Some guy who calls himself a pastor declared "I have something to say."
This was in reference to what happened at the opening ceremony of the Olympics where Leonardo's depiction of the Last Supper was openly mocked with a gluttonous drag queen sitting in the place of Jesus, transvestites and other undesirables sitting in the place of the Holy Apostles.
When I heard about this via a Facebook post, I was so shocked at the image that it took me awhile to really process the gravity of the scene.
This didn't occur in some dive bar in a back alley.
This happened at the Olympics.
Even if you're not a Christian, this should be a wakeup call to the lengths these folks will go to promote their agenda of "diversity" while stopping at nothing to destroy the lives of anyone who dissents from their approved viewpoints.
But what was truly disturbing was how many people who identify as Christians rallied around a diatribe posted by a guy named Jacob Whitehead, who calls himself "a pastor".
Well, his comments revealed a great deal of ignorance and emotional immaturity; and to think that so many people applauded it is problematic.
In this podcast, I read Mr. Whitehead's comments in their entirety, and then give my own comments in response.
Here we go:
"I’m a pastor, and I have something to say.
Christians that get online and spew hate toward nonbelievers anger me much more than nonbelievers spewing hate toward my religion.
I have no idea what the table at the Olympics was supposed to represent, as the official statement contradicts the larger opinion. But what I can say is that every single person at that table would have been invited to Jesus’ table. Jesus not only spent His time on earth with sinners, He invited them to the very table everyone assumes the Olympic table represents.
Matthew was a tax collector.
Peter was about to deny Him.
Thomas was about to doubt His resurrection.
Judas was about to betray Him.
Jesus ate with them anyway.
Jesus was with “sinners” all of the time. In fact, it’s one of the reasons the church people hated Him and wanted Him dead.
Please allow this to serve as a reminder that people who are not Christians are not our responsibility to regulate. Jesus gave us an example to follow of welcoming everyone and pointing them toward the love of Jesus. Remember that God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance, not the shouting of His angry “followers.”
This doesn’t mean I condone any religion (especially my own) being mocked. In fact, it is wrong. But my heart doesn’t hurt for what they are doing to Jesus. My heart hurts for people that are likely not in a loving relationship with their Creator. Jesus doesn’t need me to shout about sinners sinning. He wants me to shout about the hope and the love they are missing out on.
Before you share an angry post, or shout at people that Jesus died for, think for a while, and ask yourself if He would do the same. To be honest, you already know the answer. He wouldn’t. He didn’t. He died for them just as much as He died for you. Angrily shouting at people that don’t know Jesus is in direct contradiction to the example He gave us on the cross.
Westboro Baptist sandwich signs should anger you much more than this. Jesus flipped tables on people in the temple, not people outside of it.
Remember that."
The devil doesn't want you to listen to this!
Napoleon Hill's Outwitting the Devil is now available in audiobook format, narrated by Yours Truly.
Visit my website, jamesdnewcomb.com to get instant access to the audios!
conscious living in a zunk-tout world you're listening to barvosh done with James D. Newcomb brought to you by grandma Petru no I just cannot go another day without saying something on my podcast about this controversy regarding the Olympics and the opening ceremonies and this blatant mockery of the of the depiction of the Last Supper from the artist Leonardo Da Vinci although it has been pointed out by my friend Tom Woods that it is Leonardo nobody ever called him Da Vinci we'll just call him Leonardo I'm going to read for you something that you may likely have read already it's from a guy who calls himself a pastor the name is Jacob Whitehead and he's made it publicly it's on Facebook so it's fair game as far as reading it and commenting on it plenty of people have commented on it there have been a few things lacking in the comments both from mr. Whitehead's commentary on what happened as well as the comments regarding Whitehead's his own commentary now I'm going to preface my comments here by saying that I didn't actually watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics Friday was my birthday the 26th of 26th of July and I was preoccupied with spending time with the family and the Olympics hasn't been something that I've really followed for I think Atlanta 96 is the last time that I really watched the Olympics in any depth so I didn't really have a compelling reason to watch the opening ceremonies anyway which is always without exception rife with political correctness and this hyper social agenda that has nothing to do with athletics and bringing people together it's always blatant collectivism in the name of these code words unity and diversity that are the like the mantras of the humanist religion that is the predominant religion of the world which takes on many stripes many of which are a lot of Christian denominations what happened at the Olympics a portion of the opening ceremonies was a depiction of Leonardo's painting titled The Last Supper which of course is Jesus and the Apostles having a meal together it was basically the first communion where they portook of the sacramental elements the bread and the wine which through the work of the Holy Spirit was his body the people who organized this opening ceremony at the Olympics they made a blatant mockery of this it takes you three seconds looking at the photo to realize what they have done and what their intent is and to say that they had any intent other than to use a very sacred painting let me say this a painting which depicts one of the most sacred moments in time in the history of mankind for Christians if you if you can't see that was their intent you're willfully blind so because this man Jacob Whitehead has gotten 162,000 shares 43,000 likes 505 comments so he hit a nerve with a lot of people some people commented critically of his words the overwhelming majority were supportive and we're applauding him for his words because it's relevant and a lot of people agreed with it I'm going to read it in its entirety and then share my comments on his comments so here we go Jacob Whitehead posted July 27th so this is one day 24 hours after this thing happened with the Olympics I'm a pastor and I have something to say Christians that get online and spew hate toward non-believers anger me much more than non-believers spewing hate toward my religion I have no idea what the table at the Olympics was supposed to represent as the official statement contradicts the larger opinion but what I can say is that every single person at that table would have been invited to Jesus's table Jesus not only spent his time on earth with sinners he invited them to the very table everyone assumes the Olympic table represents Matthew was a tax collector Peter was about to deny him Thomas was about to doubt his resurrection Judas was about to betray him Jesus ate with them anyway Jesus was with quote sinners all of the time in fact it's one of the reasons the church people hated him and wanted him dead please allow this to serve as a reminder that people who are not Christians are not our responsibility to regulate Jesus gave us an example to follow of welcoming everyone and pointing them toward the love of Jesus remember that God's kindness is meant to lead us to repentance not the shouting of his angry quote followers this doesn't mean I can don't any religion especially my own being mocked in fact it is wrong but my heart doesn't hurt for what they are doing to Jesus my heart hurts for people that are likely not in a loving relationship with their creator Jesus doesn't need me to shout about sinners sinning he wants me to shout about the hope and the love they're missing out before you share an angry post or shout at people that Jesus died for thank for a while and ask yourself if he would do the same to be honest you already know the answer he wouldn't he didn't he died for them just as much as he died for you angrily shouting at people that don't know Jesus is in direct contradiction to the example he gave us on the cross Westboro Baptist sandwich signs should anger you much more than this Jesus flip tables on people in the temple not people outside of it remember that okay so the very first thing that he says it's the second thing he says I have no idea what the table at the Olympics was supposed to represent are you serious you have no idea what the table at the Olympics was supposed to represent so are you saying that you can't see that this is a depiction of Leonardo's painting which in itself is a depiction of the most sacred moment in history according to Christians you can't see that but you're a pastor and then he says as the official statement contradicts the larger opinion fortunately the larger opinion appears to be that they see this photo for what it is or the scene for what it is which is a drag queen is representing is sitting in the place of Jesus in Leonardo's painting and there's a bunch of transvestites and cross dressers and all manner of undesirable elements of humanity sitting in the place of the holy apostles the larger opinion seems to be in accordance with what I just said words to the effect of what I just said thankfully so for this person to say I have no idea what the table was supposed to represent that discredits you right there next statement what I can say is that every single person at that table would have been invited to Jesus's table let's talk about that for a moment how many times did Jesus actually invite someone to his table the only time that I can actually think of it is this scene at the event which we call the Last Supper the first breaking of bread the first offering of the sacrament of communion now I'm looking at this photo and I can say based on my understanding of the church and the scriptures and the traditions of the church that not one of these people would be invited to that table that table was reserved for a very select few the apostles who went on to build the church those people in that photo which I'm looking at right now their intent is not to build a church if they have an intent regarding Christianity I would assume that their preference would be for Christianity to not exist to be wiped off the face of the earth so for this pastor to say that those people would be invited at the table where the first communion was offered to the holy apostles I don't want to say that it's blasphemous but it's highly problematic to even suggest such a thing Jesus did sit at table with sinners this is true at their invitation the people with whom he dined and who with whom he accepted invitations were sincere they saw Jesus for who he was who was the savior of the world the promised Messiah that had been prophesied by the prophets from centuries prior so he accepted the invitations of the various people who invited him into their homes some of them were Pharisees some were not some were just tax collectors which angered the religious establishment nobody at that table would have been invited to into that upper room where they shared a meal and then the sacramental elements were offered to the holy apostles okay Matthew was a tax collector Peter was about to deny him Thomas was about to doubt his resurrection Judas was about to betray him Jesus ate with them anyway this is all true the difference between Matthew and Peter and Thomas is that these were all holy men these were all very sincere men they give up everything that was near and dear to them they even risk their identity as Jews they risk being cast out of the synagogues because they followed Jesus who was considered a paratic by the religious establishment of the day so yes Matthew was a tax collector Peter was about to deny him he did deny him and then were told that he went out and he wept bitterly because he realized he was an error he had betrayed his Lord he repented Thomas was about to doubt his resurrection you're right a few weeks later he he doubted and he had to see living proof that Jesus was alive they all repented they all threw the process of sanctification became holy men and they all died gruesome deaths because of their allegiance to Jesus now look at this glutton sitting in the middle of this table with a false a halo behind her head which is a depiction of the halo that is traditionally put on icons behind Jesus this whole scene is despicable and yet this so-called pastor is giving it a free pass he's saying yeah it's okay for the Olympic organizers to make a mockery of not just my faith but the faith of billions of people around the world we don't mind we'll just sit back and we won't say anything fortunately a lot of people have said plenty about it and what I'm saying here not that it means anything but this is my commentary on what I have concluded is a very important issue at first I was I thought what's the big deal what's why are people so upset about this but the more I thought about it the more I realized this is really serious and this is worthy of our anger so let's continue Jesus was with quote sinners all of the time you're right and they were all with very precious few exceptions they were all repentant and they all wanted to be around him they all desired to be around who they believed was the Messiah the chosen one the one that they had been waiting for centuries and all of a sudden there he is and he's in our midst we want to be around him yeah they were sinners I'm a sinner but I begin every day with the prayers holy God holy mighty holy immortal have mercy on us this and then I say the Jesus prayer Lord Jesus Christ son of the living God have mercy on me a sinner forgive my sins that I've committed knowingly and unknowingly in word thought indeed cleanse my soul of all unrighteousness and the filth of this world to which I've been exposed yeah I'm a sinner but I am sanctified by God's grace so yeah Jesus was with sinners all of the time if he's going to be around people he's going to be around sinners because everyone sins here's this is a good one in fact it's one of the reasons the church people hated him and wanted him dead why don't you say that to the priest at your local Catholic church or walk into your Orthodox church nearby and say that the church people hated Christ and wanted him dead the ignorance is astounding there was no church back then there were Pharisees there was the religious establishment made up of high high ranking Jews who who viewed Jesus as a threat to their own status quo and their own hubris so yes they didn't want him around Jesus was about to upend the status quo yeah I can see why they wouldn't want him around why they'd even want him dead but to call them church people time to go back to Bible school buddy all right this is where it gets interesting and the virtue signaling and the shaming of people who disagree with him is so blatant that it's almost not worth repeating but I'm gonna but I'm going to say it just because it needs to be said he continues please allow this to serve as a reminder that people who are not Christians are not our responsibility to regulate Jesus gave an example to follow of welcoming everyone and pointing them toward the love of Jesus remember that God's kindness is meant to lead us to repentance not the shouting of his angry followers so let's talk about this for a moment God's kindness is meant to lead us to repentance he's gracious he's merciful but he's also the jealous God is a God that will not be mocked said the Apostle Paul he continues and this doesn't mean that I condone any religion especially my own being mocked now this is important because there may be people listening to me on this podcast who are not Christians and my challenge to you is you should be concerned about this it may not be your religion that was mocked at the Olympics but they did take a major religion that is respected and revered by literally billions of people on this earth and they just made an absolute mockery at the Olympics this isn't at some show in some dive bar somewhere this is the Olympics and they made a mockery of one of the most sacred moments in the history of the church we should not take this lightly and we should not turn the other cheek and just say it's okay you can trample on everything that is near and dear to us that's fine we understand you're just worldly people and you're just gonna do worldly things we get it it's no problem that was my initial reaction to that but after thinking about it and discussing it with others there's some real problems here and if you're not a Christian my challenge to you is if these people are willing to mock Christianity in such a public forum is the Olympics where are the boundaries where they where will they stop he concludes before you share an angry post or shouted people that Jesus died for thank for a while and ask yourself if he would do the same to be honest you already know the answer see this virtue signaling and this virtue shaming people who might disagree with him into submission is just it's just plain childish the man if you want to call him a man lacks emotional maturity it's such a petty and childish tactic of dominating a conversation and dominating a dialogue so this is what he says he died for them just as much as he died for you angrily shouting at people that don't know Jesus is in direct contradiction to the example he gave us on the cross okay now let's talk about this how many people who have been critical of the Olympics are just angrily shouting like using those that terminology angrily shouting am I angrily shouting on this podcast now I'm raising my voice a little bit and am I a little bit angry yes I am angry that this has happened I don't believe that my anger is unjustified I think that my emotions are under control and my words are rational and they are well thought out and my comments are grounded in the scriptures and my limited knowledge of the history of the church and the teachings of the church and the church fathers I'm doing the best that I can with what I've got but to say that I'm just angrily shouting you know what these people are blatantly mocking Christianity and they need to be held accountable they need to hear from Christians what you did is not okay and we're not going to watch the Olympics anymore I can't speak on behalf of anybody who's at the Olympics Christians who are participating in the Olympics I can't speak for them what they should do they will respond according to their own conscience but for us to just sit back and just give them a free pass on what they've done is I don't think that's an appropriate response we are to expect this from the world we're to expect it this is the cross that we bear when we identify with Jesus as one of his followers one of his disciples when we identify with his body being the church yes we are to expect being mocked and being ridiculed it comes with the territory it does not mean that we should just sit back and just take it without saying something in response what's bro Baptist sandwich signs should anger you much more than this according to who you okay fine Jesus flip tables on people in the temple not people outside of it remember that love that parting shot remember that more virtue signaling more emotional immaturity from this so-called pastor why am I beating up on this guy it's not that this man said it it's that so many people agree with it so many people who identify as Christians say yes this is exactly what needed to be said you have just perfectly articulated what was going on in my head as I was processing this scene 162,000 people have shared this I'm gonna look at the comments here with people who have shared it been attempting to find the words that best described my feelings and it can never do justice to what I feel in my heart this pastor has nailed it for me yes let's lead by example here's the best Christian take I've seen so far he's right word I like this to let's see here there's this guy's a better person than I am great perspective and then a lot of people are responding to these things these people who shared it I'm not saying this just so I can beat up on this Jacob Whitehead I've never met the guy and I probably never will meet him and I don't really have an axe to grind with him personally I do have an axe to grind with the sentiment that is shared in his comments and that is apparently supported by a great many Christians that's what I find problematic the fact that there's there's so many people who say they're Christians who agree with them and say yes that's exactly right well this is my take and I'm on record saying no this is not exactly right or some serious problems with your comments theologically historically even semantically that's worthy of our time and it's worthy of our attention and using whatever means we have to get the word out on how awful this scene was at the Olympics so these this is my two cents post inflation on this issue with the Olympics and what happened at the opening ceremonies I realized that to bring a religion into the topic potentially divides my three listeners and I understand that but if you have any comments at all I would welcome them just find me on Instagram James D. Newcomb is my handle and I did post a live video on it on this topic yesterday if you have any comments about anything I've said either on the live feed or what I've said in this podcast please connect on Instagram send me an email James at James D. Newcomb.com and I'd love to hear from you and as long as it's respectful and as long as it's with the intent of having productive dialogue I'll listen to anything that anyone says thanks for listening and we'll be in your ear ball soon. Graham or Petrie Lowe is your go-to full-service publishing and marketing firm specializing in podcasts, copywriting, email marketing, website design, course creation and much more. If it involves clicking a button that says publish we're here to help. Let us handle the technical side of things while you focus on creating and delivering value for your audience. With Graham or Petrie Lowe your vision becomes reality shared with grace mercy and peace in truth and love. 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