Churches still support US Muslim Invasion

Pastor to Southern Baptist Convention: Stop push for Muslim refugees, Christian organization also 'aligns itself with godless, liberal groups to help build a mosque', 6/17/16 

The Southern Baptist Convention threw down a gauntlet at the feet of Republican nominee Donald Trump and many conservatives, adopting a resolution encouraging churches and families “to welcome and adopt refugees into their churches and homes.”

But at least one senior pastor from within the organization is telling the Southern Baptist Convention to stop meddling and leave the issue up to citizens who are impacted by the influx of refugees.

Though Resolution 12 also called for the “strictest security measures possible,” the measure specifically referred to the “85,000 refugees coming into the United States in 2016 from four continents and the Caribbean” that are expected.

The resolution did not specifically refer to Islam or Muslims. However, Russell Moore, the head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Commission, has been a prominent critic of Donald Trump and his proposed immigration policies.

It also comes only days after the terrorist attack in Orlando linked to the Islamic State, an attack that caused presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump to double down on his call for a temporary ban on Muslim immigration.

In the few days since the attack, 441 Syrian refugees have been brought into the United States, with dozens admitted into the state of Florida itself. Meanwhile, the Obama administration has been targeting small towns with massive infusions of Muslim refugees.

The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention is also supporting the building of a mosque in Bernards, New Jersey. The Islamic Society of Basking Ridge’s application for a new mosque was denied by the local planning board.

The opposition of some residents to Islamic Shariah law reportedly played a role in the opposition, though the denial itself was made on technical grounds. The Islamic Society filed a lawsuit against the township. The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission has joined almost 20 other faith and “civil rights” groups in supporting the lawsuit on the grounds of “religious freedom.”

The leadership of the Southern Baptists is not without its critics. One of the most vocal is pastor Carl Gallups of Hickory Hammock Baptist Church.

Gallups has a long history with the organization, having served as the senior pastor of a Southern Baptist Convention church on the Gulf Coast for 30 years. He has also been involved with the missionary organizations and some of the universities in the denomination.

“What has happened in the recent Orlando nightclub Islamic terrorist massacre should be a further warning to the Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission that they are treading on treacherous ground by actually assisting in building more mosques in American cities,” Gallups told WND.

“What should the Southern Baptist Convention have done about this mosque in New Jersey? They should have stayed out of the situation altogether! They should have left the matter up to the voice of the local people and their elected and appointed public officials.”

Gallups charged the Southern Baptist Convention with not following the example of the early Christians.

“Instead of the Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission leading the Southern Baptist Convention to help build mosques to fulfill some misguided interpretation of ‘religious liberty,’ they should be modeling the New Testament church as found in the scriptures,” Gallups said.

“I think the ERLC would be hard pressed to find anywhere in the scriptures, or elsewhere, where the early church was aligning itself with government entities and ‘interfaith coalitions’ to assist in the construction of more pagan temples, shrines and altars to Emperor worship in the Roman Empire – in the name of ‘religious liberty.’ That would not have even crossed their minds. There certainly is no scripture to support the idea. Rather the scripture supports having nothing to do with ‘darkness,’ and being ‘separate’ from those who align themselves with systems that deny the Jesus Christ of God’s salvation.”

Orlando was just the beginning – are you and your family ready? “Be Thou Prepared” by Carl Gallups, available now in the WND Superstore.

Gallups further alleges the Southern Baptist Convention has refused to answer his specific questions about why they are supporting this controversial policy. For example, Gallups asked if the SBC would be willing to legally assist the creation of a “Satanic Temple” or a pagan shrine, even if a local community had banned it, in the name of “religious liberty.” He also argued the Southern Baptist Convention’s support for more Muslim immigration and construction of mosques undermines its missionary efforts.

“The Southern Baptist Convention spends millions of dollars each year sending missionaries to Islamic nations to win Muslims away from the faith of Islam and away from the Islamic brainwashing centers called mosques,” said Gallups. That, after all, is the point of missionary work. Yet we now align ourselves with some of the most liberal (and godless) groups in America to “assist” in the building of a mosque in the United States? I question the wisdom of this decision.”

Gallups also pointed to the history of the ERLC in supporting mosque construction, notably the support of then Executive Director Richard Land for building the “Ground Zero mosque” in 2010.

“I find it very suspicious that the ERLC, just a few years ago, under Richard Land attempted the same ‘mosque building’ agenda,” Gallups said. “In that effort, Mr. Land and the ERLC signed an agreement with a similar ‘Interfaith Coalition.’ However, Mr. Land was forced to withdraw the ERLC endorsement because of the outrage of SBC leadership across the nation. Mr. Land said that he guessed he had gone ‘a bridge too far.’ Now only five years later, Dr. Russell Moore does the very same thing – and he and his representatives are apparently refusing to budge on the issue.”

Gallups urged the Southern Baptist Convention, and all American Christians, to remember the vast history of Muslim aggression against believers.

“Has the SBC forgotten the Ottoman Empire?” he asked. “Have they forgotten the Barbary Wars, or 9/11? Has the SBC forgotten that the FBI says that they are now tracking ISIS cells in all 50 states of the U.S.? Are you not aware of the fact that several Islamic mosques in America have been officially identified as nothing more than Islamic terrorist recruiting centers?”

The pastor told WND Christians need to focus on spreading their own faith and fighting back against cultural and moral collapse rather than being drafted into the missionary efforts of non-Christians.

He called on Southern Baptists to express their opposition to the Southern Baptist Convention’s support for mosque-building and Muslim immigration.

“While I believe in treating every human being, including the Muslims among us, with the utmost respect – and relish the opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus with them – I do not support the building of more mosques in America,” he said. “I would venture to guess that the vast majority of SBC churches would not support it, either. Our SBC’s time, attention and money needs to be spent and focused on how Christians are being targeted by both Muslims and by secular, left-wing activists.”

Gallups has long argued American Christians will be increasingly targeted in the years ahead. He said they should be able to count on their own leaders to defend them at a time like this.

“We are under assault,” he warned. “With everything that is going on, the SBC is going to align itself with godless, liberal groups to help build a mosque? This is insanity.”

Orlando was just the beginning – are you and your family ready? “Be Thou Prepared” by Carl Gallups, available now in the WND Superstore.

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