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How Many True Gods Are There?

“Zeus” - Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay Early on in talking with Jehovah’s Witnesses, we noticed something interesting about their view of God in their New World Translation of the Bible. While they SAY there is only one God, they have at least two separate gods in their teaching. One is Jehovah, and the other is Jesus, who they refer to as “a god.” For example, John 1:1 in their Bible reads:In beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. (John 1:1, NWT)They reject the doctrine of the Trinity and somehow have decided that adding the “a” solves their dilemma. Jehovah is God, and Jesus is “a god,” a lesser, small “g” deity. Although JWs would deny that they believe in two Gods, the Watchtower’s tinkering with the text creates a serious problem for their view, which shows up with a series of questions starting with “How many true Gods are there?” Their response is that there is only one God – their god they call Jehovah. Our next question is, okay, since their Bible calls Jesus “a god,” “Is Jesus a true God or a false god?” Now they have a conundrum. If there is only one true God (and there is only one true God, just to be clear) and Jesus is referred to by them as “a god,” he would have to be by definition, a false god. While they stumble around with this one, we offer up another question. If Jesus is a created god, who created him? The response is generally that Jehovah created him, which leads us to yet another question. Did Jehovah know He created another God? He is pretty emphatically clear that He did not:“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. (Isaiah 43:10)That seems pretty clear, but Israel had been betraying their one true God by gathering and worshipping the false gods of the pagans around them, and God is calling them to task for their idolatry. He reiterates this:Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. (Isaiah 44:6-8)So, if Jesus is “a god,” he is a false god! And if Big "G" Jehovah had created this small "g" god, we have to wonder why HE would have done so, when He is completely opposed to His people worshipping any God beside Him! And if Jehovah did create a “small g” god, would it not be a lie for Him to say, “Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.”?It is not uncommon for pseudo-Christian groups and cults to believe in multiple gods. As we have shown, JWs have at least two, which is one too many according to Scripture. Mormons have millions, perhaps billions, since Mormon males and females are working their way to becoming gods and goddesses of their own planets, which they will populate and continue producing others that will become gods and goddesses of their own worlds. In addition, there is the Urantia Book, Hindus, and goddess groups like The Fellowship of Isis, Covenant of the Goddess, Circle Sanctuary, and many others. It is easy enough to evaluate their claims against the word of God and conclude that these are all false gods. But how do we respond when a popular Evangelical scholar asserts:The God of the Old Testament was part of an assembly—a pantheon—of other gods.The late Michael Heiser’s assertion comes at the end of a longer paragraph in his book The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible:I’ve indicated the Hebrew wording that caught my eye and put my heart in my throat. The word elohim occurs twice in this short verse. Other than the covenant name, Yahweh, it’s the most common word in the Old Testament for God. And the first use of the word in this verse worked fine. But since I knew my Hebrew grammar, I saw immediately that the second instance needed to be translated as plural. There it was, plain as day: The God of the Old Testament was part of an assembly—a pantheon—of other gods.It seems to us that God pointedly stated He is the only true God. for example, Isaiah 43:10: “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.Therefore, with this as our baseline, our first question is the same as we would ask of any other group. Are the “other gods” Heiser touts in his "pantheon" here, true gods or false gods? If they are indeed gods, anything more than One is too many. If they are false gods, there can be and are many, as the Apostle Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 8:4-6:we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.We would suggest that Dr. Heiser missed a few important steps in making his assertion about Psalm 82, with the result that he came to a false conclusion. Words have a range of meanings which should be considered within the immediate and overall context of a document or statement. For example, the word “bark” in English could be the outer covering of a tree, or the noise of a dog or a load command of the dogs owner. With Scripture, there is the immediate context and the other call context of God’s self-revelation. Some of the considerations are the genre of the literature (poetry like Psalms, wisdom literature like Proverbs, historical narrative like Genesis, doctrinal like Romans). The word in question which caught Heiser’s eye and put his heart in his throat is, “Elohim.” It is a Hebrew word that occurs 2,606 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. Strong's Lexicon H430 shows how it is translated in the KJV in those 2,606 occurrences:God (2,346x), god (244x), judge (5x), GOD (1x), goddess (2x), great (2x), mighty (2x), angels (1x), exceeding (1x), God-ward (with H4136) (1x), godly (1x).Should Elohim be translated god, judge, God, angels, or one of the others?  Whatever these Elohim in Psalm 82 are, they are “judging unjustly,” and will die like men. Dr. Thomas Howe weighs in:The Psalmist is speaking about the failure of the elohim to do justice, and that they will ultimately die and fall, so the cry is to God to execute the very justice that the elohim have failed to do. And notice that verse 7 says, “Nevertheless like man you will die and like one of the princes you will fall.” (Ps. 82:7).” In fact, a similar expression is used in Judg. 16:7: “Samson said to her, ‘If they bind me with seven fresh cords that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like one of the men.’” Here Samson is saying that he will become weak “like one of the men.” The expression is used again in Judg. 16:11 and means “like any other man.” Here in Psalm 82 the verse states, “as any other man you will die, and as any other of the princes, you will fall.” So, the elohim are referred to as other men and other princes, not “other gods.”In addition, in rejecting the traditional view on this passage, Heiser seems to skip what the passage does say and reads into the text something it does not say. Actually, two things it does not say. The second it that the elohim are ruling nations when there is nothing in the text that states or even implies this to be the case. Howe writes:Interestingly, Psalm 82 does not claim that these elohim are appointed to rule over foreign nations. Verse 8 states, “Rise up, elohim, and execute judgment on the earth! For you own all the nations.” Heiser takes this to be a reference to the elohim, not to God. However, Heiser does not tell his reader that the statement in the final portion of the verse says “For you own all the nations.” Here, the word translated “you” is the singular personal pronoun.While rejecting the idea that the elohim are men, interjecting his narrative that the elohim are ruling nations when there is no indication in the passage this is the case Heiser builds on his narrative stating, “The Bible nowhere teaches that God appointed a council of Jewish elders to rule over foreign nations.” Again, his assertion are untrue:And Heiser is simply wrong that, “The Bible nowhere teaches that God appointed a council of Jewish elders to rule over foreign nations.” In fact, God declares that Israel will rule over the nations:1 At the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission of debts. 2 This is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the remission of YHWH has been proclaimed. 3 From a foreigner you may exact it, but your hand shall release whatever of yours is with your brother. 4 However, there will be no poor among you, since YHWH will surely bless you in the land which YHWH your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, 5 if only you listen obediently to the voice of YHWH your God, to observe carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today. 6 For YHWH your God will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you (Deut. 15:1–6).In verse 6 God specifically declares “and you will rule over nations many”. In this instance, the text actually uses the word “rule.” Heiser has conveniently added the words “council of Jewish elders,” which the text of Psalm 82 does not use, but God specifically asserts that Israel will rule over many nations. Not only does Heiser read into the text what it does not say, he also ignores what the text in fact does say, and then adds to the text what he needs it to say.Judgment is coming, including judgment of the unjust judges in Psalm 82. It is fascinating that when Jesus was responding to the Jewish leadership in John 10:34-36 He pointed to Psalm 82. In his Jewish New Testament Commentary, David Stern writes:You people are Elohim, here Greek theoi (“gods”). But in the Hebrew text of Psalm 82 the word “elohim” may be translated “God,” “gods,” “judges” or “angels.” Yeshua’s rabbinic mode of Bible citation implies the context of the whole psalm (Mt 2:6N), which plays on these meanings:“Elohim stands in the congregation of El :He judges among the elohim : ‘How long will you judge unjustly? … I have said, “You are elohim , All of you are sons of the Most High.” Nevertheless you will die like a man And fall like one of the princes.’ Arise, Elohim , and judge the earth, For you will inherit all the nations.”(Psalm 82:1–2, 6–8)The first and last “Elohim” mean “God,” but the others should be rendered “judges,” “gods” or “angels.” To remind the reader to reach back through the Greek to the Hebrew wordplay I rendered theoi by its Hebrew equivalent.Yeshua’s wordplay implies a rabbinic-style kal v˒chomer argument (Mt 6:30N): if humans, who do evil works as they “judge unjustly” are elohim, how much more is Yeshua, who does good works (vv. 25, 32–33, 37–38) Elohim; and if “all of you are sons of the Most High,” how much more does the description “Son of God” apply to YeshuaHeiser, who is now deceased, has become very popular among a certain subset of Christians. “New” and seemingly exciting truth, which Heiser himself refers to as “Supernatural” – coming from an allegedly ‘dusty old book’ seems to truly fascinate people looking for something “more.” New supernatural “knowledge,” especially coming from a source that should be trustworthy, has a very strong pull, as the number of cults and false religions will attest. Some defend Heiser’s pantheon with a response like “YHWH is an elohim, but no other elohim is YHWH,” which is little different than stating of the Olympian Pantheon that “Zeus is a god, but no other god is Zeus.” If, Yahweh is merely the most powerful among a pantheon of gods, that still leaves Heiser with far too many gods. Perhaps not as many as the Mormons, but like the JWs, even if there are as few as two, that is still one too many. And YHWH is pretty clear on this one.“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. (Isaiah 43:10)Ω

© 2025, Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc. All rights reserved. Excerpts and links may be used if full and clear credit is given with specific direction to the original content. Read the full article

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H U M A N S

What does it mean to be human? Are we merely physical beings with sentience (the ability to perceive or feel things) due to electrical activity in our material brain? When we breathe our last, and our material brain dies, do we simply cease to exist? This is a question which has been pondered by philosophers, included in plays, and debated by theologians. It has also been the stuff of which many films are made.There is, of course, The Terminator franchise. In The Terminator series, human beings create humanoid machines with AI (Artificial Intelligence). In course of time, these “robots,” vastly superior to frail humanity in strength and durability, achieve sentience. They want to live - and rule. They soon evolve beyond human evolution and go to war with the human race, with the intention of eliminating their makers from the face of the earth.The Island, a 2005 film starring Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor, tackles the issue of what it means to be human. Is a clone a separate individual person - or merely an extension of the original material being, to be used as spare parts? More importantly, at least for this blog, can a person’s essence - their memories, experiences, and personality, be passed on genetically through cloning? What makes me me?In 2017 we were in Plano, Texas for the annual conference of the International Society of Christian Apologetics. Dr. Christopher Haun presented a workshop on the need to draft a statement of ethics, considering humanity’s current push towards Transhumanism.Many new technologies have greatly benefited human life, but some thinkers and business leaders see Transhumanism as a way to “greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.”:The most common transhumanist thesis is that human beings may eventually be able to transform themselves into different beings with abilities so greatly expanded from the natural condition as to merit the label of posthuman beings.In 2016 we did a webcast on the question of “What Is Transhumanism and Why Should We Care?”  and, as is often the case, many were unaware of things that are going on in the world of technology.The British television series, HUMANS, which ran from 2015-2018 on AMC, also dealt with these issues. In it, one scientist, whose daughter is in a coma, tried to download her into a computer in hopes of transferring her essence, her personality, her real self, into a new “synth,” a humanoid machine which looks human. Inevitably, someone hacked into the synth program and bestowed sentience to some of the machines. And naturally, once the “synths” became self-aware - became thinking, feeling entities — they desired freedom and self-determination. Like the humanoids of the Terminator series some rebelled against their makers. Again, the question arises: What is a person? If you could somehow infuse a machine with knowledge, or other supposedly human traits, would that make it a human being? At the time the series was running. the idea of uploading the essential you into a computer seemed like the stuff of sci-fi, which of course, HUMANS was but this possibility was already in the thinking and plans of tech giants in Silicon Valley. In “Transhumanism: A Religion for Postmodern Times,” Wesley J. Smith explained:This is where transhumanism becomes truly eschatological. Transhumanist prophets anticipate a coming neo-salvific event known as the “Singularity” – a point in human history when the crescendo of scientific advances become unstoppable, enabling transhumanists to recreate themselves in their own image. Want to have the eyesight of a hawk? Edit in a few genes. Want to raise your IQ? Try a brain implant. Want to look like a walrus? Well, why not? Different strokes for different folks, don’t you know?Most importantly, in the post-Singularity world, death itself will be defeated. Perhaps, we will repeatedly renew our bodies through cloned organ replacements or have our heads cryogenically frozen to allow eventual surgical attachment to a different body. However, transhumanists’ greatest hope is to eternally save their minds (again, as opposed to souls) via personal uploading into computer programs. Yes, transhumanists expect to ultimately live without end in cyberspace, crafting their own virtual realities, or perhaps, merging their consciousnesses with others’ to experience multi-beinghood.Do human beings have a soul, an immaterial self, which inhabits the body and uses the body and brain to interact with the material world - but continues to exist when separated from the body?The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses) is crystal clear that you and I don’t have a soul but that we are a soul. In other words, Jehovah’s Witnesses are physicalists. We are, according to their teaching, nothing more than a physical, material being. Our personality, experiences, memories - everything that makes us, us - are recorded and retained in our physical brain and to some degree our blood. This recorded data is what the Watchtower calls a “Life Pattern,” or LP. Additionally, we have something they call a “life force,” which is like electricity. The life force enables us to move and powers our brain and bodily functions - but does not take on any of our personality or characteristics. Incredibly, one of the reasons they have opposed blood transfusions is because the recipient may get part of the personality and memories of the donor through the blood. How awful it would be to receive the blood of a murderer?According to Watchtower dogma, when we die, we go completely out of existence. Our material body, material brain and any information it holds is gone forever. However, much like as is portrayed in The Island, God created a being which looks identical to the original — a copy, a clone.  Of course, the Life Pattern, which was stored in the body and blood of the original person, was regrettably destroyed forever with all the original information along with it. Well, Phooey!Luckily for the faithful JW, their god Jehovah had kept a copy of the original person’s LP stored in his own brain! Yay! Like the scientist in HUMANS, Jehovah (NOT the God of the Bible) makes a copy of his copy of the original person’s LP and downloads it into a newly minted body. Then Jehovah powers it up with a little life force juice, and the clone replacement comes to life, fully equipped with memories of things he never did, likes and dislikes he never chose, and embraces a wife and children that are also mere clones, just like he is. He never married that woman, but then, she never married him either! They never sired or gave birth to those clone kids, though they have memories of giving birth to children who looked like these kids. It’s a science fiction “resurrection.” The husband, wife and children have never lived - they just remember someone else’s life. It’s not a very good deal spiritually, either! The clone/copy is rewarded for the real JWs hard work here on earth. YOU, the faithful JW going door to door, and following all the rules, are gone. Please Mr. and Mrs. JW, tell me — what do YOU care what your clone is enjoying when YOU are gone? Out of existence. FOREVER. Oh, and even your clone won’t meet the Jesus that died on the cross, because, it turns out, he’s a clone also! “Clone Jesus” never lived and never died — he never did anything for anybody! “Real Jesus” is, as you might have guessed, FOREVER DEAD (For more information on this see our article, “"The Resurrection: Watchtower Style").Scripture teaches something else. We find in Scripture that we are not merely physical beings. We are more than information or data stored in a material brain and body. Death is not cessation of existence. Death is synonymous with separation. For example, God told Adam and Eve that in the day they ate of the forbidden fruit, they would die. Yet, after they ate the fruit, they continued to exist, but were immediately separated spiritually from God. Ephesians 2:1; 2:5 and Colossians 2:13 tell us that we all, as their progeny, are dead in trespasses and sin - yet we are walking around, making decisions, having relationships, etc. We are physically alive, but separated from God. But when God, though the sacrifice of His Son, forgives us and makes us His children, we are no longer dead in our sins and will never be separated from God again, even if our mortal bodies should die.So, what happens when we breathe our last? Our spirits are separated from our body. It is a temporary separation, for the body will be resurrected and the spirit will rejoin the body either for eternity with God or an eternity separated from God.In John 2:18-22, the Jews were seeking a sign from Jesus to substantiate His claims to deity. He answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” They thought He was talking about the temple in Jerusalem, but John points out that Jesus was referring to the temple of His body. This little nugget of Scripture imparts some great information. First, although Jesus was separated from His body for three days, He did not go out of existence. His essence did not die. Second, Jesus said that He would raise His own body. One thing is certain — you have to exist to raise yourself from the dead! The resurrection of Jesus was the reuniting of his physical body with his spirit.  The same is true with our own resurrections, except of course we do not raise our own bodies from the dead.In 1 Corinthians 12:2-4 the Apostle Paul writes:I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven-whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise-whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows- and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.This is another real gem. It informs us that the spirit can obviously exist outside of the body, since Paul said he didn’t know if he was in his body or not when he was caught up to the Third Heaven. Obviously a “Person” can either be IN a body or OUTSIDE of a body, but he or she is NOT the body! Our spirit IS our essence! Nothing of “US” is lost when our spirit is reunited to our resurrected body.Eventually, all of us will be separated from our physical bodies until we are resurrected to either eternal torment or eternal life.He is risen! And so shall we all be…Ω

© 2025, Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc. All rights reserved. Excerpts and links may be used if full and clear credit is given with specific direction to the original content. Read the full article

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The Progressed From Us…

Photo by Mantas Hesthaven on Unsplash If the Apostle John were to write his epistles today, perhaps 1 John 2:19 might read more like this:They progressed from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. Seems like a lot of people are progressing away from us today. By “us” we mean the Christian faith. We are not suggesting that those who have shifted toward or even fully embraced Progressivism are no longer Christians. That is, of course, between them and God alone and not something we can really judge. All of us are prone to sin, rebellion, and often judgmentalism for that matter. When we are addressing certain issues, we often think about the comment the late Dr. J. Vernon McGee made in one of his sermons: If you knew J. Vernon McGee like I know J. Vernon McGee, you wouldn’t be listening to me. But don’t get up and leave because if I knew you like you know you; I wouldn’t be preaching to you. Sometimes the church acts more like a circular firing squad than a family of believers, it seems. Yes, there is such a biblical remedy such as “Church discipline” for obvious sin. Yet, we are called to live holy lives and to keep our eyes less on the faults of others and more on “the founder and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2). And yet, an extremely essential area of our faith is the call to be like the Bereans in the Bible, practicing discernment and guarding ourselves and others against being deceived. And there are many deceivers out there, just as there were back in the first century. It has been said that to that end, all of the New Testament, with the exception of Philemon, was written to address and correct false teaching, false prophets, and bad behavior and to clarify sound teaching and proper behavior. The Apostle Paul took great pains to instruct and warn the Ephesian Elders: Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, (Acts 20:28-31a) We note the Apostle started by telling them they must guard themselves first and then guard the flock against outside influences seeping in and from individuals in the sheepfold rising up among them with false teaching. The growing progressive movement within the evangelical church has changed the way many understand and interpret the word of God. As George Yancey points out: For progressive Christians, Jesus is primarily the model of inclusion and tolerance. For example, one progressive Christian drew a cartoon of Jesus saying, “The difference between me and you is you use Scripture to determine what love means and I use love to determine what Scripture means.” Progressive Christians focus on the actions and teachings of Jesus that reinforce their values of tolerance and inclusion, which they see as examples of love. Feelings or “inner knowingness” about an issue are now asserted to be the truth. Elements like the context of a text, facts, evidence, and reason are jettisoned in favor of their new narrative. Dr. Thomas Sowell, a former Marxist who is now a prominent black conservative, addresses this issue: It is usually futile to try to talk facts and analysis to people who are enjoying a sense of moral superiority in their ignorance. This moral superiority shows up in the claims of Southern Baptist Pastor J.D. Greer, who speaks of the “closet racists and neo-Confederates” inhabiting the Southern Baptist churches: “We should mourn when closet racists and neo-Confederates feel more at home in our churches than do many of our people of color,” he thundered from the platform of the SBC’s national convention in 2021. Of course, the megachurch pastor did not back up this shocking accusation with evidence or identify these rank and unrepentant sinners. No evidence is offered, just assertions. Was J.D. Greer informed by an inner knowingness or some other magical power? The church closets may be inhabited by all sorts of miscreants, we might suppose. Because people in closets are somewhat difficult to see, let alone judge, we might think they should be given the benefit of the doubt as to whether they are worse than possible sinners in other closets if no evidence is presented. Because we are all sinners, saved by grace, correct? As the new narrative of Progressives and CRT activists has infiltrated both the church and culture, a sharp division has been forced into the equation. The new faith is human-centric, not God-centric. Since reading people’s hearts has proven to be very difficult over these many centuries, if not impossible, people can now be pronounced guilty or innocent of some egregious sins based solely on skin color, which may be, we admit, easier to determine. Sadly, in this new religious narrative, there is no provision for repentance, forgiveness, and restoration for the sinners. People who are guilty of white skin cannot by any means expunge their guilt. In Shepherds for Sale, Megan Basham points to some important statistics many have forgotten and then asks an important question: More broadly, Americans’ views on white-black relations are now at their lowest point in twenty years. In 2005, 72 percent of Americans rated race relations as very or somewhat good. By 2020, this was down to only 44 percent. As pollster Gallup noted, “until 2015, large majorities of both thought relations were generally good.” We are being trained in fear, suspicion, bitterness, and resentment. Why would the Church ever want to synthesize such ungodly lessons with the Gospel that reconciles men to each other by reconciling them first to Christ? “Why would the Church ever want to synthesize such ungodly lessons?” Good question. We would suggest some or perhaps many of the shepherds have not paid careful attention to themselves first before closely examining the rest of the flock,  hopefully without vilifying one entire skin shade more than the rest. These views have largely infiltrated the faith through intellectual osmosis and pressure to conform to the Progressive narrative. This is not to say there is no racism in churches or culture, but it should be pointed out there are racists of all ethnicities and skin shades, some perhaps in a closet, and some right out in the open. Megan Basham asserts: Racism is real, it is ugly, and it should be opposed wherever it is found. I have seen the hateful messages my friend Samuel Sey, a black Christian essayist, receives when he posts photos of himself with his white wife on social media. When a draft of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs opinion leaked showing that Roe v. Wade would be overturned, pro-abortion actress Amanda Duarte tweeted, “I do wonder how these white supremacist lawmakers would feel if their little white daughters were raped and impregnated by black men.” The immense backlash Duarte received from people across the political aisle who called her remarks “racist” and “vile” was well-deserved. The fact that white supremacist leaders like Nick Fuentes and Richard Spencer are attracting a large audience of young men is a legitimate crisis. It takes no special knowledge for Christians of any color to look at these issues in light of Scripture and recognize them as an abominable affront to the image of God stamped on every human being equally. In his excellent 2021 book, Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe, Voddie Baucham Jr. spoke to the issues of CRT, Progressivism, and, most importantly, racial reconciliation and interracial church attendance: When I got to Southwestern Seminary, I immediately looked for another black SBC church, then combed the job-placement boards until I found a position at another black SBC church. And I had only recently stopped wearing Black Power paraphernalia. Now here I was speaking at PK events that highlighted racial reconciliation! Eventually, this conviction led to action. I was not aware of, nor had I ever met, a black pastor who was working for or even passionate about racial reconciliation. Not one had ever lamented the fact that their church was 99 percent black, or that the remaining 1 percent included exactly zero white members. I am not saying that was the entirety of the black church experience, or that those leaders were evil or ungodly—only that for the first time, I was coming face-to-face with brothers who, through tear-stained eyes, were begging God to diversify His church, and all of them were white. ? Are there possible, perhaps probable, reasons why, in Voddie Baucham’s experience, the black churches were 99% black, unrelated to White (or black) racism? What about Ukrainian churches, Korean Churches, and any number of other ethnic groups that tend to form churches made up predominantly of their own ethnicity for reasons entirely unrelated to racism? Why is it that in Voddie Baucham’s experience, he “was coming face-to-face with brothers who, through tear-stained eyes, were begging God to diversify His church, and all of them were white”? Is it possible that their well-intentioned effort ran into roadblocks, more of “comfort zone issues” than racism? At the time of this great effort, the church we were attending at the time was one of those that was aggressively seeking to draw people of all races into the church. They were upfront and completely open with their desire to be completely integrated. The effort, at least in that church, failed in large part. Why? We don’t think it was racism that was keeping people out, and we likewise don’t believe it was racism that motivated the people who “rejected” our invitation to attend. Instead, we feel that all churches should make it their goal to welcome all people who come in the church door, regardless of race, whether pink or brown or any of the other colors out there. And the main effort must be to preach the gospel – lifting up God’s love and grace – the wonderful grace that covers all our sins. We have certainly felt welcome in black churches we have spoken in, and we have been in quite a few. One thing we learned and really loved is that, in our experience, black churches very often “talk back” to the person who is teaching or preaching. It makes you, as a speaker, know you are being truly heard, for one thing. In reverse, our friend the late Poray Casimier came and spoke some years ago at our church about the new book he had just written about the false teaching of Louis Farrakhan and the Black Panthers. Afterwards, he told us he felt like the people did not like or welcome him because the congregation was so quiet. We assured him “NO, that’s just the way we are!” We may seem strange to him, but we were not rejecting him! We do wish the church could completely break free of the seeming barrier of race. We can personally attest that Blacks and Whites both make wonderful friends and Blacks and Whites, on the downside, are all just sinners saved by grace. We need to remember the wonderful and freeing truth that “If God be for us, then who can be against us?”  Who indeed? For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:27-29) As believers, we are to honor and serve other believers regardless of ethnicity or gender, treating them as we would our savior, Jesus Christ.Ω

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