Brannon Howse: June 21, 2010

Brannon's guest is Dr. Ed Decker. Description: Freemasonry and the Southern Baptist Convention. In 1993, the convention was flooded with Southern Baptists that were Freemasons. An all out blitz was made by the freemasons to stop a resolution from passing at the 1993 convention that condemned the occult of freemasonry. According to Ed Decker and some very bold and Godly Southern Baptist Pastors that worked on this issue, the freemasons instructed their members, that were also SBC members, on how to become voting representatives at the annual convention. The freemasons numbers were so large that they not only stopped a resolution that condemned their occult but were able to see a resolution passed that actually said that the freemasonry was in some ways consistent with Christianity. In their publication the Masons hailed this as a victory for their movement. Dr. Decker reveals that he confronted one major SBC leader about his being a freemason and the SBC leader wrote Dr. Decker informing him that he had repented and resigned from the masons. Numerous SBC pastors, deacons, church members, donors, and Sunday school teachers are freemasons. Could it be that the reason the SBC refuses to take a strong stand on this issue is because freemasonry is so popular in the south and it would cost many SBC churches their members and thus donors? Many successful businessmen inside SBC churches are freemasons and many of them are deacons. The SBC for the past several years has continued to see their denomination, as a whole, have little impact on America or the world. Why might this be? At the conclusion of last week's 2010 SBC convention a report was passed on fulfilling the Great Commission. While this is commendable, how can the SBC fulfill the Great Commission with the empowering of the Holy Spirit while the convention is unequally yoked with the occult and has gone so far as stating in a resolution that Freemasonry is compatible with Biblical Christianity? While some individual SBC churches are having a huge impact for the Kingdom of God, this is largely due to the fact that their Godly and bold pastors have publically condemned the occult of freemasonry and refused to allow church members, deacons, or pastors to be Masons. One pastor asked members of his congregation to repent and leave freemasonry or to leave the church. This pastor saw a 50% decline in his church. However, within a few short years, this church was four times the size and involved in great Kingdom building. A SBC church in Georgia saw its deacons resign from freemasonry and they sandblasted a Mason symbol off the side of their church building. After taking these steps, this church also saw their ministry explode. Some SBC leaders argue that the SBC does believe in the autonomy of the individual church and thus will not dictate to their association members. However, this is not true for in 2009 the Baptist Press reported that the SBC removed a Houston church from its convention for allowing homosexuals to be church members. If the SBC can take a stand on this why can they not take an uncompromising stand on the occult of freemasonry? Dr. Ed Decker and Brannon agree that the SBC, as a whole, will continue to see virtually little impact from their efforts until they cleanse their denomination of its endorsement and participation in the occult of freemasonry. 1 Kings 18 tells us that man cannot serve God and the occult. Our goal in producing this program is to challenge the nation's largest evangelical denomination to set itself free so it can impact America and the world to the honor and Glory of Jesus Christ and so they can effectively fulfill the Great Commission. We commend the Godly SBC pastors that are standing for truth and willing to lose members and even their jobs over this Biblical issue. Indeed some SBC pastors have contacted us and told us how they have lost their pastorate over their Biblical stand against freemasonry. Please pray for the Godly pastors of America that are under constant attack. Please pray that more SBC pastors will take a strong stand on this issue even if the SBC as a group will not.