Fannin Terrace Church Confusion

The response from this church and the Midland police is shockingly bad. Matt Wiersema goes around doing this in a lot of places and this was their response to him holding a graphic sign in front of their church. I wrote a letter to this pastor in 2022 and this has been bothering me ever since. I will post the letter I sent below. Here’s the video. You’ll have to click on the link to view the video on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBgJJXNgp6o&t=2s

Here’s the letter from August 18, 2022.

Doug Lamb
Fannin Terrace Baptist Church
2800 Mogford
Midland, TX 79705

Dear Mr. Lamb:

I’m writing in response to your actions in the Youtube video titled, “Church Repent: Bully Cop Violates Right to Free Speech”, where you opposed Matt Wiersema who was standing on a public sidewalk with a sign and distributing literature. Searching for that title pulls up the video in the first result.

You were in sin for the following reasons:

1. Not responding humbly and with compassion toward orphans being led to the slaughter by abortion or being treated as personal property and frozen in the process of IVF.
2. Telling Matt he was wrong to call the cop a tyrant.
3. Giving a false interpretation of Romans 13.
4. Committing the very type of hypocritical judging prohibited by Christ in Matthew 7:1-5.
5. Going to unbelievers to resolve a dispute with a Christian in violation of 1 Corinthians 6:1-5.
6. Opposing Matt while he was proclaiming God’s Word.

Anyone who has done even very tame forms of public evangelism for more than a few hours will have the cops called on them. Even inexperienced evangelists have a good knowledge of what they can and can’t legally do. Standing on a public sidewalk passing out literature and holding a sign is free speech activity in a traditional public forum. It is (supposedly) the job of cops to protect such rights. It’s evident that you’ve done very little public evangelism in your life. You were in the wrong to support the cop in violating Matt’s right to free speech.

If the police attempt to violate someone’s rights, nowhere in Scripture are we taught to allow our rights to be violated as you seem to espouse at 6:28 in the video by twisting Romans 13. There are many examples of people standing up for their rights in Scripture, especially when proclaiming God’s Word. We are free to disobey government to preach the gospel. Jesus called Herod a fox. The Pharisees were the lowest level of government in Israel in Jesus’ time, and you know what He said about them to their face. Matt calling that cop violating his rights a tyrant and a bully is much milder than what he could have righteously called him.

Matt was there to raise awareness among Christians about the evils of IVF and abortion. There are most likely people in your congregation who have participated in IVF and may even currently “own” frozen babies. This is unconscionable and inconsistent with how we are to treat human life. I would be surprised if you’ve ever preached a sermon about IVF. Matt went to a good man’s house to exhort them to stand up for human life. What he found were proud people who show little care or compassion for orphans left in a doctor’s freezer.

An occasional sermon about abortion or supporting a crisis pregnancy center is not adequate to fight abortion. That is what most decent churches do, and we are no closer to defeating abortion than we were 40 years ago. The vast majority of abortions are from the local drug store via various forms of birth control. To haughtily think that neither you nor anyone in attendance that day needs encouragement to obey Scripture and help the unborn is shocking.

At around the 7:20 mark in the video, you say that it is wrong for Matt to judge you. We are commanded to judge righteously (John 7:24, 1 Corinthians 2:15, Hebrews 5:14). We are commanded to not judge hypocritically (Matthew 7:1-5). If you say it’s wrong to judge someone, and you judge them as having judged you, you are committing the type of hypocritical judging that actually is prohibited in Matthew 7. You are holding yourself to a different standard than you hold others. You’re also demonstrating that you are too immature to judge righteously.

The conversation concludes with you turning Matt over to the law. It doesn’t matter whether that cop is a believer. He was erroneously enforcing laws of an unbelieving system. You disobeyed 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 by going to unbelievers to settle a dispute between Christians. What you ought to have done is called the cop to repentance for opposing the preaching of God’s Word.

You show a severe lack of biblical knowledge and shocking immaturity. A sign of a mature Christian is that they are able to distinguish good and evil. You were unable to distinguish who was on the right side of the law, and unable to apply even the most basic levels of biblical reasoning.

Years ago, I didn’t understand how Matt and his group could stand in front of churches they don’t know anything about. How can he tell whether a church that he hasn’t attended is good or bad? But I was missing the point. If he does that in front of a good church, they respond humbly and with compassion towards the unborn. A bad church, even if they think they’re biblical, calls the cops and tries to justify themselves and what they’re doing. It’s clear that no Christian or church in America has such an effective strategy to fight abortion that they are in a position where they can reject exhortation. It’s possible that someone could attend your church for years thinking it was a good church, but Matt exposed you as a wicked “church” and an immature, and probably lost “pastor” in only a few minutes.

I call you to repent and to examine yourself to see if you’re even in the faith.

Feel free to respond to me by phone or e-mail.

Sincerely,

Bill Phillips

Oh Boy.

A friend on Facebook posted this picture. It says it’s from Ron Desantis, governor of Florida, but it is actually from someone who made a Twitter account to campaign for him. Nevertheless, my friend who posted it is a professing Christian. Here it is:

That sign reminds me of a pretty famous Bible passage:

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:41‭-‬46 ESV).

“Strangers” is referring to immigrants. Immigrants were to be treated respectfully along with orphans and widows in the Old Testament. Jesus says you had better not just treat them the same, but welcome them and give them food and drink.

Foreigners wanting to come to the U.S. is a blessing to us economically and is a golden opportunity for evangelism. At one point in American history, Catholics were complaining that Presbyterians were getting the Irish Catholics to convert to Christianity when they came off of Ellis Island by helping them find their way with a job and a place to live.

People who are newly arrived are welcome at my house. I will give them some food and drink and help them find a place to live and a job. I will help them hide from the evil authorities trying to get rid of them, because that’s what Jesus said we ought to be doing.

And just as an aside, Democrats are big-government socialists, and have zero interest in free markets and free immigration. They harass immigrants just as much as anyone else (see Obama’s deportation rate); they’re just more politically correct when they do it.

I shudder to think where the people who endorse this sign will end up for eternity.

Mask Tyrants

People are created in God’s image. I refuse to treat them as if they turned the air they exhale into a biohazard. I refuse to be treated as walking biohazard when I’m not sick. There is nothing in Scripture about thinking that way, and it is evil. That is my religious exemption. I don’t care whether you like it or don’t agree with it. I will not comply.

I refuse to have a cashier or a governor require me to use a medical device. The cashier lady at the sheet metal supply company is not my doctor. My health is my responsibility. Everyone else needs to take care of themselves. I will help them where I can, and take reasonable action, but it makes no sense to wear a mask. I’m not going to wear one to please someone’s desire for a placebo.

If someone wants to wear a mask, that is fine with me. I would say that if you think you might actually be spreading corona everywhere you go, you should self-quarantine. However, it is reprehensible to think that there is any power on earth capable of forcing me to wear a mask against my will. NO AUTHORITY ON EARTH HAS THE POWER TO FORCE PEOPLE TO WEAR A MASK. If you’re in favor of government forcing me to wear a mask, you’re sinning. You should have the guts to hold a gun to my head and force me to wear a mask yourself, rather than calling police to do it for you.

Scripture defines love–not men. 

Merry Christmas!

I have Christian friends who don’t celebrate Christmas because they believe Christmas trees, and other symbols of Christmas have pagan origins. I thought this was a very good refutation of that line of thinking.

From John Andrew Reasnor:

“Pagans believe that there is real spiritual significance to temporal and material objects and symbols. For example, certain animals, signs, words, symbols, trees, figurines, days, dances, clothing, hair styles, and so on all have inherent spiritual value and can be tapped into for certain powers or blessings.”

“Christianity, on the other hand, believes that all creation is good and redeemable if the heart of the individual is pure in regards to the relationship to the material objects. This world was not created by Satan, this world does not belong to Satan, and Satan is not reigning as King over this world. This means that we need not fear objects, but rather we should be wary of our own hearts. We can take and twist any good gift from God, so don’t get me wrong. In that way the material objects do have spiritual value, but ONLY in the context of how man has used those objects. It is man we should watch out for. Not Pokemon. Not other fantastical stories and games. Not Christmas trees. Not hairstyles. Not certain foods. Not shapes. The problem isn’t STUFF, the problem is man making stuff into idols. Even in the most pagan and wicked cultures, their idols had no power, but their hearts were wicked and their hearts gave power over to demons.”

“To connect the dots, to think that children’s games, created objects, nature, shapes, and so on have INHERENT spiritual value is buying into the pagan worldview. It is pagans that connect spirits to stuff. You are seeing the world in the same way as the pagans, but instead of clinging to the “bad spirit stuff” you try to instead cling to the “good spirit stuff”. Either way, you’re living your life as if it’s a game of Dungeons and Dragons, but you’re the good cleric instead of the evil wizard. But that’s not how the world works. In other words, the “everything is pagan” nonsense I see from people on Facebook all the time IS actual paganism. So stop being a pagan and see this world as Christ’s. You don’t have to seek out Christians who like Harry Potter, Pokemon, or set up Christmas Trees to find paganism. Paganism is in your own heart already.”

It’s OK to Kill a Baby in the Womb, When?

This is worth the time to watch.

Consequences For Mistreating Sojourners

I keep seeing conservatives and Christians saying the most socialist things about the Honduran caravan. Our immigration laws were written by Ted Kennedy to control the labor market. I’ve never seen such passionate defenders of socialist labor market controls as “small-government conservatives”. They are also deeply concerned with maintaining the integrity of the welfare state–only us Americans should be getting welfare. I always thought it was a conservative ideal to end welfare and return to private charity. I guess I wasn’t in on the meeting when we decided welfare is as American as apple pie.

I’ve heard many say they like immigration, as long as it’s done legally. This presupposes that either men are free to make up whatever immigration laws they like, or that our current system is close enough to perfection that it should be strictly enforced.

What I don’t hear being discussed is what is right in God’s eyes, and Scripture certainly speaks on how we should treat the foreigner among us. Feel free to do your own search of Scripture; if you use ESV you can search for the word “sojourner” while other versions may use other words.

Here’s what happens if we treat them properly:

“For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever” (Jeremiah 7:5-7).

If we treat them poorly, we won’t be dwelling in the land, meaning we will become immigrants, if not refugees. Liberals have already placed this country in grave jeopardy by advocating for the legal murder of the fatherless in the womb. Conservatives generally don’t make that grave error, but are they in favor of oppressing the sojourner?

Numbers 15:15-16 says:

“For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the Lord. One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.”

There is to be one law for everyone–citizen and sojourner.

I’ve spoken with some conservatives who want foreigners to be treated differently than Americans. I wonder how government goons will be able to determine who is a foreigner and who is a citizen? Maybe checkpoints and government-issued paperwork? That sounds like the land of the free, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t a fitting punishment for trying to oppress foreigners be for God to take the unjust law we intend to apply only to foreigners, and make it the one law that is inflicted on everyone?

The truth is that the only job of biblical government is to punish evildoers (Romans 13:4). Government has no jurisdiction over people not committing evil (Romans 13:3). It is the government of the beast which is all about red tape, permits, and licenses for doing things that aren’t a sin (Revelation 13:17). It’s not a sin to move where your labor is valued the highest, even if it means crossing a border. It’s not a sin to put in an honest day’s work. What is a sin is to advocate for beastly government, where anyone needs visas, passports, permits, or licenses to earn a living.

I’m certainly not advocating for the U.S. government to step in and provide anything to the Hondurans–charity isn’t the job of biblical government, but Jesus said, that those who welcome strangers will inherit the kingdom (Matthew 25:34-35). Those who do not welcome strangers will be sent to eternal fire (Matthew 25:41, 43).

For an in-depth study of this topic, I recommend these lectures. America’s history on this topic is very interesting, and is covered in those discussions.

A Little Project

My friend who preaches at the abortion clinic in Georgia wants to get this video on the first page of results when someone searches for “A Preferred Women’s Health Clinic Augusta Georgia”. It currently has only 37 views, and doesn’t show up on the first five pages. There are at least three ways for you to help.

1. Watch it.
2. You can click on the “Youtube” lettering in the lower right hand corner and go comment on it and give it a thumbs up.
3. Post it wherever you can.

Of course abortion is often dangerous for the mother. But it is fatal for the baby. This mother won’t escape the judgment of God by hiding her face.

Saltless Churches

Here’s a Cool Conversation

I know a guy who stands in front of the Augusta, Georgia abortion clinic five days a week attempting to convince women not to murder their babies. He has had a lot of success, and has varying levels of contact with the parents that decide not to abort. There are times when people don’t ever talk to him, but they leave the parking lot never to be seen again, and there are times when he’s been involved with throwing baby showers for the women who chose to keep their baby. Here’s an interesting conversation he had via text message today with a father.

This Isn’t What the Bible Teaches

Of course, the principal that you must have approval of someone to evangelize is nowhere found in Scripture. In fact, Christ commanded everyone to make disciples. We are all priests and the head of every man is Christ.

Here’s what Bojidar Marinov has to say about this.

Actually, this is quite a good news. Uncontrolled expansion is a challenge to every false system, because uncontrolled expansion always leads to a point where the elite has to face too many challenges by “non-professionals” who achieve that growth. So, at some point, they have to start building walls: both to stop outsiders from coming in and upsetting the balance, and insiders from going out and expanding and rendering the elite obsolete. The ecclesiastical system White is part of already has both: they jealously “guard the Table” (a concept present nowhere in the Bible) and they jealously guard their monopoly of preaching and evangelizing. Which means, they have self-consciously stopped expanding, and will fight any expansion from now on. Thus, for all practical purposes, they are a dead body.

A similar thing happened to the Covenanters 100 years ago. Look at them today: an insignificant sect at the periphery of the culture. Anabaptists were like that from the every beginning: and they never expanded beyond their limited communities and never influenced any culture.

And this is why the Charismatics are eating everyone’s lunch around the world.

That’s why Christian Reconstruction can’t afford to have “leadership.” If we do, we will end up as a dead body, the “leadership” deciding the terms of expansion. We will teach people but we will also trust them in the Holy Spirit, letting them decide the terms of expansion each one in their own sphere. This is how we build a culture. White wants a ghetto, and ghetto is what he is going to get.