Viral Sermon Sparks Debate on Pulpit Speech

A sermon clip from Pastor James David Manning of ATLAH World Missionary Church in Harlem, New York is going viral after he used vulgar language from the pulpit to attack the Democratic Party. The 79-year-old pastor, preaching on the epidemic of fatherlessness in American homes, said he was tired of the Democrat Party making vulgar names out of American women and American men. The clip was shared widely on social media and drew immediate reactions across the political spectrum. Manning, who leads ATLAH World Missionary Church on West 123rd Street and publicly endorsed Donald Trump, has a long history of controversial statements from the pulpit. Supporters praised what they called his candor. Critics, including many Christians, questioned whether such language belongs in a sermon at all. The deeper question is not whether his political diagnosis was correct. The deeper question is whether Scripture permits a man of God to speak that way from a pulpit. The Bible answers plainly. Ephesians 4:29 says, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. James 3:9-10 says, Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. A pastor stands in the place of a shepherd. The pulpit is not a comedy stage or a political platform. It is a sacred trust. Right diagnosis does not justify a wrong delivery. Truth without holiness is just noise. The world is watching how the Church speaks, and so is God. How should a faithful pastor address cultural decay without becoming a part of it? #truth #america #faith