Click the Pics to Watch
Joe's Teachings on
these
Topics!
Joe Cortes
as The Reluctant
Preacher
Oped by:
BigAddison
"God chooses
the weak, foolish, and despised to shame the strong and wise, so
that no one can boast
before him"
1
Corinthians 1:26-29
I can certainly attest to those verses personally. I prefer the term
"Misfit" though ;)
Nevertheless, it is indeed those who most would choose last, that
God chooses first. As preachers go,
Joe might top the list of the
last.
Joe is a hard sell in the employment of spreading the
Good News of the Gospel. A
man of average height, frail in body, monotone in voice, often
tongue tied, and scant on a sense humor, eloquence, or charisma. Like I said, a tough sell.
But wait there's more!
Unlike his
mentor (and mine)
Dr. euGene Scott,
a man larger than life, who was immediately captivating. A
bombastic, one-of-a-kind Television Preacher known for filling the
television frame with his talking head smoking a
big cigar and cussin his way through the Bible, earning him the
moniker: "The Shock-Jock of Televangelism"
The contrast is so stark you have to wonder if being Doc's protégée
for 30+ years, then being passed over at the end for an
attractive young new wife, may have left some marks. William Cowper said
it best: “God moves in a mysterious way. His wonders to perform"
When the Student
Becomes the Teacher
Doc came to television
in the mid-seventies after being voted in by desperate church board
members to save
FBN Faith Broadcasting Network (The
world’s first television ministry), from corruption and bankruptcy.
It wasn’t weeks
before he had fired and kicked out the likes of Paul & Jan Crouch
and Jim & Tammy Baker.
Joseph
A. Cortes was a member of FBN before Doc came to town. At 17, he
became the first intern Doc enlisted when he arrived at the flailing
church. In Joe’s words “Pastor Cortes spent 30 years under the
ministry of the great theologian Dr. Gene Scott, in which 10 of
those years he became Dr. Scott’s personal assistant in all areas of
the ministry where he was instrumental in spreading Dr. Scott’s
ministry and message across the United States.”
During my 28 years with Doc’s ministry, I of course knew
Joe, but
our job duties kept us from crossing paths during the work weeks all
the years I was an intern. Joe was ever
present in the studio when Doc was broadcasting, and I knew he was held in high esteem by Doc. In fact, I
always expected
Joe would take over the ministry once Doc retired.
What I didn’t know (and I don’t think he did either), Joe was
biding his time under the direct tutelage of his mentor. While
Joe
was completely loyal to Doc to the end, he used his access to parallel study
down paths God was directing him to travel.
When Doc passed in 2005, the keys to the kingdom went to his
model wife, and she took over. That’s when
Joe
made his exit. Five months later
Joe started his own television
ministry. It wouldn’t be until the
Spring of 2009 that I first discovered it and started listening to
Joe. I could hear
an echo of “God’s Angry Man” in Joe’s tenor, and I felt at home with
the simple studio set, but I was astonished by how Joe was using the
foundation messages of Doc’s ministry as launching pads to newer and
brighter understandings of the scriptures. Many in startling
opposition to what Doc taught, especially in field of eschatology.
Joe
started to unravel the Book of Revelation like it was the easiest
book in the Bible to understand.
His teaching was light years ahead of
Doc’s.
Joe’s
speaking style may be off putting at first. Let me get you over that
learning curve immediately.
Teaching Christianity in today’s world (and for many years ramping
up to it), has become a circus of entertainers, flashy sets, slick
dressed, and practiced deliveries of snake oil salesmen. Mega
churches, huge productions, “Jesus Junk” merchandising, arousing
musical services, and prosperity fueled “What can God do for you”
sermons. This is what you’re used to, and have been conditioned to
accept as credible.
This is
not what you’ll get from
Joe. Pastor Cortes is a
Biblical Scholar. He reads and writes Hebrew and Greek. He teaches
like a college professor. There’s no fancy studio, no studio
audience, no studio band, no Jesus Junk merchandise, and no
nonsense.
He comes across sometimes as angry.
I don't think it's anger (and I could be wrong), I think he’s fervent for
the word of God.
Put simply, he feels responsible before God for what he’s preaching.
And that’s a heavy yoke to bear. And that makes
Joe MY kind of
Preacher.
Now in 2024 (nineteen years into his
ministry),
Joe
has set himself apart from all others, including his
mentor. He has established himself as a Bible teacher without comparison. He has many contributions of rightly divided understandings on
such topics as Salvation, Repentance, Discipleship, Faith, Communion, and
especially the happenings and timelines of the Last Days Revelatory
message.
And here's the kicker: Does anyone remember who wrote the Book of
Revelation? Not so much right? Why? Because it's
NOT ABOUT HIM.
John "The Revelator"
didn't write the Book of Revelation. HE TRANSCRIBED IT STRAIGHT FROM THE LIPS OF JESUS.
I think we're seeing something similar with
Joe. His popularity
seems to be second to God's plan with him (to date). The first
priority is to have the Gospel message "transcribed" for
the record too.
When
Joe is in
teaching mode, all his on-air foibles fade away as the word of God comes alive.
Not
with hype and sensationalism, Joe makes it come alive by cutting it
straight. His enlightened command of the original languages melt
away all the "thee's and thou's" of the King James Version with the
actual "street talk" of the day, transporting the listener from the
set of Joe's studio, to standing in the presence of the
writers.
YOU'RE left watching, and listening to the events of the Bible as
eyewitnesses.
Yes, God chooses the least likely to
His biddings,
and I'm forever grateful. As to
Joe,
HE WILL ENTER ETERNITY A GIANT MAN OF FAITH
AND STEWARDSHIP - FOREVER.
