After describing the long evolution of the church building sanctuary, the authors describe the pulpit, which “elevates the clergy to a position of prominence… it puts the preacher at center ’stage’ – separating and replacing him high above God’s people.”
http://blendedworship.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/viola-and-barna-pagan-church-buildings/
Shortly after Robert Jeffress became pastor of First Baptist Dallas, there was speculation that he and Jerry Johnson, the president of Criswell College, were engaged in a battle over … you guessed it … MONEY!!!
Johnson's charges against Jeffress were so serious that they were reported by the Dallas Morning News. Check out this headline: "Criswell College president accuses First Baptist Church of Dallas of wanting to sell school's assets"
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stor/DN-criswell_02met.ART.North.Edition1.4d72a75.html
It's important to note the date of this headline — August 2, 2008 — several months before the economy tanked.
Here's an important excerpt from the article:
A simmering feud over control of Criswell College has boiled over, with its president and some trustees accusing leaders of First Baptist Church of Dallas of plotting to sell the school's assets to finance a new church sanctuary.
Criswell President Jerry Johnson late this week criticized the Rev. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas, which founded the Dallas Bible school and controls appointment of its trustees. As pastor, Dr. Jeffress is automatically chancellor of Criswell College, which has a small campus on Gaston Avenue and operates a radio station, KCBI-FM.
"For six months, the chancellor has been trying to cannibalize Criswell College to fund his building program at the church, which will cost $170 to $240 million," Dr. Johnson said in an e-mailed response to questions.
"Furthermore, the chancellor has stated and started a plan to stack the Criswell College board with trustees that will go along with his plan to liquidate college assets, including our campus and KCBI, for the financial benefit of the church."
Dr. Jeffress flatly denied that.
"Neither the deacons nor I have any plan to sell KCBI or the campus of Criswell College, period," he said.
We're glad Pastor Jeffress has gone on record denying the charge made by Dr. Johnson, and we will hold him to it. Time will tell if he is a man of his word.
Three days later, Jerry Johnson resigned as president of the college, as reported in this Associated Baptist Press article: "Johnson resigns from Criswell after public spat with Jeffress".
http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3460&Itemid=53
DALLAS (ABP) — Criswell College President Jerry Johnson resigned Aug. 5, after a public clash with a powerful local pastor over the institution’s future.
His resignation, accepted during a called session of the college trustees’ executive committee, “was due to philosophical differences the president had with the chancellor and trustee leadership about the future of Criswell College,” board members said in a statement released Aug. 6. The resignation takes effect Aug. 15.
The ABP article includes this interesting excerpt:
Johnson and at least one Criswell trustee recently accused First Baptist Church of Dallas and its pastor, Robert Jeffress, of planning to sell the institution’s assets. The proceeds, they contended, would go to fund a massive new proposed sanctuary for the historic church.
First Baptist, under the guidance of its legendary then-pastor, W.A. Criswell, established Criswell College in 1971. The church must approve appointment of the college’s trustees, over half of whom must be First Baptist members, and the church’s pastor serves as the school’s chancellor. Criswell College is affiliated with the conservative Southern Baptists of Texas Convention…
Johnson claimed that, earlier this year, Jeffress said nearby Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary would absorb Criswell. Southwestern operates its own undergraduate college at its Fort Worth campus.
It certainly sounds like Robert Jeffress came to First Baptist Dallas with a specific agenda, and he is wasting no time in carrying it out, despite an economic recession. No doubt there is much more to the Criswell College saga than has been divulged to the public.
Aspiring leaders in the SBC are usually aligned with other "Big Dawgs", and we wondered whose coattails Jeffress is riding. Paige Patterson? The answer can be found in a quote at this link:
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=27405
"R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, will require additional surgery after a scheduled colonoscopy Feb. 11 revealed a tumor in his colon. An initial biopsy indicated that the tumor is pre-cancerous and further tests are to be scheduled, along with surgical options.
The surgery will require that he forego nomination as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Mohler said.
'Some have asked how this new development affects my nomination to be president of the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis this June,' Mohler said. 'I have decided to give my greatest attention right now to addressing this new challenge and to ministering to my wife and children. This is clearly not the right time for me to accept this nomination. I have asked my good friend Robert Jeffress not to proceed with nominating me for president of our Southern Baptist Convention this year.'"
For those of you who follow Wade Burleson's Grace and Truth blog, we encourage you to read his stimulating analysis of what a Mohler SBC presidency would entail, which can be found at this link:
http://kerussocharis.blogspot.com/2008/01/al-mohler-right-man-for-wrong-job.html
SBCers, please keep in mind what Pastor Wade has shared when you elect your new president at next year's convention in Orlando. If one of Mohler's "Calvinista" colleagues is elected, who do you think will be calling the shots in the denomination?
Now it's time to shift gears from religion to politics and government… Here is an interesting blog post written by Dr. Bruce Prescott regarding Pastor Jeffress' misguided rhetoric from the pulpit:
http://mainstreambaptist.blogspot.com/2008/11/misguided-rhetoric-at-first-baptist.html
Misguided Rhetoric at First Baptist Dallas
Monday, November 03, 2008
Robert Jeffress, Pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, preached a passionate sermon entitled "America is a Christian Nation" yesterday. The sermon was full of sound and fury signifying nothing except that the pastor is completely misguided regarding the meaning of the First Amendment to Constitution of the United States.
The source of Jeffress misguidance was cited early on in his sermon. He credits David Barton who spoke at his church not long ago.
The historical and legal inaccuracies broadcast in Jeffress' sermon are too numerous to waste time and space enumerating. Here's one of his most egregious historical inaccuracies:
Jeffress states that Jefferson's 1802 letter to Danbury Baptists, the letter in which Jefferson uses the wall metaphor for separating church and state, was written to allay Baptist fears that he would establish the Congregational Church and thus deprive them of their religious liberty.
No one of intellectual integrity who had invested even an hour reading source documents from the hand of Thomas Jefferson himself would contend, as Jeffress did, that Jefferson's wall metaphor merely opposed the establishment of any Christian denomination rather than opposing the establishment of any religion.
For the benefit of Jeffress' edification and education, here are some links to more accurate information about the original intent of the First Amendment than he has been receiving from David Barton:
Act for Establishing Religious Freedom, Thomas Jefferson (1779)
Letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, Thomas Jefferson (1802)
Approximately a year prior to delivering this sermon, Robert Jeffress made headlines again in the Dallas Morning News — "Dallas minister: Vote for a Christian, not Mitt Romney".
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/101807dnnatromney.340675e.html
A prominent Dallas minister told his congregation that if they wanted to elect a Christian to the White House, Republican Mitt Romney wasn't qualified.
Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, said Mormonism is a false religion and that Mr. Romney was not a Christian.
"Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise," Dr. Jeffress said in a sermon on Sept. 30. "Even though he talks about Jesus as his Lord and savior, he is not a Christian. Mormonism is not Christianity. Mormonism is a cult."
We assume that Jeffress was attempting to sway his congregation to vote for a Christian candidate in the presidential primary, most likely Mike Huckabee.
Check out this article about Jeffress' criticism of Romney about a year after his first aired his criticism.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/individuals/robert-jeffress
"Jeffress Still Attaching Romney's Faith"
Submitted by Kyle on September 26, 2008 – 2:28pm
Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, first made a name for himself last year by openly and unapologetically attacking Mitt Romney and his Mormon faith, blasting Christians who supported his candidacy and declaring “that Mormonism is not Christianity. Mormonism is a cult.”
Now, Romney is not even running any more, but Jeffress isn't done calling him a cult member or criticizing those who supported him:
Evangelicals who believe the country needs a Christian in the White House but promoted Mitt Romney's candidacy during the Republican primaries were hypocrites, according to a Texas pastor. Romney, a Mormon, is not a Christian, the Rev. Robert Jeffress said, but a member of a "cult."
"I believe we should always support a Christian over a non-Christian," Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, told a packed audience of journalists at last weekend's Religion Newswriters Association (RNA) annual meeting. "The value of electing a Christian goes beyond public policies. . . . Christians are uniquely favored by God, [while] Mormons, Hindus and Muslims worship a false god. The eternal consequences outweigh political ones. It is worse to legitimize a faith that would lead people to a separation from God."
Jeffress made his remarks during a luncheon debate with Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a law firm and educational organization that focuses on religious-liberty issues. The DeMoss Group, a Christian public-relations firm in Duluth, Ga., sponsored the event.
RNA president Kevin Eckstrom was quick to point out that they did not organize the event and that he thought it was important for people to be aware of Jeffress because of the influence he wields:
"A lot of people were uncomfortable with what Dr. Jeffress said about Mormons, but what we were hoping for was something provocative that would get people talking, and certainly this did it."
Many reporters said they had never heard the word "cult," which Jeffress repeatedly called the LDS Church, used so "freely and recklessly," said Eckstrom, editor of Religion News Service in Washington, D.C. But Jeffress used the same word to describe "Catholics, Hindus, Buddhists and virtually everyone else."
It was useful for reporters to be aware of such strident views, Eckstrom said, because they are "completely mainstream in a lot of evangelical quarters."
First Baptist of Dallas "is not a backwater pulpit somewhere. It is a major church in Texas and in Southern Baptist circles," Eckstrom said. "It's a huge institution and a lot of followers. He's not just spouting these opinions for himself but proud of the fact that he was going back to his congregation and declare every other religion was wrong, and at least 10,000 people hear this position every week."
We highly encourage you to listen to the opening statement by Robert Jeffress at this luncheon debate, and we have provided the YouTube video link, along with Jay Sekulow's rebuttal:
Opening Statement by Robert Jeffress
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6aAlAxDsxA&feature=related
Opening Statement by Jay Sekulow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCk9f3JfPuE&NR=1
Rebuttal by Jay Sekulow to Robert Jeffress
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOefPTnXCb4
We trust that this two-day overview of Dr. Robert Jeffress has been informative. Tune in tomorrow when we will share our candid comments regarding the proposed $130 million improvement to First Baptist Dallas.