The following is another letter I have written and sent to Dr. Frank Page the president of the Southern Baptist Convention concerning Ed Young, Jr. and Dr. Ed Young sharing the pulpit with Oneness Pentecostal Dr. T.D. Jakes during Creative Church Conference 2007 hosted by Fellowship Church (SBC), Grapevine, TX. where Young, Jr. is pastor.

But know this: difficult times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self.
(2 Timothy 3:1-2, HCSB)

Are There Any Real Men Of God Left?

Let me first say that I truly couldn’t care less about so-called critics who are too spiritually obtuse and/or in love with other men to understand what is at stake here. All of the great doctrines of the historic orthodox Christian faith have been hammered out during times of controversy and often at the literal expense of human lives e.g. the Protestant Reformation the SBC would claim to be a part of.

And yet, as you will see from the text of this letter, Dr. T.D. Jakes openly denies the essential doctrine of the Holy Trinity and no one says anything. The issue is this clear: If one denies Who God is then how in the world can such a man even be thought to be a believer in God? However, this is how far the level of discernment has sunk in order that in these perilous times professing Christians can turn their back on their First Love in order to love each other:

Dear Dr. Page,

Please know that I am not trying to aggravate you but rather I write under the compulsion of the Person of God the Holy Spirit. Again I beseech you in Christ’s Name to take steps within the SBC to defend the nature of God as revealed in Holy Scripture. I have already made you aware that Ed Young, Jr. has invited Oneness Pentecostal heretic T.D. Jakes to share the pulpit of Fellowship Church, Grapevine, TX (SBC) next month, and that Dr. Ed Young, a former two time president of our convention is set to join his son in this heresy.

Up until now Dr. Jakes has actually only been on the fringe of evangelicalism and despite his “success” primarily limited in scope to what the late Dr. Walter Martin (SBC), America’s foremost expert in religious cults having their origin in the United States, labeled the “Cult of Word Faith.” I’ll not go into the various heresies taught by that cult except to remind you that there is a core denial of Christ’s finished work on the Cross through their doctrine of the “born again” Jesus.

Dr. Page, when the Youngs–who are both in our convention–share the pulpit with Jakes February 22 and 23, 2007 this will now bring the heresy of Oneness Pentecostalism right into an SBC church and the corresponding notoriety will then thrust Jakes out into the mainstream of the largely undiscerning evangelical camp. Doesn’t this concern you at all? After all you are president of the largest Protestant evangelical organization in the country and so far you have literally said nothing.

I will make one more attempt now beyond the letters I have already written to both you and to Dr. Jakes himself and try to show you he clearly denies the doctrine of the Holy Trinity which is Who the Bible reveals God is:

Jakes from Time Magazine 09/17/01 – And God said, “Let us. Let usssssss…” says Jakes, and then digresses: “…One God, but manifest in…three different ways, Father in creation, Son in redemption, Holy Spirit in regeneration.” (Online source, emphasis mine)

His Doctrinal Statement as of this letter 1/07/07 still reads:

THREE DIMENSIONS OF ONE GOD (1 John5:7; Matthew 28:29; 1 Timothy 3:16) We believe in one God who is eternal in His existence, Triune in His manifestation, being both Father, Son and Holy Ghost AND He is sovereign in His authority. (Online source, emphasis mine)

Now here is the Baptist Faith and Message (BFM) of the SBC:

There is one and only one living and true God… The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. (Online source, emphasis mine)

Dr. Jakes’ position which is stated on his website above in classic Oneness Pentecostal terms has still not changed, there can be no doubt about this whatsoever, and it is a flat denial of our own SBC BFM even though it is itself quite weak. Dr. Page I do also wish you to know that this letter to you, just as the letter I sent to Dr. Jakes 1/06/07, has already been published on Apprising Ministries and has been sent to numerous other ministries. My question to you sir is: Are you going to intervene in this situation and tell the Youngs they cannot share the pulpit with Dr. Jakes and remain SBC.

And the autonomy argument isn’t applicable here because if an SBC church were to openly ordain a practicing homosexual woman to the pastorate it would be removed from the SBC. The Youngs/Jakes situation is no different because it is now known throughout the nation via the internet (and from Ed Young’s own site) that the Youngs have embraced Oneness Pentecostal heretic T.D. Jakes as a legitimate brother in Christ. Dr. Page you simply must act in this situation and the listeners and readers I represent deserve to know what you are going to do in this sad situation regarding this horrific judgment on the part of the Youngs.

Sir you are no doubt familiar with Athanasius who stood virtually alone against the Arians for years which would later give rise to the saying: “Athanasius contra mundum” – Athanasius against the world. Dr. Page in this defining moment when you have the chance to stand for the true nature of God I pray it won’t be remembered as: Dr. Frank Page with the world. And if you won’t listen to me, then I close with the words of C.H. Spurgeon who stood so tall during the first Downgrade Controversy:

Nowadays the Truth that God has revealed seems of less account with men than their own thoughts and dreams,… When you see revealed Truth, as it were, wandering about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, and no man saith a good word for it, then the hour has come to avow it because it is Christ’s Truth, and to prove your fidelity by counting the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt.

Oh, scorn on those who only believe what everybody else believes, just because they must be in the swim with the majority. These are but dead fish borne on the current, and they will be washed away to a shameful end. As living fish swim against the stream, so do living Christians pursue Christ’s Truth against the set and current of the times, defying alike the ignorance and the culture of the age. It is the believer’s honor, the chivalry of a Christian, to be the steadfast friend of Truth when all other men have forsaken it.

And so the question before you right now Dr. Page is: What are you personally going to do?

Sincerely for Christ’s glory alone,

Pastor Ken Silva
President
Apprising Ministries
www.apprising.org/
Ezekiel 3:7-14