The Wartburg Watch » Sovereign Grace Ministries

Is the Sun Setting on YRR – aka New Calvinism?

deb — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:58:15 +0000

"Our chief concerns have to do with immaturity, instability, and inconsistency in the YRR movement." John MacArthur Beaufort (NC) Sunset (Taken by Deb) The Young, Restless, and Reformed Movement (YRR) gained much notoriety five years ago when Collin Hansen coined his catchy description of a new trend in Christendom. The emergent church movement, so prevalent decades before, waned while the YRR movement, also known as "New Calvinism" advanced at rapid speed. We believe advances in technology are largely responsible for YRR growth. Websites, conferences, blogs, podcasts, Facebook, and Twitter have been highly utilized by the New Calvinists to promote their brand. So many young, serious-minded Christians have fallen in lock step behind those leading the movement, and until recently there seemed to be no stopping the popularity of YRR leaders. Remember the 2009 TIME ranking of Top Ten ideas changing the world? (link) "The New Calvinism" came in at number three. A mere two years later, there appear to be problems afoot within the movement. Perhaps C.J. Mahaney's stepping down as president of Sovereign Grace Ministries in early July triggered a panoply of voices. The internet, which popularized New Calvinism, appears to be a driving force for the movement's Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Thu, Dec 22 2011.

Categories: Calvinism/Calvinista, John MacArthur, Kevin DeYoung, New Reformed Theology, SGM, Sovereign Grace Ministries, Submission, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

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Young, Restless, and Reformed (YRR) – RIP?

deb — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 04:56:41 +0000

“I’ve been pondering a post on this thing that’s been called Young, Restless, and Reformed. What’s good? What’s bad? What needs to be celebrated? What needs to addressed? For starters, it may be time to retire the name.” Kevin DeYoung (DeYoung, Restless, and Reformed) Jonathan Edwards (Wikipedia) I will never forget that day back in 2006 when the September issue of Christianity Today arrived in the mail. Dee called and said: “You really need to read the article on the front cover called: "Young, Restless, Reformed: Calvinism is making a comeback – and shaking up the church”. (link) As I write this post, I'm looking at that CT issue featuring a guy in a yellow t-shirt with a picture of Edwards on the front along with the words: JONATHAN EDWARDS IS MY HOMEBOY. Much has transpired in the YRR crowd since Colin Hansen wrote that article. Before we get into that, here is a little background information. In early September 2003, a friend and I went Binkley Chapel on the campus of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary to hear John MacArthur address the students. He had come to our area for two reasons – to speak at Southeastern as well Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Wed, Dec 21 2011.

Categories: Acts 29, Al Mohler, Authoritarian leadership, C.J. Mahaney, Calvinism/Calvinista, John Piper, Mark Dever, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, New Reformed Theology, Southern Baptist Convention, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Sovereign Grace Ministries, Together for the Gospel, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

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Rewriting History: SGM/SBC Style

deb — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 01:56:07 +0000

"Those who tell the stories also hold the power." Plato The Colosseum (taken by Deb) Five months ago many were surprised by the reconciliation of C.J. Mahaney and Larry Tomczak. LARRY WHO? We would imagine that this was a typical reaction of newcomers in Sovereign Grace Ministries. Kris over at SGM Survivors recently explained: (link) "Prior to early 2008, there was NOTHING anywhere online (except for the comments to that one now-defunct blog post where the subject of SGM had come up) that connected SGM to Larry T. All of SGM’s carefully sanitized history made it sound like PDI sort of popped up in the early 2000s as a fully-formed “family of churches” that had been founded by CJ alone." (Comment 109) Sidney, who sometimes comments on the SGM Survivors blog, chimed in with this startling remark: "I just checked with one of my “peeps” who’s still at CLC. They told me that at some family meeting this summer, the question was asked about Larry being “removed” from history. Josh said that he was, that was wrong and that he would be put back in history and they won’t be doing that anymore. Good move, CLC pastors, for having Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Mon, Dec 05 2011.

Categories: C.J. Mahaney, Calvinism/Calvinista, Larry Tomczak, New Reformed Theology, SBC pastors, SGM, Southern Baptist Convention, Sovereign Grace Ministries

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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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SGM and Confusion in the Camp

deb — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 04:24:17 +0000

"For God is not a God of confusion but of peace." 1 Corinthians 14:33 (ESV) What in the world is going on in Sovereign Grace Ministries? We are totally perplexed. The SGM leadership is causing confusion in the camp, and it is wreaking havoc throughout this "family of churches". Remember, God is not the author of confusion. In our previous post, we featured Mickey Connolly's admonition to the CrossWay congregation at a recent Family Meeting. He warned them not to read anything written by Brent Detwiler or the anti-SGM blogs IF it would cause them to fall into temptation. Here is what he said: "From our biblical study, which we have presented to you tonight, and our prayerful perspective, we believe, sadly, that Brent clearly fits the definition of a man who is causing divisions and because of his refusal to cease has the potential to cause even further division and therefore must be marked as divisive. Having nothing more to do with him, or avoiding him, would include not discussing these things with him personally, reading any of his materials on blogs or Facebook. That means if you have to defriend him to avoid the temptation, do that, or following the Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Fri, Nov 18 2011.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Mark Dever, SGM, Sovereign Grace Ministries

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Today is ‘National UnFriend Day’

deb — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 23:35:15 +0000

"A friend loves at all times." Proverbs 17:17 (ESV, NASB, NIV) Happy November 17th everybody! Did you know that today is National UnFriend Day or "NUD"? If you're not on Facebook, then you probably have no idea what the term 'unfriend' means. Those with Facebook accounts have a cadre of friends that can sometimes number into the hundreds or even thousands. In order to become someone's Facebook friend, you must submit a 'friend request', which can accepted, rejected, or ignored. In some cases Facebook users are friends with people whom they have never met or even heard of. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel is stymied by how many people are on Facebook, and he sees it as a complete waste of time. However, for those who are hooked, he came up with a national holiday last year that encourages Facebook users to whittle down their friends to a manageable number. In case you missed it, this clip shows Kimmel announcing the National UnFriend Day. Here is a scenario that illustrates the importance of this national holiday. Let's say you are a member of CrossWay Community Church in Charlotte, and your pastor proclaimed the following at a recent 'family meeting': (link) "From our biblical Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Thu, Nov 17 2011.

Categories: Abusive church tactics, SGM, Sovereign Grace Ministries

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Tim Challies: Deleting Both Scripture and Hurting People; A Request from SGM Refuge

dee — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:24:13 +0000

"You and I have need of the strongest spell that can be found to wake us from the evil enchantment of worldliness." CS Lewis Interacting Spiral galaxies-Hubble/NASA I know I say this regularly but I believe it is worth repeating. I learned how to look at life differently within the first week of my MBA program. One of those lessons was about the rules of the game. Not merely the written rules but the more important, unwritten rules that lurk underneath any successful business. All of you have been there. If you want to get something done in your company, your boss may not be the one with power. It is actually Fred who is about to marry the CEO’s daughter. So you learn how to do end runs around your boss and make nice with Fred. This past week, a couple of readers shared their common experience of having comments deleted from Challies.com. Tim Challies is a Neo-Calvinist who talks a pretty good game of theology, Reformed-style. However, Challies has what appears to be an unwritten agenda and we think we know what it is. We are smart, as well as glamorous. But, before we get to Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Fri, Nov 04 2011.

Categories: C.J. Mahaney, New Reformed Theology, Sovereign Grace Ministries

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C.J. Mahaney – Back So Soon?

deb — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 02:09:15 +0000

"And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh." Jude 22-23 (ESV) Sunset in Beaufort, NC (Taken by Deb) Prior to taking a leave of absence three months ago, C.J. Mahaney was busy making the rounds with his latest canned sermon – When Someone Doubts – based on Jude 22-23. I have listened to several of these messages and found it interesting that on more than one occasion C.J. stated that he invited himself to speak at these churches. Here are just some of his speaking engagements where he delivered that same spiel earlier this year: March 6 Grace Community Church (Ashburn, VA) March 13 Covenant Life Church (Gaithersburg, MD) March 20 Covenant Fellowship Church (Glen Mills, PA) April 3 KingsWay Community Church (Midlothian, VA) May 8 Grace Community Church (Kingsville, MD) June 26 Resolved Conference 2011 (Palm Springs, CA) I have probably missed other churches Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Mon, Oct 03 2011.

Categories: C.J. Mahaney, Calvinism/Calvinista, Carolyn Mahaney, New Reformed Theology, SGM, Sovereign Grace Ministries

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Helicopter Parents on Steroids

deb — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 01:06:03 +0000

"I think with many more of today's parents than in the past, the "helicoptering" is more about over-protecting them from what they perceive to be this dreadful, dangerous, terror-filled world and not realizing that kids need to be able to take educated risks, make independent decisions and take consequences for their actions." Jean Walker Flags Flying in Normandy, France (Taken by Deb) No doubt you have become aware of a fairly recent phenomenon called helicopter parenting. According to Dictionary.com, helicopter parenting is defined as “a style of child rearing in which an overprotective mother or father discourages a child's independence by being too involved in the child's life.” Although helicopter parenting can be observed throughout our culture, it appears to be prevalent among families where the children’s lives are micromanaged by their parents, sometimes even into adulthood. Where do we find such micromanagement of children? Some (not all!) homeschooling circles, legalistic congregations, Gothardites, and others who adhere to a particular formulaic idealism in raising their children. Those who take their parental oversight to an extreme we will call Helicopter Parents on Steroids. How ironic that Josh Harris, who went from what we consider to be a rigid homeschooling culture Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Wed, Sep 14 2011.

Categories: Carolyn Mahaney, Homeschooling, Joshua Harris, Legalism, Stay At Home Daughters, Women and the church

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Sovereign Grace Ministries Boasts About Its Pastors College

deb — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 02:18:53 +0000

"Oh yes, I'm the great pretender, pretending that I'm doing well…" The Platters Photo by Deb Despite the firestorm that is engulfing Sovereign Grace Ministries, it appears the Board is pretending everything is just fine. In case you haven’t been reading SGM’s most recent blog posts (the last three to be specific), the Pastors College is back in session. SGM leadership appears to be dodging its serious problems by shining the spotlight on its future leadership and the brilliant theologians who are being hired to teach. Since the SGM board wants everyone to focus on its Pastors College (PC), let’s take a closer look. Perhaps you will recall that last year the PC had only three students. That might explain why this year’s class is much larger with twenty-three students. SGM pretends everything is hunky-dory by making these kinds of pronouncements. (link) “Today marks the beginning of a new Pastors College academic year. We’ll introduce the students in a moment, but first, here is the class by the numbers of 23 students: • Ages range from 24 to 56 years old • Twenty-two are married, with marriages ranging from 3 to 31 years • Ten states are represented, as Continue reading →

Written by: deb on Thu, Sep 08 2011.

Categories: Pastors College (SGM), SGM, Sovereign Grace Ministries

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