Reverend Jordan Hall, known online (and possibly with
friends) as JD Hall, is the head of a website called Pulpit & Pen.
Additionally, he is the Pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in Sydney, Montana
which associates with, as they state, “other like-minded churches in North
Dakota, Montana, Saskatchewan, and across the country.” Hall is Baptist
Reformed in his theology which is a general category with varieties among this
sect.
If I could ascribe to Hall a single characteristic, I would
attribute to him a Lutheresque spirit, as in Martin Luther, the theologian of
course. Some readers might be annoyed with this elevated attribution which is an
intended compliment, on the whole but a recognition, also, of a temperament
which has its weaknesses, as well, which are more possibly more obvious than
shortcomings in passive personalities whose imperfections are surreptitious in
their existence hence, lending themselves to less immediate scrutiny but often,
can be far more damaging.
Why?
Why do I say that you should be reading and watching Pulpit
& Pen every day? Well, it certainly isn’t because I have suddenly become a
Calvinist, because obviously I am not one (nor am I an Arminian, to those of
you who have not succeeded in growing past binary theological labeling). And it
definitely isn’t because JD Hall is a thing of beauty to behold. In fact, one
might call his dog-face a manly dog-face, still yet, this feature might be a
blessing in disguise since you won’t forget his face and it grows on you. Nor
do I insist on a diet of Pulpit & Pen because Hall is always delicate and
comfy since, in the midst of Hall taking out the trash, now and then every man
or woman with the courage to do so knows, it’s tough, dirty and something the
weak-minded avoid altogether. So if you faint easily, you’ve been warned.
I tell my readers this because JD Hall, and his contributors
such as Seth Dunn, are almost single-handedly leading the way in a rescue
attempt of conservative Evangelicalism and especially the Southern Baptist
Convention but certainly beyond, to all concerned CE’s and even Fundamentalists
(CE/F, if you will), from the ravages of social
justice gospelism being touted by groups such as The Gospel Coalition which is, in truth, Marxist ideology that has
infiltrated CE/F theology and mutated into an alluring framework into which
many leaders such as Tim Keller (TGC) Al Mohler (SBC), Russell Moore (SBC) and
of course, John Piper (Reformed Baptist) have deposited their theology and that
is now being conformed to the structure imposed by their newly adopted
hull.
Daily, the work at Pulpit & Pen is filling the void of places
where 100 men once stood and that is not an exaggeration. Day in and day out,
they tirelessly vet offerings and influence of ministries around the world that
they may guard the little sheep from the least to the most damning of errors.
This is hard, unappreciative and alienating (it shouldn’t be, but it is) toil.
His most recent willingness to confront close ministerial
friends and models
Most people in this world are fragile, maybe that is why we
are called sheep. It takes a unique person with the rare temperament to slay
the dragons because inevitably, one must come upon the babies of dragons, which
must be killed, too. Unfortunately, however, the infirmed populace who loves to
see the dragon have his head cut off, also wants the knights own head the
moment he touches the baby dragons because baby dragons are so precious though,
they will only grow to kill and destroy later. UGH.
So who wants to sign up for this task? JD Hall did and does
so, with his crew, not only on your behalf but on behalf of our Lord, Christ
Jesus. This bring me to one of more recent campaigns.
John MacArthur is one of Hall’s ministerial and theological
examplars. He has set a pattern which JD has sought to incorporate into his own
theology and practice. Phil Johnson, MacArthur’s editor, apparently became a
ministerial companion, if not personal friend, of Hall’s. More recently and
with regard to both the Dallas Statement on Social Justice and the hosting of
social justice theology enablers at a conference by MacArthur, there has been a
turn in the compatibility of Hall and the GTY crew.
I bring this up for a reason. Most men simply will not touch
men and ministries which were primary sources of their admiration and imitation
during their theological/ecclesiastical formative years. They simply cannot
bear to be grieved by such confrontations which there is a warranted rebuttal
to be given, especially publicly. JD Hall, however, isn’t that man. He is
driven by his convictions, no prisoners allowed so far. Thus, Hall has been
open and frank in his disagreement and disappointment with regard to the
apparent absence of discernment and consistency by John MacArthur and Johnson
on these matters and has not held back, going over his objections, point by
point.
It’s not getting better, my friends
The state of CE/F isn’t getting better, it’s degrading,
rapidly. Yes, there are still faithful segments but the overall condition of
conservative Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism, is in frankly, scary. The major
influencers among the Southern Baptists which have control of the helm, are now
left of center, having embraced Marxist critical-race ideology and have
incorporated Race-based Special Interest theology into their body of doctrine
resulting in the horrendous practices of non-stop virtue signaling and a
damning of the church with a myriad of nonsensical, toxic and malignant
theology and practice.
As I close I want to simply go through the blog headlines from
Pulpit & Pen and list a number of issues they are tackling where giants
once braved to fight but now, only the mice mostly gather, biting and gnawing
on the few, such as P&P, who now fill the ranks which are depleted by way
of cowardice or other self-aggrandizing mental flatulence excuse making:
Where are they?
“Where oh where has my Underdog gone, where
or where can he be?” You might be surprised that I am advocating for
Pulpit & Pen seeing that I took to
task in a most excoriating way some years ago, the Pyromaniacs blog which did
tackle many of the same issues but don’t be fooled. Pyro was far inferior and
quickly devolved into a spa for the narcissistic bathing of a handful of
people. P&P, while driven by a strong personality which may, from time to
time get in its own way, has both matured and steered clear of investing in
egotistical comment wars and rather, has endowed itself with constant attention
to the issues, themselves.
But aside from mentioning the long dormant
Pyro’s blog which has come to life again more recently, the question is, where
are they? Where are the men in ministry willing to protect the vulnerable and
mostly, stupid sheep, from the hordes of liars, fable-tellers, theological
thugs and thieves? There was a day when such garbage wouldn’t dare be delivered
as any kind of substance on the door of any decent Evangelical but lo’ and
behold, now it’s at the top of the daily lunch menu glad-handedly peddled and
pushed by the Men in Black and White
.
Finally
JD Hall, I am convinced, is mostly objected
to, if not despised, not because of his mistakes along the way or his
inevitable shortcomings of any man and ministry but because of his precision in
revealing the hypocrisy and corruption in the church today. His anecdotal
missteps and foibles are simply an excuse to attempt to erase the man and his
message by those who have a great deal to hide.
I am not a Calvinist. JD Hall probably wouldn’t
even say complimentary things about many of my theological leanings in that
regard and likely, I would be on his Arminian list (again, I am not one). I
really do not care, he’s still telling the truth on so many things which matter
that you should be reading and watching Pulpit & Pen every day.
