Reverend Robert Jeffress Discusses Tim Tebow’s Now-Canceled Controversial Appearance at His Church

Tim Tebow doesn’t strike many as the type of guy who wants to be controversial, but his strong religious beliefs cause that to happen anyway. And so when Tebow agreed to speak at the Texas mega-church run by a controversial pastor, the reaction was strong enough to force him to cancel. Pastor Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church in Dallas joined Holden Kushner and Danny Rouhier on 106.7 The Fan in Washington, D.C., to discuss Tim Tebow scheduling an appearance at his mega-church. He also tried to defend some of his more controversial comments. Note that the interview was conducted prior to Tebow canceling.

On why Tebow was scheduled to appear at the mega-church:

“Actually, he’s a part of a month-long celebration for the opening of our brand-new, $130 million campus in the middle of downtown Dallas. It’s the largest church-building program in history and we’re celebrating what God has done … and we wanted Tim to be a part of that month-long celebration.”

On what Tebow was expected to talk about in his appearance:

“He’s not here to talk about negative, controversial subjects, but he’s gonna be here to talk about his own personal relationship with Jesus Christ and the difference that’s made in his life.”

On why he believes the criticism hasn’t been fair:

“We have been mis-characterized and misquoted as being a hate-spewing church. It’s amazing to me that for us to simply say that Jesus Christ offers salvation to anyone who believes in him and that sex should be between a man and a woman in marriage, that that should be considered hate speech. I don’t understand that, and it really shows you not that the word of God has changed but society has changed. And I think that’s the reason for this firestorm controversy. What was accepted as beliefs some years ago is now held into question, again, not because the Bible has changed but because culture has changed.”

On calling Mormonism a “cult” and Islam “heresy from the pit of hell”:

“I think Mormonism and Islam are delusions. They’re based on false prophets that received some kind of vision that is contradictory of what the Bible says. So those of us who believe in the Bible believe that any other faith apart from faith in Jesus Christ really is a delusion of Satan and is used to not draw people to the true God but away from the true God.”