The Wartburg Watch » dee

TWW Applauds SEBTS and Biologos: Attempting a Creation War Détente

dee — Tue, 22 May 2012 00:14:36 +0000

“What can you ever really know of other people's souls – of their temptations, their opportunities, their struggles? One soul in the whole creation you do know: and it is the only one whose fate is placed in your hands” -CS Lewis Dr Ken Keathley-SEBTS On Friday, I attended a silent auction and saw a most unusual framed photo. It was a picture taken in the forest of a stand of trees. The trees were surrounded by purple hued sunbeams and barely visible ghostly images. The photographer told me he had taken it with a broken digital camera and this was the unusual result. As I stared at it, I remembered a talk given by Dr Hugh Ross of Reasons to Believe. He said that there were multiple dimensions (probably 11 with time being a 12th dimension but don’t hold me to it.) He then posited that perhaps heaven is the 13th dimension. This could mean that, although God is in heaven, He is also surrounding and within our dimension. The unusual picture was a sort of a hint of such a concept. That is my view of God. He is bigger and more complex than we can imagine yet Continue reading →

Categories: Answers in Genesis, Biologos, Creationism, Francis Collins, Hugh Ross, Ken Ham

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Pastor Chuck O’Neal, The Blogger, Phil Johnson and Overuse of “Slander”

dee — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:09:01 +0000

“Slander cannot destroy an honest man – when the flood recedes the rock is there” Chinese Proverb Man at Wailing Wall-WikiCommons I apologize for the disjointed nature of this post. There are several competing stories within this thread and I will do my best to integrate them. Press Release From Pastor Chuck O’Neal At 11AM EST, The Wartburg Watch received a press release from Pastor Chuck O’Neal. I asked permission to reprint it in part since it is quite lengthy. However, he asked that it be printed in full. So, we have created a separate page at TWW and will provide the link to it at the end of the following excerpt. To preface the release he wrote, “Things are not always what they first seem to be. Here is a small portion of the rest of the story.” "There is another side to the story. Beaverton Grace Bible Church wants to present its side of the story before anyone rushes to judgment. In Nov. of 2008 a man was removed from the staff of Beaverton Grace Bible Church (BGBC). Since that time, Pastor Charles O’Neal and the Beaverton Grace Bible Church have been the targets of a three and Continue reading →

Categories: Blogging and the church, Calvinism/Calvinista, John MacArthur, Spiritual abuse

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SGM Types: Julia Duin to Address Spiritual Abuse at Gaithersburg Book Fair 5/19

dee — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:21:04 +0000

(Regular post to follow) "Current and former SGM members may wonder if they are the only ones in Reform/charismatic circles to undergo the trials they've been experiencing in recent years. Not at all: Those of you living in the Washington, DC area have a chance to hear Julia Duin, the former religion editor of the Washington Times, now writing for the Washington Post Sunday magazine, talk about her book about what went on with Episcopal and Catholic charismatics, whose problems with community life and control make what happened with SGM seem…well, maybe not like child's play, but a continuation of the same narrative. Her book "Days of Fire and Glory: The Rise and Fall of a Charismatic Community" talks about how a famous Texas church underwent very similar experiences and the lessons learned from the debacle She will be talking about her book Saturday May 19 at the Gaithersburg Book Festival, specifically from 11:40 a.m-12:20 pm in the Rachel Carson tent. Her web site www.juliaduin.com has more information about the book. Or you can buy it from www.crosslandfoundation.org. For information on how to get to the festival, where to park, etc., please see here: http://gaithersburgbookfestival.org. Days of Fire and Continue reading →

Categories: Charismatic, SGM, Sovereign Grace Ministries, Spiritual abuse

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Phil Johnson Responds for John MacArthur and Grace Community Church

dee — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:28:34 +0000

Phil Johnson I emailed Phil Johnson this morning. He promptly responded with the following statement. "In a story currently circulating on the Internet, a claim is being made that the elders of Grace Community Church (John MacArthur, Pastor) advised a church in another state to file a defamation lawsuit against a former member. For the record, we would not approve of such a lawsuit, for multiple reasons. 'First, Scripture expressly teaches that it is better to be defrauded than to take a fellow Christian to court: "Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? . . . It is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?" (1 Corinthians 6:7). Here is what John MacArthur says about that passage: Christians who take fellow Christians to court lose spiritually before the case is heard. The fact that they have lawsuits at all is a sign of moral and spiritual defeat (hettema, a word used of defeat in court). A believer who takes a fellow believer to court for any reason always Continue reading →

Categories: John MacArthur

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Pastor Makes International News by Suing Blogging Critic-Is John MacArthur’s Church Involved?

dee — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:04:36 +0000

I choose not to give energy to the emotions of revenge, hatred or the desire to subjugate. Roseanne Cash Saturn's Moon-NASA A few months ago, we received a call from Julie Ann Smith who explained that she was being sued by a former pastor, Chuck O’Neal, of Beaverton Grace Bible Church in Oregon here. Julie Anne relayed to me the pain that caused her to leave her former church. I attempted to reach the pastor at the time but he did not return my call. Today, at 3:00 PM EST, his inbox is completely filled up. Could it be calls from the national media? Poor Chuck. I would not want to be his attorney. The Story Heats Up The story broke with local news media. Let’s pick it up here with KATU news. “The family being sued left the church a few years ago and Julie Anne Smith says she and her family were shunned and couldn't understand why. So she went online and wrote Google and DEX reviews of the church and then started a blog.  When the family left the church, Smith says friends were told to end all contact with her.  "If I went to Costco or any Continue reading →

Categories: Blogging and the church, John MacArthur

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Al Mohler: Mother’s Day Is a Bad Idea

dee — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:48:43 +0000

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.And by him we cry, “Abba,Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:15,16 NIV Bible Gateway Alice, the bluebird, taught the babies to fly and has laid 5 new eggs. I honor her diligence! We first published this post in May 2009, when no one was reading this blog except for our friends and family. We think it is important to understand some of the thinking behind those who hold to certain views on complementarianism. To those of you who are single, infertile, and estranged from abusive parents, our hearts reach out to you. Know this, you are part of an eternal family in which we all share the same Father. We are brothers and sisters to one another, although to some of the folks that we write about, we are probably the black sheep of Continue reading →

Categories: Al Mohler, Complementarianism, Women and the church

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John Piper: Women Are Free to Go to the Bathroom Without A Man’s Permission

dee — Tue, 08 May 2012 01:12:59 +0000

To be risen with Christ means not only that one has a choice and that one may live by a higher law – the law of grace and love – but that one must do so. The first obligation of the Christian is to maintain their freedom from all superstitions, all blind taboos and religious formalities, indeed from all empty forms of legalism. -Thomas Merton Folks, when a Christian leader, like John Piper, has to write a post like this, Christianity has gone wacko! The fact that he thinks this is a reasonable post to write is even scarier. I believe that much of the blame can be dumped in the laps of the Calvinistas who seem to have precious little to do with their time since they love to write treatises and go to conferences that pontificate on what women can and cannot do. I contend that complementarianism has been made a primary issue by the Calvinista crowd. Times have changed. Years ago, it did not overly concern me that there were people who believed in a young earth. I subscribed to the CS Lewis philosophy (paraphrased) that people who believe that God has a long white beard will Continue reading →

Categories: Calvinism/Calvinista, Complementarianism, John Piper

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Homestead Heritage: Does This Group Remind You of Your Former Church?

dee — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:55:07 +0000

"The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it." -Albert Einstein Alex Hannaford Link Once again we ask our readers to bear with us for the rest of the week. I will be assisting in an annual retreat from medical and dental students, along with some allied health professionals. The focus of our group is to help caregivers to recognize and apply faith in their practice of health care. It’s one way I am looking out for myself since I am rapidly approaching my dotage and want great faith based practitioners out there! Deb will also be away so we will be managing this by quick checks of the blog. Last week, a reporter in Texas, who thought TWW might be interested in an alleged child abuse story about a Christian community in Waco, contacted me. My first I thought, “Oh no, just another wacko group with wacko theology. “ But the more I read, the more surprised I became. It is, in my opinion, another wacko group but their theology is being lived out in many evangelical churches tabour which we Continue reading →

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Sexual offenders/pedohilia+the church, Spiritual abuse

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Wade Burleson: How To Care for Victims + Comment Policy + Readers’ Help Needed

dee — Tue, 01 May 2012 18:55:53 +0000

“Child abuse casts a shadow the length of a lifetime.” Herbert Ward Star forming region -Canaris-nasa There is a reason that Wade Burleson is admired and respected by the two of us. Wade has a natural empathy for victims. His gut response in bad situations is to reach out to the most vulnerable. His instinct for those who are hurting is rooted in a deep understanding of the love and grace of Christ who spent much of His time amongst the poor and let down. We have a prime directive at our blog. That means that all commenters must show concern for the victims in these stories. If they do not, we believe that these commenters exist to prop up either an idol or an ideology. On this blog we care about the forgotten victims. Most of these admired Christian leaders have throngs of admiring sycophants who strenuously defend them and uphold them throughout their ordeals. Who stands for the little guy, the victim, and the not famous and admired? This blog does. Period. If you don’t like it, go to the blogs of all the admirers of the famous. There are many. Let us know if you need a Continue reading →

Categories: Sexual offenders/pedohilia+the church, Wade Burleson

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Bob Jones University Pulls an Emily Thorne and Shamefully Expels Abuse Protestor

dee — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:14:16 +0000

“Revenge is always the weak pleasure of a little and narrow mind” Juvenal Bob Jones III- Wikicommons Breaking News on Tom White Suicide 11:06 PM EST :Wade Burleson has talked to the father of the victim. According to Wade, there is no question that abuse occurred. Please visit this link to read this amazing discussion. Today's Post on BJU starts here Last December, TWW did a post about some students and alums who were protesting, of all places, at Bob Jones University. And they were protesting for a good cause. We were try excited about this new breed of BJU students that were taking on a subject near and dear to our hearts: sexual abuse in the church. We were impressed with the moral and ethical clarity of these protestors and applauded their cause. You can read the full story here. Here are some excerpts to bring new readers up to speed. "These students effectively used a combination of Facebook and Twitter to get their message out. They were protesting the presence of Chuck Phelps on the Board of Trustees at Bob Jones. Who is this Chuck Phelps? Christa Brown wrote about this sordid story at Stop Baptist Predators. This Continue reading →

Categories: IFB

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