The Wartburg Watch » Church discipline

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: 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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71-Year-Old Granny Perp-Walked Out of Church – Say It Ain’t So!!!

deb — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 04:42:32 +0000

"But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." Matthew 5:37 (KJV) Hester Prynne from "The Scarlet Letter" in which Ann Hibbins is depicted as a witch Credit: Public Domain Here is how I came to realize the seriousness of the church discipline crisis and how church discipline is being terribly misapplied in 21st century Christendom. About a month before we started TWW, I heard a pastor say in person that if the members of his church failed to join a community group and actively participate, then those members would be subject to church discipline. I was absolutely stunned! Months before, this pastor had preached through the entire book of Galatians, explaining very eloquently how on this side of the cross Christians have freedom in Christ, not bondage — liberty, not legalism — grace, not law. That was a defining moment for me. For several years Dee and I had contemplated starting a blog, and the threat of applying church discipline to someone who doesn't attend a community group was the impetus I needed to take a leap of faith into what I deemed the great unknown – the blogosphere. It has Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Thu, Feb 23 2012.

Categories: Church discipline

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Is Church Discipline Getting a Bad Rap? Yes and No

deb — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 04:57:27 +0000

"The marks by which a true Christian Church is known are these: if the pure doctrine of the gospel in preached therein; if she maintains the pure administration of the sacraments as instituted by Christ; if church discipline is exercised in the punishing of sin." BELGIC CONFESSION Have you noticed? Church discipline is back in vogue in conservative Christian churches, particularly those that are Calvinista strongholds. When I think of church discipline, I think of Mark Dever. Here he is talking about one of his favorite topics. Christianity.com: What is church discipline and why is it important?-Mark Dever from christianitydotcom2 on GodTube. Is church discipline getting a bad rap? YES and NO YES Church discipline has become so popular in some circles that it inspired a RAP song. Curtis (Curt) Allen, a pastor at Solid Rock Church (part of Sovereign Grace Ministries) wrote a song about it back in 2008 called Don't Go. Unlike the self-proclaimed pastor-athlete C.J. Mahaney, Curt is a pastor-rapper. You can read about him here on A View From the Cheap Seats. Check out these lyrics from Don't Go. Verse 3 To whom it may concern: I hope this letter finds you doing good It Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Wed, Feb 22 2012.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Authoritarian leadership, Church discipline

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Why Did Mars Hill/Mark Driscoll Recently Fire Paid Staff?

dee — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:25:28 +0000

"Martin Luther, in his commentary on Galatians, says that to add any religious work to the gospel of grace seems to be a trivial matter, but “it does more damage than human reason can imagine. Not only does it mar and obscure the knowledge of grace but it also removes Christ and all of his blessings and it completely overthrows the gospel.” Kangas Commune US Sheepherding Experiment- US Gov. TWW would like to thank the Gospel Coalition for posting a link to “A Response Regarding Church Discipline" here. We almost overlooked it. We will include some excerpts from this response in case it disappears like a few other things in the past. Today we were going to discuss a new post over at 9 Marks dealing with church authority titled “What Are the Keys to the Kingdom?”here. This post makes the following provocative comment “The local church has heaven’s authority for declaring who on earth is a kingdom citizen and therefore represents heaven.” As you can well imagine, we are not necessarily enthralled with such a statement. However, we draw your attention to this statement because, for the two of us, this defines the problem with today’s hyper-authoritarian churches. They Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Wed, Feb 15 2012.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Acts 29, Authoritarian leadership, Church discipline, Covenants/Contracts, Gospel Coalition, Gossip-, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, Nine Marks, Spiritual abuse, Theological arrogance

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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 →

Written by: deb on Thu, Feb 02 2012.

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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Tomczak Sets the Record Straight

deb — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 04:55:58 +0000

"But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." Genesis 50:20 (NKJV) Larry Tomczak The departure of Larry Tomczak from PDI (renamed Sovereign Grace Ministries) has always been somewhat of a mystery until now… For those not familiar with him, Larry Tomczak took a young C.J. Mahaney under his wing back during the Jesus Movement (1970s) and together they founded a Bible study in the Washington, D.C. area called "Take and Give". They attracted a large following which numbered into the thousands and eventually started a church in Gaithersburg, Maryland that is now called Covenant Life Church. Mahaney became the pastor of the church. They also established an outreach ministry called People of Destiny, which focused on church planting, and Tomczak led this effort. He also served as pastor of Fairfax Covenant Church before relocating to Atlanta. (SGMers, if I don't have the history correct, please let me know.) Next year Tomczak will be marking his 40th year of full-time ministry. This milestone must be extremely important to him because he has finally decided to "tell the story of Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Fri, Dec 02 2011.

Categories: Authoritarian leadership, C.J. Mahaney, Calvinism/Calvinista, Church conflict, Church discipline, New Reformed Theology, SGM, Sovereign Grace Ministries, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

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The Pearls’ Profit-sharing Program

deb — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 01:45:15 +0000

"All that we call human history–money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery–[is] the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy." C.S. Lewis Hey NGJ True Believers, LISTEN UP!!! If the recession has hit your family hard, Michael and Debi Pearl, out of the goodness of their hearts, have come up with a phenomenal way to boost your income (not to mention theirs!) All you have to is peddle Pearl paraphernalia. What a fantastic ministry/business opportunity you can do together with your kids. It’s called the “Business in a Box” and here's how it works. Go to the No Greater Joy website http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/ and click on “Learn about Distributorship Program”. When you do, an exciting opportunity awaits you. Here's what you'll discover… “NGJ's Home Business-in-a-box! A rewarding home-based business for your entire family! No Greater Joy Ministries has a home-based business program custom made for families just like yours. The following information gives you an outline of this program, how it works, the cost, and how your family can get started right away! How this program can benefit your family and Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Fri, Mar 25 2011.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Child Discipline, Michael and Debbie Pearl

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Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child and a Trip to Home Depot

deb — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 02:14:37 +0000

An explanation of the image: It is one of your blog queens who gave up her glamorous image for the sake of a point. She is wearing Three Stooges lounge pants, a “10 Reasons That Captain Kirk Is Better Than Captain Picard” T Shirt, a bathrobe and Cheetos (the national uniform of bloggers.) However, she is also wielding a plumbing supply line in order to beat any kids or dogs who try to steal her Cheetos or Star Trek T shirt. ********************************************** Today we are wrapping up our review of To Train Up A Child, authored by Michael and Debi Pearl. Their approach to “child training” has drawn both applause and criticism. It is interesting that there seems to be no middle ground with regard to the Pearl’s approach to child rearing. Before we get into the Pearls’ teachings on “the rod”, we want to share another unusual way they “trained” their children. Michael Pearl writes: “When I was yet young I determined that I would rear no sissies. When an infant fell over from a sitting position to the floor and bumped his head, we pretended to ignore it. When a toddler took a spill, we let him lie, Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Thu, Mar 24 2011.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Child Discipline, Michael and Debbie Pearl

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Child “Training” Pearl Style

deb — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:45:28 +0000

“The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn’t been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.” Pablo Cassals www.studentsoftheworld.info/sites/society/childabuse.php TWW has found the Pearl’s advice so concerning, we are doing an extra post this week. Clarification: TWW recognizes that good Christians are all over the place on the issue of spanking and we believe it is a worthy subject for discussion. Both of us have spanked our kids, albeit rarely. This series is looking at abusive punishment and treatment of children. Michael and Debi Pearl have established quite a following in the seventeen years since To Train Up A Child was first published. Have you ever wondered what Michael Pearls’ qualifications are for doling out “child training” advice? Here are his qualifications according to the No Greater Joy website. “No Greater Joy is the ministry of Michael and Debi Pearl under the auspices of No Greater Joy Ministries Inc. Michael has been a pastor, missionary, and evangelist for over 40 years. The Pearls’ five children were all homeschooled, and have grown up to become missionaries and church leaders. Though holding a BS Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Wed, Mar 23 2011.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Child Discipline, Michael and Debbie Pearl

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