The Wartburg Watch » Doug Philips

Andy Davis and His Associations

deb — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 04:11:22 +0000

"This made such an impression on my heart that I got up out of my hammock, picked up a saw, and cut off a leafy green branch from a tree. As soon as the saw passed through the branch, I knew that the leaves were as good as dead, even though they looked as healthy as they had a moment before. Soon they would wither because they were cut off from the living source. I took that branch with me to work and still have it. The leaves are completely dead now, because I cut that branch almost ten years ago. It represented the end of the era of unregenerate church members dominating the life of FBC." (link) Andy Davis Cathedral in Europe (Taken by Deb) Andy Davis, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina, claims to possess great discernment regarding what is "Biblical". In fact, he is so sure of himself that he proclaims the following at the conclusion of his reformation article posted on the 9 Marks website (see link above): "ONE OF THE GREATEST DISPLAYS OF GOD’S GLORY The reformation of First Baptist Church is one of the greatest displays of God’s glory that Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Fri, Dec 09 2011.

Categories: Authoritarian leadership, Carolyn Mahaney, Doug Philips, Doug Phillips/Vision Forum, Family Integrated Church, Ken Ham, Scott Brown

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IndoctriNation and the Blame Game

deb — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 03:05:11 +0000

"Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV) Have you heard about a newly released movie called "IndoctriNation"? According to its promoters, it is a “90-minute documentary film that takes the audience on a panoramic exploration of one of the most important and controversial issues in the history of mankind, the issue of education. Traveling all over America with his family in a big yellow school bus and conducting a series of candid conversational interviews, Colin Gunn, a Scottish filmmaker, actor, and homeschool father of seven children living in Texas, is on a quest to discover the origins of our modern educational system. What he discovers is a masterful design that sought to replace God's recipe for training up the next generation with a humanistic, man-centered program that fragmented the family and undermined the influence of the Church and its Great Commission.” (link) To give you an idea of the documentary's focus, here are some quotes from the trailer which you can view at the above link. “When you send that child off to school today, you’re sending them into a pagan society.“ Charles Stanley Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Fri, Oct 21 2011.

Categories: Answers in Genesis, Creationism, Doug Philips, Education and the church, Homeschooling, Ken Ham

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Family Integrated Church Wrap-Up

deb — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:20:16 +0000

"A house divided against itself cannot stand." Abraham Lincoln Church in French Countryside (Taken by Deb) Family integrated churches are beginning to garner some attention in the Christian community, and it appears this is due, in part, to self-promotion. The documentary "Divided" is a case in point. This video plays the blame game regarding why youth are leaving the church and holds up the FIC model as the ONLY solution for keeping the next generation from slipping away from the Christian faith. Of course, the video presents valid criticisms regarding youth ministry, parents, and church structure (i.e. Sunday School). That’s what makes this propaganda piece so deceptive. The FIC model seems to work best in the homeschooling community, as one of our commenters pointed out. As I have mentioned before, I homeschooled my daughters for four years when they were very young, and I believe this educational option can be a wonderful choice for some families. What greatly concerns me about the FIC movement is that from what I understand, homeschooling is the only acceptable form of education. The “government schools” as the FIC crowd calls public schools, are lambasted. Where is the liberty in such a strict religious system? Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Thu, Sep 29 2011.

Categories: Answers in Genesis, Creationism, Doug Philips, Doug Phillips/Vision Forum, Family Integrated Church, Homeschooling, Ken Ham, NCFIC, Patriarchy, Scott Brown

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“Divided” – A Review

deb — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 18:39:15 +0000

"United we stand, divided we fall." Aesop Greek slave & fable author (620 BC – 560 BC) Taken by Deb "Divided" is a documentary written by Scott Brown’s son-in-law, Peter Bradrick, as indicated in the credits. Philip Leclerc goes on a journey to discover why a purported two-thirds of young people are leaving the church. He interviews a variety of Christian leaders and slowly builds his case that the solution to this tragic problem can be found in the family-integrated church model. Folks, it's just that simple… Early in the video Leclerc attends a Christian rock concert with flashing lights, blaring music, and fanatical teens. He explains that this experience opened his eyes to how worldliness has crept into Christianity. Leclerc responds with these scripted words: “I think we all know my generation needs to abandon the world and play to Christ, but yet here I see no distinction between worldliness and Christianity. It occurred to me if the church is allowing worldliness in here and calling it Christian, how can I trust the church not allowing the brokenness of the world in elsewhere and calling it Christian?" In the next clip, we see Ken Ham, founder and president Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Wed, Sep 28 2011.

Categories: Answers in Genesis, Creationism, Doug Philips, Doug Phillips/Vision Forum, Ken Ham, NCFIC, Science and faith, Scott Brown

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“Divided” Lives Up To Its Name

deb — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 03:27:11 +0000

"He that is not a son of Peace is not a son of God. All other sins destroy the Church consequentially; but Division and Separation demolish it directly…" Richard Baxter Mondsee Abbey Location of The Sound of Music wedding (Taken by Deb) How ironic that a documentary lambasting age segregation in the church is itself causing division and separation among God's people. Have you heard of a documentary appropriately called "Divided"? The caption atop the promo states: “One of the most controversial films of the decade: Is modern youth ministry multiplying or dividing the church?” Looks like the film’s producers were correct. Divided is so controversial that Ron Hunter, executive director and CEO of Randall House, which sponsors the D6 Conference, banned the film. Here is how Charisma News covered the development: (link) “Divided, a documentary film that raises probing questions about dangers associated with modern youth ministry, has been thrown out of a major conference. Having gone viral with over 100,000 online views, Divided has generated an enormous response in the blogosphere since being released on www.Dividedthemovie.com. The film's message—that churches should follow the Bible's pattern of ministering to young people, not disregard it—has been deemed as too controversial Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Mon, Sep 26 2011.

Categories: Answers in Genesis, Botkin, Doug Philips, Doug Phillips/Vision Forum, Family Integrated Church, Homeschooling, Ken Ham, Scott Brown

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NCFIC, Vision Forum, and the Bottom Line

deb — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 03:48:04 +0000

"Vision Forum has got it right! A lot of “modern” churches have got it wrong. God makes it quite clear how things are supposed to operate and when all parties are in submission to Him it is a wonderful thing. We must stand apart from the world. Vision Forum equips us with the resources and encouragement to do that. As hard as it is to be mocked by the world and labeled wrongly, I stand by the hope of hearing, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant.' " Cyndi L Taken by Deb Family Integrated Church seems to be all the buzz in certain Christian circles these days. How many of our TWW readers know the origin of the National Center for Family Integrated Churches (discussed in yesterday's post), and how long has this organization existed? Here is an excerpt from a blog post written by Scott Brown's colleague, Doug Phillips, who answers these questions. The Ten Year Anniversary of the National Center for Family Integrated Churches (link) "September 11, 2011, marked the 10th anniversary of one of the darkest days in American history. But it also marked the ten year anniversary of the founding of the National Center for Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Fri, Sep 23 2011.

Categories: Doug Philips, Doug Phillips/Vision Forum, Family Integrated Church, Homeschooling, Legalism, NCFIC, Scott Brown

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What are Family Integrated Churches?

deb — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 03:08:23 +0000

"Every single day last week, I received letters from people who were wanting to know more about the family integrated church movement. Many of them had attended a homeschooling convention in recent weeks and, like Momma Knows, had been subjected to a heapin’ helpin’ of FIC propaganda disguised as 'encouragement for homeschoolers.' " Karen Campbell (That Mom) European Tapestry (Taken by Deb) Throughout Christendom there appears to be a growing number of believers who are dancing to a different tune. The family-integrated church (FIC) movement is on the rise and causing discord within the body of Christ. With the D6 Conference getting into full swing today, it is time that we investigate this movement more closely. When a pastor is compelled to write a serious letter regarding the FIC movement, you can be sure that something is amiss. Here is what Pastor Andy sent to his congregation. (link) "Dear Church Family, Have you heard of the “family-integrated church” (FIC) movement? If you are familiar with classical Christian education resources like Vision Forum, you have probably encountered the influence of this growing movement. Or perhaps you have seen recent ads in World Magazine for an upcoming conference sponsored by the National Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Thu, Sep 22 2011.

Categories: Doug Philips, Doug Phillips/Vision Forum, Family Integrated Church, Homeschooling, Scott Brown

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Homeschooling Hijackers

deb — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 03:23:23 +0000

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. " Mark Twain The Louvre (Taken by Deb) We are navigating away from the Mahaney/Sovereign Grace Ministries debacle for the time being and beginning a series of posts on another hyper-authoritarian group that is wreaking havoc in some corners of Christendom. As Mahaney undergoes a time of reflection, we marvel that part of his therapy involves addressing the Capitol Hill Baptist congregation. Here is his sermon topic according to the CHBC website: “September 25 – When Someone Doubts, Guest Preacher: CJ Mahaney.” At some point we will weigh in on Mark Dever’s attempt to rehabilitliate his T4G buddy. ***************************************************** Back in the mid-1990s, my children were fairly small and homeschooling was becoming big. I did a lot of reading on homeschooling and was fascinated by the prospect of educating my own daughters. I read about Dr. Raymond Moore and some of the other pioneers of the homeschooling movement and was impressed by their tenacity. When my older daughter entered first grade, I jumped on the homeschooling bandwagon with great excitement. For three years in a row, I attended the North Carolina Home Educators (NCHE) Annual Convention in Winston-Salem. In April Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Mon, Sep 19 2011.

Categories: Authoritarian leadership, Doug Philips, Doug Phillips/Vision Forum, Family Integrated Church, Patriarchy, Scott Brown

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Is Sunday School Unbiblical?

deb — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 02:23:22 +0000

"THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD: A Sunday School teacher decided to have her young class memorize one of the most quoted passages in the Bible; Psalm 23. She gave the youngsters a month to learn the chapter. Little Rick was excited about the task — but, he just couldn't remember the Psalm. After much practice, he could barely get past the first line. On the day that the kids were scheduled to recite Psalm 23 in front of the congregation, Ricky was so nervous. When it was his turn, he stepped up to the microphone and said proudly, 'The Lord is my Shepherd, and that's all I need to know.'" (link) Westminster Abbey (Taken by Deb) While the Sunday School quote cited above may be humorous, what is happening today in the body of Christ is no joke! As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, there is another group of helicopter parents on steroids that is wreaking havoc in some corners of Christendom. It has been quite a while since we focused on them, and we believe it is important to update our readers on the latest developments involving this close-knit group. This domineering clan, which touts homeschooling as the only Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Thu, Sep 15 2011.

Categories: Answers in Genesis, Authoritarian leadership, Botkin, Calvinism/Calvinista, Doug Philips, Doug Phillips/Vision Forum, Family Integrated Church, Homeschooling, Ken Ham, Legalism

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Sisterhood of the Stay-at-Home Daughters

deb — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 03:19:33 +0000

We build fences to keep ourselves from committing certain sins. Soon these fences – instead of the sins they were designed to guard against- become the issue. We elevate our rules to the level of God’s commandments. “ Jerry Bridges Botkin Sisters Have you ever heard of the “Stay-at-Home Daughters Movement”? It’s a relatively new movement that appears to be promoted by Vision Forum (Doug Phillips) and his cohorts. Young girls and single women are encouraged (perhaps coerced?) to be “keepers at home” until they marry. They are forbidden to attend college or seek employment outside the home (that is, their parents’ home). These maidens spend all of their time honing their “advanced homemaking skills”, which include cooking, sewing, cleaning, knitting, etc. A stay-at-home daughter is under her father’s “covering” until he transfers control to her husband. When I first learned of the Quiverfull Movement, I wondered how a wife and mother could take care of so many children. As I have read about the experiences of stay-at-home daughters, it has become clear that it’s primarily the daughters who take care of their younger siblings – not the mothers. These young girls/ladies are truly moms-in-training. How Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Tue, Nov 23 2010.

Categories: Doug Philips, Doug Phillips/Vision Forum, Quiverfull, Stay At Home Daughters, Women and the church

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