1st Kings 18:17-18, “And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.”
The prophet Elijah was known around Israel by wicked people as a “troublemaker.” You see, when a Bible preacher tells THE TRUTH—that homosexuality is a sin, abortion is first degree murder, feminism is Satanic rebellion, Lordship Salvation is damnable heresy, repentance to get to Heaven doesn't mean to be willing to give up your sinful bad habits, sex outside of a legal marriage is the sin of fornication, divorce is wicked and stealing is a sin, et cetera—ungodly people consider him a TROUBLEMAKER!
There's not a more infamous Bible preacher today than Pastor Steven Anderson. I certainly don't agree with all his views, but I am on his side because he is on God's side. Brother Anderson has been under relentless Satanic attack for many years by the world because of his tough preaching against sin, particularly his biblical stand against the wickedness of homosexuality. The Devil's crowd have ruthlessly taken control over the newsmedia, the entertainment industry, the government and even the churches, to promote their demonic homosexual agenda. This is all being done deliberately to subvert America's families, to prepare the world to receive the coming Man of Sin (Antichrist, or “in place of Christ”).
I watched a video this week by one of Pastor Anderson's enemies, who condemned Brother Anderson for allowing a man to attend his Faithful Word Baptist Church who allegedly is a convicted former rapist. Another hateful critic condemned Pastor Anderson for having a man in his church who was convicted years ago for beating his wife. But dear reader, where are these sinful people supposed to go to church? What hypocrites! Pastor Anderson's enemies are talking utter nonsense. Are they literally saying that once someone is convicted of a horrible crime (and those are horrible crimes), that they can never attend church again? Yes, that is exactly what they are saying, which is insanity.
Dear reader, everyone is a wicked sinner! I am a wicked sinner, and so are you. If you think that you are less of a guilty sinner in God's sight, then you are woefully deceived. What saith the Scripture? James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” The Bible teaches that even if you commit just one sin, you are disqualified for membership in Heaven. The only other place you can spend eternity is burning in the fires and brimstone (sulfur) of Hell beneath. It's Heaven or Hell friend, nothing in between. Life is short, Hell is hot and eternity is a long time. Have you been born again?
I didn't write this article to address the recent attacks against our brother in Christ (if you are saved). I wrote this blog today to teach everyone that every local New Testament church should be a hospital for sinners. You don't get better before going to the hospital; you go when you are sick and hurting terribly, to get the help you need. How crazy it is then, to scold a pastor for welcoming convicted criminals and guilty sinners into his church flock. Let me tell you dear friend, in case you don't already know, you are just as much a rotten, filthy, dirty, guilty, Hell-deserving, sinner as anyone else!
The ONLY thing that makes you or me any more righteous than serial killers' John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy is the precious shed blood of Christ that washed our sins away, the moment we trusted Jesus as our personal Savior (1st Peter 1:18-19). For me that was in 1980 at age 13 in an old-fashioned Baptist church on Chicago's northside. The pastor preached the Gospel that morning and I believed it and was saved.
For anyone to criticize Pastor Anderson (or any pastor) for allowing a repentant former rapist, child molester, homosexual, wife beater or even somebody like you dear reader, to be a member of the church, is 100% biblical. 1st Corinthians 6:11a, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed...” We are all horrible guilty sinner (Romans 3:19-20). The Bible says even liars deserve to go to Hell forever (Revelation 21:8). You only have to tell one lie to become “a liar.” And as we just read in James 2:10, committing just one sin makes us guilty of violating all sins. The reason is simply because committing even one sin makes us flawed and sinful, which excludes us from being worthy to enter into Heaven.
Obviously then, NO ONE is worthy to enter into Heaven, because we all have Skelton Closets. So, how then can anyone go to Heaven? The answer is very simple friend, we need God's righteousness, which we can only obtain through imputation. I love that biblical word. That's another reason why I detest and reject all modern Bible revisions, because they completely remove the word “Imputeth,” and in so doing eliminate the beautiful doctrine of imputation. ...
Romans 4:3-7, “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.”
What is imputation? It simply means that God credits your sins to Jesus by faith, and He credits Jesus (God's) righteousness to you by faith. The moment that you trust Jesus—receiving His sacrifice on the cross as full payment for your sins, believing that He was buried, but then resurrected physically three days later—God credits all your sins to Christ, and all His righteousness on you. It's that simple. The Greek word for “counted” in Romans 4:5 is the SAME exact Greek word as is used for “imputeth” in verse 6. They are the SAME word, so you can interchange “counted” with “imputeth,” because they mean the same thing. That is such a beautiful truth! What a wonderful and merciful God we have!!!
When I hear some fool, criticizing a Christian who did some terrible wicked things 20, 30 or 40 years ago, still berating and condemning and tearing that person down, I know that the critic is not right with God. That person is hateful. Proverbs 10:12, “Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.” Proverbs 16:27, “An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire.” You're never more like the Devil in character than when you accuse Christians, for Satan in the Scripture is called “the accuser of our brethren” (Revelation 12:10b).
I am a friend of Dave Hyles (Pastor Jack Hyles' only biological son) and his 'Fallen In Grace' ministry. I know Dr. Hyles up in Heaven is proud of Dave for hanging in there, serving God with the broken pieces of his life, which is 100% biblical. Dave admits publicly that he did some wicked things over 40 years ago, for which his name and reputation has been irreparably tarnished. Yet, the man has repented of his sins, failures and shortcomings.
And yet, there are wicked hateful people galore who hate that man's guts, and won't leave the skeletons alone. Critics dig up and turn over every rock, hoping to find more ammunition to condemn and destroy him. The truth is that they won't be satisfied until Dave Hyles is either dead or locked in a cage for the rest of his life. That is wicked and wrong! That is hatred.
I've read endless comments on social media from people who are angry that Dave Hyles would even dare to have a ministry helping fallen pastors and clergy. Who better for that job than a fallen preacher himself? Dave has found the perfect ministry, helping others. I am not saying that I approve of his past sins and failures, God forbid. But dear reader, you are just as wicked as any other sinner. The only difference is that you didn't get caught. That is why the Bible says in 1st Timothy 5:24, “Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.” We already know what many of Dave Hyles' sins are, but we're going to learn about your sins too in eternity. That is what the Bible teaches! No one can hide their sins forever (Hebrews 4:13; 10:31).
If a former convicted rapist attends your church, you ought to thank and praise God that he is going to church at all, and not condemn him. The Bible is very clear in this matter. When a man and woman in the church at Corinth were shacking up in fornication, the Apostle Paul rebuked them for allowing the sinful situation to go unchecked. Per Paul's instruction, the church elders confronted the man, ready to kick him out unless he repented to stop living in open sin. The man repented and cleaned up his life.
In 2nd Corinthians 2:7, Paul tells the church to forgive and befriend the repentant man, lest he be overwhelmed with grief, and perhaps commit suicide. If it weren't for God's wondrous grace, I can think of many Christians who went into grievous sin and were publicly humiliated, who might have killed themselves because of people's unwillingness to forgive and welcome them back into the church family. The Christian army is the only army in the world that kills its wounded.
If the shoe fits, wear it! I hope you haven't been one of the self-righteous hateful critics on social media, who refuse to let someone's past sins and bad choices go. We're all flesh and blood. We're all woeful dirty sinners. We all need God's saving grace, apart from which there is no hope. I am going to love everyone with God's unconditional love. If you know of something wicked that a person has done, and they've paid the price for their evil deed, let it go. I believe everyone deserves a second chance, and a third, and a fourth, et cetera.
Please understand that I am not saying to overlook crime. If someone has done something illegal, but they've never been caught and punished by the law, that's a whole different matter. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about someone who has paid the price for their past sins and bad decisions, and they are trying their best to start a new life. If a man raped a woman and was convicted for it in a court of law, and he went to prison to be punished for his crime, then it's time to let it go. We have no biblical, ethical nor moral right to continue to condemn that sinner. No one has a right to condemn anyone, lest we be condemned also (Matthew 7:1-5). God is the only eternal Judge (James 4:12).
May we all learn to love, forgive and give others the benefit of the doubt, who messed up in the past, but today are sincerely trying to do better. I am not talking about trust. Trust is something that must be earned, and once lost may never be regained. That's a different matter. I'm talking about letting sinners come to church, to hear the Bible preached and so they can sing the great hymns of the faith, without being shunned and condemned by self-righteous hypocrites. Everyone has a right to come to church. When any church bans cooperative and repentant people from attending, that is a cult!
Thank you for reading my blog.
