Out there in evangelical-land there’s a group of young men gaining traction and attention – from TBN, book publishers, revival promoters, and a whole lot of females. The whole thing is giving me the heebie jeebies. A few pulpiteers in the Bunker have posted occasional Facebook videos from these fellas, and not only are they chocked full of really, really bad theology, but there’s something, well…dark about it.
First, Blake Reynolds. Reynold’s claim to fame, initially was that his big brother was a reality tv star (if there is such a thing) for the show, Big Brother. Local boy in a small town makes it big, his brother rides the shirt-tails to glory using his own unique talent – talking about Jesus while looking really cool. The depth of Blake’s teaching is, well…this was posted yesterday.
The world, of course, has no trouble loving. In fact, 2 Timothy 3 bad makes that clear.
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud,arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
And sadly, there are 197 people who liked that comment, demonstrating they are really, really far from Biblical literacy – which is, I suspect, part of the strategy of Blake Reynolds. The world, of course, loves their own (John 15:19).
Just as concerning, is that the comments and “likes” on Reynold’s Facebook page – as always – are largely women (I’m estimating by an 8 or 9 to 1 ratio). And, of course, you can see those with rainbow colored avatars as you see in this screenshot. Yes, Reynolds has a healthy percentage of gay or gay-affirming followers that ‘amen’ his statuses.
In fact, the followers are, indeed, disturbing. Consider this post from today, in which he gave this really deep thought about the Pope. 
Who likes the status? Well, see for yourself…
Carol, Sandy, Dorothy, Kelsey, Linsi, Vanessa, Barbara, Kimbra, Ashley, Terry, Diane, Tabitha, Robyn, Heather, Lanay, Kimberly, Melanie, Kim, Mariska, Lisa, Jessica, Angela, Marietta, Renee, Kimberly, Carla, Mariah, Melly…you get the point. Oh, and Robert. Let’s not forget Robert.
But on second thought, given the number of rainbow avatars who follow and share Reynold’s videos, maybe we should worry about Robert, after all.
Do you see a trend? There is a very disturbing, overt, highly noticeable “demographic” following Blake Reynolds and his more prominent friend, Clayton Jennings (an up-and-coming evangelist). They’re followed not exclusively, but almost exclusively, by women – particularly young ones. Maybe it’s the clothing lines and that they fancy themselves as designers. Hey, who isn’t a designer these days? If Kanye can do it…
THAT’S CLAYTON, MODELING HIS SHIRT (VERY MODEST, IF I DO SAY SO, MYSELF).
Or maybe its their jewelry line.
Or it could be the endless photos they post of themselves with 14 different kinds of Instagram filters that they regularly post (who on Earth is taking these photos?).
Or maybe it’s Clayton’s burgeoning career on the TBN Word-Faith market, with Reynolds as his inevitable sidekick. This is them, on the set of TBN.
But regardless of what it is, the ladies seem to really, really, really like these gentlemen.
It was brought to my attention that scandals of an amorous nature (to put it lightly) were involved in Reynolds’ not-so-distant past. In a public thread from Cadiz, Kentucky, locals were speaking of what they claimed was a well-known philandering issue with Reynolds. I brought the following comments (just a sample) on public threads to Reynold’s attention during our recent back-and-forths…
The scandal was enough that people had talked about a more public-hearing on the subject.
Within a very short time, these threads had been deleted (but not before they were screen-shotted). Disclaimer: Pulpit & Pen can independently confirm the allegations have been ongoing, after speaking to people from Reynold’s former church where this alleged behavior became an issue – but cannot confirm the truthfulness of the allegations because the alleged female partners (how many times can I use “alleged,” here?) desire to remain quiet and go back to the normalcy of their life. Again, alleged…by a whole bunch of people with pretty consistent stories, but alleged.
Just as problematic as the heebie jeebieness (that’s a technical term) of the female fans, is the doctrine being preached by the boy-band of the evangelical revival circuit.
The best possible way to categorize Reynold’s preaching is antinomianism, as he regularly attacks the Moral Law and refuses to preach God’s wrath or judgment. In fact, the best way to categorize his feelings toward the Moral Law seems to be disdain.
While it’s true, of course, that satan has used false teaching regarding God’s Law – for example, the Galatian Judaizer’s refusal to acknowledge the abrogation of the Ceremonial Law or the Theonomist’s refusal to acknowledge the abrogation of the Civil Code – there’s no shortage of heresies dealing with an abuse of grace, chiefly in our day and time, hypergrace or antinomianism.
The best way to describe Clayton Jenning’s preaching is Word-of-Faith mixed with motivational deism, as this short video posted recently on his Facebook page would demonstrate (along with countless hours of his preaching).
Jennings and Reynolds are not a phenomenon – and in fact, they are not that rare. They’re just a couple of the unlucky ones who happened to have their really, really terrible theological drivel, antinomian and motivational doctrine and self-aggrandizing daily selfie-bazars posted in the Bunker. They are, however, systemic of a greater problem.
Back to the verse so woefully overlooked by Reynolds up at the top of this post, with different emboldened words for emphasis…
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud,arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
Dads, be very careful you who your daughters are listening to. Vett the guys coming to do that upcoming youth retreat or college revival. And if you have a voice, strive to bring in men (or raise them up) that personify manliness, sobermindedness, and seriousness in their commission to be a preacher of God’s full counsel. Being “cool” is not a requirement for, well…anything except social media stardom and impressing impressionable preteen girls.
