
I’m grateful to God for helping me come across your site tonight! I found out the Walk to Emmaus was demonic when I went on the walk this last weekend. It was the most horrible thing I’ve been through in my life. I believe God was protecting me while I was there. I thought I was going on a restful retreat. That’s what my church convinced me of anyway. I was in total hurt and shock by the end of the first day! I begin to agonize to leave the place. Too much to list here what went on while I was there.
Anyway, my church has segregated themselves from me because I refused to give my “happy testimony” about the walk. They think I’m a problem now. Much more to the story. I came home Sat. night feeling like I had just come home from the pits of hell. Everyone else that went said they had a great experience . . . weird. I don’t get it, and they seem different than the people I knew and cherished before the walk. I’m saddened by all this . . . my eyes have definitely been opened to the huge scale deception that’s taking our churches by storm! I didn’t even know any of this about this gigantic scheme until I went on the walk! I knew it was the last days. I knew about NWO [new-world order]. But I didn’t know about this particular infiltration.
Thank you for your work! My prayers are with you!!
Kayla
LTRP Comment: The following is a short article Lighthouse Trails previously wrote about Upper Room’s Walk to Emmaus with a mention of Tres Dias.

Walk to Emmaus and Tres Dias – A Walk to Deception

The Walk to Emmaus is a program put on by Upper Room Ministries. Upper Room promotes Spiritual Formation (i.e., contemplative spirituality), and if you want to understand the dynamics of Walk to Emmaus, then understanding the spirituality of Upper Room will help you:
“The Walk to Emmaus is an adaptation of the Roman Catholic Cursillo Movement, which originated in Spain in 1949.”-  from the Walk to Emmaus website
Walk to Emmaus is widely spread. It is estimated that over half a million persons have experienced a Walk to Emmaus weekend and today the Movement counts more than 300 communities distributed all over the United States as well as all over the world.1
Mantra Meditation is promoted at Upper Room Ministries also:
“Mantra — The word comes from Sanskrit. Its two-syllabus mean: man or mind and tra or deliverance. A mantra is sound vibration that is intended to deliver the mind from distractions and a focus on the material world. A mantra is repeated like a chant and has a spiritual effect associated with the physical vibration. A mantra can be as simple as one syllable ‘OM’ or as more complicated such as, ‘OM SRI RAM JAI RAM JAI JAI RAM’.” From the Upper Room website (link now removed)
Tres Dias is an offshoot of the Cursillo Movement and should be avoided as well.
List of places that do Walk to Emmaus
The Walk to Emmaus (The Upper Room) website
Chrysalis Walk to Emmaus
Book Alert: Soul Feast by Marjorie Thompson
Please Contemplate This by T.A. McMahon (Berean Call)
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Welcome to the New (Contemplative) Christianity – Just Breath In . . . Breath Out
Pastor Ken Shigematsu showing Christians how to practice one form of contemplative prayer. (photo from a 2-second clip of the Charisma video; used in accordance with the U.S. Fair Use Act)
The acceptance of contemplative prayer has hit an all-time high in the church. And is it any wonder? Christian media, Christian publishers, pastors, mission societies, Bible societies, authors, radio hosts, youth leaders, women’s group leaders, and Christian ministry leaders are all promoting it more than ever.  The video below that was posted on Charisma Magazine’s website on September 10th is yet another example of how Christian media (Charisma being one of the most popular Christian magazines today) is doing their part to get masses of Christians  involved with contemplative prayer (remember our recent article on YWAM’s goal to get all YWAMer’s doing contemplative prayer).
The Charisma article titled “The Ancient Spiritual Prayer Today’s Church Fails to Practice” states: “[Pastor] Shigematsu offers an easy step-by-step guide on how to do contemplative prayer in this video.”
The pastor who is featured on this video is Pastor Ken Shigematsu. Shigematsu is the author of God in My Everything: How an Ancient Rhythm Helps Busy People Enjoy God (2013) and Survival Guide for the Soul (2018, foreword by Ann Voskamp). In what he calls a “spiritual ecosystem,” Shigematsu provides a who’s who of New Age sympathizers and Catholic mystics in God in My Everything, that includes Thomas Merton, Evelyn Underhill, Kathleen Norris, Marva Dawn, Basil Pennington, Richard Rohr, Gerald May, Dorothy Bass, Parker Palmer, Joan Chittister and many of the usual evangelical/Protestant suspects such as Dallas Willard, Eugene Peterson, Richard Foster, Ruth Haley Barton, and Gary Thomas. In that book, Shigematsu makes no apologies for encouraging Christians to practice various meditation exercises to help calm the mind.
Survival Guide for the Soul is a continuing saga of his earlier book God in My Everything with gleanings from many of the same sources but also added to the mix is contribution from mystics such as David-Steindl Rast, Henry Nouwen, Walter Brueggemann, Thomas Keating, Anne Lamott, John Ortberg, and Dorothy Day.* In Survival Guide, Shigematsu boasts that “The spiritual direction movement is growing, and there are now more than six thousand spiritual directors under the banner of Spiritual Directors International, most of whom serve in North America” (ch. 9, endnote #15). The spiritual direction movement is one of the outgrowths of the contemplative prayer/Spiritual Formation movement (i.e., every contemplative Christian needs a spiritual director to guide and direct his or her esoteric experiences to help  avoid any dangerous altercations with devils and demons, which Richard Foster says can occur when practicing contemplative prayer).
If you are someone who is aware of the dangers and the true panentheistic, interspiritual nature of contemplative prayer, you have probably noticed that contemplative spirituality has moved from its infancy stage in the church to what appears to becoming the norm. Because the “big” guys in Christianity (e.g., Rick Warren, Christianity Today, YWAM, Charisma, Focus on the Family) are pushing fast forward to get the church through this mystical paradigm shift and the “little guys (e.g., Lighthouse Trails, The Berean Call) are written off as negative, divisive, and only worthy of being ignored and seen as being out of sync, contemplative spirituality (which encompasses all things emergent) will become the “new” Christianity, and all one has to do to get there is  . . .  breath in  . . . and breath out.

To see the video on the Charisma site, click here. 
*Most of the names mentioned in this article can be found on the Lighthouse Trails Research Project blog and in many of our published resources. Just use the blog’s search engine to look up the names.
Related Article:
The Christian of the Future-by Ray Yungen
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Some Thoughts Worth Considering 
on "Pub Theology"
LTRP Note: Recently, a father called us very concerned about the growing popularity of “Pub Theology.” He asked if we had any information about it. The late Larry DeBruyn wrote the following article in 2009 and gave permission for Lighthouse Trails to post it. Since 2009, Pub Theology has indeed increased greatly in popularity, especially among evangelical millennials. Type “Pub Theology” (in quotes which narrows the results) into Google, and it comes up over 43,000 times! DeBruyn’s article offers some valid (and Scriptural) advice and insight on Pub Theology.
“EMERGENT INEBRIATES: Some Thoughts on Pub Theology”
By Larry DeBruyn
As he begins to rip into “a screaming guitar solo,” a band member sarcastically yells out at the audience, “Let’s go to church boys!”[1] Welcome to Pub Theology. As the reporter describes it, Pub Theology is “a Sunday night show that’s one part church and one part party.” Among other posters on the barroom walls, one alludes to the final verse of the biblical chapter on love. It reads, “Faith, Hope, Love and Beer” (The biblical text reads, “But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” 1 Corinthians 13:13, NASB).
Being “shaggy-haired, body-pierced and colored with assorted body art,” members of the Sunday evening pub rock group double as members of a mega-church’s “worship team” on Sunday mornings. Confessing to love both Jesus and rock ‘n’ roll, band members will burn through a pack of cigarettes and exhort the audience to visit the bar and buy beer during Sunday night “church.” Initially skeptical about hosting Pub Theology on Sunday nights, the bar owner now admits the band has turned an otherwise dead night into a profitable evening.
Regarding this new outreach–the mega-church’s ministerial staff approve of doing Pub Theology–one of the band’s members says: “We want to be sincere and authentic and be who we really are, whether that is wearing jeans and a T-shirt or having a beer. I think that is real” he continues, “and I don’t think it is wrong or that God is unhappy about that.” Relates another band member: “I can drink a beer and smoke a cigarette and play some of my favorite songs and hang out with my friends and maybe meet someone and tell them about Jesus.”
Interestingly, most of the band members were raised in religious homes. In fact, two of its members are former PKS (That’s an acronym for “preacher’s kids.”). Having been a former pastor, their father has now become the band’s “roadie” (That’s a term which refers to the managers and technicians traveling with the band.). The members account for the band’s existence and approach to ministry for reason of their holier-than-thou Wesleyan upbringing–you know, “I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t go to R-rated movies, I don’t dance.”
On this point, and as a rebellious child of the 60s who too was raised in the legalistic environment of Western Michigan, let me say that I understand and somewhat sympathize with the band members’ rejection of legalism. But all rebels ought to be cautioned that, “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry” (1 Samuel 15:23). Yet God doesn’t make Christians from the outside in, but rather from the inside out. Though one’s Christianity is defined by inner faith not outer works, Paul did write that Christians are God’s “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). So we must not assume the opposite attitude from legalism, that of antinomianism (i.e., that God’s grace cancels out any need to obey His moral and spiritual law). For as Paul asked: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2). Contradicting antinomianism the writer of Hebrews orders us to, “Follow . . . holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled” (Hebrews 12:14-15).
Nevertheless, the casual and alcoholically lubricated atmosphere of Pub Theology raises an important issue, for as the reporter asks, “Does Pub Theology produce any lasting effects, or is it just a casual encounter with church in a bar—a spiritual one-night stand?” All the band’s claims of “doing ministry” notwithstanding—they do field questions about Christianity from the audience and callers-in, give inebriated individuals rides home, and have even seen one rescued drunk baptized a few days later in their church—Pub Theology shows every symptom of being a carnal “one-night-stand.” (Note: I do not use the word spiritual.)
First, Pub Theology is not church. If it is, then where’s the reading of Scripture, the apostles’ teaching, prayer and observance of the Lord’s Table? (Acts 2:42) But on this point, we can be certain that the band will avoid any impression of being too “churchly or preachy.” But beer steins are no substitute for communion cups. In fact, to the true church, the apostle Peter announced that, “the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries” (1 Peter 4:3).
Second, Pub Theology is not theology. Reportedly, the band’s opening song was Joan Osborne’s one-hit wonder, “What if God was one of us?” The lyrics add, “Just a slob like one of us.”[2] Imagine . . . God being a slob like the rest of the inebriated crowd at the bar. Given such a humanizing of God, what we’re dealing with is not Pub Theology, but pub idolatry. “And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Romans 1:23). Do you think Joan Osborne’s lyrical questions in any way resemble or affirm the great Christological passages of the New Testament? (John 1:1 ff.; Colossians 1:15-17; Philippians 2:5-11). By the way, these cited passages are comprised of theological statements extracted from early Christian hymns. Would the pub theology band sing them? I’d think they’d estimate that the lyrics of these biblical hymns are far too dogmatic, stodgy, and preachy for the “boys” at the bar!
Third, Pub Theology is not Christian outreach. To attain a “spiritual” end, it employs carnal, fleshly, and worldly means. But the apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:18-19). If the song “What if God was one of us?” gives any indication, probably none of the other music the band plays includes “psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs.”
The apostle Paul would not have employed carnal means to attain spiritual ends. You can’t fight fire with fire. He wrote:
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God.  (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; compare Galatians 5:21 where Paul labels “drunkenness” a work of the flesh).
So we conclude: Given the atmosphere surrounding Pub Theology, the description of love as it exists on a poster at “Sunday-night-church-in-a-bar” might be parodied to read: Now abide these four, “faith, hope, love, and beer,” but the greatest of these is beer!
Pastor Larry DeBruyn
Used with permission from Larry DeBruyn in 2009. Larry DeBruyn passed away in 2017.
Original posting – October 5, 2009
ENDNOTES
[1] Unless otherwise noted, all quotations are taken from Robert King, “Faith, Hope, Love, Beer,” The Indianapolis Star, September 27, 2009, A1, A14. Article may be viewed online. See Faith & Values, Robert King, “Pub Theology conveys Christian message in Broad Ripple,” IndyStar.com, September 27, 2009, http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009909270384.
[2] Lyrics online at: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/onehitwonders/ifgodwasoneofuslyrics.html.
Photo from bigstockphoto.com; used with permission.
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Key Players and Buzz Language 
of the Social-Justice “Gospel”
The following two lists are from Mary Danielsen’s booklet,The Dangerous Truth About the Social-Justice “Gospel” (see article below). It’s good to be aware of both the names and the language. (see video clip at bottom of these lists)

Some Key Players in the Social Gospel Movement*

Bill Hybels
Bono
Diane Butler Bass
Greg Boyd
Henri Nouwen
Ian Morgan Cron
Jim Wallis
Joan Chittister
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
Leonard Sweet
Lynne Hybels
N.T. Wright
Phyllis Tickle
Richard Foster
Richard Niebuhr
Richard Rohr
Rick Warren
Ron Sider
Shane Claiborne
St. Thomas Acquinas
Thomas Merton
Tony Blair
Tony Campolo
Tony Jones
Walter Rauschenbusch

Some Buzz Words in the Social Gospel Movement

Activist
Awakening
Biphobia
Christian Palestinianism
Colonialism/Imperialism
Common Ground
Conflict Resolution
Consumerism
Cultural Relevance
Dialogue
Distribution of wealth
Diversity
Environmental Stewardship
Ethnocentrism
Faith-based initiative programs
Feminism
Gay
Gender identity
Homophobia
Islamophobia
Justice
Missional
Multiplicity
Politics of Jesus
Progressive Christians
Progressive politics
Reconciliation
Red Letter Christians
Revolution
Social gospel
Social justice
Solidarity
Stewardship renewal
Tolerance
*Most of these names can be found on our site. Just type a name into our search engine on either the blog or the research site.
Below is a 10-minute video clip of one of Roger Oakland’s “Emerging Church lecture series.”

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Rob Bell's 'Love Wins' Revealed 'Startling' Multitudes of People Backing Universalism: Professor

BY STOYAN ZAIMOV
SEE: https://www.christianpost.com/news/rob-bells-love-wins-revealed-startling-multitudes-of-people-backing-universalism-professor-227433/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
A modern Christianity professor and author who opposes universalism admitted that he was "startled" by how many people came out supporting the belief following Rob Bell's 2011 book, Love Wins.
Michael McClymond, the author of The Devil's Redemption: A New History and Interpretation of Christian Universalism, said in an interview with The Gospel Coalition posted last week that ever since he was a student he has been engaged with biblical studies on the topic of salvation.
"Several years ago what really surprised me was not Rob Bell's book, Love Wins (2011), with its well-worn and hackneyed arguments. Instead, I was startled by the multitude of people I thereafter encountered holding that universalism was biblical and evangelical teaching," said McClymond, who teaches at Saint Louis University in Missouri.
Bell is the founder and former pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan, and has attracted significant controversy over his questioning of the traditional understanding of eternal punishment.
Although he is often associated with the term by critics, Bell has in the past insisted that he is not a universalist.
"No, if by universalist we mean there's a giant cosmic arm that swoops everybody in at some point whether you want to be there or not," Bell said back in 2011.
"That violates the laws of love and love is about freedom, it's about choice, it's about do you want to be there? Because that's what would make it Heaven," he added.
When it comes to the exclusivity and inclusivity of Christ, Bell said, "I think what happens is, especially for followers of Jesus, is there are sort of His exclusive claims that are often at the expense of the other things that He says ... be careful because I'm doing something for everybody."
He added: "How exactly that pans out, that's God's job."
As he has in previous interviews on the subject, McClymond said that Christian universalism has grown in certain pockets of the church, however.
"The point I wish to make is that universalism is the way that many religiously believing people — and contemporary academic theologians especially — would like for the world to be. The world as we might wish it to be is one in which God's grace extends to all persons without exception, and all persons freely and positively respond to it," the professor argued.
When it comes to people who are tempted toward universalism, he said: "Human salvation is inherently a good thing, and thus salvation for all — if it turned out that way — would not be something that any Christian would or should object to. The New Testament calls on believers to share the Good News and to evangelize among all nations, and to do so under the most difficult of circumstances."
He added, however, that as a theological author, he would "shudder at the thought of giving anyone false hope and false comfort, which in the book of Jeremiah is a distinguishing mark of the false prophet."
"Beginning with God's command to Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree in the garden, the whole of Scripture contains a message concerning 'two ways' — a way leading to life or reward, and another way leading to death or punishment. Because this idea of the 'two ways'' is so deeply rooted in the Bible, I would say that a church congregation that is Bible-preaching and Bible-reading will simply not entertain the idea of universalism," he added.
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