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October 2, 2023

Andy Stanley, pastor of an Atlanta-based megachurch, spoke out from the pulpit Sunday after he led a controversial, two-day conference geared toward “support[ing] parents and LGBTQ+ children in their churches.”

The North Point Community Church pastor addressed the “Unconditional Conference” during his Sunday message, which was not live-streamed, according to The Roys Report.

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Stanley’s message was purportedly in response to the widespread criticism he and North Point have faced following news he would be hosting the Sept. 28-29 conference, which included LGBTQ-affirming speakers.

Among the critics was Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Mohler argued the event marked Stanley’s departure from a biblical understanding of sexuality, which sees marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman for life.

Mohler stated on a recent episode of his podcast, “The Briefing”:

[A]s a theologian, I just feel a responsibility to say that what this represents is a departure from historic, normative, biblical Christianity. I think both sides understand this is the most basic disagreement we could imagine, so are sex and gender. It’s over ontology and being; it’s over Scripture, the authority of Scripture, and the interpretation of Scripture. It’s over God and the Gospel. It just doesn’t get any more basic than this, but I do recognize the gravity of the words I’m using when I say that what we see here is a departure from historic, normative, biblical Christianity. I say that because I believe that’s exactly what it is, and I believe Christians ought to take note of it.

The Georgia pastor reportedly said he “never subscribed to [Mohler’s] version of biblical Christianity.”

“This version of biblical Christianity is why people are leaving Christianity unnecessarily,” Stanley said. “Its the version that causes people to resist the Christian faith, because they cant find Jesus in the midst of all the other stuff and all the other theology and all the other complexity that gets glommed on to the message’s bottom line, that version of Christianity, draws lines.”

“And Jesus drew circles,” the preacher continued. “He drew circles so large and included so many people in His circle, that it consistently made religious leaders nervous.”

Stanley went on to explain he supports the view “biblical marriage is between a man and a woman,” but applied qualifiers to that statement, making his exact stance on the matter somewhat unclear.

He explained some who struggle with same-sex attraction “are convinced that traditional marriage is not an option for them” and, as such, commit “to living a chaste life.” However, the pastor continued, “For many, that is not sustainable, so they choose same-sex marriage not because theyre convinced its biblical. … They choose to marry for the same reason many of us do: love, companionship.”

Stanley added that, once two people make a decision to enter into a same-sex romantic partnership, it is “our decision” to determine “how are we going to respond to their decisions.” North Point, he reportedly explained, has taken the stance that, “regardless of their starting point, regardless of their past, regardless of their current circumstances, our message is come and see and come sit with me.”

Although Mohler has not yet addressed Stanley’s latest statements from the pulpit, other Christian thought leaders have responded to the pastor’s explanation for his conference.

Andrew Walker, an ethics and public theology professor at SBTS and author of “God and the Transgender Debate,” outlined what he sees as Stanley’s “distinction between doctrine and pastoral practice.”

“What does that mean?” Walker wrote. “It means the doctrine has not officially changed, which is why he can technically affirm a ‘biblical view’ but, for all practical purposes, there is a pastoral accommodation that allows for LGBT-identified persons to disobey Scripture and remain in good standing as a Christian.”

He continued, “What Stanley considers as a failure to live up to an unattainable ideal, Scripture calls sinful. Nowhere in the messages was there any expectation that someone would turn from their same-sex relationship. This is an example of unbounded empathy that listens (which is good) but never invites toward transformation (which is not good).”

Read Walker’s full response below:

I was able to listen to Andy Stanleys messages from today on the topic of same-sex attraction and marriage.

Whats clear from Stanleys teaching is that hes drawing a distinction between doctrine and pastoral practice. What does that mean? It means the doctrine has not— Andrew T. Walker (@andrewtwalk) October 2, 2023

Denny Burk, president of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, wrote Sunday that Stanley’s view is “subversively anti-Christian.”

“The message is anti-Christian because it tells unrepentant sinners that they can inherit the kingdom of God a message that the Bible roundly contradicts,” he explained in the article on the CBMW website.

Stanley has faced criticism for a handful of theological stances in recent years, including his view of the Old Testament, from which he argued Christians should “unhitch” themselves.

In 2018, he conceded at the end of a sermon series that the Old Testament is “divinely inspired” but argued it should not be “the go-to source regarding any behavior in the church.”

“[First century] Church leaders unhitched the church from the worldview, value system, and regulations of the Jewish Scriptures,” he said, preaching on Acts 15. “Peter, James, Paul elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish scriptures, and my friends, we must as well.”

Several Christian leaders criticized Stanley for those remarks.

In fact, during a recent conversation with CBN Digital, author and Atlanta-based Pastor Michael Youssef explained his concerns over Stanley’s statements about the Old Testament. View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tr Goins-Phillips (@tregp)

“Get ‘unhitched’ from the Old Testament?” Youssef said. “This would be like saying, ‘I love this big, beautiful, tall building, but the foundation is not really necessary. Just let’s get rid of it.’ You get rid of the foundation, the building will not stand for very long.”

“If you understand the Bible … it is one book, not two books,” he continued. “Often, I liken it to a house. The Old Testament is that house, with a foundation and the walls, but it’s lacking a roof. The New Testament is the roof and, therefore, together, you have one building a house. … One without the other doesn’t really make a lot of sense and, so, all of our foundational structure in the Old Testament that says constantly, for hundreds of years, ‘Christ is coming, Christ is coming,’ the New Testament say, ‘Hey, He’s here.’ The New Testament fulfills the Old Testament.”

***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwires daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

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Tesla shares drop 7% in premarket trading after Elon Musk says he is launching a political party

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Tesla shares drop 7% in premarket trading after Elon Musk says he is launching a political party

White House Senior Advisor Elon Musk walks to the White House after landing in Marine One on the South Lawn with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) on March 9, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Samuel Corum | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Tesla shares fell in premarket trade on Monday after CEO Elon Musk announced plans to form a new political party.

The stock was down 7.13% by 4:27 a.m. E.T.

Musk said over the weekend that the party would be called the “America Party” and could focus “on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts.” He suggested this would be “enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people.”

The billionaire’s involvement in politics has been a point of contention for investors. Musk earlier this year was part of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency and worked closely with President Donald Trump — a move seen as potentially hurting Tesla’s brand.

Musk left DOGE in May, which helped Tesla’s stock.

Now tech billionaire’s reinvolvement in the political arena is making investors nervous.

“Very simply Musk diving deeper into politics and now trying to take on the Beltway establishment is exactly the opposite direction that Tesla investors/shareholders want him to take during this crucial period for the Tesla story,” Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, said in a note on Sunday.

“While the core Musk supporters will back Musk at every turn no matter what, there is broader sense of exhaustion from many Tesla investors that Musk keeps heading down the political track.”

Musk’s previous political foray earned him Trump’s praise in the early days, but he has since drawn the ire of the U.S. president.

The two have clashed over various areas of policy, including Trump’s spending bill which Musk has said would increase America’s debt burden. Musk has taken issue to particular cuts to tax credits and support for solar and wind energy and electric vehicles.

Trump on Sunday called Musk’s move to form a political party “ridiculous,” adding that the Tesla boss had gone “completely off the rails.”

Musk is contending with more than just political turmoil. Tesla reported a 14% year-on-year decline in car deliveries in the second quarter, missing expectations. The company is facing rising competition, especially in its key market, China.

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Environment

Paris’ popular bike share program has a big sticky finger problem

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Paris' popular bike share program has a big sticky finger problem

Paris’ bike-share system, Vélib has long been considered one of the shining success stories of urban micromobility. With a massive fleet of over 20,000 pedal and electric-assist bicycles around Paris, the service has helped millions of residents and tourists get around the City of Light without needing a car or scooter. But lately, a growing problem is threatening to knock the wheels off this urban mobility marvel: theft and joyriding.

According to city officials and the service operator, more than 600 Vélib bikes are now going missing every single week. That’s over 30 bikes a day simply vanishing from the system – some stolen outright, others taken on “joy rides” and never returned.

“At the moment we’re missing 3,000 bikes,” explained Sylvain Raifaud, head of the Agemob company that currently operates the Velib system. That’s nearly 15% of over 20,000 Vélib bikes across Paris.

The sticky-fingered culprits aren’t necessarily professional thieves or organized crime rings. Instead, they’re often regular users who treat the shared bikes like disposable toys.

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The city estimates that many people have figured out how to pry the bikes out of the system’s parking docks, unlocking one for a casual cruise and then ditching it somewhere far from a docking station.

Once pried free, the bikes are technically usable for the next 24 hours until their automatic locking feature kicks in. At that point, the bikes are often simply abandoned. Some end up in alleyways. Others get tossed in rivers. A few just disappear completely.

And since the bikes are intended to be parked at their many docking stations around the city, they don’t have GPS chips, further complicating recovery of “liberated” bikes.

The issue started small but has grown into more than an inconvenience – it’s beginning to undermine the entire purpose of the service. With bikes going missing at such a high rate, many Vélib docking stations are left empty, especially during rush hours.

Riders looking for a quick commute or a convenient hop across town are increasingly finding themselves without available bikes, or having to walk long distances to find a functioning one.

That kind of unreliability chips away at user confidence and threatens to drive potential riders back into cars, cabs, or other less sustainable forms of transport at a time when Paris has already made great strides to dramatically reduce car usage in the city.

The losses are financially painful, too. Replacing stolen or vandalized bikes isn’t cheap, and the resources spent on tracking down missing equipment or reinforcing anti-theft measures are stretching thin. Vélib has faced theft and vandalism issues before, especially during its early years, but this latest surge has officials sounding the alarm with renewed urgency.

Officials acknowledge that there’s no easy fix. Paris, like many cities with bike-share systems, walks a fine line between accessibility and accountability. Part of what makes Vélib so successful is its ease of use and widespread availability. But those same features make it vulnerable to misuse – especially when enforcement is limited and the consequences for abuse are minimal.

The timing of the problem is especially unfortunate. In recent years, Paris has seen impressive results in reducing car traffic, expanding bike lanes, and promoting cycling as a key part of its sustainable transport strategy. Vélib is a cornerstone of that plan. But if the system becomes too unreliable, it risks losing the very people it was designed to serve.

Meanwhile, as Parisians increasingly find themselves staring at empty docks, the challenge for the city and Vélib will be to restore confidence in the system without making it harder to use. That means striking the right balance between freedom and responsibility, between open access and protection against abuse.

In a city where cycling is supposed to be the future of mobility, losing thousands of bikes to joyriders and sticky fingers isn’t just frustrating; it’s unsustainable.

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Environment

CNBC Daily Open: Elon Musk, founder of companies and political parties

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CNBC Daily Open: Elon Musk, founder of companies and political parties

U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk attend a press event in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 30, 2025.

Nathan Howard | Reuters

When they lose a significant other, most men do indeed become a “TRAIN WRECK.” Then they pick up the pieces of their lives and start living again — paying attention to their personal grooming, hitting the gym and discovering new hobbies.

What does the world’s richest man do? He starts a political party.

Last weekend, as the United States celebrated its independence from the British in 1776, Elon Musk enshrined his sovereignty from U.S. President Donald Trump by establishing the creatively named “American Party.”

Few details have been revealed, but Musk said the party will focus on “just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,” and will have legislative discussions “with both parties” — referring to the U.S. Democratic and Republican Parties.

It might be easier to realize Musk’s dream of colonizing Mars than to bridge the political aisle in the U.S. government today.

To be fair, some thought appeared to be behind the move. Musk decided to form the party after holding a poll on X in which 65.4% of respondents voted in favor.

Folks, here’s direct democracy — and the powerful post-separation motivation — in action.

 — CNBC’s Erin Doherty contributed to this report.

What you need to know today

And finally…

An investor sits in front of a board showing stock information at a brokerage office in Beijing, China.

Thomas Peter | Reuters

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