The Wartburg Watch » Abusive church tactics

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 →

Written by: dee on Wed, May 02 2012.

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

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AoR Report Released: Just How Unhealthy Is SGM ?

deb — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 03:57:16 +0000

"Because we met with such a small percentage of members (less than 1⁄2 of 1%), our observations may not accurately reflect the entire association of churches. Nevertheless, we offer these observations as part of our report." Ambassadors of Reconciliation Report, page 13 Gavel – Wikipedia At long last the Ambassadors of Reconciliation (AoR) Report has been made available through the Sovereign Grace Ministries blog. When this group was hired by SGM's Board of Directors last summer, we had never heard of them so we took a closer look. Historically, SGM has had close ties with Peacemaker Ministries, so it came as no surprise that there are some definite connections between AoR and Peacemaker Ministries. A few years ago we were involved in conversations with Barbara Dorris of SNAP and Jeff Anderson, the attorney who has defended abuse victims of the Roman Catholic clergy and is currently involved in the Sandusky affair. Both of them admonished us to NEVER take our eyes off the victims. We have made this our prime directive here at TWW, and we believe those who follow our blog can testify that we are extremely loyal to those who have been hurt. As we reviewed Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Wed, Apr 18 2012.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Ambassadors of Reconciliation, C.J. Mahaney, Calvinism/Calvinista, SGM, Sovereign Grace Ministries, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

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Wade Burleson’s Touching Message to His Daughter on Her Birthday

deb — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 00:25:17 +0000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHARIS! Charis Burleson To My Daughter Charis on Her 25th Birthday! Love, Dad Charis, it was a quarter of a century ago, on Sunday, April 12, 1987 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, that you entered this world. Your name means "Grace" and your mother and I felt from the very beginning that we were immeasurably graced by God to be your parents, but in time we felt even more favored to be your friends. We have written you a private birthday note which you should receive in the mail tomorrow, but I felt impressed to write this public post to express my deep love and respect for you as a person and to encourage you with a specific word about your personhood. There are so many things I admire in your character including your faith, your perseverance, your kindness, your selflessness, your loyalty, your generosity, your wisdom, and countless other excellent qualities. There are so many additional attributes you possess, including your bulldog determination (a chip off the old block!), that cause us incredible joy! I could write a veritable book summarizing what your mother and I think and believe about you. We know you are not perfect, nor are we, but it is His grace and mercy in our lives Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Fri, Apr 13 2012.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Wade Burleson

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Tom Rich: Mac Brunson, A.Davis, M. Driscoll-When Church Leaders “Gossip and Slander”

dee — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 20:42:33 +0000

“False greatness is unsociable and remote: conscious of its own frailty, it hides, or at least averts its face, and reveals itself only enough to create an illusion and not be recognized as the meanness that it really is. True greatness is free, kind, familiar and popular; it lets itself be touched and handled, it loses nothing by being seen at close quarters; the better one knows it, the more one admires it.” Jean de la Bruyere The Areopagus as viewed from the Acropolis Recently, Andy Davis wrote Pastorally Speaking: Andy Davis on “Gossip amd Slander: Poison in the Lifeblood of the Church on the Between The Times blog here. Here is an excerpt: “So, if you feel that someone has sinned and the sin needs addressing, follow Matthew 18 rather than the promptings of the flesh or the devil. Go to that person directly and with humility work it out. Galatians 6:1 speaks of doing it with humility and gentleness. Jesus said in Matthew 7 we are to take the plank out of our eye and then we can see clearly to remove the speck from our brother’s eye.” Then, he adds a zinger: “One final word. The issue Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Thu, Apr 05 2012.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Authoritarian leadership, Calvinism/Calvinista, FBC Jacksonville, Mac Brunson, Tom Rich, Wade Burleson

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In Honor of True Authority

dee — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:33:00 +0000

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13-NIV) Jesus Lavado Pies-Wikicommons -Javier Oswaldo Rios Caicedo In the past months, I have been hearing from readers who have been on the receiving end of those pastors, preachers and leaders who pull the authority card on a regular basis. Within the Calvinista set, a vast number of leaders seem to be harping on the "authority" issue. Last week was the final straw. One such mega Calvinista asked his audience, "Which group of elders are you UNDER?" I guess good Christians are always under someone except if you are top dog and then you pretend to be accountable to your elders. There seems to be a growing emphasis on the authority of Christian leaders and the submission of the flock. A close friend of mine was told by an elder that he needed to "trust" Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Mon, Apr 02 2012.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Calvinism/Calvinista, Church discipline, Submission, Theological arrogance

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Mars Hill Robotics – Training Kids the Martian Way

deb — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:37:52 +0000

"Ultimately, I'd like to see a kids' Bible with Mars Hill illustrators — kinda cool, dark, a lot of the bloody Old Testament stories. The boys'll like it, too. We're gonna do it Mars Hill style." Mark Driscoll Downloadable Wallpaper from www.therizers.com Last year Mark Driscoll, stirred by the Holy Spirit, cast a vision for the Mars Hill family. He began by sharing the following: "How could we do a better job welcoming children to Jesus cause He says that's part of our ministry? So some months ago the Holy Spirit started stirring in my heart and soul and mind - what could we do to do a better job in children's ministry at Mars Hill? So let me cast a little vision for you that I'm really excited about… We're calling it Mars Hill Kids. It won't happen immediately. It's gonna take some time. But what I want to do is I want to start preparing our children for ministry at age two, O.K.? And here's how I see it. I want what happens in kids' ministry to be a mirror, an age appropriate mirror, of what we do on Sunday and what we do together as a church. Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Fri, Mar 23 2012.

Categories: Abusive church tactics

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Memo to Mars Hill: The Suppression of Church Women Is Not the Cure For the Feminization of Church Men

deb — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:02:01 +0000

"Mars Hill men, you had better wake up. A revolution is taking place. Women in your church are waking up to the biblical truth that they are created as much in the image of God as you are. They are realizing they possess the same gifts of the Spirit as you men. They are arousing to the knowledge that when half the body is suppressed, you have as much of a dysfunctional church as when men act like women. Go ahead, Mars Hill men, and act like men." – Wade Burleson Guest Post by Wade Burleson About two years ago two young married men expressed to me their desire to uproot their families from Enid, Oklahoma and move to Seattle, Washington to be a part of the ministry of Mars Hill. Though I was familiar with Mark Driscoll, I was curious why these young family men felt the need to relocate. The reason they gave me was an eye opener. "We want to be some place where the masculinity of God is emphasized in the home, in church, and in leadership." These two men have since left Emmanuel Enid with their families. Their wives have little or no say in family matters Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Wed, Mar 21 2012.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Acts 29, Calvinism/Calvinista, Eternal Subordination of the Son, Gender Gospel, Gender Roles, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, New Reformed Theology, Patriarchy, Role of women in the church, Submission, Wade Burleson, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

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Former Mars Hill Pastor, Paul Petry, Starts Joyful Exiles – Startling Revelation

dee — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:18:19 +0000

"What do you do with someone who is rebellious, hard-hearted, stiff necked and stupid? You break their nose." Mark Driscoll in his "private" message to his congregation moments before firing Paul Petry and Bent Myer Viking Lander on Mars-NASA (quite a wilderness) Late yesterday afternoon, my inbox started filling up with messages about a new blog Joyful Exiles. Although I was in a bit of a hurry, I visited it and almost choked on my ever-present Diet Coke. I quickly called my fellow glam blogger, and we both agreed we needed to address this topic immediately! As many of our readers are aware, Mark Driscoll rather crudely and coldly fired two pastors a few years ago. "Why crudely?" you ask. Here is the link to a video in which he threatened to punch some guys in the nose. It cannot be embedded because some "coward" asked that embedding be disabled; furthermore, no comments are allowed. Bent Myer, who posted his story at TWW was one of those two pastors. His post generated the most visitors ever at TWW. Yesterday, the other pastor, Paul Petry, along with his wife Jonna, posted a new blog, Joyful Exiles. Along with Jonna's accounts of Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Tue, Mar 20 2012.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Acts 29, C.J. Mahaney, Calvinism/Calvinista, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church

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Masculine Christianity and Its Knock Out Effect on Christians

deb — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:59:22 +0000

"God has made Christianity to have a masculine feel. He has ordained for the church a masculine ministry." – John Piper John Piper – Wikipedia When I think of Reformed Theology, I immediately think of John Piper. As the pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church where he has served for over thirty years, Piper and his church host an annual Pastors Conference. This year's focus was God, Manhood & Ministry: Building Men for the Body of Christ. Here is the promotional video tor that conference which was held January 30 – February 1, 2012. The Christian Post provided an excellent summary on this "manly" conference, including some revealing quotes from John Piper. Here are the highlights: "God's intention for Christianity is for it to have a "masculine feel," evangelist John Piper declared… "God revealed Himself in the Bible pervasively as king not queen; father not mother," Piper said at this year's annual pastors conference hosted by the Desiring God ministry. "Second person of the Trinity is revealed as the eternal Son not daughter; the Father and the Son create man and woman in His image and give them the name man, the name of the male." Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Thu, Mar 15 2012.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Calvinism/Calvinista, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, New Reformed Theology, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

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Mars Hill: Brokenness and Reconciliation or Just Another Lecture?

dee — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 21:21:04 +0000

The church is not a theological classroom. It is a conversion, confession, repentance, reconciliation, forgiveness and sanctification center, where flawed people place their faith in Christ, gather to know and love him better, and learn to love others as he designed. -Paul Tripp Weeping man at Wailing Wall-Wikimedia Commons A few years ago, I got onto an elevator at church. It was to carry me to the top floor where my Sunday school class met. There were five others aboard. Halfway between the first and second floors, the elevator abruptly stopped. People stood quietly, not moving or saying anything. I found this very odd. As you can well imagine, Dee took action but no amount of pushing buttons made a difference. So, I reached out to press the alarm button. One man grabbed my arm, saying, ”Stop. You’ll disturb the worship service.” Believing that I was now on an elevator with a bunch of zombies – one who appeared to be hyperventilating due to claustrophobia and wanting off – I reached around his arm, punched the loud alarm, and retorted, “That is exactly what I intend to do.” Help arrived and after the appropriate technical ministrations, the elevator moved partially Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Mon, Mar 05 2012.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Church discipline, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church

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