PROMISE KEEPERS MEMPHIS '96

PROMISE KEEPERS MEMPHIS '86

By Jerry Huffman

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October 24, 1996 (Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - The following report is by Jerry Huffman, Editor, Calvary Contender, Calvary Baptist Church, 1800 Sparkman Drive, Huntsville, Alabama 35816 --

The Promise Keepers Men's Conference in Memphis, Tenn., Oct. 11-12 was one of 22 such conferences this year. This reporter was granted Press credentials and attended the Saturday sessions as part of the media, but was unable to attend the two Friday night sessions.

The Liberty Bowl stadium was filled almost to capacity. More than 52,000 registered in advance at $60 per person. The fee for those paying on the day of the conference was $70 per person. More than $3 million was expected to be generated that weekend through ticket sales alone. About 1800 from Adrian Rogers' Bellevue Baptist Church attended. PK's goal is to have one million men at Washington, DC next year. It has committed $1 million to rebuild burned churches.

SPEAKERS: Conference speakers included: Bishop Charles Blake, pastor of the 12,000-member West Angeles Church of God in Christ; Promise Keepers founder Bill McCartney; Dr. John Trent, team teacher with Gary Smalley, and president of Encouraging Words, a marriage and family ministry out of Phoenix, Arizona; Dr. Gary Oliver, Clinical Director of Southwest Counseling Associates in Littleton, Colorado; Dr. Charles Colson, Prison Fellowship founder and chairman; Dr. Ramesh Richard, president of RREACH International and professor at Dallas Theological Seminary; and Dr. A. R. Bernard, Sr., Pastor of New York Christian Life Centre.

OTHER PERFORMERS: Rick Kingham, PK Vice-President of National Field Ministries, was the Master of Ceremonies. Dennis Agajanian and band did a concert, and also performed in the PK Exhibits area. Donnie McClurkin was listed as a "Minister of Music," and Donn Thomas as a "Worship Leader." The Maranatha! Promise Band performed. Miles McPherson was a Youth Break Out speaker.

SESSIONS: Bishop Blake was the first keynote speaker. The Memphis Commercial Appeal said of the Friday night session that "the stage, with its lights and television screens and towering stacks of speakers, looked fit for a modern-day rock concert." And, indeed it did. And it often sounded as if one were at a modern-day rock concert. This writer tried to avoid as much of this as possible, in transit from the Press Box, the Exhibit Center, and the stadium, etc.

ASSESSMENT: Promise Keepers will no doubt help some men be better husbands, fathers, and church members. Some have been helped in Billy Graham Crusades also, but that does not excuse the unbiblical methods used. In some cases PK does some good for a local church, but in many others it diverts men into heresy and greatly harms the churches' ministries. PK creates loyalty conflicts in local churches.

For example, some PK churchmen may want the church to worship with Catholics, but the pastor may disagree. PK thus causes divisions!

The Memphis paper said "McCartney's vision when he founded PK in 1991 was "to make men godly through male bonding, family responsibility and racial reconciliation." PK's theme for its 1996 meetings is "Breaking Down the Walls." Promise Number Six of the Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper calls for reaching beyond racial and denominational barriers. The PK Statement on Biblical Reconciliation says PK is "committed to breaking down the walls of racism and denominational divisiveness...." It says: "Morever...we see that Jesus 'destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility' between Jew and Gentile, and, by extension, between brothers of every...denomination."

But God's Word erects fellowship barriers/conditions (1 John 1:7, e.g.), so PK's goal to break down major doctrinal barriers ("walls") is patently unscriptural. At least three times we heard a statement similar to, "I don't care if you're Catholic, Baptist, or whatever denomination, we must unite as brethren, and work together." No warning at all that Roman Catholicism is a false-gospel cult. True believers consider Roman Catholics as OBJECTS of evangelism, not as PARTNERS in ministry. Or, for those Catholics who might be saved, we would strongly exhort them to obey the Word of God and separate from that false religious system.

COLSON'S MESSAGE: Chuck Colson's topic was: "The Unity of the Body: Brothers United in Christ." He said a lot of good things concerning, for example, the government's encroachment on the freedom of Bible-believing Christians today. But he also said division is our sin today, that when we're not one, we' re working against God and there's no evangelism. He said we need to reach across denominational lines, that whatever your denomination, you belong to Jesus. If Catholic, etc., we belong to each other. He said, "I'm proud Mother Teresa's my sister in Christ." Colson is a Southern Baptist, but, last we heard, his wife was Roman Catholic. He is the co-author (with a Catholic priest) of the notorious "Evangelicals and Catholics Together" (ECT) document, and was a recipient of the ignoble 1993 Templeton Prize.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH PROMISE KEEPERS? - In addition to things already mentioned or alluded to--and the seemingly endless hugging, intimate vows to strangers who hold you accountable [accountability CAN be good], and the psychobabble speakers-- two very major, salient concerns are its ecumenism and its rock music. This is partially due to PK's strong roots in John Wimber's Vineyard movement and the charismatic movement. A growing trend, since Amy Grant "crossed over" to secular markets, is to gradually intersperse secular rock songs with "religious rock." Singer Dennis Agajanian is a super-talented rock guitar musician from California. His music was super loud and super rock (with drums and bass, sway and swivel), even on old hymns like, "Nothing but the Blood," or "There Is a Fountain." The whole stadium at times seemed to shake with vibes, and shouts of the men, with the singer at times seeming to have a frenzied and demonic-like look.

IN CONCLUSION: This writer strongly believes that Promise Keepers is a massive and deceptive tool of Satan in his ploy to mix truth and error. An ecumenical organization cannot strengthen a fundamental Bible-believing church. PK has a kernel of truth/good, but it's encased in a toxic shell. Be warned, be wise, beware!