If you’re searching for a new church (rather than wanting to recommend one) click here.
If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I’m passionate about helping people find doctrinally sound churches to join. I’ve recently been updating my list of Reader Recommended Churches, but we can always use more recommendations for doctrinally sound churches, church search engines, andchurch planting organizations,especially in the states that don’t have very many recommendations and in countries outside the United States. So I’d love it if you’d help out by making a recommendation!
Please read this part carefully and in its entirety before recommending a church. 👇👇👇
I really need your help with preliminary vetting here, readers. Please carefully read and follow the guidelines and instructions below so your recommendation won’t be deleted or rejected.
You must have a personal connection (ex: you’re a member or recent former member, you know the pastor personally, etc.) to the church you’re recommending
Please check this list to see if the church you’re recommending is already listed. (It takes time for me to weed out recommendations of churches that are already listed.)
Please check this link to see if the church search engine or church planting organization you’re recommending is already listed. (Read carefully. The Master’s Seminary, Founders, G3, Grace Advance, and several others are already listed.)
The following types of churches, church search engines, and church planting organizations will not be added to the list (due to doctrinal or other issues)1:
United Methodist Churches
Calvary Chapel churches (continuationist)
Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) churches (continuationist, egalitarian, social justice)
Any church that believes/teaches entire sanctification/sinless perfection
Any church that believes/teaches a genuinely regenerated Christian can lose or forfeit his salvation
Churches that consider Calvinism/Reformed theology to be false teaching
KJV Only churches (Churches which consider the King James Version to be the only acceptable and/or inspired translation of the Bible. Churches which merely prefer using the KJV are fine.)
Any church that uses music from Bethel, Jesus Culture, Hillsong, Elevation, Maverick City, anyone connected with these groups (such as Phil Wickham), Catholics, non-Christians, or any other contemporary musician who isn’t doctrinally sound.
Any church that uses or recommends books and materials from false teachers. (This includes churches recommending or affiliated with The Gospel Coalition. {woke, platforms women who preach to men})
Any church that violates Scripture’s teaching on the role of women in the church (1 Timothy 2:11-3:7). This includes, but is not necessarily limited to: churches with a female bearing the title of “pastor” (of anything) or “elder,” churches which allow women to function in pastoral roles without the title of pastor / elder (for example: female ministers of music or worship leaders; discipleship “facilitators” or “directors” who essentially function as elders / associate pastors, and so on), churches which allow women to preach to, hold unbiblical authority over, or instruct men or co-ed groups in the Scriptures (for example: teaching / co-teaching co-ed adult Sunday School / Bible study classes or home / small groups).
Any church that does not have a detailed statement of faith (“What we believe,” “Doctrinal statement,” etc.) or link to such.
Any church that does not have the pastor’s name (and pastoral staff / elders, if any) listed on its website.
Any church that does not have a website (a social media page alone is not enough).
If the church, church search engine, or church planting organization you’re considering recommending meets the criteria above, I’d love to consider it! Please commentbelow with:
The full, correctly spelled name of the church, church search engine, or church planting organization
The city and state, or city and country the church is located in
The church’s, church search engine’s, or church planting organization’s website. Submissions without websites will not be considered and will be automatically deleted.
I apologize if this is inconvenient, but I’m really going to need you to make your recommendation in a comment on this article, rather than a social media comment or private message, email, or comment on another article. That way, I’ll have all the recommendations in one place and I won’t miss yours.
Just a reminder, I handle all comments manually, so your comment will not appear immediately. When I add (or decline to add) your church to the list, I’ll post your comment and let you know whether or not I’ve added your church. Please do not submit your recommendation multiple times because you think I haven’t responded quickly enough. It takes time to sort through and delete multiple submissions for the same church/organization.
I vet every church that’s submitted, so it may take me a while (possibly several weeks to several months) to get to your recommendation depending on how many submissions I receive (last time it was well over 100). Your patience is appreciated.
Thanks so much for helping your brothers and sisters in Christ find a good, solid church!
1I am not saying any church or person who falls into one of these categories is automatically a heretic, unsaved, or a horrible person/church. These are merely the requirements for a church to be on this particular list because these are the requirements most of the people who use this list are looking for.
Five years ago today, June 19, 2019, Susan Heck, Martha Peace, Amy Spreeman, Elizabeth Prata, DebbieLynn Kespert, and I released the Open Letter to Beth Moore at the request of another Christian who wished to remain anonymous. (This was two years prior to Moore leaving the Southern Baptist Convention in March 2021 to become an Anglican.) As you’ll read below, the letter asked Moore to respond to five questions about homosexuality. To this day, as far as I know, she has obfuscated, finessed, straw-manned, slandered, and played the victim, but the one thing she has not done is to clearly and directly answer them. The ensuing brouhaha over the letter, however, spoke much louder than simply answering the questions.
I’m re-posting this today to remind and warn all of us that this is how false teachers operate, and that we need to keep our eyes open and be good Bereans.
Read the full text of the letter here: An Open Letter to Beth Moore (I will no longer be adding signatures to the letter itself, but you’re welcome to comment.)
Nearly three weeks ago, six Christian women (and nearly 500 subsequent signers) addressed An Open Letter to Beth Moore, asking five questions about her views on homosexuality:
1. Do you believe homosexuality is inherently sinful?
2. Do you believe that the practice of the homosexual lifestyle is compatible with holy Christian living?
3. Do you believe a person who dies as a practicing homosexual but professes to be a Christian will inherit eternal life?
4. Do you believe same sex attraction is, in and of itself, an inherently sinful, unnatural, and disordered desire that must be mortified?
5. Why have you been so silent on this subject in light of your desire to “teach the word of God?”
Since the discussion of the events and commentary surrounding the open letter have mostly taken place on Twitter, and many who have an interest in these events and comments are not Twitter users, this article is intended to be a timeline outlining the sequence of events, beginning with the publication of the open letter.
Several Christian news outlets, bloggers, and podcasters have reported on the story since the letter was released. For the sake of brevity, most of these have not been included, but if you’re interested, you should be able to find the majority of them by Googling “Open Letter to Beth Moore”. Notably absent in reporting on the open letter issue has been Baptist Press (the news outlet of the Southern Baptist Convention), even though they have been made aware of the situation and routinely publish articles on issues of far less significance.
Wednesday, June 19- 5:00 a.m.:Michelle Lesley publishes the letter on her blog with the option for other women who agree with the letter to add their signatures (continually updated). (No further signatures will be added to the letter.)
11:01 a.m.: Beth posts this cryptically vague Facebook post. Due to the timing of the post, people begin to speculate on whether or not it is a response to the open letter even though it does not mention the letter, the signers of the letter, or homosexuality, nor does it answer any of the questions posed in the letter.
Saturday, June 22- Amy Spreeman publishes the letter on her blog.
Four days after the publication of the letter, Beth still has not answered the questions in the letter or otherwise made her position on homosexuality clear.
Sunday, June 23- Beth posts this Tweet thread, which seems to be responding somewhat more directly to the letter, but still doesn’t mention the letter, the signers of the letter, or homosexuality, nor does it answer any of the questions posed in the letter. Pertinent excerpts:
To date, Beth still has not answered this question asked by Michelle Lesley. (More commentary on this tweet thread here, #10.)
Wednesday, June 26- One week after the publication of the letter, Beth still has not answered the questions in the letter or made her position on homosexuality clear in any other way.
Friday, June 28- Beth is tweeted a link (now deleted) to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Article XV of which reads in part:
“In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography.”
To date, Beth has not responded that she affirms the statement of faith of her own denomination (nor have Russell Moore nor LifeWay, also tagged in this tweet, responded).
Monday, July 1- Still not responding to the questions in the letter or making her position on homosexuality clear in any other way, Beth blocks original signer of the letter, Michelle Lesley, on Twitter.
(The “factual bases” for the for the questions were clearly stated in the open letter, namely, that Beth has not articulated an unambiguously biblical position on homosexuality in recent years, and that she maintains public, adulatory friendships with well-known homosexuality-affirming public figures, leading others to wonder if her current position on homosexuality is affirming. These are the reasons we deemed the questions “necessary.”)
Responding to Michelle Lesley‘s retweeted comment, “She doesn’t answer to me, but she does owe a clear public explanation of her views on homosexuality to the SBC and her fans,”Beth replies (actually on July 2) to Dwight:
Beth unbiblically judges the signers of the letter as “hunters, trappers” and not asking the questions in the letter in “good faith.”
Beth also declares that she owes the Southern Baptist Convention zero. She is the best known and most influential member of the SBC as well as its (LifeWay’s) best selling author. The Southern Baptist Convention, through the promotion of her conferences and materials has made her what she is both in fame and financially. Thousands of SBC churches use her materials. But, “I owe these folks 0.” And, apparently, she doesn’t feel she owes her millions of fans clear, biblical teaching on this issue either.
Tuesday, July 2- (Tweet from Beth above, under July 1, is actually posted on July 2.)
Beth blocks original signer of the letter, Elizabeth Prata, on Twitter.
(Michelle Lesley did not say Beth had “never even shared the ‘clear gospel’,” only that she (Michelle) had never seen/read said presentation. Beth has repeatedly stated she has been a Bible teacher for forty years. Michelle, having only viewed/read a fraction of that forty years of material, was giving Beth the benefit of the doubt that such a presentation does, in fact, exist, only that Michelle does not happen to have seen it. Notice Beth provides no links to where one might find an example of her clearly presenting the gospel.)
Wednesday, July 3- 8:03 a.m.: Beth unbiblically judges the hearts of the signers of the letter as having the wrong reasons, wanting “public attention,” and wanting to “barbecue” a fellow Christian. She also accuses the signers of the letter of not going through the “right channels” to contact her (even though, as explained in #5&6 here, asking a Bible teacher questions about the Bible is not a Matthew 18 issue of confronting someone in sin in the local church, and dozens of people have confirmed that they have tried, over the years, to contact her/her ministry through the “right channels” and have been ignored – here’s just one example – now deleted):
(Original signer of the open letter, Elizabeth Prata, discusses Beth Moore’s “right channels” here.)
At this point, two weeks after the publication of the letter, Beth still has not answered the questions in the letter or otherwise made her position on homosexuality clear. In two weeks of being asked her position on homosexuality from numerous people, she has not once pointed to anything she has previously written on the subject.
1:22 p.m.: A Twitter user named Carrie alerts Michelle Lesley (Carrie’s tweet now deleted) to the fact that Beth has indeed addressed the topic of homosexuality in chapter 13 of her book, Praying God’s Word. Please note that Beth is not the one who pointed this out even though she had two weeks in which to do so.
Another Twitter user in the same thread posts a screenshot of p. 279 of the 2009 hard copy edition of Praying God’s Word, where Beth clearly calls homosexuality “a deadly sexual assault of the evil one,” a “sin,” something God can “deliver” someone from, and something that people should seek “forgiveness, fullness, and complete restoration in Jesus Christ” from. She says that “transformation” from homosexuality “is possible…because God’s Word says so,” and that she personally knows “plenty of believers who have been set free from homosexuality.”
(Keep in mind that for two weeks Beth knew she had written this biblical statement on homosexuality in her book, and revisit Beth’s comments above (under “July 2”). Why would any Bible teacher of 40 years who has correctly and biblically written about the sin of homosexuality and who says her “doctrine has not changed,” feel “hunted” and “trapped” when asked her views on homosexuality? If her doctrine truly has not changed, why wouldn’t she, herself, not a random Twitter user, have simply pointed to what she had written in her book?)
Other Twitter users begin tweeting this picture to Beth, asking if she still believes what she wrote in this book. No response from Beth.
Twitter user, Logan, subsequently tweets to Michelle Lesley a screenshotof the 2009 Kindle version of chapter 13 of Praying God’s Word in which the entire section on homosexuality has been removed– six pages’ worth of material, amounting to half the chapter.
Other Twitter users begin tweeting this screenshot to Beth asking her to comment.
Thursday, July 4- Beth responds as to why the section on homosexuality was removed from later editions of Praying God’s Word:
Beth says her clear and biblical statements about homosexuality being a sin that requires forgiveness and that God can deliver people from “exceed Scripture” “keeps people from God’s words” and that she “over spoke“.
Well-known theologian, author, and pastor, Dr. James White aptly sums up the situation with Beth Moore in a Facebook post. Notable excerpts:
Beth Moore has taken a pretty central role over recent months as the earthquake in cultural thinking has flowed through evangelicalism. She has shown herself more than willing to back the “woke” movement and is plainly promoting the development of “soft complementarianism” which is another term for “not quite yet fully cooked egalitarianism.” And it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you are woke and pushing the “soft complementarian” perspective, there is another clear and obvious car in that social-justice train. It’s the homosexuality car.
So a few weeks ago a group of women teachers wrote an open letter to Beth Moore asking her for specific answers to specific questions…In any case, the questions were fair and, of course, perfectly understandable. No Christian teacher of any standing should be hesitant to take a stand on these issues.
But Beth Moore has chosen to not only ignore the open letters, but to impugn the character and motivations of those questioning her (a very common tactic, but one being utilized with consistency by those wearing the “progressive” label today). This has led others to look closely at her writings and to discover that a book she wrote many years ago has now been edited in its Kindle edition so as to remove a discussion about homosexuality.
But let’s think about what Mrs. Moore is saying here. To speak of homosexuality as a deadly sin is to “exceed Scripture.” To speak of deliverance and restoration from homosexual sin is to “exceed Scripture.” To claim that there have been many who have been set free from homosexuality is to “exceed Scripture.”
While she may wish to claim this did not involve a “doctrinal shift,” if you teach X is sin, but then conclude that X is not sin, or that to say X is sin is to “exceed Scripture,” that is a doctrinal shift…
I predict that within five years we will get a Rachel Held Evans/Jen Hatmaker/hundreds of others style article explaining how after prayerful consideration and growing in love for God’s people and getting to know so many wonderful LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters in the Lord, Beth Moore has come to understand that we dare not exceed Scripture and we must follow the Spirit’s lead to recognize the need for their full inclusion in the life and fellowship of the body, etc.
Friday, July 5- Commenting to a supporter as to why the section on homosexuality was removed from Praying God’s Word, Beth again declares that her biblical statements on homosexuality “overshot Scripture by a mile,” “made people feel demonized,” and “caused damage.”
Finally, after two and a half weeks of avoidance, reluctance, personal attacks and unbiblical judgments toward the signers of the letter, and knowingly declining to point to what she had previously and biblically written about homosexuality, Beth makes the clearest statement to date on her views on sexuality:
I hold firmly to a traditional Christian sexual ethic and continue to believe the Bible sets apart marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman. But I also believe that Scripture clearly teaches that all sex outside of marriage is contrary to God‘s will.
She still does not plainly say, “Homosexuality is a sin that must be repented of,” (indeed, again, she does not use the word “homosexuality” or other synonymous terms in this statement) but it would be difficult for anyone to read this statement and believe there is “wiggle room” for Beth to publicly affirm homosexual activity (although she does not address same sex attraction, as the open letter asked her about in question #4, which does leave the door open for her to validate homosexual orientation, identification, lust, or anything short of sexual acts) . However, it is a good and biblical statement about sexuality in general.
It should be noted that Beth ends this article with yet another subtle swipe at the signers of the letter and all those who have called her to account over the past two and a half weeks (and this portion is worded with enough “wiggle room” for Beth to say anyone’s interpretation of it is not what she meant):
Here is what I no longer have the stomach for after the last several years: the hypocrisy burgeoning from hyper fundamentalist Christianity. I do not lack a Scriptural view of sin. I just believe in a longer list of serious sins than some.
“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21)
Beth characterizes biblical Christians asking her simple questions about the Bible as “hypocrites” and “hyper-fundamentalist.” Beth does not make clear her definition of “hyper-fundamentalist,” so there is no way for those she is accusing of such to defend themselves. But labeling as “hypocrites” Christians who have simply asked her, a Bible teacher of forty years, whether or not she believes homosexuality is a sin, when her response has been to drag her feet for two and a half weeks until forced by evidence and circumstance to answer is the height of hypocrisy.
She further implies that she takes sin more seriously (“I just believe in a longer list of serious sins than some.”) than the signers of the letter and those calling her to account, which is, again, hypocritical since any Christian who takes sin seriously would not avoid answering a question about whether or not something is a sin for two and a half weeks. That is not taking sin seriously.
And, finally, she implies, with the citation of Galatians 5:19-21:
•that she believes all of the things in these verses are sins and that the signers of the letter do not,
•that the signers of the letter – by politely asking her whether or not she believes homosexuality to be a sin – have committed one or more of these sins (probably enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, if not others) and that she has not,
•and that the signers of the letter, since they are guilty of these sins “will not inherit the kingdom of God.” In other words, that we are not saved.
Dr. James White responds to Beth’s blog post with one of his own: Beth Moore Sort Of Explains…But Not Really, raising several additional important issues and questions.
Bible teacher and theologian, Justin Peters, concurs with Dr. White and adds his own concerns in his blog article: Beth Moore and Homosexuality(Actually posted on July 8.)
After publishing this blog post, Beth announces she will be taking a short break from Twitter, thereby disallowing anyone from using one of her “right channels” to ask her any questions about her blog post or other questions about homosexuality:
The fruit of Beth’s blog post immediately becomes evident. Here are just a few of the replies to her tweet alerting her followers to the release of the blog post:
These homosexual and homosexual-affirming followers of Beth do not have a fully-orbed biblical view of and/or practice regarding homosexual sin, and Beth isn’t calling them torepent and believe the gospel.
Monday, July 8- (Justin Peters’s blog post – mentioned above under July 6 – actually published.)
Monday-Wednesday, July 15-17- The Write Brilliant Conference, featuring and co-founded by Jonathan Merritt (cited in the open letter) is held. Beth is featured as a “Special Guest” speaker.
At the close of the conference, Jonathan Merritt posted this photo with Beth to Instagram and Twitter, calling Beth a “true friend,” “the real deal,” and a “sister“.
It is public, affectionate, and affirming partnerships and interactions like this one which are cited in the open letter as reasons for asking Beth to clarify her position on homosexuality.
Tuesday, July 16- Original signer of the letter, Elizabeth Prata, in her article Beth Moore deleted half her Kindle chapter: Breaking the Social Compact raises awareness that the amount of material on homosexuality removed from Praying God’s Word was far more extensive than many originally thought.
Wednesday, July 24- An episode of Beth’s TBN television show, which is sponsored by LifeWay, entitled Staying Afloat on the Fellow Ship – Part 4,is posted, in which Beth admits she has been looking into the arena of same sex attracted (SSA) Christianity (starting at 15:40).
Click the link above. Pertinent section starts at 15:40.
Though Beth’s words may not sound problematic to some, original signer of the letter, Elizabeth Prata, explains in her article Listen carefully to what she is saying in this video…, exactly why Beth’s remarks signal her trajectory toward acceptance of homosexuality:
In her latest lesson video on unity and fellowship, Moore used many phrases and code words that indicate her stance toward same sex attraction, homosexuality, and their attendant issues, is aligned with the aforementioned folks she was supposed to be ministering to in love by warning against these very things.
Moore makes it sound as if homosexuals are doing Jesus a favor by choosing celibacy. Homosexually attracted people are no different in their sin than…any other flavor of sexual sin…touting their “tremendous sacrifice” makes it seem as if they are.
I believe this video and Moore’s recent handling of the homosexuality issue means Moore seems to be readying herself to ‘come out’ as it were, of affirming homosexuals in some way as believers.
Monday, August 5- Beth returns to Twitter (after a one month hiatus) and picks up her slanderous attacks against the signers of the letter right where she left off.
Speaking for myself, I am grateful for Beth’s biblical statement on sexuality, but I pray she will be encouraged in the future to take as strong and passionate a stand against the pernicious sin of homosexuality as she has taken on sins like racism and sexual abuse. It has always and only been our desire to see her rightly and unashamedly proclaim the whole counsel of God to her followers. We pray she will do so.
There remain questions and important issues surrounding the sin of homosexuality that must be addressed. This article will be updated with any future developments.
The Sinner’s Prayer. I repeated that many years ago. I’ve also led others in that prayer as well. It was ingrained in me so long ago that it was the thing to do. Now, I see that it is not right. I read your article about What Must I Do to Be Saved? I am really turned upside down right now, not knowing if I am truly saved! Yes, I have repented of my sins and asked for forgiveness, as part of a sinner’s prayer, because I believe in a triune God. I believe that Jesus walked this earth as fully God and fully man. I know that God is always in control of all things at all times. I believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God. I say I trust in God for all my needs, but do I really? I pray, but still worry. Please help me! I don’t want to be told, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.“
I am so sorry you’re going through such anguish about this. You’re not alone – most genuine Christians, including yours truly, have moments when they wonder, and even agonize over, whether or not they’re genuinely saved.
I think the part of my gospel presentation page that caught your attention was this paragraph under the section heading, “What are some of those false gospels?”:
If, at some point in your life you repeated the words of a “sinner’s prayer,” “accepted Jesus,” or “asked Jesus into your heart,” (even if you didn’t know what you were doing, and without true repentance and faith) you’ve been born again.
I’ve highlighted the key words and phrases we need to take a look at, because I think you may have misunderstood what I meant in this paragraph. The term “sinner’s prayer,” used in evangelical common parlance has a specific meaning. It does not mean “any sinner praying any prayer that leads to salvation”. We are all sinners. We all have to talk to God (prayer) to tell Him we repent of our sins and wish to place our faith in Christ. If all such prayers were wrong, none of us would be saved.
Typically, what evangelicals mean when we use the term “sinner’s prayer” is an altar call type of scenario following a sermon at church, a Christian camp, concert, rally, revival, etc., where someone is attempting to get attendees to “make a decision for Christ”. Often – with heartstring-tugging music in the background – whoever is leading the altar call time will say something to the effect of, “I’d like every head bowed and every eye closed. If you’re here today, and you want Jesus to save you and take you to Heaven when you die, raise your hand. … I see that hand. Thank you, sir, I see your hand. … Now, if you just raised your hand, repeat this prayer -either out loud or in your heart- to God: Lord, I admit that I’m a sinner (Lord, I admit that I’m a sinner.)…” And it goes on from there with the leader leading these people phrase by phrase through a prayer of (hopefully biblical) confession, repentance, and faith in Christ. Sometimes he’ll even say something like, “Repeating the words of this prayer won’t save you unless you really mean it in your heart.” When he’s finished he will usually say something like, “If you just prayed that prayer, you’re saved! Welcome to the family of God.”
A fairly typical altar call and sinner’s prayer. (If you don’t have a lot of time, you can fast forward through the song. It’s around 1:17-5:39.) (There are some biblical issues with the prayer, but there are far greater problems with the church and its pastors, and it’s not one I’d recommend.)
That’s what evangelicals mean when they say “sinner’s prayer”. The wording and order of the altar call and the prayer itself can vary greatly, from the completely biblical all the way to the blasphemously heretical, and it can be done in a corporate setting or one on one, but this is the gist of it.
But you need to understand why, in recent years (and on my gospel presentation page) there’s been pushback against this kind of scenario.
It creates false converts.
Granted, God has used this formula to create true converts as well, but the numbers of false converts (people who think they’re saved, but have never been genuinely born again) this little exercise has created are overwhelming. Why? Generally speaking1…
◇The foundational reason the sinner’s prayer scenario creates false converts is that it’s pragmatic Finneyism, an “always be closing” technique designed to seal the deal. It’s more concerned with getting people to say they’ve been saved than whether or not they actually are saved.
◇Many (not all) of the churches that use this technique are not doctrinally sound to begin with, so the “sinner’s prayer” they have people repeat is based on a false gospel. Usually, the more doctrinally sound a church or Christian organization is, the less likely it is to employ an altar call and sinner’s prayer.
◇The sinner’s prayer is often used on children. It is a standard feature of most Vacation Bible Schools, and many Sunday Schools, children’s church services, and other evangelical children’s events. Tragically, many a five year old who has raised his hand and repeated the prayer has been pronounced “saved,” and toddled through the waters of baptism, even though he had no idea what he was doing. The vast majority of young children lack the intellectual capacity to understand abstract concepts like sin, guilt, repentance, substitutionary atonement, faith, and eternity. But a 30 year old – who shows every sign of being lost as a goose in a hailstorm – will point back to that moment of ignorance when he was five, put his faith in the fact that he prayed a prayer, he walked the aisle and made a profession of faith, and he decided to be baptized (perhaps not even retaining memories of these things) and declare himself to be a Christian. And many a mother of such wayward adult children will comfort herself with this “decision” her child made. “He’s just backslidden, but he prayed the prayer, so I’m sure he’ll go to Heaven when he dies.”.
◇Even teens and adults can repeat a prayer without really understanding (possibly because they haven’t actually been told) the biblical gospel and without truly repenting of their sin. But they think they’re saved because they did something with Jesus’ name attached to it. They place their faith in the action they took – that they prayed a prayer – rather than placing their faith in the One they were (ostensibly) praying to. Their faith is in what they did rather than what Jesus did for them.
And how do we know the sinner’s prayer creates so many false converts? We see it when those false converts get genuinely saved and tell us, “I said a sinner’s prayer, but I wasn’t saved,” and we see it in the rotten fruit of the lives of professing Christians who parroted some sort of sinner’s prayer and went right on sinning, or eventually turned back to living in sin.
That’s where the rubber meets the road of whether or not you were genuinely saved by praying a “sinner’s prayer”. We all continue to sin. None of us will ever be perfect, but look back over the years since you prayed that prayer. Have you grown in your love for Christ? In your knowledge of and obedience to His Word? In your love for, and service to the church? Are you increasingly exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit? Do you pursue holiness? Wisdom? Are you sharing the gospel with the lost and discipling the saved? Are you on a general trajectory of becoming more like Christ because you love Him and you want to be like Him?
These are the sorts of things you can look to for reassurance that you’re saved, not that you once repeated a prayer, despite the fact that you now live like a rank pagan. Going back to the words in red in the quote above, what I was trying to say2 is, nobody gets saved by merely rattling off the words of a prayer. You must understand the biblical gospel, repent of your sin, and place your faith in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection to save you.
Just a couple of lines down on that same page, I said this…
The Bible says we should examine ourselves to discover whether or not we are truly in the faith. Take some quiet, undistracted time alone with God today and search your heart. What do you really believe? Is it the true gospel of Scripture, or something else? Don’t put it off, it’s too important. If you need some help, try working through my study Am I Really Saved? A 1 John Check-Up.
The book of 1 John is an incredibly helpful measuring stick to assist you in determining whether or not you’re genuinely saved. I would encourage you (and anyone else reading this who struggles with assurance) to either study 1 John in depth on your own, making note of what is and isn’t true of genuine Christians, or use my study linked above to help you work through this amazing epistle.
Additionally, when working through an issue like this, it’s always best to set up an appointment with your (doctrinally sound) pastor for counsel.
1Please understand that there are churches all over the spectrum of sound/false doctrine who use this method, so these points may or may not apply to every church that uses altar calls and/or a repeated “sinner’s prayer”.
2After considering this sister’s confusion and re-reading the paragraph multiple times, I decided I needed to clarify the wording a bit.
If you have a question about: a Bible passage, an aspect of theology, a current issue in Christianity, or how to biblically handle a family, life, or church situation, comment below (I’ll hold all questions in queue {unpublished} for a future edition of The Mailbag) or send me an e-mail or private message. If your question is chosen for publication, your anonymity will be protected.
Until such time as I can pull together an article proper on The Gospel Coalition (TGC), please allow the article below on TGCW24 and the following two resources to serve as evidence of the reasons TGC is no longer doctrinally sound and should be marked and avoided as a whole: TGC is woke, progressive, egalitarian, soft on perversion, has a social justice bent, and mishandles Scripture.
Ladies, The Gospel Coalition’s 2024 Women’s Conference (TGCW24) is coming up in about two weeks. I would encourage you not to attend the conference itself or any local simulcast of it, and to give any of your friends who are considering attending a heads up about the biblical issues with it.
About 15-20 years ago, TGC was a great, doctrinally sound resource, but it’s been on a downhill trajectory of wokeness, egalitarianism, softening toward perversion, and Scripture mangling ever since. One of TGC’s favorite article templates in recent years seems to be “Finding Jesus/the Gospel in [insert current popular secular movie here],” a gross mélange of worldliness and Scripture twisting. They have platformed Thabiti Anyabwile, who, the last time I read anything he wrote, had moved beyond woke to flat out racist. They’ve platformed Jackie Hill Perry (and others like her), who is not only woke, but preaches to men. And these are just a few small examples.
Over the last several years, TGCW has typically platformed this same type (woke and egalitarian) of speaker, and this year is no exception. This year’s line up also includes two Side B speakers who both identify as “Same Sex Attracted (SSA) Christians.“
I am not familiar with all of them, but let me provide you with some brief info on the ones I am familiar with and you’ll see why this is an event (and an organization) to avoid.
[Items in brackets are quoted from speaker bios at the TGCW24 website linked above. Just click on the speaker’s picture to verify.]
Vanessa Hawkins: [serves as diversity advisor] Click the X post below (or the “link” underneath the post) and scroll down to see several video excerpts of Vanessa’s unbiblical teaching at TGCW24.
Evangelical DEI rolls onward, merely rebranded as "belonging," much like the secular world.
At the Gospel Coalition's 2024 Women's Conference, former PCA diversity advisor Vanessa Hawkins faults a church for not "using its power to create belonging for minorities" and says John… pic.twitter.com/TTPd7vXwRN
Alicia Akins: lots about race/diversity on her blog
Kristie Anyabwile: [She joyfully supports her husband…Thabiti]
Tina Boesch: [She works at LifeWay and manages the women’s Bible Study publishing team.] LifeWay’s prototypical women’s Bible study author preaches to men, yokes with false teachers, and mishandles Scripture. You’ll notice several of the authors Tina publishes are listed either in this article, at my Popular False Teachers tab, or both.
Missie Branch: [Missie serves on the SBC’s Racial Reconciliation Steering Committee and as chair of the board of trustees at Lifeway Christian Resources.] As chair of trustees, Missie bears much responsibility for the false teachers’ materials LifeWay carries. Missie also spoke/participated in events at the 2021 and 2022 Southern Baptist Convention, always in the company of other progressives.
Rachel Gilson: [serves on the leadership team of theological development and culture with Cru] Describes herself as “same sex attracted”.
Mary Wilson Hannah: [teaches Old Testament at Memphis City Seminary. Mary enjoys teaching and training others to teach the Scriptures,]
Elizabeth Woodson: Preaches to men (see videos). “We also seek to elevate the voices of men and women of color so that our understanding of the way of Jesus reflects the ethnic and cultural diversity of the kingdom of God.” (source)
Ladies, when you sit under someone’s teaching – whether it’s your pastor, Sunday School teacher, a conference speaker, or even a blogger or podcaster – you want to be sure that person is as doctrinally sound as possible. Women who defy Scripture by preaching to men, who embrace worldly, unbiblical paradigms regarding ethnicity, who identify themselves by ungodly, disordered lusts, and who twist Scripture to justify all these things and more are not women you should trust to teach you the truth of God’s Word. I urge you, stay away from TGC and TGCW.
Answers for Women 2025– (Update: Now that this conference is over, you can access the teaching sessions here if you have a subscription -or a free trial subscription- to Answers TV. I am recommending only the 2025 Answers for Women conference, Resolute.)
Any conference I’m speaking at. I promise I’m not trying to promote myself, it’s just that I know firsthand that these conferences will be doctrinally sound because I’m the one teaching them. :0) Plus, you can schedule one at your church on your timetable! Click here and scroll all the way down to my calendar of events.
When you wish upon a star Makes no difference who you are Anything your heart desires Will come to you.
If your heart is in your dream No request is too extreme When you wish upon a star As dreamers do.
Fate is kind She brings to those who love The sweet fulfillment of Their secret longing
Like a bolt out of the blue Fate steps in and sees you through When you wish upon a star Your dream comes true1
If you used to be a Disney fan, you’ll recognize those words as the lyrics to the song When You Wish Upon a Star from the movie Pinocchio. It’s a sweet little song that tugs at our hearts. After all, we all want a fairy to wave her wand and make the wishes of our hearts come true, right? “God wants to help you realize all your hopes and dreams,” is the mantra of pop Christianity. But is it biblical?
Moses dreamed of leading Israel into the Promised Land.
David dreamed of building the temple.
Hosea dreamed of marrying the girl next door and having children with normal names.
Amos dreamed of being a fig farmer and a flock follower.
Paul dreamed of snuffing out Christianity.
Stephen dreamed of living to preach the gospel.
Jude dreamed of writing about the gospel.
Nope, not one of those dreams – some of them much more godly than your dreams or mine – came true. Why? Because our dreams don’t always fit with what God wants to do. Because God isn’t someone whose sole function is to help us get what we want out of life.
God is for God. God is about His glory. And what brings Him the most glory is redeeming wretched sinners from the gaping maw of hell and making them look like Jesus. And, as His children, we have the unbelievable privilege of participating in that mission.
So, church, let’s leave the Blue Fairy and Genie to Pinocchio and Aladdin. More money, fame, impact, and power is but a petty vision. We were created for the earth-shattering honor of dying to ourselves, clothing ourselves with humility, and serving the King by serving our families, our neighbors, everyone we know, His way, in the hope that we might win them to Christ for His glory.
To dream of anything else is, for the slave of Christ, to aim too low. So dream high, and dream on.
1 “When You Wish Upon a Star,” copyright 1940 by Bourne, Co., NY.
