Foundry United Methodist Church Confronted

January, 1998

Foundry United Methodist Church Confronted

For the third consecutive year we confronted Bill Clinton's pastor, Dr. Philip Wogaman, with the truth of the Gospel. The first meeting took place in January 1996 when we confronted him concerning his support of President Clinton’s policy favoring child killing. The second confrontation took place in January 1997 when I introduced Norma McCorvey to Pastor Wogaman and reminded him that God wants to save the homosexual out of his sin and not to affirm him in it. The third divine confrontation took place on Sunday morning, January 25, 1998.

On this first Sunday after the revelations about Monica Lewinsky, Pastor Wogaman's sermon title was "Taking the Bible Seriously." He began by stating that after two centuries of scholarship we can now determine the difference between what the Bible says to us today and those things that apply only to a culture existing centuries ago. He rhetorically asked himself if one should take the Bible literally. His answer: "I don't take the Bible literally. I take the Bible seriously." Thus Pastor Philip Wogaman opened the door wide to biblical modernism. The Bible can mean just about anything you want it to mean and the past two centuries of modern (unbiblical) scholarship will help you in your endeavor.

Is it any wonder then that we have a President who declares his love for God, waves his Bible high with a big smile after church, all the while breaking every single one of His Lord's Ten Commandments? There is no shame. There is no guilt. There is no sense of wrongdoing. Bill Clinton has said, "I am thankful that I can wake up every morning and know that my mistakes are forgiven. I am glad I serve the God of a second chance." Where do you suppose he gets this idea?

He has a pastor like Philip Wogaman. He has friends like Dr. Tony Campolo, Dr. Rex Horne, and Dr. Bill Hybels who remind him over and over again that he is okay, that Jesus died for him and that the blood He shed on Calvary washes away all sin. This counsel is true, but it is only one half of the truth. The half they leave out is a treachery to the President. In order for one to receive the forgiveness of sins, he must first be confronted with his sin, confess it, and then repent of it. It is only as one comes to grip with one’s own sinfulness that the mercy and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ can be applied.

President Clinton needs true friends who love him enough to confront him (wound him) with the truth of God's Word that he might confess and repent and find true forgiveness and healing in Jesus. "Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses." Pr 27:5-6. His pastor and friends do not love him enough to wound him with the truth so they multiply kisses because they are afraid! They are afraid of losing their access to the President. They are afraid that, with a false sense of compassion, the first couple have suffered enough already. They are afraid that mean spirited media and political enemies might undo him. Perfect love however, casts out all fear. If you truly love someone, sometimes the kindest thing you can do is tell him the truth.

The Bible tells us that "...the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel." Pr 12:10b The wicked are not those who are totally debauched but those who depart from God's principles and God's Law in order to lessen the pain of confrontation and keep one's self-esteem intact. This is the ultimate form of cruelty. The President’s spiritual counselors are cruel! For in their false sense of compassion, the President's men attempt to cleanse his wound as though it were not serious. In so doing, they allow the cancer of sin that is destroying him, his family and our nation to continue doing its horrible work. "The wages of sin is death..." Rom 3:23.

I spoke to pastor Wogaman about this after the first service and pointed out his unwillingness to truly love President Clinton. He recognized me and told me that I did not know what he had done to help the President. I responded that if he loved President Clinton he would have spoken to him long ago about his adulterous life-style, acceptance of homosexuality, and willingness to kill little babies in their mother's wombs. If he had loved him back then, perhaps the President would not be in the horrific position of having to defend and lie about his adulterous life-style. Pastor Wogaman said, "Good-bye!"

Flip Benham