Turik nailed this one. The myth that the IRS can take away the exemption status of any church organization has yet to be played out anywhere in this country. Not one organization has yet been attacked on that front for daring to speak on issues that happen to touch on the arena of politics nor candidates. The IRS knows that they would lose in court, and yet many preachers remain with their heads stuck in the sands of fear while the Lord looks on at their cowardice. Not all are cowards, but many are.
Why Do Most Pastors Avoid Politics?
- Thread starter Musicmaster
- Start date
i for one do not avoid politics. i will hit both parties head on. what i do not practice is endorsing a candidate in favor of a office, i tell them pray about and vote for the candidate your led to vote for. if your led to vote for those who support lgbt and abortion and few other things. they need seek the Lord again
Good observation. I do not recall any political discussions beyond Romans 13:1 "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God."
I belong to one of those large churches (Christ Fellowship) in Miami. We tool a great deal of heat, during the 2016 Presidential campaign, because Senator Marco Rubio use to attend our church.
In his book, Rubio noted the following: "On most Saturday nights, we still attend services at Christ Fellowship, especially if Pastor Rick [Blackwood] is preaching the sermon. His sermons still inspire me to grow in my Christian faith... Some of my Catholic friends occasionally express concern over my continued association with Christ Fellowship. But I don't think you can go to church too often..." -- Marco Rubio, An American Son: A Memoir.
At the time, our lead pastor was Rick Blackwood. He is still one of our teachings pastors but retired as the lead pastor about three years ago. Two of his sermons that were used against Rubio were:
"Evolution is not based on observable evidence. Creation is based on observable evidence." -- Rick Blackwood, 2014 sermon
"I could sense the demons going out of this man and the Spirit of God entering him" -- Rick Blackwood, describing his 2011 exorcism of a demon-possessed church member.
This was never directly addressed by the church, and I have not seen Rubio back since he first ran for President.
source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/marc...on_type_map=["og.comments"]&action_ref_map=[]
I belong to one of those large churches (Christ Fellowship) in Miami. We tool a great deal of heat, during the 2016 Presidential campaign, because Senator Marco Rubio use to attend our church.
In his book, Rubio noted the following: "On most Saturday nights, we still attend services at Christ Fellowship, especially if Pastor Rick [Blackwood] is preaching the sermon. His sermons still inspire me to grow in my Christian faith... Some of my Catholic friends occasionally express concern over my continued association with Christ Fellowship. But I don't think you can go to church too often..." -- Marco Rubio, An American Son: A Memoir.
At the time, our lead pastor was Rick Blackwood. He is still one of our teachings pastors but retired as the lead pastor about three years ago. Two of his sermons that were used against Rubio were:
"Evolution is not based on observable evidence. Creation is based on observable evidence." -- Rick Blackwood, 2014 sermon
"I could sense the demons going out of this man and the Spirit of God entering him" -- Rick Blackwood, describing his 2011 exorcism of a demon-possessed church member.
This was never directly addressed by the church, and I have not seen Rubio back since he first ran for President.
source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/marc...on_type_map=["og.comments"]&action_ref_map=[]
no doubt possibly there to be seen and not to hear. BUT that was exactly where he needed. a seed was planted it should not reflect on the church just because a political candidate attends. had the candidate been allowed in the pulpit to campaign then that would reflect on the church.
i know nothing about the speaker in the video . i often wonder why he felt the need of the video . while in ways i agree on why the silence. if not careful we can lose our focus on the lost
Moving the line of ‘what is political and what isn't' for expedience sake, was interesting.
Frank Turek is a well respected apologist.
Frank Turek is a well respected apologist.
Not 100% sure I know what you mean. No, Rubio has never neem allowed on the pulpit. When he did come to church, he came alone, and his family followed in a separate car. He always sat up in the balcony and away from public view. He always wrote a check and exited through the main entry.
None have ever taken a public side on politics, but I suspect they lean right because of the LGBT whatever and the idea of abortion. A while back, there was a serious or messages that addressed each of these issues once per Sunday. After the message, there were a series of discussions on stage that included someone that use to be someone else. This was like a "former" homosexual, a formed transexual, a formed porn addict, racism, etc. Each presented their story and how they were able to overcome this. The series was called "The Conversationalist."
As a member of the security team, we were prepared for serious issues; however, there were very few. Some people did get up and walked out, but not as many as we thought. We were expecting protestors outside, but none came.
It just appears to me that politics is no longer a subject that can be discussed rationally. People have their views and don't budge.
Don't know what its like in US but in NZ some pastors can talk about politics, although it can be a little divisive, because all kinds go to church not just one party supporter. We have MMP which is mixed member proportionate, meaning there aren't just two parties to vote for. Also many candidates can stand as independents, especially in local body elections, which is something else again.
As far as I know a lot of Christian political parties fail to gain traction because its quite a different thing to say your policies are Christian when many voters (and politicians) could be anywhere on the belief scale. Generally any light will shine forth and actions can be louder than words sometimes.
If you really wanted to be super involved, instead of casting a vote every now and then you would become a politician yourself. Its not a job many people actually want to do, which is why only a select few representatives do it. You can always write or contact a politician to get your views heard but whether they actually listen or do anything about it is another matter.
As far as I know a lot of Christian political parties fail to gain traction because its quite a different thing to say your policies are Christian when many voters (and politicians) could be anywhere on the belief scale. Generally any light will shine forth and actions can be louder than words sometimes.
If you really wanted to be super involved, instead of casting a vote every now and then you would become a politician yourself. Its not a job many people actually want to do, which is why only a select few representatives do it. You can always write or contact a politician to get your views heard but whether they actually listen or do anything about it is another matter.
Politicans - policies= rules, legalism. Some Christians are really into legalism, some aren't so much and believe grace can carry us through.
Some people want to make all the rules.
Personally I think rules need to be guidelines and yes it is a hassle making sure everyone follows them. But they are only schoolmasters to bring us to Christ. They are not the thing itself. If everyone was a Christian, we would have it all written on our hearts and we could trust that we can do the right thing. But for many people they don't know these unspoken rules until someone has a big debate in parliament about them, and the Acts or legislation gets changed. Bylaws and rules tend to change all the time too, which can be unsettling for people, and when you've followed one rule and it suddenly changes or you've been law abiding all your life but the politicians bend or flout them, or completely change them, you're never certain of anything.
Running or governing or adminstering a country can be a minefield. Obviously everyone is different and geographically diverse, but you want to do the best for everyone. In the end no matter what party you subscribe to, we are all humans.
We are flesh and blood and don't always do things right. So I guess thats why we need...politicians. Otherwise it's complete anarchy right? That can be a good thing or bad depending on how much you like law and order lol.
Some people want to make all the rules.
Personally I think rules need to be guidelines and yes it is a hassle making sure everyone follows them. But they are only schoolmasters to bring us to Christ. They are not the thing itself. If everyone was a Christian, we would have it all written on our hearts and we could trust that we can do the right thing. But for many people they don't know these unspoken rules until someone has a big debate in parliament about them, and the Acts or legislation gets changed. Bylaws and rules tend to change all the time too, which can be unsettling for people, and when you've followed one rule and it suddenly changes or you've been law abiding all your life but the politicians bend or flout them, or completely change them, you're never certain of anything.
Running or governing or adminstering a country can be a minefield. Obviously everyone is different and geographically diverse, but you want to do the best for everyone. In the end no matter what party you subscribe to, we are all humans.
We are flesh and blood and don't always do things right. So I guess thats why we need...politicians. Otherwise it's complete anarchy right? That can be a good thing or bad depending on how much you like law and order lol.
as well as other subjects
One of the big issues during the Clinton reign of terror was the idea of endorsing any candidate would immediately render null and void any church's tax exempt status. Again, none of that has ever been proven to be a legitimate fear. The media-backed rumor mill instantly threw many a preacher into a lack of faith, which is fear. The fear for losing money through taxation that has never been proven out, that has silenced many a preacher from daring to challenge the rumors.
MM
MM
i dont feel we should endorse candidates from the pulpit. preach the issues
Hello Musicmaster;
I don't know Dr. Frank Turik but I agree where he's coming from. I get it!
I only suggest Dr. Turik should have addressed this presentation of politics at a Pastors / Leader conference. They're the ones who need to hear this and it would have gone a lot farther than speaking this to his own congregation. I'm assuming he delivered this message while at his Church.
Yes, the flock needs to be open to receive what's also going on in the world, thus politics and what's socially right and left.
But in this case from listening to his tone and short message this would have served better at a Pastors / Leaders conference.
However, I do agree with what Dr. Turik presented.
God bless you, brother.
Greetings, Bob.
Something that I had noticed is that most pastoral conferences are geared toward burnout recovery and pastoral marriages and blessing topics moreso than activist strategies and courage to stand up against the wolves. They should have gotten D. James Kennedy to encourage pastors to preach as he did.
MM
Hello Musicmaster;
I agree, that's my point - besides many other subjects, there should be more Pastors / Leaders conferences that touch on the subject that Dr. Turik presented.
Dr. Dennis James Kennedy was an anointed speaker, a "Pastor's Pastor." I didn't know he died years ago.
God bless you, brother.
I remember these possibilities during the Clinton and Obama administrations. Had Hillary Clinton won the presidency in 2016 and been able to replace conservative justices with progressive ones on the Supreme Court, I am sure these cases would have been brought to trials to have it become case law. We did see the push to force Catholic institutions to pay for abortions as a part of mandated health care. We are on the precipice. One strong swing to the left and we will go off the edge.
Our political system is a disaster. It's either the left or the right, with nothing in the middle. The last thing either party is interested in is their constituents. They can lie, admit it, and still hold their seats. The right wants to beat the left. The left wants to beat the right. The little guy can't run, because it costs millions to do so. It has become all about contempt and animosity. Nothing gets done, because these infantile public servants are allowed to get away with everything. It is complete anarchy already. I mean, we had people storm the US Capital looking to hang the Vice President and the Speaker and they did this in an effort to overturn an election. If that is not anarchy, I do not know what is.
Wasn‘t this a false narrative that Tucker Carlson exposed by releasing videos showing the protesters being peacefully escorted through the chambers of Congress...unlocklng doors etc?
Here in the US, and elsewhere, political operatives, news outlets and the political parties that employe and promote them, are shamelessly advancing competing narratives.
Their contradictory political views are ALL “verifiable” by well documented examples of contradicting facts that are presented to us on similar styled, but philosophically opposing, media platforms. We can all rest assured that “whatever” is true because our favorite outlet said it was true.
I don’t trust the profit driven news business’ of Fox or CNN to relay an unbiased report of what is really happening. They both have their base audience they pander to and this is all orchestrated at a higher level by someone who wins WHENEVER we are divided.
The result is that “man’s” truth is more elusive and relative than any time in history and so Chaos and its promoters are having a great moment on the earth.
I Trust in God.
Their contradictory political views are ALL “verifiable” by well documented examples of contradicting facts that are presented to us on similar styled, but philosophically opposing, media platforms. We can all rest assured that “whatever” is true because our favorite outlet said it was true.
I don’t trust the profit driven news business’ of Fox or CNN to relay an unbiased report of what is really happening. They both have their base audience they pander to and this is all orchestrated at a higher level by someone who wins WHENEVER we are divided.
The result is that “man’s” truth is more elusive and relative than any time in history and so Chaos and its promoters are having a great moment on the earth.
I Trust in God.
lets face it politics often finds it self in the Church 
i dont mean rep or dem .but yes poetics is a millionaires game one set of rich folks against the other this is why i never endorse candidates or parties . the democrat's are liberal the republicans have there own form of liberalism
i dont mean rep or dem .but yes poetics is a millionaires game one set of rich folks against the other this is why i never endorse candidates or parties . the democrat's are liberal the republicans have there own form of liberalism