Reverend Jeffress preaching at Trump's Inauguration service.

[Michie]

I get that you don't care about this, and I agree that there are more important concerns.
But I think unity is a two way street, and I can't simply be quiet and get in line, ignoring the trouble I see for the sake of unity.

Well it is a no win situation it seems. Showing respect for the office and attending the inauguration as a public servant does not mean you agree. I see a lot of hysteria and feeding into it seems like there is no hope of him doing well whether he is liked or not. Many of us are just sick of the extremes. There are more important things that are productive that can be done imo.

 

[Cimorene]

And? Be the change you want to see. Why try to stir the pot?

That's exactly what I am doing by caring about others besides myself. People who want to make changes don't just sit idly by as the pot spews out wretched toxicity.

 

[Michie]

I probably should have said nothing.

But if my post seemed in favor of Jeffress, it wasn't beyond "I used to listen to him and it was good then". I don't know his teaching overall well enough to include him in that handful I am particularly fond of.

What I can say is that he never put something like those quotes about Catholicism on the radio back when I listened. I was very sensitive to preachers who would condemn other entire Christian denominations, even if they might have basic differences, because it was already affecting relationships in my own family (John MacArthur).

I'm not an Trump fan either, but he's our President-elect (very soon just President Trump). We could have gotten better. We could have gotten worse. Be that as it may, he's what we have. I will pray for him, and for the nation, as is my duty.

I do agree that divisions are worse than I have ever seen. And I grew up in a time when there was still very real segregation, lived through integration bussing, and so on. It's worse overall now (though it was certainly terrible in isolated locations before). (And I'm probably a little younger than that sounds, but some places lagged behind others.)

Lord have mercy. I pray things will get better. I've always had the "handicap" of being rather blind regarding some of these things, so problems tend to surprise me.

I think it is a matter of picking and choosing your battles. Jeffress' view just is not one I choose. The constant hysterics are just getting so tiresome. Trump or not, we have it better than most of the world and I find these slights just ridiculous to mull over. Jeffress is not my pastor. And you won't hear word one about other's faith in his speech.

 

[Michie]

That's exactly what I am doing by caring about others besides myself. People who want to make changes don't just sit idly by as the pot spews out wretched toxicity.

Because it won't. He has not even spoken yet. I didn't like Obama's pastor either.

 

[Cimorene]

Because it won't. He has not even spoken yet. I didn't like Obama's pastor either.

According to you it won't. He hasn't spoken tomorrow yet but he's spoken plenty in the past & it's been hateful rhetoric. If you didn't like Obama's pastor then you could & should have spoken up about that at the time. If you sat silent about it then that doesn't mean others need to sit silent about this vile man.

 

[~Anastasia~]

I think it is a matter of picking and choosing your battles. Jeffress' view just is not one I choose. The constant hysterics are just getting so tiresome. Trump or not, we have it better than most of the world and I find these slights just ridiculous to mull over. Jeffress is not my pastor. And you won't hear word one about other's faith in his speech.

I do find the ongoing discussions to be divisive and unhelpful. Often they are derived from a skewed view of reality as well.

Looking around, it just seems to me that someone(s) is/are deliberately picking at wounds and trying to stir things up. I've lived through a lot of political and social situations, MANY of them FAR worse than this, yet the "outcry" is deafening now, and continues.

Something doesn't seem quite reasonable. But ... I should step out of this thread. I probably never should have entered it.

May the Lord have mercy on us and bring peace where possible.

 

[Michie]

What pastors preach in their own Churches is their right to preach inside their Church. Obama's pastor was preaching inside his Church. Jeffress preaches inside of his. When these two start preaching their views to the public at large is when we should complain. And they won't at the inauguration. Should we start monitoring what these people believe and preach inside their own Church now? Really?

According to you it won't. He hasn't spoken tomorrow yet but he's spoken plenty in the past & it's been hateful rhetoric. If you didn't like Obama's pastor then you could & should have spoken up about that at the time. If you sat silent about it then that doesn't mean others need to sit silent about this vile man.

 

[Michie]

Amen.

I do find the ongoing discussions to be divisive and unhelpful. Often they are derived from a skewed view of reality as well.

Looking around, it just seems to me that someone(s) is/are deliberately picking at wounds and trying to stir things up. I've lived through a lot of political and social situations, MANY of them FAR worse than this, yet the "outcry" is deafening now, and continues.

Something doesn't seem quite reasonable. But ... I should step out of this thread. I probably never should have entered it.

May the Lord have mercy on us and bring peace where possible.

 

[Cimorene]

What pastors preach in their own Churches is their right to preach. Obama's pastor was preaching inside his Church. Jeffress preaches inside of his. When these two start preaching their views to the public at large is when we should complain. And they won't at the inaugurations. Should we start monitoring what these peoke believe and preach inside their own Church now? Really?

Except he hasn't just spoken within his own little church, he's spewed out hateful, harmful & false rhetoric other places. Tomorrow he'll be given an international stage. A lot of people aren't just going to listen to what he says then, they'll look up what he said before. They'll use that hate as a justification for their own hate. You can keep repeating ad nauseum that you didn't like Obama's pastor years ago, but that's on you. You should have spoken up then if you cared. I'm speaking up now bc I care. If you don't care, you could pick another topic of conversation to spend your time in.

 

[Michie]

Well I'll take your advise but we'll see what happens tomorrow. But there are bigger issues to worry about. Feeding into hysteria is just not one of my concerns. You guys see if you can fix this problem here then.

Except he hasn't just spoken within his own little church, he's spewed out hateful, harmful & false rhetoric other places. Tomorrow he'll be given an international stage. A lot of people aren't just going to listen to what he says then, they'll look up what he said before. They'll use that hate as a justification for their own hate. You can keep repeating ad nauseum that you didn't like Obama's pastor years ago, but that's on you. You should have spoken up then if you cared. I'm speaking up now bc I care. If you don't care, pick another topic of conversation to spend your time in.

 

[Cimorene]

Well I'll take your advise but we'll see what happens tomorrow. But there are bigger issues to worry about. Feeding into hysteria is just not one of my concerns. You guys see if you can fix this problem here then.

Civilly discussing a matter on an internet discussion board is not feeding into a hysteria. Becoming informed about someone who is being given an international platform & being aware of how his hateful rhetoric is problematic & caring about that, is also not feeding into a hysteria. You've spent as much time blithely telling us how little you care as people have explained why they do care, so the time investment is equal. At least I've put in the time to something I do care about. I don't spend time or thought on what I don't care about, bc that's the whole point of not caring about it.

 

[Tallguy88]

This must be a sideshow. The main pastors present at the Inauguration are Cardinal Dolan and Franklin Graham, both excellent men.

 

[Mountain_Girl406]

This must be a sideshow. The main pastors present at the Inauguration are Cardinal Dolan and Franklin Graham, both excellent men.

Rev Jeffress will be preaching at the service for Trump on Friday morning

 

[Michie]

Civilly discussing a matter on an internet discussion board is not feeding into a hysteria. Becoming informed about someone who is being given an international platform & being aware of how his hateful rhetoric is problematic & caring about that, is also not feeding into a hysteria. You've spent as much time blithely telling us how little you care as people have explained why they do care, so the time investment is equal. At least I've put in the time to something I do care about. I don't spend time or thought on what I don't care about, bc that's the whole point of not caring about it.

Well thank you for your civility.

 

[Michie]

Thank you.

This must be a sideshow. The main pastors present at the Inauguration are Cardinal Dolan and Franklin Graham, both excellent men.

 

[Michie]

Bet he does not bring up other's faith.

Rev Jeffress will be preaching at the service for Trump on Friday morning

 

[Tallguy88]

Reading the article, he doesn't sound any worse than other prominent Evangelical leaders.

 

[Mountain_Girl406]

Bet he does not bring up other's faith.

Probably not, although I wouldn't put it past him to take a swipe at Islam. I didn't post this thread out of fear of what he might say in this specific sermon, but to highlight yet another Trump supporter honored with a significant voice who holds extremely divisive views..this time including very anti Catholic views. That's why I shared it here...I may not be anyone's idea of a great Catholic, but it's still my Church.

 

[Michie]

Probably not, although I wouldn't put it past him to take a swipe at Islam. I didn't post this thread out of fear of what he might say in this specific sermon, but to highlight yet another Trump supporter honored with a significant voice who holds extremely divisive views..this time including very anti Catholic views. That's why I shared it here...I may not be anyone's idea of a great Catholic, but it's still my Church.

Nobody said anything about your faith or how well you follow it. Maybe Tallguy and I are just more used to these types of preachers. Sola Scriptura can produce those types. I mean, these guys are on TV. Graham is no fan of Islam either. But I think you are not giving people behind the scenes enough credit. They will not preach about other faiths.

 

[Cimorene]

Reading the article, he doesn't sound any worse than other prominent Evangelical leaders.

If that's true it hurts my heart & it helps me to better understand why Christianity is declining. Especially with young people. I do hope good people stand up against such hatefulness instead of being apathetic about it or trying to mitigate / normalize it bc some other pastor who supported a politician they didn't like said something that was also un-Christ-like. I don't think Catholicism is a cult-like pagan religion inspired by Satan like this man said it was & it makes me sad if other evangelical leaders have said that it is, or worse.