20230124 Dallas Mayor Johnson and invocators from homophobic groups.
Pastor Christopher Hughes from Influence International (formerly City on a Hill International) church, both embedded in anti-Gay groups, and his church sponsored by anti-Gay pastor Jeff Warren.
Let the LGBT+ community know about what the LGBT+ establishment isn’t reporting.
Invocations at Dallas City Council meetings since the Dallas Observer article.
Introduction:
On Dec. 9, 2022 the Dallas Observer ran this article about homophobes giving invocations for the City of Dallas Council meetings.
Dallas Mayor Johnson’s chief of staff, Tristan Hallman, was reported that a new policy was being looked into. From the article:
Hallman added that the mayor took Sebesta’s words and research to heart, and the city is looking into how it can do things differently. One thing being considered, he said, is to use fire and police chaplains for the invocation speeches. “We’re talking about it,” he said.
I also had spoken to Dallas City Council on this topic at their 9/21/2022 meeting and I did a follow up 11/28/2022 mailing about Marketplace Chaplains. So the selection of the invocators from 12/7/2022 to now (1/24/2023) was done after the news article and these inputs.
This post is a review of the invocation speakers after the Dallas Observer article, after my speaking to the Dallas City Council and my letters sent to them. It is the beginning of monitoring who is doing invocation speakers after the promised change in policy.
The frequency of reporting by Dallas Gay Liberation on who are the invocation speakers will depend on who is selected. If a homophobic speaker is selected, then there will be a report on that speaker and a review of the speakers up to that date.
At the end of this post is a link to a post with links to all the prior reports/posts on this topic.
If we had a Human Rights Commission, they would be discouraging this problem and taking effective measures. Please sing the petition for a Human Rights Commission. The following is the link.
Dallas City Council Invocation Speakers from 11/28/2022 to 01/24/2023
These are the speakers post the Dallas Observer article.
Three of the four invocators are chaplains with either the Fire and Rescue Dept. or the Dallas Police Dept.
The person of interest here is Pastor Christopher Hughes who was announced as the pastor of The City on the Hill International Church who was introduced by Mayor Eric Johnson and gave the invocation on 12/14/2022.
Note in many occasions I have the link to the page saved at the Internet Archive of the page in case a page is deleted or is moved on the internet.
Influence International Church on the Internet
This is their current website and their name is Influence International Church. They have changed their name. There old name was City on a Hill International Church.
https://www.facebook.com/influenceinternational
Both the Twitter and Instagram accounts have no posts as of 1/23/2023.
https://twitter.com/influenceint
https://www.instagram.com/influenceinternationalig/
Their YouTube site has three videos as of 1/23/2023
https://www.youtube.com/@influenceinternational
The old Facebook Page named City on a Hill International which is still in existence and is still active. It is however, set to private, but Google is still making a cache of the site.
This is the link to the Facebook group.
https://www.facebook.com/cityonahillinternational/
This is the Google cache of the page.
The old webpage for City on a Hill Church is in the Internet Archive.
https://web.archive.org/web/20230000000000*/cityonahillint.org The Internet Archive starts saving pages in 2021.
About that name City on a Hill
The name City on a Hill for a church is a fairly popular name. Nothing could be found that there is any connection between Influence International in Garland with these other churches.
About Christopher Hughes and the Influence International Church
There are a lot of videos at the Influence International Church which aren’t titled and just have a date assigned to them and reviewing all of them for Christopher Hughes’ opinions regarding Gays isn’t really feasible. However, we can look at other indicators to get a fairly strong indication of his church.
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Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
As stated by Mayor Johnson in his introduction of Pastor Christopher Hughes, he is a student at “Southwestern Baptist Seminary.”
https://admin-v2.swagit.com/podcasts/2022/12/15/12152022-607.360.mp4
This is the same video saved at the Internet Archive.
Pastor Hughes is a student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) as mentioned also in this URL: (Scroll down aways.)
https://dallascpc.org/church-planters/
SBTS is a local anti-Gay university. We have background documentation on them at this page.
They are at this website on the Worst List of colleges and universities.
https://www.campuspride.org/worstlist/
These are their beliefs at this URL. https://swbts.edu/beliefs/ I had a copy of this in the binder. Quoting the beliefs:
In the spirit of Christ, Christian’s should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography.
This is their code of conduct.
https://swbts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Code-of-Conduct-07.20.21.pdf
Quoting the code in the list of “prohibited behavior.”
4. The engagement in a lifestyle contrary to Biblical standards including, but not limited to, heterosexual misconduct, homosexual or bisexual behavior, transgenderism or any other form of sexual misconduct.
I reviewed them in the original presentation given to the Dallas City Council about invocators from homophobic institutions and you can read the more indepth reporting at the Part One update at this link.
Dallas Baptist Association
Influence International Church is a member of and gets support from the Dallas Baptist Association (DBA).
Source 1.
https://www.dba.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Ex-bd-packet-June-2022.pdf
On page 3, City on a Hill International Church is listed as a church to be prayed for in June, a contributor to DBA on page 5, and on page 10, on a list of “Requests for Continued Eligibility for DBA funding,” by Pastor Jeff Warren, of the Park Cities Baptist Church. Remember this name Jeff Warren.
Source 2
https://www.dba.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Nov-2022-ex-bd-packet.pdf
On page 5 is City of the Hill International (former name) listed as a contributor to the DBA. On page 10, Christopher Hughes is mentioned as pastor of the City on a Hill International Church as a sponsor.
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DBA anti-Gay policy.
These are their bylaws:
https://www.dba.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/DBA-Bylaws-final-2020-revision.pdf
Article Five on page 5 prohibits as follows:
We believe biblical marriage can only occur between one man and one woman. As a result, this Association, its staff, and employees will not officiate in same-sex unions or same-sex marriages, nor will its property or resources be used for such purposes.
In this article we learn that the Royal Lane Baptist Church was kicked out of the Dallas Baptist Association in 2010 because they accepted Gays.
https://baptistnews.com/article/boarddistancesbgctfromgay-affirmingdallaschurch/
In this Dallas Morning News article, Bob Dean, executive director in discussing same-sex marriage, includes a condemnation of Gays.
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/faith/2010/06/23/texas-faith-is-it-time-for-same-sex-marriages/
The Bible has a number of references that speak clearly to the issue that homosexual behavior is sin and, therefore, an unbiblical lifestyle (Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9, and 1 Timothy 1:10). After Paul gave a list of sins, including homosexual behavior, in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, he said, "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."
This verse reminds us that turning from our sinful behavior and living a biblical lifestyle leads to the fullest experience of the abundant life in Christ (John 10:10).
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Throwing “prayer grenades” into Dallas Gay communities
Joseph Cartwright, who explains that his house church planting network is “part of the cooperative ministry of the Dallas Baptist Association,” wants to throw “prayer grenades” into Dallas’ Gay neighborhoods.
They talk about throwing “prayer grenades” into Dallas’ Gay community as follows:
Prayer grenades need to be lobbied into the enemy’s fortresses. Whether these be prostitution rings on Harry Hines Blvd., the bar scenes in Deep Ellum, or the homosexual communities in North Oak Cliff or Oak Lawn, our prayers and witness can liberate the captives in these and other “fortresses.”
With language like this, is it surprising that Gay clubs get shot up and Gays get massacred?
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Dallas Church Pastoral Center
This is the organization which helped get the Influence International Church started. This is their webpage.
On their pages you find out that this center is a joint effort of the Park Cities Baptist Church and the Texas Baptists.
This is the link to their post of the people they have assisted planting churches.
https://dallascpc.org/church-planters/
For the class of 2020-2021 Christopher Hughes is listed as a sponsor.
On the webpage of the Park Cities Baptist Church is a sermon of Dr. Jeff Warren, the sponsor of Christopher Hughes and then named “City on a Hill International Church,” titled, “Exploring the Hard Sayings of Jesus,” August 31, 2014.
https://www.pcbc.org/sermon/exploring-the-hard-sayings-of-jesus-august-31-2014/
The “hard saying” is that homosexuality is bad. The topic of the sermon is about condemning homosexuality.
This is the website of the Texas Baptists.
https://www.texasbaptists.org/
The following is the link to their position on marriage and sexuality.
https://www.texasbaptists.org/about/beliefs/marriage-and-sexuality
On that page there is this from their 2009 resolution in which they “reaffirm” their stances from earlier resolutions.
WHEREAS the 1996 annual meeting adopted a report stating the “Bible teaches that the ideal for sexual behavior is the marital union between husband and wife and that all other sexual relations—whether premarital, extramarital, or homosexual—are contrary to God’s purposes and thus sinful”; and
WHEREAS the 1982 annual meeting adopted a resolution stating that “homosexual lifestyle is not normal or acceptable in God’s sight and is indeed called sin”:
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that we maintain the consistent position of past convention statements and actions which affirm the biblical sexual ethic of fidelity in marriage and celibacy in singleness, and also affirm the biblical image of marriage as the union before God between a man and a woman (Genesis 1:24); and
Pastor Christopher Hughes and his Influences International Church themselves may not be actively going after Gays themselves at this moment, but they are a part of an anti-Gay enterprise dedicated to annihilating Gay communities and attacking our lives.
SUMMARY
First, it can be seen that though it was reported in the Dallas Observer, that Mayor Johnson’s chief of staff was considering the following:
One thing being considered, he said, is to use fire and police chaplains for the invocation speeches. “We’re talking about it,” he said.
It is clear that Mayor Johnson is not going to limit himself to fire and police chaplains.
Second, it is clear that Mayor Johnson is going to be allowing invocations to support and bolster churches that are part of ongoing anti-Gay efforts. Perhaps Mayor Johnson thought that if some element of an anti-Gay movement wasn’t itself specifically conducting an anti-Gay campaign it would be considered acceptable.
A handle on a knife is as much a part of cutting as the blade which is attached to it.
Third, I think given that Mayor Johnson has decided to not use a police or fire department chaplain or invocations, and continues to choose persons deeply involved with the anti-Gay religious movements, it needs to be considered what his attitude towards the Gay community is.
Not all the opposition to the LGBT+ is made of screaming elements like Stedfast Baptist church or some obvious and explicitly anti-Gay person, group, or church.
Fourth, it would be helpful if community leaders and persons claiming to be champions or defenders or friends of the LGBT+ would NOT give homophobic invocators and those part of anti-Gay movements a free pass and instead speak up.
Those who proclaim to be friends or advocates or leaders on Cedar Springs need to be friends and advocates and defenders at Dallas City Hall and elsewhere.
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This is the post with the links to all the posts about Dallas City Council Invocation speakers.
