The Wartburg Watch » deb

Mark Dever / 9 Marks Edict – You Cannot Resign w/o “Permission”

deb — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:31:11 +0000

"Just as freedom to worship is protected by the First Amendment, so also is the liberty to recede from one’s religious allegiance." Guinn, 775 P.2d at 776 Statue of Liberty It is hard to fathom in the land of the free and the home of the brave that CHURCHES ARE IGNORING THE LAW OF THE LAND in order to impose their will on members (and in some cases, regular attendees). Bobby Jamieson, Assistant Editor at 9 Marks, just posted an article entitled: "Pastors, Don't Let your People Resign Into Thin Air". Jamieson begins with these words: "Does your church let people resign into thin air? A church member simply submits a letter or has a conversation with a pastor, and then poof!—they’re gone. And your church couldn’t say whether the person has joined another evangelical church or dropped off the face of the earth. My brothers, this should not be. . . An encouraging number of evangelical churches seem to be regaining meaningful practices of church membership and discipline. But I’m concerned that even some of these churches, however unintentionally, are leaving their back doors wide open." Doesn't it sound like he's talking about sheep or some other kind of Continue reading →

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Arminianism, Authoritarian leadership, Calvinism/Calvinista, Church contracts, Church discipline, Covenants/Contracts, Mark Dever, New Reformed Theology, Nine Marks, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

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Fired Mars Hill Elder Breaks His Silence

deb — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:44:41 +0000

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana "Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." Edmund Burke FreeFoto.com Dee and I began blogging on March 19, 2009, after several years of giving lip service to it. A week before we launched The Wartburg Watch, Dee called me saying, "We've have got to start blogging NOW because if we don't I fear we'll get swallowed by a giant fish!" For the literalists among us, that's figurative language. With some degree of trepidation, we hammered out our thoughts and went online with our first post — Who Hijacked My Church? If you take time to read it, you will see that we have come a long way in our almost three years of blogging. However, history has shown that our research prior to launching this website was on target. At the end of that first post, we highlighted two issues that plague Christendom: (1) The rise of a new brand of Calvinism and (2) The expansion of church discipline. In our assessment of Mars Hill, we find it interesting that these are significant characteristics of Mark Driscoll's church. Since Dee and I missed the Continue reading →

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Acts 29, Authoritarian leadership, Calvinism/Calvinista, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, New Reformed Theology, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

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Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill-A Tutorial on Spiritual Abuse

deb — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:18:22 +0000

God will not hold us responsible to understand the mysteries of election, predestination, and the divine sovereignty. The best and safest way to deal with these truths is to raise our eyes to God and in deepest reverence say, " O Lord, Thou knowest." Those things belong to the deep and mysterious Profound of God's omniscience. Prying into them may make theologians, but it will never make saints. -AW Tozier Massive Solar Flare 1/ 2012 NASA-Goddard As many of you are now aware, Matthew Paul Turner has posted two explosive articles: (1) MARK DRISCOLL’S CHURCH DISCIPLINE CONTRACT: LOOKING FOR TRUE REPENTANCE AT MARS HILL CHURCH? SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE here (2) MARK DRISCOLL’S ‘GOSPEL SHAME’: THE TRUTH ABOUT DISCIPLINE, EXCOMMUNICATION, AND CULT-LIKE CONTROL AT MARS HILL here. We want to commend both Turner and Andrew (who is the subject of these posts) for their courage in allowing this story to be presented to a watching world. This saga has carefully exposed the underbelly of what appears to be abusive leadership at Mars Hill Church and sounds a clarion call to those in the pew. It is time to stop the excuses and start dealing with the bizarre "goings Continue reading →

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Acts 29, Calvinism/Calvinista, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, New Reformed Theology, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

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“Why I Hate Religion” Goes Viral

deb — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:16:59 +0000

"Here's probably the reason I hate religion the most violently. Religion tells you this. Religion tells you it's all about what you do!" Mark Driscoll Cathedral in Europe Have you seen the YouTube sensation "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus" that has had over 16 million hits? Take a look… Jefferson Bethke, who posted this video on January 10th, came to my attention earlier today as I watched CBS This Morning. I found the remarks of this 22-year-old interesting as he attempted to speak for his generation. Here is what Bethke said before a national audience: "I think my generation has been inundated or inoculated with the hypocrisy of religion, and so I think that's the good and the promising future is my generation just wants authenticity. We want to know that whatever they say they believe. And I think there will be a resurgence of grace following, Jesus loving, Bible believing people who will maybe transform and change this country for the good because we believe and we have that power and that grace with us." If you Google Jesus>Religion or Why I Hate Religion or Jefferson Bethke, all kinds of articles show up. Fortunately, I did just Continue reading →

Categories: Acts 29, Calvinism/Calvinista, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, New Reformed Theology, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

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Brierley Versus Driscoll

deb — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:58:39 +0000

"When you've got guys in dresses, you know, preaching to grandmas and young men won't show up as a nation, you've gotta ask yourself, you know, have we picked a course that really fits the past but isn't gonna work for the future?" Mark Driscoll Justin Brierley So Mark Driscoll truly believes he has established a course of action that will advance Christendom? Poppycock! (which means unbelievable) Yep, "Unbelievable?" is also the British radio program hosted by Justin Brierley on Premier Christian Radio. Before we take a look at some of the most controversial exchanges between Justin Brierley and Mark Driscoll, I believe it is important to point out that not everything Driscoll states is correct. Here is a case in point. During the interview, Driscoll tells Brierley that Seattle is "the most educated city in America." Wrong! Here's the most recent ranking in Men's Health. Most educated cities in America, along with their grades. 1. Madison, WI A+ 2. Plano, TX A+ 3. Raleigh, NC A 4. Burlington, VT A 5. Seattle, WA A- By the way, Dee and I are very proud of where our city placed in this ranking – Continue reading →

Categories: Acts 29, Authoritarian leadership, Calvinism/Calvinista, Culture and the faith, Gender Gospel, Gender Roles, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, New Reformed Theology, Role of women in the church, Women and the church, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

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Driscoll Bitter Toward the Brits?

deb — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:32:59 +0000

“Let’s just say this . . . right now, name for me the one young, good Bible teacher that's known across Great Britain. You don’t have one – that is a problem. There's a bunch of cowards who aren’t telling the truth. You don't have one. You don't have one young guy who can preach the Bible that anybody's listening to on the whole earth." Mark Driscoll Big Ben (Taken by Deb) Oh what a difference a year can make! It was around this time last year that a chap who goes by "theurbanpastor" shared some fantastic news on his blog. This was his jubilant anouncement: "‘We’ve got him’ were the words that brought to fruition ‘Red Dawn’; the covert operation to apprehend Saddam Hussein in 2003. I have no idea whether Stephen Fletcher, omnicompetent administrator of the London Men’s Convention, shouted something similar when he recently received the confirmatory e-mail from Mark Driscoll. But he’d have been forgiven for whooping in celebration! It’s now official, Mark Driscoll is coming to London. And he’s playing live in the Royal Albert Hall for the benefit of the 2011 London Men’s Convention. This is very good news. And I hope that it’ll Continue reading →

Categories: Acts 29, Calvinism/Calvinista, Gender Gospel, Gender Roles, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, New Reformed Theology, Role of women in the church, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

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Pastors with Sexpertise

deb — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 04:57:25 +0000

“That if gold rust, what shall iron do? For if a priest be foul, in whom we trust, No wonder is a lewd man to rust.” Geoffrey Chaucer Have you noticed the growing trend of "sexperts" in the pulpit? How in the world have Christian couples managed to achieve intimacy in their marriages over the years without the "sexpertise" (sorry – couldn't resist!) of two high-profile couples – Mark and Grace Driscoll and Ed and Lisa Young? In case you missed all the hype leading up to the release of these salacious books, they are now available. Maybe the Driscolls and the Youngs have wagered a bet to see who can sell the most books. The countdown is on for Ed and Lisa Young to go "up on the roof" of Fellowship Church and jump in bed for a full 24 hours! They have concocted a publicity stunt that is sure to draw lots of attention — TV interviews, Facebook updates, Tweets, Skype sessions, and live streaming. Ed had made it patently clear that this is NOT a publicity stunt, and Lisa confirmed that every penny from the book sales will go to Fellowship Church. Here they are promoting their Continue reading →

Categories: Acts 29, Ed Young Jr., Mark Driscoll, Wade Burleson

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Complementarianism and the SBC

deb — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 04:36:27 +0000

"If you live your life submitting to what you perceive as "the authority" of men, particularly the husband God has given you, then fine! Just don't dare call it biblical. Call it your cultural preference…. Don't call it biblical Christianity." Wade Burleson Women's Evangelical Commentary (B&H Publishing Group for LifeWay) Recently, there has been some brouhaha on the internet regarding the SBC's latest offerings by Dorothy Patterson and Rhonda Kelley, specifically their Women's Evangelical Commentaries on the Old and New Testaments (pictured above). During last year's Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, Russ Rankin updated the rank in file about LifeWay. In his briefing called Rainer reports on LifeWay's health, focus, Rankin writes: "Thom S. Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, shared with messengers at the SBC annual meeting June 14 that LifeWay is "doing well by doing good." Bringing attention to LifeWay's unwavering focus to provide biblical resources for churches, he said, "It is by God's grace working through incredible men and women at LifeWay that we have come through these past few years." Despite being "in the midst of the worst economic depression since the Great Depression, LifeWay has been able to Continue reading →

Categories: Complementarianism, Danvers Statement, Dorothy Patterson, Gender Gospel, Gender Roles, Southern Baptist Convention, Submission, Wade Burleson

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Passion 2012 – A Recap

deb — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 04:50:46 +0000

“Our heartbeat is to see the campuses of this nation awaken to God.” Louie Giglio Courtesy of NASA The Passion Movement, which held its first conference in 1997, continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Passion 2012 – a three-day event – concluded yesterday and attracted around 45,000 enthusiastic attendees to the Georgia Dome. For those like me who were not familiar with this huge event, here is a brief overview as well as a recap. The Passion Conferences are restricted to those between the ages of 18 and 25. As explained in the previous post, Louie Giglio is the founder and architect of the Passion Movement. His student ministry at Baylor, which spanned a decade, prepared him well for his role in motivating college students to pursue their faith. Giglio has assembled a team of speakers, and those who joined him in speaking at Passion 2012 included John Piper, Francis Chan, Beth Moore, and Christine Caine. Music is a HUGE part of the Passion Movement, and the groups who performed included: The David Crowder Band, Chris Tomlin, Hillsong United, Matt Redman, Lecrae, Kristian Stanfill, Charlie Hall, and Christy Nockels. Bios for the Passion speakers and musicians are featured here. Continue reading →

Categories: Beth Moore, Evangelism, John Piper, Louie Giglio

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Louie Giglio and the Passion Movement

deb — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:49:08 +0000

“Worship is… our response, both personal and corporate, to God – for who He is, and what He has done, expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live." -Louie Giglio, The Air I Breath Louie Giglio (Wikipedia) Have you heard of Louie Giglio and the Passion Movement? In an effort to follow Christian trends, TWW has been learning about Giglio in recent days because of a huge Christian conference – Passion 2012 – that concluded earlier today in the Georgia Dome. (More on that in tomorrow's post). Giglio hails from Georgia and graduated from Georgia State University. He went on to earn a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Grace Theological Seminary. As the Wiki article states, after finishing his seminary training "Giglio and his wife Shelley began a weekly Bible study called Choice at Baylor University where he was doing graduate studies. After several years, over 10 percent of the Baylor student body was attending the weekly gathering and Giglio's heart for the significance of the "university moment" was set." According to the Passion website Giglio (with the help of his Continue reading →

Categories: Evangelism

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