Lifeway is the largest retailer of heresy in the world. It is also the retail and sales arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. Peddling books from Oneness Pentecostals and other anti-Trinitarians, Roman Catholics, Properity Preachers, New Age mystics, omen-interpreters, Word-Faith Theologians, and even pro-gay activists, this entity of the Southern Baptist Convention has announced today that it is closing all of its retail outlets.
Lifeway received criticism heavily during the Pulpit & Pen inspired #the15 movement, which led to many thousands of believers calling Lifeway and its leaders – Thom Rainer and Ed Stetzer – to repentance for shamelessly selling doctrinal material they know to be false.
This movement, #the15, ultimately led to a major worldwide news story we broke, of Alex Malarkey’s Open Letter to Lifeway and Other Retailers. Malarkey’s father had written a book claiming that he had come back from Heaven, and when Alex and his mother notified Lifeway the book was false (both Stetzer and Rainer had been notified), they shamelessly sold the producct anyway.
Now, probably as a result of the downturn in ‘brick and mortar retail,’ Lifeway is scuttling all of its stores in an attempt to remain solvent.
A total of 170 stores are closing nationwide. This follows a plan from January which was only to close certain stores. Thom Rainer has announced that they will all be closing.
While the retailer will still be schilling heresy online, you will no longer have to drive by and see a Lifeway store.
Pray for the employees who have to find new jobs, but praise God that Southern Baptists will no longer have their retail outlet selling heresy on the street corner like drug dealers.
