Written by a former Mennonite

The Story

Nostalgia. The blinding perfume we breathe as we think back to that perfect past, full of innocence and life. That smell, that sound, that song! 

Now at the time, we didn’t know that the smell was the scent of rot. The sound mutilated our ears. The song planted the doctrines of devils. Our mothers murmured the melody and our deceitful hearts delighted in the decay. The fathers carried us to bed (for we were too tired to hear a real Bible story) and tucked us in.  

The melody rang over and over again, until we sang around the house, the yard, the schools, the same tune.

“Jesus loves the little children . . . all the children of the world!” 

And with the roots in our hearts, and “Bishop” Karen Oliveto and Eva Brunne, grew up. 

Let us tackle the theology together, shall we? Let us apply the proper biblical hermeneutics we grew up with as we misquote the scriptures! 

“Over all our virtues put on love, as every single person must be unified” (Col. 3:14), “live in harmony with everyone” (Rom. 12:16), “make every effort to be at peace with all” (Rom. 14:19), “love and accept one another, and be compassionate” (1 Peter 3:8).

 
“Yes. Yes. YES!” we children cried as we made our beds just the way we were taught. We made sure our rooms were presentable for the parents and other guests. We dressed up, then ventured out into the town, ready to paint the town red. For we were armed with the “gospel!”

We sought after lovers. And using our winsome ways, we welcomed them into the home. Our parents smiled and nodded the entire time; they gave us money for the mission. We were doing the Lord’s work! I myself brought back Atargatis; a brother found Dagon; a sister adored Baal Hammon. After some time, we all got married and had children. Our new spouses showed us how to offer the children to Moloch. The screams of agony were uncomfortable at one time, but one grows used to the howls, and even learns to enjoy the racket. An acquired taste, to be sure. 

Behold the fruit of our winsome labors, the apostate, oh you Christian. 

“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” Matt. 7:22-23 ESV

What’s My Motive?

Sarcasm and story aside, I love God, and therefore I love the Church. The bride of Christ, the people of God, chosen before the foundation of the world to be holy, blameless, and beyond reproach. Predestined, called, justified, glorified. Being conformed into the image of the Father’s Son by sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. “A multitude that no man can number, who through Christ’s death not only may be saved but are saved, must be saved, and cannot by any possibility run the hazard of being anything but saved.”1 And this is why I write.

What theology are you consuming? What were you taught? How do you know this is true? We posit axioms we’ve been taught in school, by the government, by the slogans we see daily. The internet is ripe with wolves. Christians, we must be diligent in our learning and teaching of the Scriptures. What was taught to you as a child? What are you teaching your children today? Are you building a house upon the Rock of Ages, or upon sinking sand? Reject laziness, think like a Berean.

One of the themes in the Scriptures is the teaching and remembrance of what God has done. Psalm 106 is a beautiful summary of the Israelite history, describing the events in Exodus and Joshua. The Psalm reveals both the hearts of the people then, and reveals the hearts of the people during the time of its writing. 

“Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness. Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.” -Psalm 106:6-7 ESV


The people forgot the works of the LORD. This is then repeated in verses 13, “ . . . they forgot His works.” Verse 21, “They forgot God their savior, who had done great things in Egypt.” And verse 24, “They despised the pleasant land, having no faith in the promise.” The same lesson is found throughout Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and more. Israel’s wicked hearts ran so far away from God that later they forsook and lost the Law, until during the reign of Josiah, when the high priest Hilkiah found the scroll!2 Friends, we must disciple ourselves with the Word of God in fullness and in truth. Look at the state of theology today.3 Do we know the Gospel truth?

What’s My Point?

To clarify my position (as pointed out to me by both my biological and spiritual brother, praise God!), the song “Jesus Loves the Little Children” is not an evil song. The lyrics teach what theologians call ‘common grace’.4  ‘Common grace’ is defined as “every undeserved providential act of God’s restraint, goodness, and mercy toward the sinful inhabitants of this fallen world.”5

Our God is good to all.6 As Jesus states, “ he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”7 Not only does our God provide for all of man, He also at times restraints us from evil.8 And to the praise of His glorious name, He mercifully restrains his wrath against the wicked until the appointed time.9

But sin, seeing the opportunity, seized the sound, Biblical truth being sung and perverted the message.10 We went from God’s common grace given to all people, to “everyone is a child of God.” We were indoctrinated offspring and brainwashed ourselves. Look back to your local VBS, the messages on t-shirts and coffee cups at revivalistic evangelical conferences and youth mission trips. The message was repeated over and over till we had the doctrine memorized: “Everyone is a child of God.” Do the scriptures teach we are all children of God? 

Christ Jesus is clear: there are children of God, and children of Satan. Hear the words our Lord spoke to the Pharisees,

“If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” – John 8:42-47

Photo by April Dunn on Unsplash

This theme is clear throughout the Gospel of John. See John 1:12-13, that by the will of God we are given the right to be His children. Recall the famous conversation in John 3, that in conversation with the teacher of Israel Nicodemus, that the Kingdom of God is not entered by flesh and blood, but by being born of the Spirit.11Further in that same chapter John the Baptist teaches in regards to purification. “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”12 The Spirit is what purifies, and is given by God without measure.13 Promptly followed by these two stories reveals that the Samaritan woman, separated from the Jews, not born of flesh of blood, an enemy with God, a child of wrath, repents and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ.14 And throughout the scriptures, the motif of God graciously choosing sinners to be redeemed is revealed, foreshadowed in the Old Testament, and brought to full fruition in the New.

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”- Deut. 7:6-8 ESV

Stronger Together . . . ?

A novel thought: the brothers and sisters who bear the name Christ, are to be Christian. We are to be imitators of Christ.15 Please, I beg you: do not commune with any who claim to bear the name of our God while they bow down before the King of Babylon. Do not whore after the World. Do not be unequally yoked. The false believers have leavened the Mennonites and Methodists. Fight for your families, both the physical and the spiritual. Wield the Word and thrust with the Sword!16

Christian, the message of “unity” at the pulpit has been distorted. There is no unity with Chemosh. For if there was to be unity between Christ and our demonic idols, our faithful foreshadows of Christ and He Himself stand condemned. Ehud the son of Gera plunged a sword into the obese King Eglon till the fat closed over the hilt. Samuel hacked King Agag the Amalekite into pieces before the Lord at Gilgal. The Lord struck down Ananias and Sapphira for their wicked deception. Paul ordered the Corinthians to “purge the evil person from among you.”17 And our Lord Jesus drove out the thieves from the temple, before He overturned those same stones in the Year of Our Lord 70 AD. The question to ponder is simple: Did the founders of our faith have solidarity with Satan? 

Christians, we are by nature against the World. The World hates God first, and us second. And we preach the Gospel, the message of hope, to the very World that hates us, just as Christ preached the message to us first. Preach the unadulterated Word.

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since,  therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” – Romans 5:6-11 ESV

Wield the Word, thrust with the Sword!


Author’s note: the essay in no way reflects my personal relationship with my parents. I am thankful for faithful parents who live for the glory of God, and pointed me to the Scriptures before all else. I give credit to God working through them that I did not follow the path I’ve watched others take. 

  1. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “Particular Redemption,” Sermon 181 page 8. ↩︎
  2. 2 Kings 22 ↩︎
  3. Here’s an excellent resource to get you started beyond anecdotal evidence: https://thestateoftheology.com/ ↩︎
  4. Similar to words like the Trinity, we Christians believe that ‘common grace’ is revealed throughout tota scriptura, or all of scripture, though there is no such word in the scriptures. Here are some suggested readings.
    Common Grace https://www.ligonier.org/guides/common-grace 
    What is Common Grace? ​​https://www.gotquestions.org/common-grace.html 
    NOTE: there is an interesting debate against the theological belief in common grace, instead arguing for providence. Here is a good argument showing the subtle distinctions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuAfcCl7Gy4&t=529s ↩︎
  5. Common Grace, Ligonier Editorial, published Sep. 21, 2021. Accessed Oct. 5th, 2023. https://www.ligonier.org/guides/common-grace ↩︎
  6. Pslam 145:9 ↩︎
  7. Matt. 5:45, cf. Luke 6:35-36; Acts 14:16-17 ↩︎
  8. Gen. 20:6; 1 Sam. 25:26; 25:34 ↩︎
  9. Rom. 9:22-23; Ezek. 20:5-44; Gen. 4:14-16; 15:16; Acts 14:16 ↩︎
  10. Rom. 7:7-8 ↩︎
  11. John 3:1-21 ↩︎
  12. John 3:27 ↩︎
  13. John 3:25-36 ↩︎
  14. John 4:1-42 ↩︎
  15.  Eph. 5:1-2 ↩︎
  16. Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12 ↩︎
  17. 1 Corin. 5:9-13 ↩︎