Phil Donahue: "Do you have to be a Christian to get to heaven?"

 
December 18, 2002 

Phil Donahue Live - The Battle Between Two Seeds.

 Phil Donahue: "Do you have to be a Christian to get to heaven?"

That was the title of the live, nationally broadcast, TV show done last night, Tuesday, December 17, 2002, in New York City. It would have been better titled, "Elijah meets the Prophets of Baal!"

Christianity went on trial last night with Phil Donahue sitting as the presiding judge. "Donahue Live" is the last gasp of this tumbling star to keep himself on television. The program has been in the ratings cellar for months, and Phil is doing everything he can to stay on. He pulled out all the stops last night by picking a subject and bringing in a cast of characters that were certain to bring an explosion:

Phil Donahue: There are not many who have done more damage to the Gospel of Christ than this man. He commanded a huge audience at one time. Many think of him as a Christian. He is not! Thousands of children are dead because he helped his largely female audience to believe that abortion is a good thing. He has been a very affable instrument in the hands of the devil.

Dr. Albert Moehler: President of Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, KY. He is a soft-spoken man who loves Christ and can give a reason for his faith.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: Author of "Judaism is for Everybody." He is filled with a bitter hatred toward Christianity. He views Jews as victims of Christian bigotry and racism. He is basically a Sadducee in his religious belief. This man would be better as a stand-up comic, throwing "one-liners" and sarcastic epithets at his audience. Shmuley is the master of ad hominem (name-calling) attack.

Dr. Michael Brown: A Messianic Jew. He radiated the love of Christ in his countenance and spoke well of Him and for Him.

Dr. Joe Hough: President of Union Theological Seminary in Manhattan. He believes that there are many avenues to heaven. He interprets the Bible any way he wants to and then calls it, "historical criticism." I would have no trouble with this man if he would simply relegate himself to being a social worker, but for him to claim Christianity and to be the President of a theological Seminary is an abomination. He is a wolf, preaching a different gospel, by a different spirit.

Flip Benham: Christian

The import of this particular program cannot be overestimated because, for the first time, we were able to see, on national TV, the battle that is raging for the heart of our nation and the hearts and souls of our children. It is a battle between two worldviews. There is absolutely no compromise, no middle ground, no reaching across the aisle between the two. This battle, which began in heaven in Satan's rebellion, has now moved to the earth and is dividing the hearts of men. It has no ethnic, geographic, or socio-economic boundaries. It is a battle over life and death!

Genesis 3:15 frames the battle as one between two seeds - the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heal." The Bible tells us that there will be two seeds growing simultaneously on this earth, each vying for control of the planet. They will hate each other and one, though His heal be bruised, will ultimately crush the head of the other. Jesus wins!

This battle has raged throughout the pages of history and the Bible since Satan's rebellion in heaven. It is not a battle that any of us on earth started, but it is one that requires each of us to choose whose side we will be on. This is what we saw on Phil Donahue last night - the battle between these two seeds. Christianity versus the world and all of its false religions.

The seed of the serpent says something like this: "My rights, my body, my choice. I do what I want whenever I want. I am the captain of my ship, the master of my fate. I determine for myself what is good and what is bad. My one commandment is, 'Don't judge me!'"

The seed of the woman, on the other hand, says something like this: "Not my will, but Thine be done. You were bought with a price, you are not your own, therefore glorify God in your body. My body does not belong to me, but to God. I will lay my rights and my body down for Him and for my brothers and sisters who are hurting in this world. The God of the Bible is my Judge"

The program opened with Phil questioning Rabbi Shmuley and Dr. Moehler. It was apparent from the outset that Shmuley was of the "seed of the serpent." He immediately attacked Dr. Moehler (seed of the woman) as a "spiritual racist who makes Jews sit in the back of a heavenly bus, while drinking from that good old boy 'white only' fountain, wanting a spiritual lynching so Jewish souls will burn in hell forever." Then he ranted, "Stop the racism. Stop the bigotry." The bitterness and hatred that poured through Shmuley and his animus toward Christianity was demonic. It was impossible for him to conceal his hatred for Christ and those who represent Him.

Phil then turned to a young Christian girl (the seed of the woman) with a beautiful smile. She quoted John 3:16 and said that she believed Jesus was the only way to heaven. Phil (the seed of the serpent) badgered her, "But if Jesus is the only way - aren't you concerned about hurting other people's feelings? Isn't it a little arrogant to say, 'I know and you don't?'"

She then, smile still intact, quoted John 14:6 "…I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Phil now moved in for the kill. "You believe that people are less holy than you, less good than you." Sensing the approval of the audience, he silently mocked her faith.

I thought she was going to crumble but she didn't. She said, "This is my faith!" I was so proud of her. She stood for Jesus when the entire world was telling her to sit down. Her smile remained intact throughout the show. Her witness was unintimidated by the roar of the lion.

Phil continued to drag Jesus' Name through the mud in his affable way and then introduced Joe Hough (seed of the serpent) from Union Theological Seminary. He began, "Our God is too small. I am a Christian. I believe Jesus is the one who showed me the way. But I would be the last person to be so arrogant as to assert that my god has so little imagination that 'she or he' could not reach out to other people in other ways." Donahue quipped, "You speak for me."

By this time I was beside myself in Charlotte, waiting for my turn to weigh in to the battle. I began to realize how far from God we, as a nation, had moved. I also began to realize the call for true men of God to stand up and be counted for Jesus. The young Christian lady, with the smile, stood alone for her Lord, but where were the "forceful" Christian men who would take the Gospel battle to the gates of hell - Donahue Live!

The two men of God, Dr Moehler and Dr. Brown (seeds of the woman), were very sharp in their theology but far too "nice" as salvo after salvo was fired at their Savior Jesus. To their credit, they could hardly get a word in edgewise with the scorning foolishness of Rabbi Shmuley firing his litany of one-liners. The seed of the serpent will do anything to keep the truth suppressed.

Phil placed the microphone in the face of a grandfatherly man who pleaded, "People need to learn to live together and give up greed. Maybe we could have heaven on earth. We've got to stop fighting among each other!" This got applause, and I understand this man's desire to see us all just get along, but it will never happen when we have an enemy (the seed of the serpent) robbing, killing, and destroying. One cannot peacefully coexist with Adolf Hitler - it is either you or him. The seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman cannot peacefully coexist together.

One lady from Great Britain lamented, "I feel so saddened that all religions can't live in harmony around the world because of fundamentalists and fanatics like these (she was referring to Dr. Moehler, Dr. Brown, and me). We are listening to Christians more fanatical than Muslims." Phil chimed in, "This woman speaks for me."

It has always intrigued me that, so long as one is searching for the truth, he is proclaimed to be a reasonable and open-minded man. But, as soon as he finds the truth and proclaims it, he is instantly branded a judgmental bigot and fanatic. This is our plight as Christians and we should not shy from it. There is a right and there is a wrong. Jesus is right and the whole world is wrong! There, I've said it! I feel so much better now.

One motherly lady said, "The saddest part of this discourse is the children who are being brought up by these bigots (referring to Dr. Moehler, Dr. Brown, and myself)." Another young lady just out of college said, "I feel very sad for all this hatred and combat." Neither of these realizes the spiritual nature of the battle we are in on this earth, nor how it is savaging us as a people. Jesus is the only answer to sin, Satan and his evil schemes. Satan is a liar and a murderer. He is leading the whole world astray. He must be dealt with by forceful men of God.

A young Catholic teen pronounced, "As a Catholic I believe that everyone can get to heaven. That some religions offer the best way to get to heaven which is Jesus and God. However, there are other means to get there and if you are a good person and do good things you can get there." It is almost as if all truth is relative in the generation that is coming up. This young man has missed the Gospel message so profoundly that it makes my heart hurt.

I will close with this. One lady stated, quite proudly, "I am a Christian. I believe the only way to heaven is Jesus. I also believe in reincarnation." Syncretism (joining all religions together - one is just as good as the other) and eclecticism (picking and choosing i.e., smorgasbord Christianity) is making spiritual eunuchs out of the men of God. Our Lord's lambs are being led astray, while the men of God are far too concerned about appearing judgmental. Christianity and reincarnation do not go hand in hand. Men of God need to say this! We need to be forceful in the face of the enemy.

If there has ever been a time for a line to be drawn in the sand it is now. We need the Elijah spirit to come upon us as Christian men and say, "How long will you waiver between two opinions? If the Lord is God follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him." I Kings 18:21. It is the seed of the serpent vs. the Seed of the woman. The battle that we fight in our nation is a battle over, "Who is Lord!" It is not about abortion, homosexuality, Islam or any of the various physical manifestations of the battle. The real fight is over, who is Lord and whose laws reign. We need forceful men to take a forceful stand for Jesus Christ and unashamedly proclaim that He is God and apart from Him there is no other.

It is as we do this that the gates of hell will be pushed back. Life will be restored in the streets. Joy and peace will return to the American heart. And the seed of the woman will crush the head of the seed of the serpent.

Be encouraged to fight the good fight! Thank you all for your prayers!

In Christian love,

Flip