The Southwestern Union Young Adult Ministries Department and Young Texas Adventist, a youth ministry affiliated with the Texas Conference, have planned and are sponsoring a sports ministry weekend for this weekend. Due to the Coronavirus, they are now sponsoring an online gaming tournament for Adventist Youth.
Pictured below is Helvis Moody, Young Adult/Youth Ministries Director for the Southwestern Union Conference
In keeping with sports jargon, they are recommending that Adventist youth worship the GOAT, an acronym for Greatest Of All Time, which they are applying to Jesus Christ. (Other sports individuals who have been called the GOAT are Ricky Carmichael and Michael Jordan.)
Michael Polite is listed as one of the speakers for this virtual worship experience. In 2014, Michael Polite was chosen to be Andrews University’s associate chaplain. He is currently listed as Youth Director of the South-Central Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. He also writes for Message SDA youth magazine.
He is also the individual who espoused tapping into the mystical spiritualism of his African ancestors in a social justice Zoom meeting on May 19th. He claims that this mystical power allows him to “tap into the cosmic power that resides within me” and reveals the “interconnectness of the universe.” Such language arises from pure pagan spiritualism, friends. This is also the same person who is calling for an Adventist revolution.
Our Advice to Parents?
Do not allow your children to go anywhere near this joint online gaming venture.
At best, sports can be a distraction from teaching our children the things that matter in life, such as righteousness, delayed gratification and Christian service. Sport activities may have their place, but only after the above virtues are given priority. Our children need to be biblically challenged and inspired, not entertained.
Two, gaming is a high tech distraction, leading to addiction and often pornography in young men (see Scott Ritsema’s excellent presentation titled Media on the Brain).
Calling Jesus the GOAT, reduces Him to pop culture language where He becomes one among many (there are other sports GOATS—as we mentioned earlier). The emphasis among youth workers today today is falling on a relationship that relies no longer on revealed truth as it does on inner emotional pop-culture experience. Hence we have all this feel-good preaching that’s coming from our pulpits, folk. It’s an effort on the part of these pastors to meet the needs that they perceive. Missing from this formula is the sense of awe—what it means to come into the presence of the Master of the universe, the Creator Himself.
Lastly. Michael Polite revealed in this video meeting that he now believes in tapping into the mystical spiritualism of his African ancestors. This is raw paganism, friends, and there is apparently no hesitation whatsoever on the part of the Southwestern Union or the Texas Conference to place this man in contact with your children. Unbelievable!
Parents. Do you want your children exposed to these things?
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“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).