We had an entirely different program written and ready to present to you, but at 3 PM this afternoon, I was overcome to speak to a situation that ought to serve as one of the biggest supports for fulfilled eschatology in the face of church playing which includes the game of who’s holy, who’s accountable, and who’s in charge.
If you have watched us in the past decade, you know that we stand firmly on the biblically described New Testament as the time when God would write His Laws on the hearts and minds of people and that there would be no reason to cry, “Know the Lord, know the Lord,” or to create shakable empires because His Law in individuals is not.
The Failure of Organized Religion
The Frank and Direct Approach
What I am going to speak about tonight will be frank and direct – I will not hold back – but my directness is NOT an act of condemnation but instead one of great sadness, revelation, and what I believe is the need to illustrate why and how playing church is such a fail in almost every case of organized religion.
Of course, defenders of religion will not appreciate my interpretation, but I’ve yet to have any of them supply reasonable contextual biblical answers to what we see as the scripture making clear.
The Story of Adam’s Road
On September 9th, 2009, we had a musical ministry guest on our show that called themselves Adam’s Road. They performed this musical testimony for our audience and played at one of our Heart in the Parks. Seven years later, on October 11th, 2016, Adam’s Road was touring through Utah, and we had them on the show again (Show 42 2016).
From my heart, I have always loved these guys – truly – as I found them sincere, their witness heartfelt, and their testimony of God changing them – especially their leader, Micah Wilder, who was changed on his LDS mission, so inspiring. We’ve supported them in word and deed since they hit the ministry scene about the time we did.
The Problem with Church Playing
The Issue of Accountability
We, like hundreds of not even thousands of churches across the USA, showed them hospitality while they reached millions with their witness. Here’s a sample of what they brought to so many people over about 18 years of ministry.
Now understand, clearly, unlike the religionists of most institutions (not all, but most) who insist on trying to suggest that human beings are good and can be looked to as holy, worthy, or entitled to preach, teach, or share with others, I don’t believe it and so I don’t judge people who have what people call sin – because we are all guilty continually – from the Pope and prophet to the lowliest deacons.
The Example of Adam’s Road
What I am doing, however, is to use Adam’s Road as a perfect example of how people play church, how ineffective it is, how sola scriptura is a fail and why God’s way described in the Bible is superior to what has been collectively done for nearly 2000 years.
Understand, Adam’s Road was completely received as worthy emissaries of the Gospel by the religious leaders who claim they should have been held accountable to local church leadership.
And what I am about to describe was not a one-off, not a failure of a man or woman getting lusty. It was something I believe ought to help prove God’s point all along – church and church playing is over.
The Testimony of Micah Wilder
Micah Wilder testimony – he was on His LDS mission to Florida and through a pastor came to know the real Jesus. This led him to helping bring his mom and dad, Lynn and Michael Wilder, his older brother Matt, and his sister Katie out from Mormonism too, and where all of them would then enter into ministry to share the good news.
Micah and his older brother Matt are musically inclined and formed a group and were sponsored by a man named Max, who I have met several times and who always kept a low profile as their lowly bus driver.
The Downfall
The Revelation
Apparently, this lowly bus driver – a man who fancied himself something of a prophet behind closed doors (and who was a fervent dispensationalist preaching the end is coming through insipid exegesis) gifted or gave a hotel in Florida to Micah and the ministry where they would all live communally while the women married to the band would take care of the rentals and such.
Upon returning from his mission to Florida, another young man named Joseph, who I have always loved dearly, had some personal disappointments upon his return to Utah where his family lives, and at the invitation of Micah, Joseph left Utah and joined Micah, Matt, and at that time, Jay and Steve Kay who lived in Florida and made up Adams Road.
The story I am about to tell comes directly from Joseph’s firsthand witness and direct participation in all I will say.
The Unveiling
So, Joseph goes to Florida, and after a few months of getting to know Max better, Max came to him and revealed that he sensed in Joseph “lust.” He ultimately explained to Joseph that there was a way that God could use Joseph’s lust by way of him performing a “service.”
What service was this? By allowing Max to orally copulate him so that Max, who claimed to be testosterone deficient and unable to receive it intravenously, could receive the testosterone needed to thrive. Joseph, being obviously gullible or extremely lusty, agreed and gave Max a donation. This went on for months until Joseph started feeling guilty, and he went to Max and explained these feelings to which Max replied something to the effect of, “It’s okay, Joseph, just talk to Micah, he gives to me too.”
The Continuation of Sin
The Secret Practices
Over the next 10 to 15 YEARS – while they are on the road, preaching to churches about their witness, they were doing what they commonly referred to between each other as, “giving to Max.” Somewhere in these years, a man in Mexico asked Adam’s Road if they could send a young girl in their care to live with them as she had been a victim of religious abuse and was a huge fan of Adams Road. They agreed, and Lila came to live with them in the hotel, and she became the object of Micah’s desire.
Some time passes after the early donations are made, and Max seems to notice that Joseph’s interest in these donations was waning; using his prophetic gifts, he took Joseph aside and once again said that he noticed both a fading interest in giving donations but a remaining lust. Joseph, feeling like he was exposed, admitted to always having desires for Lila but also had yearning for Micah’s wife.
The Climactic Incident
The Betrayal
So, the old prophet Max said something like, “I’ll take care of this,” and he got Micah to agree to share his wife with Joseph sexually. So they go out to some remote part of Florida on land that Max owned to have them wed/or sealed to each other – the language I am unsure of. But, Max demands that Micah and Joseph, who are asking Micah’s wife to share herself with, must first sacrifice themselves too. And the way that they would do this was for Micah and Joseph to orally copulate each other – before the sealing or wedding.
And they agree – while Max watches. Then they go on to get married or wed or sealed, and then Joseph gets to take Micah’s wife sexually in front of them.
The Continuation
So, years pass – and along the way, Joseph starts in on his desire for Lila – the 18-year-old placed in their care. But Micah won’t share Lila – and so Micah, his wife, Joseph, and Max (nobody else in the band or hotel was aware) would get together and zoom exchanges that would take place over what appears to go on for 8 to 10 years or more.
A few years ago, Micah, his wife, Max, Joseph, and Katie decided to buy land in Kentucky and build a school of sorts. This took Micah out of town, and so Joseph would go unto their shared wife and get busy while Micah would watch through zoom or something.
The Confrontation
One night, Joseph returned from such a romp, and his dear, beautiful wife, Katie, asked him where he had been. Joseph lied, and she called him out, saying she heard his voice in her brother’s bedroom with her brother’s wife. Joseph somehow got out of her presence and frantically went back to their room and got on zoom, and Micah created a story to tell his sister and told Joseph to tell her that they were planning her surprise birthday party.
When Joseph went back and dropped this on Katie, she cried tears of guilt for ever being suspicious of Joseph, and it was this reaction that caused Joseph to finally, after something like 16 to 18 years of constant sexual deviance, to leave Adam’s Road, move back to Utah with Katie, and start a new life.
It was in the face of interviewing for a job as a youth pastor at a couple of different churches that Joseph came clean. The Pastors in charge had Joseph read his confession to his wife and parents, Lynn and Michael Wilder, and that was when the wheels came off the bus for them.
At the same time, the pastors thought it best to confront Micah in Kentucky face to face (by the way, this is a picture of the school they were in the middle of building).
And they got him to meet them at a restaurant where he denied everything (initially), and then when confronted with more evidence, admitted to everything except his involvement with Lila, who had been touring with them for years.
From the letter:
The Personal Confession of Former Adam’s Road Member Micah Wilder
For nearly 18 years, I served as a member of Adam’s Road, proclaiming the Gospel of Christ through my personal testimony of leaving the LDS Church and coming to faith in Jesus. I shared my story from hundreds of pulpits, through countless outlets online, and in my own book, Passport to Heaven. My testimony has been seen and heard by millions of people around the world. I have prided myself as a witness of the Gospel, a faithful husband, and a loving father.
But I have failed. Catastrophically.
I confess, with unbearable shame and embarrassment, that I have been involved in reprehensible sexual misconduct and moral failing during my time in ministry.
NOTE: This line was reworded to say:
“that I have engaged in reprehensible sexual misconduct and moral failing throughout my time in ministry, the severity of which cannot be overstated.” and a line that read, “I have mocked the cross of Christ by indulging in the gratification of my own flesh, to the destruction of myself and those I love. (was REMOVED)
I have betrayed the trust that was placed in me by my family, friends, partners in ministry, publisher, and those of you from all over the world who have embraced me as an ambassador for Christ. Like the prodigal son, I abandoned my place at my Father’s house and squandered my inheritance in the world, and in the end I found myself face down in the mire with the pigs. I am disgusted by what I have done. I am sickened by the many innocent people who have been caught up in the humiliation of my sin and punished along with me. They should not have to carry the weight of my transgression. I am ashamed of myself and my foolish actions. I truly am a wretched man.
God’s truth brings all things to light. The light has shone in the darkness and exposed the works of evil in my life. I take full, unequivocal responsibility for the ungodly deeds in which I have engaged, the details of which have been fully revealed to those in my spiritual oversight. Since my iniquity has been exposed, I have been under the counsel of mature Christian men whom God has graciously placed in my life to help guide me down the long and painful road of repentance and restoration.
When this all began, and when God brought my wrongdoing to light, I felt as though I was drowning in a treacherous sea of my sin, the waves of which were relentlessly pounding upon my soul and crashing over my head. With each passing moment I felt the crushing weight of my own guilt and disgrace bear down upon me without reprieve. For a time, it seemed impossible not to hate myself and feel as though I would never climb out of the pit of despair, or to not think that I had sinned so greatly that the grace of God could no longer reach me where I was. In moments of doubt, I was convinced I was lost beyond salvation and that God could never forgive me for the evil I had committed. I knew I deserved death and hell. I was in the darkest of nights with no light of hope before me. My life seemed over. I wanted it all to end.
Throughout this excruciating season of being pressed under the agony of my transgression, I experienced a heart-rending sorrow that only God knows. I cried out to Him all through the day and night, mourning and groaning because of the tumult of my heart. I wept uncontrollably as the firm hand of the Lord came down upon me. I could see so plainly the depth of my sin and wickedness as I bowed down prostrate before God Almighty. My anguish was like an unquenchable burning fire. God was correcting me, chastising me, and disciplining me with His strong but loving hand. I have been broken and humbled through my fear of God and His holiness. I have been naked before the throne of the Lord, my sin laid bare before Him, willing and ready to be punished for my iniquity; for I am an unworthy worm. I have thrown myself at the mercy of His righteous judgment.
As I waded through this tremendous suffering and anguish of my soul, God’s marvelous light eventually pierced through the darkness. Through the power of God’s Word, I was reminded of what I had been sharing to the world for nearly two decades: God is love, and in that love, He sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins. Yes, even mine. As King David proclaimed, “The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death” (Psalm 118:18). Within God’s great mercy, He has offered me forgiveness through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. He has offered me hope and life, redemption and restoration. And He showed me that the power of Christ’s cleansing blood is greater than my treachery. “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin” (Romans 4:7-8). All of my sins have been cast into the depths of the sea. Praise be to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! Truly, He cleanses the unrighteous and liberates the captive. He remembers our sins no more.
Although I had boldly proclaimed God’s grace in Christ for many years, it was not until I was at the bottom of the pit of despair, my life hanging by a thread, that I truly realized the depth of God’s steadfast love toward me, the chief of all sinners. Nor could I previously comprehend the infinite cost that Jesus of Nazareth paid for my sins as He was beaten, maligned, and crucified for me. Jesus endured an unimaginable pain to pay the full penalty of my sin as He bled and died on the cross. That price even includes the most horrific sins of mankind. This is the greatest expression of love we can ever know, and nothing-not even our sin—can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. This love is my salvation.
I want you all to know that I won’t allow the atrocities of my sin to define me. God’s grace is greater than the worst of our sin, and Christ suffered unspeakable pain for the sake of that sin so that we could be forgiven through faith in Him. I am more resolved now than ever to be a witness of His great love in whatever capacity He can use me in my weakness. Every day the Lord is mercifully pruning my heart, mind, and flesh. He is gathering all the evil within my body of death and burning it with the chaff. It is extremely painful, but in this corrective pain I praise God for loving me enough to change me and not leave me where I was. God is faithful to the end.
For years I have confidently witnessed that Jesus is enough. Even though I have always believed that statement with all my heart, I’m not certain that I fully understood what it meant. Now, as I sit with my earthly life crashing and burning all around me, I have to believe now more than ever that Jesus alone is sufficient for me. And as I suffer the loss of all things because of my own wickedness against God, I have nothing left but the hold fast to Jesus alone. And I won’t let go of Him, nor He of me. I have come to Him, one who was heavy laden, and He has carried my burden. In Him, I find rest.
No matter what happens, I will not deny my testimony of Christ, His Word, and His Gospel, nor will I deny the power of God to have worked through me despite my horrific shortcomings. God’s goodness is infinitely greater than my evil. The wrong I have done does not invalidate the indisputable truth that the Bible is the Word of God; Jesus is God in the flesh who died for the sins of the world on a cross, was buried, and rose on the third day; and by faith in Christ, sinful man can be reconciled to God. This is Good News for all people.
To the lost, broken, sinful, hopeless, and destitute, wherever you are and whatever you have done: Jesus loves you! He died for you. He paid the ultimate price to set you free from your sin. There is nothing you have done for which Christ did not die, and no road traveled from which He cannot rescue you. You are not too far gone. In Christ, there is always hope. Remember the words of Jesus: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32). Admittedly, I never fully felt I could relate to the stories of the prodigal son, the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the adulteress woman cast before the feet of Jesus. But now I can, because I am each one. I see that I am the most wretched of all sinners, and yet God has redeemed me, and He can and will redeem you if you turn to Him and trust in His forgiveness. No one is beyond the reaches of His amazing grace. That is my testimony now.
This has been the greatest test of faith I have ever experienced in my life. No matter what happens from this moment forward, or what earthly loss I may incur, this is my commitment: I will not stop serving the Lord of lords and King of Kings, nor will I cease to be a witness of His love and mercy. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is the Savior of all who believe in His Name. He is King, and He is returning soon. Repent, and trust in Him alone for your salvation. If you do, you will have life eternal.
“The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”
Psalm 103:8-13
Grace and peace.
The Role of Judgment
Do I stand as judge or jury over Micah, his wife, Joseph, or even Max? Not ever.
My complaint is not with their sin – they claim Jesus, they do what they do, it’s all between them and God. I don’t like it. I don’t agree with it in any way shape or form. And I feel great pain for all of them – from the guilty to the innocent.
Points of Engagement
But where I do find myself willing to engage is on the following points:
The Letter
- This letter is a perfect example of the foolishness of playing church. They are words. His words are suspect in light of the facts. He wrote them, in my estimation, from a place of seeking to appease men, but his heart is far from the reality.
- How can I say this? Because if he believes that these 18 years of sin can be justified by HIS explanation of how forgiveness comes about, his only response would be to entirely drop OUT from any type of ministry activity and to disappear in shame.
- But that is not what he offered. First, he was caught. Second, he lied when caught. Third, he writes a letter verging on the words of Paul or Alma, “Oh wretched man than I am,” but before the letter is over, he preaches on how to be!
- He has since pulled back, dug his heels into the sand, returned to Florida where Lila, his girlfriend, has joined him and now is trying to convince people that polygamy is Biblical!
The Response
We will get to this in a moment.
But while all of this was going on, the pastors involved (or one or more of them) decided to hold some sort of meeting here in Utah to decide how this should be handled. Sandra Tanner was there, and all the main players of religion. Their assessment of the matter?
They should have been under the authority of a local church AND they should have had time pass before they entered into ministry.
This is the standard church players keep turning to – they did it in the case of Ravi Zacharias and they did it in this case of Adam’s Road.
How about doing what the Bible actually describes and leaving all the church playing where it belongs, trust no man, refuse to believe that anyone is worthy and shake the churches to the dust they ought to never have been created from!
The Problem with Man
This is NOT a problem caused by lack of accountability or failing to belong to a local church (they were involved in a local church in Florida).
It is a problem with MAN – men and women and their inability to be or do what Christ was and did.
I mean while these guys (men) were performing fellatio on other men, sharing a wife and another girl entrusted to their care sexually, and with the same mouths proclaiming liberty in Christ in hundreds of churches and to millions of people who looked up to them.
THAT IS the problem – they were allowed to be looked up to. They were heralded as ambassadors for Christ as if worthy.
That is church playing. That is hypocrisy. And that is what Micah Wilder is trying to go right back to doing with a second wife!
False Accountability
These men are said to have “received wise counsel” from “Godly men” who have placed the blame for their actions on:
- Them not being under any local church authority (but they were) and
- Being too fresh out of Mormonism to do ministry right?
It has NOTHING to do with either. That is just more religious nonsense that only serves to cover a deeper layer.
Micah’s Return
So now we come to the fact that Micah is trying to get back into the game by saying all the right things, but because he apparently can’t let go of the young woman, is preaching that polygamy is biblical.
This whole mess, the thing itself, the way it has been handled and now the outcome, could not be more revelatory and important to all we have been saying for over a decade now.
The Bible and the Spirit
The Call to Follow the Bible
See, if we are going to claim to follow the Bible as if it was written to us and continue to refuse to make the Spirit and its fruit PRIMARY, we are going to have to allow the Bible to make the rules.
This is what all of Christianity proposes, isn’t it? Follow the Bible! But who really does?
The leader of this group is actually following it more than all of you who judge him because polygamy is in the Bible. So, the question becomes, who gets to say it’s no longer a practice God allows?
A group of men? A nation of men and women? Do numbers of people matter if God allowed it at one time and we can prove this through sound biblical exegesis?
The Importance of Eschatology
From the ashes of this illogical but historical point of view, the importance of right eschatology and the absolute fulfillment of material biblical practices become more than readily apparent.
Why? How?
Prior to Christ having the victory over sin, death, hell, and Satan, human beings were for the most part warped in their thinking – warped way out of whack from what God intended when He created them.
So while God was working on an overall plan to bring us back to His intended state, all biblical characters – especially in the Old Testament – were operating outside of the regenerative spirit of Christ that moves us independently and subjectively.
This is because the world had not been reconciled to God yet and therefore nobody was being fully governed by His Spirit.
The Role of Faith
So again, prior to His momentous victory, which was initiated at the cross, validated at His resurrection, and completely victorious upon His return with reward for His Bride and destruction for the rest, all people – Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon – all, were operating primarily by the spirit of man within them, including the culture of Man, and it was ONLY their faith that justified them before the living God.
None of them had the embodiment of the Spirit moving them to constantly try to bear the fruit of agape love.
All of them chose faith from a personal but “fallen” framework.
The Bible is a record that was written BEFORE the reconciliation of God to the world through His Son which, once it occurred, took the entire world back to the Garden of Eden (spiritually) by giving all people new life – whether they choose good or evil – it’s up to them – whether they call themselves ambassadors of Christ or not.
The Spirit of Love
Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel – none of them possessed this Spirit because the Bible was written when the fulfilling spirit of love was not yet in operation!
So, what does the Bible describe? It describes an unfortunate age where Man was depraved in most of their ways and God was working to bring forth this victory for the world.
Biblical Practices
And what does the Bible that people consult today include?
- Concubines and wives! (Not part of the Garden setting).
- Slavery! (Not part of the Garden scene.)
- Laws like cutting off your wife’s hand if she accidentally, in the process of defending you, grabs your assailant by the balls? (Not part of the Garden)
- Suspicious husband making their wives drink a substance that will make her sick if they even suspected she was unfaithful? (Not part of the Garden)
- Permitted prostitution? (Not part of the Garden)
- The suppression of women! (Not part of the Garden)
- Marrying half-sisters (Not part of the Garden)
- Sacrificing of animals! (Not until after the Fall was it part of the Garden)
Imagine just for a moment that this Sunday, all Christian churches around the world take their congregations out on the lawn where they watch a bull being hacked to pieces in front of them – I mean blood everywhere, right – then they light a fire and eat the best parts while the rest was consumed on the fire!
The Reaction
What would the reaction around the world be to this? Repulsion, right?
But, “it’s in the Bible, right?”
Yes! And this is my point. Because something is in the Bible does not by any stretch of the imagination mean it is for us today.
This is how Micah Wilder had beaten the Evangelicals at their own game of sola scriptura, and so the only recourse men playing religion have in response is to suggest that these guys need to be under authority, need to be accountable, or need to read the patristic fathers!
Worst of all, God Himself put an end to this as described in the Bible as applicable in our day!
The Role of Right Eschatology
The Value of Right Eschatology
This is where right eschatology proves itself utterly invaluable and needed more today than at any other time.
Why? Because all people are now led by the Spirit primarily, through Christ’s victorious resurrection, and every single person is now responsible to evidence the fruit of that Spirit which is agape love.
This is where both Evangelicalism, the pastors that counseled Micah, and Micah himself are shown to be errant.
We are NOT governed by written words in a book applied to ancient peoples. That was for them/then. The Spirit, and its fruit, which is selfless, sacrificial, and insufferable love, guides alone.
Micah ought to be automatically excused from any Christian ministry based on his failing love for others, including his wife, his sons, his parents, the 18-year-old, and all the millions who looked to him and who he is trying to get to look to him again.
The Bible and Agape Love
Polygamy
Slavery
Animal Sacrifice
Misogyny
Cutting of hands of ball touchers
Marrying sisters
All in the Bible, cannot guide.
Agape love is the litmus test. Period.
Not sinful men in supposed authority (which are also in the Bible)
Nor keeping the Law (which is in the Bible)
Nor eating restrictions (which are in the Bible)
Or gathering together to take communion (which is also in the Bible)
Nor any OTHER material practice or demand!!
Sola Scriptura has never ever worked and it was never supposed to.
But appealing to the Bible, Micah has outbibled the biblicists – just like the founder of Mormonism.
And they both pushed the errant Evangelical voice of Sola Scriptura right back into all the so-called Bible-preaching churches’ faces!
The Spirit of God in the Modern World
The Spirit’s Influence
Ironically, the very Spirit of God in the reconciled world is moving even unbelievers to shun and mock misogyny, and polygamy, and animal sacrifice, and slavery, and all the other biblical practices done by a people who were not recipients of the Spirit of the finished work of His Son.
But they are recipients – even non-believers – of His light.
We either use the Bible as the Bible or we don’t and walk by the Spirit given to all men.
If you want to be biblical, be biblical, but if you say you are, you should be willing to follow it all.
The Morality of Biblical Figures
The morality of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and all the others would not only be anathema in the modern church today but also, believe this or not, in modern society, which now has His Spirit!
The Bible is a story of how we got to where we are, not where we are supposed to be.
The Interaction of Spirit and Evil
There is nothing that prevents that spirit from interacting with anyone, no matter how evil they are, for the simple reason their evil has been paid and all of us are now free to pursue Life or not!
The Necessity of Correct Eschatology
Universal Resurrection
This view is only possible through a correct view of eschatology.
We have all experienced a resurrection – the living and the dead – it was a universal resurrection that began at the material destruction of Israel.
In the physical, we have spiritual life here and now to some extent – where in the heavenly reality, the spiritual resurrection will be fully understood.
To those who fail to walk in real faith and love, to a very limited degree. To those who do, in its fullest expression.
The Call
You believe in the need to repent today for your miserable sin, Micah? Walk from your ministry efforts, honor your wife and kids, and wear a scarlet letter on your chest of an M – not of a sinner, but of a religious manipulator of the worst kind.
Let’s open up the phone lines.
