Discerning the Truth of God’s Word to Shine Light in the Darkness
Jun 14, 2026
Professing Christians who attempt to deflect Biblical teaching by quoting Jesus saying, “Do not judge,” and “love your neighbor” to tolerate, embrace, or even celebrate sinful worldly culture are deceiving themselves. The debates making news in U.S. Senate campaigns of James Talarico in Texas and Adam Hamilton in Kansas are just the latest examples of the hypocrisy that Jesus called out in the Pharisees. If we love God, we listen to His Word and obey His commandments. Christians are called to judge righteously based on His Word. Standing on Scripture requires biblical discernment and a clear Christian worldview, not compromise with the culture.
Photo by Dallas Penner on Unsplash
Talarico, a seminary student, claims God is nonbinary, created six genders, and the Bible is silent on abortion and homosexuality. He supports same sex marriage, transgender children, men playing in women’s sports, and universalism that other religions lead to God. This is not Biblical Christianity. Instead, he and professing Christians in many churches worship secular progressivism. His religion is moral relativism from the sinful culture in search of selective scriptures to justify beliefs. This is spiritual deception dressed in religious language.
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Adam Hamilton is a Methodist pastor. He supports abortion, same sex marriage, and the same LGBTQ agenda. I wrote about Adam Hamilton in my first book. He was a leader of the progressive movement that chose to ignore scripture that didn’t fit their false teaching. He led the group that forced the split in the denomination. More than 7,500 churches in the United States and millions of members, including my wife and me, left the denomination. We were both lifelong Methodists. I was an adult Sunday school teacher in the largest adult class. My wife also taught children’s Sunday school, served as a Stephen’s minister, and was the granddaughter of renowned UMC pastor Umphrey Lee, president and the first chancellor of Southern Methodist University and pastor at Highland Park Methodist Church.
Our book, “Everything is Going to be All Right: A Faith Journey through Alzheimer’s,” chronicles the faith journey with my wife, who was called home to see Jesus face to face on the same day the book was published. The journey included leaving the Methodist Church and a church family we continue to love. We were blessed to be drawn to the Church of Christ. Even in grief, we held fast to Christian conviction and eternal truth.
Included in our book is the letter I wrote to our congregation preceding a global vote by 2019 General Conference. While the vote globally was to uphold the Biblical definition of marriage, Hamilton and UMC churches in the United States decided to ignore the vote, calling it hateful. That vote reflected obedience to God rather than the demands of culture.
A book excerpt addressing the role of Adam Hamilton:
“United Methodist megachurch pastor and author Adam Hamilton, a leader of the Progressive group leading to the church split, wrote a book about how we can divide the Bible into three buckets:
1. Scriptures that express God’s heart, character, and timeless will for human beings;
2. Scriptures that expressed God’s will in a particular time but are no longer binding; and
3. Scriptures that never fully expressed the heart, character, or will of God.
This is man making the Bible in his own image. Hamilton believes that men, such as himself, I assume, have the divine wisdom to decide what scripture is cast into which bucket.”
Jesus loves all. All of us are sinners. He calls for people to repent of sins, follow him and obey.
“Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” (John 7:24)
“If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.” (John 12:47-48)
Another excerpt from our book:
“We are in the world but not of the world, navigating through the wilderness of a fallen world each day. We are surrounded by a sinful culture that Paul described in Romans 1. Claiming to be wise, they became fools (Romans 1:22). Christians are attacked for standing on truth. Paul warned Timothy to be ready for persecution.
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. (2 Timothy 3:1–5)
Those who claim not to believe become their own god. They attack Christians as hypocrites. False teachers in the church claim to be Christians but selectively choose from God’s Word. They also become their own god. They deceive the believers, telling us we are not to judge, only love. A ministry of being nice, being tolerant of all, claiming diversity is a strength. Calling darkness light along the broad path.
Of course, we are called to judge righteously based on His Word. There is a season for righteous anger, calling out sin as Jesus did when he cleansed the temple of false religion. Our judgment and actions are righteous when founded on the God-breathed Word. We stand on the rock of understanding that the holiness of God does not compromise with evil and the sinful culture of the world. We stand firm in trust and confidence by surrendering to the sovereign authority who created the heavens and the earth. We become light in the darkness when we surrender our lives to Jesus.”
Deception fed by false teaching deeply stains the secular culture of the day. I write about the truths of what is revealed in God’s Word in our book. When I confront backlash from the culture, I tell them that the audience is not their Human Resources departments currently busy celebrating Pride Month.
“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.” (John 17:14-17)
We are called to take a stand and judge righteously based on His Word. Regardless of seeing rejection from the culture and even our own son who abandoned us and claims to no longer be a Christian, I choose to stand on the rock of truth. Being asked to choose between Jesus and the secular culture of the world, I follow Jesus, seeking the narrow gate while most in the world walk along the broad path to destruction.
Christians are called to be salt and light. To test the spirits, discern good from evil, truth from false teaching, and light from darkness. With loving guidance, we are called to invite people to walk in the light. The Apostle John joined the chorus of warnings to discern truth from false teaching.
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:3)