                                                                                                    %20Moore.htm_cmp_axis000_vbtn.gif){kind=small}                                                                
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Liberty Advocate http://www.libertyadvocate.com/
Let Christian Liberty Ring!
by Karen Pansler-Lam, J.D.
The Green family,
owners of Hobby Lobby, Inc., is giving away a school campus in Northfield, Massachusetts.
The property formerly belonged to Northfield Mount Hermon School, founded
in 1879 by D.L. Moody. Mount Hermon School relocated to a
nearby campus in 2005. However, when some
local residents and alumni of Mount Hermon School heard that Liberty University,
founded by Jerry Falwell, was invited to consider the offer, they began to
protest
to keep Evangelicals out of Northfield.
Alumni posted a letter of protest and a petition on the Internet. Here are excerpts from the protest letter: Note: Emphasis added. Say No to Hobby Lobby Transfer of Northfield Campus to
Liberty University
Read
the entire protest letter denying Evangelical Christians their essential
rights and liberties (click on “Petition Letter”) @ This letter isn’t just protesting Liberty University.
It’s protesting the Christian liberty of Evangelicals! The
plain and undeniable truth is that Northfield residents and Mount
Hermon alumni are denying the essential rights and liberties of
Evangelical Christians. They are building a town of spiritual tyranny. And they are doing this in the name of D.L. Moody. The protest
letter states: “Standing by silently as the current owners welcome Liberty
University onto the Northfield property fails to honor D.L. Moody’s true
legacy.”
They are
trying to keep Evangelicals out of Northfield in the
name of D.L. Moody. This
is absurd! Moody
was an evangelist! Moody
was an Evangelical! Clearly,
the letter is hostile toward Evangelical Christians. For example, protesters
scoff at Liberty University’s Doctrinal Statement:
According
to the "Doctrinal Statement" posted on its web site, the school
not only declares the Christian Bible "inerrant in its originals and
authoritative in all matters" and embraces a millenial vision but also
rejects scientific examinations of cosmic origins as well as human
evolution: "The universe was created in six historical days. Human
beings were directly created, not evolved, in the very image of God"
(http://www.liberty.edu). These theological statements do not
suggest an open educational model. Moreover, Falwell remained throughout his life
openly hostile to any form of religious, cultural, and particularly gender
diversity.
Notice how they scoff at the Christian Bible as inerrant and authoritative in all matters. And they scoff at Biblical creation - man was created in the image of God: "These theological statements do not suggest an open educational model." These are not theological statements, they are Biblical truths! And what an honor to be created by God and in the image of God! How much more dignified than if we evolved from a slime pit!
The protest letter continues to
denounce Evangelical beliefs as
“extremist, exclusionary, and authoritarian dogma.” On the other hand, Evangelical Christians never proclaim being broadminded and accepting of all faiths. True Evangelicals proclaim the way is narrow and is a walk of faith in obedience to the only authoritative Law: God’s Law.
Jesus
Christ proclaims:
I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
John 14: 6,15,21,24
But
protesters deny Evangelicals a right to live in Northfield simply because they
believe the
Bible is God's authoritative Law for all men everywhere. The protesters deny
Evangelicals' natural and inalienable rights to Christian liberty . In
other words, the protesters have set themselves up as authoritative masters
and judges, refusing Christian liberty to Evangelicals by forbidding them
to establish a school in Northfield. Would the protesters openly and boldly denounce prospective members of the campus if they were Muslims or Buddhists or Hindus?
Surprisingly,
the protesters declare: “We graduates of Northfield Mount Hermon
School also stand in solidarity with those residents of the town of
Northfield dismayed by the prospect of Liberty University arriving to
proselytize specifically in the local community.” They are dismayed by the thought of evangelism in their community? Evangelism
was the heart of Moody's ministry! Moody
was known as a great evangelist! Evangelism
honors Moody’s true legacy! And they state: “These ideas are antithetical to the lessons we learned at Northfield Mount Hermon. . .They are also divisive and hateful.” Now, who's "divisive and hateful"? Unquestionably,
the
protest letter and petition is an attempt to strip Evangelicals of the most
valuable of all rights: Christian liberty.
Specifically, Northfield residents and Mount Hermon alumni demand oppressive
and tyrannical conditions imposed on future residents of the campus: Evangelicals are banned from town. This is a violation of the rights of
Evangelicals and a vile reproach cast upon the town of Northfield and Mount
Hermon School. Protestors
openly and boldly forbid Evangelicals to establish a school
in Northfield.
O
Northfield, is
this the true spirit of the town? O
Mount Hermon, is
this the true spirit of the School?
Irrefutably, forbidding evangelism is directly contrary to the spirit of D.L. Moody. Moody zealously preached to win souls to Christ. . .
You know there are three steps to the lost world; let me give you their names. The first is Neglect. All a man has to do is to neglect salvation, and that will take him to the lost world. Some people say, “What have I done!” Why, if you merely neglect salvation, you will be lost. I am on a swift river, and lying in the bottom of my little boat. Down yonder, ten miles below, is the great cataract. Everyone that goes over it perishes. I need not row the boat down; I have only to pull in the oars, and fold my arms and neglect. So all that a man has to do is to fold his arms in the current of life, and he will drift onwards and be lost. The second step is Refusal. If I met you at the door and pressed this question on you, you would say, “Not tonight, Mr. Moody, not tonight;” and if I repeated, “I want you to press into the kingdom of God,” you would politely refuse: “I will not become a Christian tonight, thank you; I know I ought, but I won’t tonight.” Then the last step is to Despise it. Some of you have already got on the lower round of the ladder. You despise Christ. You hate Christ, you hate Christianity; you hate the best people on the earth and the best friends you have got; and if I were to offer you the Bible, you would tear it up and put your foot upon it. Oh, despisers! you will soon be in another world. Make haste and repent and turn to God. Now, on which step are you, my friend; neglecting, or refusing, or despising? Bear in mind that a great many are taken off from the first step; they die in neglect. And a great many are taken away refusing. And a great many are on the last step, despising salvation. A few years ago they neglected, then they got to refuse; and now they despise Christianity and Christ. They hate the sound of the church bell; they hate the Bible and the Christian; they curse the very ground that we walk on. But one more step and they are gone. Oh ye despisers, I set before you life and death; which will you choose? When Pilate had Christ on his hands, he said, “What shall I do with him?” and the multitude cried out, “Away with Him! crucify Him!” Young men, is that your language tonight? Do you say, “Away with this gospel! Away with Christianity! Away with your prayers, your sermons, your gospel sounds! I do not want Christ?” Or will you be wise and say, “Lord Jesus, I want Thee, I need Thee, I will have Thee?” Oh, may God bring you to that decision! ("Where Art Thou?" http://www.biblebelievers.com/moody_sermons/m18.html And Moody praised evangelism: "A man who has found out what his true work is, winning souls to Christ, and does it, such is the happiest man" ("The Qualifications for Soul Winning" http://www.biblebelievers.com/moody_sermons/m1.html).
And the Great Commission commands us. . .
Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15 Jesus commands us to preach the gospel to every creature. Forbidding evangelism in Northfield is like imprisoning the Apostles for preaching the gospel!
More important, forbidding evangelism is directly contrary to the Spirit of Christ.
Where the Spirit of Lord is, there is liberty. 2 Corinthians 3:17
Finally,
inscribed
on the Liberty Bell is Leviticus 25:10: “Proclaim liberty
throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” But
the Liberty Bell does not ring in Northfield.
It is silent. To the residents of Northfield and alumni of Mount Hermon School… Proclaim
liberty throughout all the land unto all inhabitants thereof, including
Evangelicals! Let
Christian liberty ring in Northfield, Massachusetts! April
2012 Liberty
Advocate
http://www.libertyadvocate.com/ See also: Plans
for ex-prep school campus under fire in Northfield - Boston.com
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