But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.' Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?" And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same." - Luke 10:33-37 (NASB)
It is almost painful to watch Dr. Michael Brown in action. Revered for decades, he is simply not finishing strong at all. His blind spot for Charismania and refusal to call out false teachers by name has left him compromised and contradictory. You know the expression you can't please everybody? Dr. Brown cannot please anybody. Brown has served as a primary gatekeeper for the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) for many years now. He has fully bought into the last idol of the church age, which is the idolatrous worship of this country. He tries to be clever and occasionally write articles covering both sides. In the election season runup that past two cycles, Brown has been a poster child for backing Donald Trump but every ten articles of so he would put out a piece criticizing something that "crossed the line" for Brown. Every time his followers would then turn on him for the perceived inconsistency. You see to them, you have to be all in. If your candidate says that he likes grabbing women by their vagina then by golly God likes that too! Your guy is married three times and cheated on all of his wives? Hey, we are not electing a pastor in chief! It is these seemingly inconsistent messages that makes me feel genuinely sad for Brown because it indicates that he still knows right from wrong, but the offense must be egregious for him to take a stand. Unfortunately, even while taking these momentary stands his instinct kicks in and he tries to split the bill along the way. Sure, this guy said something that no sane Christian should ever say but he kinda has a point. Ugh. No, he does not. Take your stand and then stand by your convictions. Let us reason together through the above linked article to see this dynamic play out in real time.
"According to his website, Greg Locke is the "Founding and Lead Pastor of Global Vision Bible Church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, just outside Nashville." But he is much better known as a controversial internet preacher with a large social media following. And in a recent message, he has crossed a very dangerous line. Every God-fearing Christian should denounce his inflammatory rhetoric, rhetoric which could easily lead to bloodshed." - Dr. Michael Brown
Greg Locke is a bottom feeder. He is not a pastor beloved. Pastors do not spew vile hatred of people. Pastors do not tell their sheep that lifesaving vaccines are poison in their veins. Pastors do not start their service by expelling over half the people who might show up based on their voting patterns. Make no mistake about it. Greg Locke worships this country. He prostrates himself before the idol that is America. While some might dance with dominionism Greg Locke unapologetically drapes himself in it. He has held book burning events so people can burn "demonic" books. His outdoor tent events have strategically placed vomit buckets because of the inner turmoil he stirs up in his sheep. To call him a loon is not only insulting to loons but it glosses over the danger he represents. After insane comments like declaring the pandemic which has killed over six million people "fake", he apparently finally said something that made Dr. Michael Brown say enough is enough. We see has Brown thrown down the gauntlet here. Now let's watch him pick it back up.
"After the 2020 elections, Pastor Locke "guaranteed" that Joe Biden would not serve a single day in the White House as president, since Trump was the real winner of the elections. But after Biden's inauguration, rather than recognize his error, Locke simply doubled down, saying he was not a "fake prophet." It was Biden who was a "fake president." He also said (of Biden), "He stole the election. I believe that until the day I die. I don't give two flips and a wooden nickel what anybody thinks about it. I don't care what you say about me. He's a liar, and a robber and a thief and a crook." Of course, the real issue here is not whether the election was stolen, which is certainly a weighty subject. The issue is that Locke guaranteed that Biden would not serve as president for a single day. Sadly, rather than confess his error and ask for forgiveness, Locke railed on his critics. But it gets much worse." - Dr. Michael Brown
There is no need to go into the inanity of the false witness he bears here against the President but notice how Dr. Brown begins to muddy the waters. Remember, he just threw down the gauntlet! By saying the real issue is not whether the election was stolen you infer that it is entirely plausible that it was! That is the big lie at the heart of the division in this country and people like Dr. Brown keep it alive by pretending it is plausible when it is not. Republican elected officials have said no. Republican judges have said no. Judges appointed by Trump have said no. Even the fake "Cyber Ninjas" auditors in Arizona had to admit there're was no fraud. Brown is right that one of the big problems here is that Greg Locke has now proven himself to be a liar and a false prophet. It is not an "error." He claimed to have heard from God when he clearly did not. His assertion that Biden somehow outsmarted God and stole the election is simply stupid. If Biden was going to steal the election, God would have certainly known. Why would He then tell Locke inaccurate information and make him look bad? Why not tell him about the great impending steal? Because Greg Locke does not hear from God. If he did, I am sure God would tell him to knock it off, repent, step down from the church and strop leading people away with hate and vitriol to worship this nation.
"This past Sunday, in a clip that has now received lots of media attention, Locke made clear that you could not possibly vote Democrat and be a Christian. He said, "If you vote Democrat, I don't even want you around this church. You can get out. You can get out, you demon. You can get out, you baby-butchering election thief. You cannot be a Christian and vote Democrat in this nation. I don't care how mad that makes you. You can get as [obscenity] as you want to. You cannot be a Christian and vote Democrat in this nation. They are God-denying demons that butcher babies and hate this nation." To be sure, the Democratic Party is the party of abortion, to the point that 49 out of 50 Democratic Senators voted in favor an abortion bill that was so extreme that Sen. Joe Manchin could not vote for it, even though he would have voted for the codification of Roe. The Democratic Party is the party of late-term abortion, the party of the most inhumane abortion laws, some of them even opening the door to infanticide. And the Democratic Party also supports radical LGBTQ activism to the point of favoring gay and trans rights at the expense of fundamental religious liberties." - Greg Locke
That is a mighty strange evangelical plan Locke has there. It reminds me of when John Hagee preached that all atheists should "get out of his country" if they could not bring themselves to say Merry Christmas. Seriously. This is what happens when you worship a carnal country. This is what happens when you turn your back on God and His word. His starting point as a pastor is to eliminate half the people who might show up at his church solely based on their voting record. How pathetically sad. I am not getting sucked down the wedge issue rabbit hole that Locke uses for his defense because it is simply irrelevant. My question to Dr. Brown is simple. Do you agree that simply based upon your carnal vote, you can be disqualified from heaven? That you are beyond redemption as Lock declares here? Even if Locke was remotely right and these Democratic voters were all demonically influenced, which is absurd, doesn't that make them the people who need the gospel the most? When Jesus walked the earth the Jewish people hated the Samaritans. They considered them half-breeds. Yet Jesus chose to make a Samaritan the hero of the parable in the key verses for today. Why? To break through the prejudices of the Jewish people. The one who showed mercy does not care about ethnicity or political party. Locke might rail about the unmerciful Democrats due to abortion but there is less mercy in his stance that they cannot be saved. Far less mercy.
In that regard, I can understand some of Locke's sentiments, without in any way justifying his extreme rhetoric. That's why I so strongly challenged "pro-life evangelicals for Biden." The term was a flat-out oxymoron. At the same time, I recognize that not every Democratic candidate is radically pro-abortion and that there are Christian reasons not to vote for some Republican candidates. And as a follower of Jesus, I do not put my trust in a political party, let alone one specific candidate. Also, for the record, I have heard preachers railing on Christians who voted for Trump, saying that you cannot vote for him and be a true follower of Jesus. And I have met pastors who said in no uncertain terms that for a Christian to vote Republican was to deny their faith. So, the unhealthy, unhinged and irresponsible rhetoric goes both ways." - Dr. Michael Brown
With the gauntlet firmly back in his pocket, Brown now starts to apologize for daring to speak out against Locke. Realizing the backlash he will get, Brown tries to play both sides of the issue. He desperately wants to present the work he has done similar to Locke. While it is somewhat refreshing to see Brown acknowledge that Christians might have reasons to NOT vote Republican, it is all couched with the same dominionist thinking that Locke fully supports. Maybe he has heard a preacher railing against Christian Trump voters but they must pale in comparison to the cacophony of Charismatic voices demanding Christians must only vote the Republican way. This is what Brown does so well and is so infuriating. He constantly splits the bill. There is a real problem in this area and it is not pro-Democratic Christian voices. It is clearly with nutcases like Locke consigning half the people in the country to hell and not sharing the gospel with them. Yet Brown wants us to believe the problem goes both ways. You know like there were very fine people on both sides of the Charlottesville debacle. No, there wasn't.
"What is much more concerning to me is that Locke also said in his message that he was sick of hearing about Jan. 6, saying. "Let me tell you something. You ain't seen an insurrection yet."
"You keep on pushing our buttons, you low-down, sorry compromisers," he continued. "You God-hating communists, you'll find out what an insurrection is because we ain't playing your garbage. We ain't playing your mess. My Bible says that the church of the living God is an institution that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And the Bible says they will take it by force." In the plainest of terms, I denounce these words, calling them out for what they are: absolute, unadulterated garbage. These words are dangerous. These words are despicable. And these words could lead to bloodshed. As for Locke's citation of Scripture, when Jesus said that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church (Matt.16:18), He meant that not even death itself could stop the advance of God's kingdom. He was saying, "You can persecute us and crush us and even kill us, but the gospel will still prevail." This is the exact opposite of what Locke was saying. Talk about a preacher butchering the Bible. As for Locke's reference to Matthew 11:12 ("the Bible says they will take it by force"), this has nothing to do with Christians taking up arms against the government in a violent insurrection. God forbid." - Dr. Michael Brown
Hate to provide a spoiler here but the Facebook comments from this article were voluminous and included Locke chiming in and agreeing to be on Brown's radio show to "set the record straight." In his comments Greg Locke had the temerity to say that he stands by everything he said about Democrats and that he most certainly did not call for an insurrection. Yeah Greg, you did. You said if the "God hating communists" keep pushing your buttons you will show everyone what a real insurrection looks like. Words matter Greg. I will let Dr. Brown's analysis here of Locke's bible butchering stand because it is accurate. Of course, I do not expect someone as vile and carnal as Greg Locke to correctly handle the word of truth. The problem Brown has, which he has with all preachers, is his inability to call them out. To Dr. Brown, Greg Locke is just a man of God who said some things he shouldn't have. He said the same thing about Benny Hinn and Joseph Prince. No Dr. Brown. These men are heretics leading people away from Christ.
