Who is Gino Jennings?
Who is Gino Jennings? What are his beliefs, and what is it that he represents? I ask these questions rhetorically because there have been numerous search engine inquiries to this site concerning him. I find this interesting in that the only reference to Mr. Jennings on our site consists of the following paragraph taken from the introduction of our study on Modalism:
“In an Internet document entitled; "Is Your Doctrine Damnable?," Modalist Pastor and theologian Gino Jennings, General Overseer of the First Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostles' Faith inc of Philadelphia, PA makes the following assertions concerning these foundational doctrines:
`If you believe that there are three distinct persons in the Godhead, you are a false prophet and the doctrine that you are preaching is damnable.'
`If you are a preacher and tell the people to bow their heads and raise their hands and accept Christ right where they are, and don't tell them as Peter did, (Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus.), on the day of Pentecost, your doctrine is damnable.' (parentheses mine)
`If you say that there is more than one Faith, and that Water does not save you, you don't know the truth.'
While the words of Pastor Jennings are blunt, representing in a blatant fashion, the breadth of the gap between Christian theology and that of the Modern Day Modalist, it only represents one half of a two-pronged assault on the Christian church by those holding this theology. The other half is represented by the likes of noted televangelist T.D. Jakes, who, because he is extremely popular in this age of what I call, "The Cult of the Christian Celebrity," has access to many of the unguarded sheep left to fend for themselves by pastors seeking access to this celebrity association themselves. It is our intent to skillfully defend against the one, and to ardently expose the other. May our God guide us in our efforts.”
The Apologist
Since posting that article, we have averaged 3-5 hits a day from every conceivable search engine on the planet, (some from as far away as Saudi Arabia), all seeking information on either Mr. Jennings, or his teachings. Initially it was our belief that many of these hits were from Jennings supporters, but as we began to further analyze the data, it became clear that many were seeking information to defend against his teachings. We also began to see that those individuals who are followers of Mr. Jennings can be some of the most dedicated people I have ever encountered, as well as being extremely defensive of him. The following e-mail provides a good case in point. The letter is dated October 14, 2004, was written by an individual named Vincente Harrison and is transmitted here unedited:
Greetings,
What categories does your beliefs fall under? What do you believe is the way man should follow in order to be with God in eternity? You have all these ideas and theories and categories others beliefs into a system you designed that you believe is correct so prove it!!
Enough talk, and "cyber belief" systems let’s prove what you say using the scriptures. If what you are saying is the truth and is here for all men to acknowledge the surly you would not mind getting the HIGHEST RANKING OFFICIAL IN YOUR ORGANIZATION TO DEFFEND YOUR BELIEFS IN A TELEVISED PUBLIC FORUM. IF ANY OTHER OFFICALS FROM YOUR ORGANIZATION WANTS TO SUPPORT YOU LEADER ALL ARE WELCOME TO COME! One by one you can bring what you say to be true.
There is no use talking and wasting technology and web-space printing and mentioning others and what they believe unless you are willing to PUT YOU VERY OWN BELIEFS ON THE LINE IN PUBLIC ON TELEVISION LIVE FOR THE WORLD TO SEE! FREE OF CHARGE FOR YOU ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS COME WITH YOU BELIEFS AND WHAT YOU SAY TO BE TRUE FROM THE BIBLE.
This way no one can leave confused and you can prove once and for all your beliefs are meant for the world!
Please respond and do not be timid or have a cowardly spirit defend your beliefs in public. For God does not give us the spirit of fear. PUT UP OR SHUT THIS WHOLE WEB-SITE DOWN AND THROW YOUR BELIEFS IN THE TRASH NEVER TO BE THOUGHT OF AGAIN.
PLEASE RESPOND ASAP OR AGAIN SHUT THIS WHOLE WEB-SITE DOWN AND OR DO NOT REFER TO GINO JENNINGS AT ALL BECAUSE IT IS DANGEROUS TO SPEAK AGAINST A TRUE MAN OF GOD. I THANK THE LORD JESUS CHRIST GOD ALMIGHTY FOR PASTOR JENNINGS AND WHAT THE LORD HAS ALLOWED HIM TO DO THROUGHT THE SOLE HELP OF GOD HIMSELF!
JUST IN CASE YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OF ANYTHING WRITTEN IN THIS WRITING PLEASE ADDRESS IT DURING THE PUBLIC FORUM WE CAN ARRANGE. THEN AND ONLY THEN WILL I REFER THIS SITE TO SOMEONES ELSE.”
Mr. Harrison concluded his letter with contact information to Gino Jennings organization.
In response to Mr. Harrison's letter I must state the following:
- Everything that I/We believe as it pertains to foundational Christian doctrine can be found on the About Us page of this site.
- While I/We have no problem with the idea of publicly discussing and/or debating the doctrines we hold to be absolute truth, you cannot reasonably expect that loaded words would goad us into doing something reasonable discussion wouldn't; nor will the idea of televised exposure tempt our egos or instill us with fear.
- Being that the truth that we claim to represent is ageless, and in that men of God have represented and/or defended this truth for centuries, why do I need to respond "ASAP?" In my estimation, acting, (or reacting in this case), too quickly would be a fleshy, emotional response that doesn't serve the cause of Christ well at all. Scripture puts it this way; "Without knowledge even zeal is not good; and he who acts hastily, blunders." (Proverbs 19:2 - NAB).
- And lastly, why have you taken it upon yourself to speak for a man who is obviously well spoken, and far from shy. If Mr. Jennings ever feels the need to dialogue personally with me, we can do that. This is preferable to me. However, if he feels that we should meet on the field of theological battle before others, we can do that as well. I am always willing to share with anyone WHY I believe WHAT I believe, and to hear the same from them.
Finally, in response to the question that heads this page; "Who is Gino Jennings?" From what little that I know of him personally, he is a very skilled modalistic apologist whose forte' appears to be engaging those in opposition to the theology that he believes to be true in recorded debates. He then posts these debates on his web site at "The Truth of God with Gino Jennings."
I first visited Mr. Jennings site at the recommendation of an individual who had read our Perspective on the Nation of Islam. Mr. Jennings had debated several individuals representing several factions of the NOI with apparent success. It was suggested to me by this well meaning individual that maybe Mr. Jennings and I could "team up" in our opposition to NOI theology.
Upon visiting Mr. Jennings' site and reading some of his literature, it became obvious that he was Modalist, pure and simple. Actually, I found it quite refreshing that he wore his theology "on his sleeve," so to speak. After observing the stealthy behavior of prominent Modalist televangelist T.D. Jakes over the years, it was good to see a prominent Modalist preacher who didn't hide what he believes for the sake of popularity. In fact, this was why I referenced Mr. Jennings in the introduction of our Modalist Perspective in the first place; to contrast his openness with Mr. Jakes stealth. As with everything else written on this site, that Perspective was not published to any search engine, so we were amazed to find that were you to type Mr. Jennings' name in any search engine, (including WalMart Connect), our one paragraph reference pops up on the very first page.
Because of this deluge of inquiries to our site concerning the teachings of Mr. Jennings; and because his writings, when read by the mind unfamiliar with the doctrines and tenets of Modalism, seem credible; I have decided to address them, (not him), on the Counterpoint department on this site point by point. While I will use his writings as a focal point by which to address what I believe are the fallacies of modalistic theology, I will not limit my refutations to the writings of Mr. Jennings alone, but will also reference other leading Modalists and/or Modalism web sites where relevant in order to clarify points of modalistic doctrine. To begin with, I will be addressing Mr. Jennings Internet document; “Have You Been Born Again?” Click here to view the article.
with Rick Young
