An Open Letter to Liberty University Administration

Note: I wrote about this issue here, and I challenged people to write emails here. I will be emailing this letter to Johnnie Moore and Jerry Falwell Jr. tomorrow morning. Please join me!

Dear Johnnie Moore and Jerry Falwell Jr.,

In 2004 I began my journey at Liberty University as a calloused, apathetic, individual. Through the ministry of fellow students and professors I began to understand the importance of the Gospel, which God used to break down my apathy. Because of my experiences at Liberty, it saddens me to see that Liberty allowed Glenn Beck to preach a religious message in Convocation.

Mormons are not evangelical Christians and do not have the same beliefs that Christians do. In his sermon Glenn Beck said that he was from a "Christian denomination." At Liberty I was taught that Mormonism is a cult and that they deny salvation by grace through faith, along with holding many other false beliefs.

Paul in the book of Galatians has this to say: "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8-9). You may say that Glenn Beck preached a gospel message that is the same as the one that Paul preached, but the Mormon church adds works as a necessary part of salvation. In fact, they mean different things when they use terminology (i.e. "atonement," "gospel," "etc.") that is also used by conservative evangelical Christians.

Unless Liberty University publicly repudiates the claims of Glenn Beck that Mormonism is a denomination of Christianity, many people may be misled. This is a serious issue, ultimately, because it is a Gospel issue. According to the Bible, Mormons are false teachers, not Christians. I respectfully request that the University make a public statement concerning the false teaching of Mormons, and clearly explain the difference in belief between the University and Glenn Beck on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In Christ,

Tad Caldwell
Class of 2008

Liberty University Email Campaign

Note: If you do not know what all the fuss is about go here.

It seems as if the leadership of Liberty University has forgotten that Mormonism is a cult.  I was taught in multiple classes at Liberty University that Mormonism, because of its abandonment of the Gospel of grace, is a cult.

Inviting Glenn Beck to speak in convocation, and allowing him to give a religious message was a horrible decision, and one that is contrary to the vision of Liberty's founding. Ultimately the Jesus of Mormonism is not the same as the Jesus of the Bible.

Something at Liberty needs to change. I am recommending that every student, alumnus, faculty, staff, or donor to Liberty University who has an issue with the recent actions of giving a false teacher a platform speak, send an email to the university on Monday, May 5th. I think a concerted effort of 100 people or more all writing on the same day will have more effect than emails trickling in over a few weeks.

At a minimum, I want the faculty at least to disagree with the statement by Glenn Beck that Mormonism is a Christian denomination, and I want them to officially state that the Mormon church is a cult.

This is a Gospel issue, and in being a Gospel issue we should focus on the Gospel in our emails. The main focus of these emails should be that Mormonism denies salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Tips for these emails:

1. Be polite
There is no need to type in all caps, or to sound angry or mean. We are correcting falsehood, and we want Liberty University to do the same thing.

2. Be firm
Be firm on the Gospel. Pointedly, but respectfully, explain how Mormons deny the truth of the Gospel according to the Word of God.

3. Make no personal attacks
Follow Paul's example in Galatians 2. We are not upset because we are somehow better than those who made these decisions; we are upset because they are neglecting the Gospel that brings us all together. Remind them that unity apart from unity in the Gospel is a false unity.

The best person to send these emails to seems to be Johnny Moore whose email address is: jrmoore@liberty.edu

If anyone has an email address for Jerry Falwell Jr. please post in the comments and I will add it to this post.

Share this with others who are connected with Liberty for maximum effectiveness!

Righteously Relevant Reading Reviews

You may remember that a while ago I posted Righteously Relevant Reading Previews, wherein I gave a quick thought on the books that I was currently reading at the time. I have finished  two of those three books, and the third I have given up on, so here are some concluding thoughts on each of those books.

Surprised by Grace by Tullian Tchividjian

I whole-heartedly recommend this book. It is a fantastic book focused on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is my conviction that the whole Bible is about Jesus, and Tullian shares this conviction. This book connects the story of Jonah to the Gospel in a profound and God-glorifying way. God pursues sinners.  He pursued Jonah with a whale, and he pursued me by sending Jesus to die for my sins.

Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana Jr.

Apparently at sea nothing happens. The first half of this book was incredibly exciting. It was a page turner story that also explain in detail how sailors lived during the time period in which it was written. The second half tells of the return voyage in real time. Almost every detail of every single monotonous event is spelled out for the reader. I am not saying this to discourage reading, I sometimes think that I have the attention span of a fruit fly, but this book just stopped being interesting. Life is to short to read books like that since so many interesting and good books are out there.

90 Days of God's Goodness by Randy Alcorn

We read this book for dinner time devotions, and we found it really focused us on the goodness of God. We all need constant reminders that despite our situation and despite the bad things that happen to us, God is still good. Randy Alcorn time and time again in this book reminds us of the primary reason that we know God is good: He sent His Son to die for us. That is love, and that is goodness. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a devotional to use individually or as a family.

What the Name Means

Righteously Relevant ... so what could this cleverly alliterated title possible mean?

Did I just slap two words together that sounded good?

The answer to the above question is no. In fact, I believe the being righteous is relevant.

I believe that all people are unrighteous by birth, and unrighteous in actions, thought, and motive. I believe because of this unrighteousness that I, and everyone else, deserve the just punishment of God. This punishment is eternal death in the lake of fire.

But I believe that before time began, God set in motion His sovereign plan to save humanity from their rebellion against Him. The culmination of this plan hinges on the singular event to which all of history is turned. This event is the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

On the cross Jesus received your punishment and you received His righteousness. So if you are a Christian, you are righteous by the grace of God. We, as Christians, are called to spread this message of God's salvation, of how to become righteous.

If you are not a Christian than repent (turn from your sin and turn to Jesus) and believe and you will be made righteous by the cross of Christ.

This righteousness, not the righteousness of tradition, moral ability, or kindness to others, is relevant because it is the only way to gain eternal life.

Relevant Links I

Every so often I will post links to interesting websites that I have stumbled across on the internet. I am not endorsing every statement made in these articles. I most likely posted these articles because I found the content interesting, informative, thought provoking, or helpful. Feel free to discuss any of the links and what you think about them in the comments section.

It is good to be a loser
It is true of weight loss plans, and it is true of the Gospel of Jesus.

No More Protestant Majority
But is that really a problem?

Is it ever right to not vote?
What if voting the lesser of two evils is still a vote for evil?

Why should you catechize?
Even if you're a Baptist...

Space, the final frontier
SpaceX's Dragon capsule successfully docks with the ISS.

Political Changes at Liberty University
The changing political landscape of my Alma Mater.

Accomplished by the Cross

Author's note: This will be a multiple-part series based loosely on what I am teaching the youth of the church where I serve. These posts will be brief because I want you to think more than read.

Jesus being executed on the cross and his subsequent resurrection is the center-point of the Christian faith. As Sally Loyd Jones says in the Jesus Story Book Bible:

"No the Bible isn't a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It's an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It's a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his Palace, his throne- - everything - to rescue the one he loves."

Jesus rescued us by paying the penalty for our sins by being executed in our place. This is the focal point of the Christian faith and the Bible.

I cringe when I hear people speak about holding to and teaching "Christian Morals" (often couched as "being good"), but seem to forget about the cross. "Christian Morals" without the cross are empty, and pointless. We can try to be good people, but we cannot do it. By nature, we are sinners doomed for destruction. We have utterly rebelled against the God of the universe and because of that we deserve judgement.

"But" is a powerful word--a word that changes the whole meaning of a sentence. Often in the Bible the "but" transitions from what we are in ourselves to what we have been given by the grace of God.
A great example of this is found in Romans 6:23 which says, (emphasis added), "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (ESV).


We have problems, and the Gospel is the solution to our problems. 

So what exactly did Jesus accomplish for us on the cross? Everything that matters. 

Join us as we discuss these things in this blog series.

Questions for thought and discussion:

• What things can we do to stop emphasizing "Christian Morals" and start emphasizing the cross?
• Why do we find moralism so enticing and interesting?
• What makes a focus on the Gospel so difficult?