The Wartburg Watch

Another Mars Hill “Testimony”: One More Reason to Beware of Covenants

dee — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:17:30 +0000

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Acts 29, Calvinism/Calvinista, Church conflict, Church contracts, Covenants/Contracts, Ken Sande, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, New Reformed Theology, Peacemakers/CCEF, Spiritual abuse

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. -Martin Luther King, Jr. Mars: Hubble I apologize that we have not gotten to the topic of spiritual abuse resources. We will get to them next week. (Promises, promises). The last two days we have focused on legal ways to leave your church. especially if you have signed a membership covenant. We said that the threat of legal action might need to be employed and this raises the question of the biblical injunction against lawsuits. Kind of sad, isn't it? 1 Corinthian 6:1-6 (ESV) When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be Continue reading →

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Mark Dever / 9 Marks Edict – You Cannot Resign w/o “Permission”

deb — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:31:11 +0000

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)

"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 →

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How to Minimize Damage When Resigning From a Mark Driscoll-like Church

dee — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:32:34 +0000

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Cognitive Dissonance, Mars Hill Church

"All the best stories are but one story in reality – the story of escape. It is the only thing which interests us all and at all times, how to escape." AC Benson Free flying astronaut-NASA After reading the events surrounding the resignation from Mars Hill by Andrew and Sophia, many readers have raised concerns about the methods used against church members who decide to get the heck out of there. As recent events have unfolded, we have become aware that some churches believe that a member must “get permission” to leave the church. We have read of a variety of tactics including the euphemism “Meet with us so we can send you off joyfully.” There is no joy in the maneuvering that follows this statement. Members and pastors experience a crisis of cognitive dissonance when some people decide they no longer desire to continue associate with their church. Members and pastors must deal with the fact that some people do not appreciate their "most wonderful church on the planet. " They obviously cannot accept that their church and pastor is less than "almost perfect." When people decide to defect, it casts a cloud on these vaunted opinions. Continue reading →

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Fired Mars Hill Elder Breaks His Silence

deb — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:44:41 +0000

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Acts 29, Authoritarian leadership, Calvinism/Calvinista, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, New Reformed Theology, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana "Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." Edmund Burke FreeFoto.com Dee and I began blogging on March 19, 2009, after several years of giving lip service to it. A week before we launched The Wartburg Watch, Dee called me saying, "We've have got to start blogging NOW because if we don't I fear we'll get swallowed by a giant fish!" For the literalists among us, that's figurative language. With some degree of trepidation, we hammered out our thoughts and went online with our first post — Who Hijacked My Church? If you take time to read it, you will see that we have come a long way in our almost three years of blogging. However, history has shown that our research prior to launching this website was on target. At the end of that first post, we highlighted two issues that plague Christendom: (1) The rise of a new brand of Calvinism and (2) The expansion of church discipline. In our assessment of Mars Hill, we find it interesting that these are significant characteristics of Mark Driscoll's church. Since Dee and I missed the Continue reading →

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Mars Hill and Mark Driscoll-Under Scrutiny While Another Painful Story Emerges

dee — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:53:10 +0000

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

“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say “My tooth is aching” than to say “My heart is broken.” CS Lewis Cat's Eye Nebula-Hubble NASA Today Mars Hill posted a Scripturally accurate, reasoned account of their disciplinary procedures. Here is the beginning and you can see the rest here. “In recent days, there has been some discussion surrounding Mars Hill Church and our process of church discipline. We do not wish to comment on the specific scenario in question, as this is a private matter between church leadership and members, all of whom have voluntarily agreed to this prior to becoming members. We do want to be as clear and forthright as possible in presenting our theology of repentance, forgiveness, and church discipline and make clear that our convictions on this come from our study of Scripture and our deep love for our members and a desire for them to enjoy the freedom that comes from walking by the Spirit in response to Christ’s work on the Cross on our behalf. Continue reading →

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Run Baby Run: Personal Insights on Mars Hill and Mark Driscoll

dee — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:20:02 +0000

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Mark Driscoll

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 Salem Witch Trials-Salem Witch Museum. Update on CJ Mahaney: Well, folks, this one is a real yawner. We called it last summer. CJ Mahaney has been declared, “FIT for duty.” However, there is a bit of a hooker. He is coming back as President of Sovereign Grace Ministries for a short time. Then he plans to leave to “start a church. “ You can read about it over at the Gospel Coalition here. However, as an alert reader informed us, no comments will be allowed. Surprise, surprise-one of their very own, Kevin De Young, Gospel Coalition, ( the other two have some ties as well) was part of the three “impartial” men who exonerated him. Conversely, over at the Christianity Today blog here, there is a lively discussion ongoing with our very own “Deb” contributing to Continue reading →

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Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill-A Tutorial on Spiritual Abuse

deb — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:18:22 +0000

Categories: Abusive church tactics, Acts 29, Calvinism/Calvinista, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, New Reformed Theology, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

God will not hold us responsible to understand the mysteries of election, predestination, and the divine sovereignty. The best and safest way to deal with these truths is to raise our eyes to God and in deepest reverence say, " O Lord, Thou knowest." Those things belong to the deep and mysterious Profound of God's omniscience. Prying into them may make theologians, but it will never make saints. -AW Tozier Massive Solar Flare 1/ 2012 NASA-Goddard As many of you are now aware, Matthew Paul Turner has posted two explosive articles: (1) MARK DRISCOLL’S CHURCH DISCIPLINE CONTRACT: LOOKING FOR TRUE REPENTANCE AT MARS HILL CHURCH? SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE here (2) MARK DRISCOLL’S ‘GOSPEL SHAME’: THE TRUTH ABOUT DISCIPLINE, EXCOMMUNICATION, AND CULT-LIKE CONTROL AT MARS HILL here. We want to commend both Turner and Andrew (who is the subject of these posts) for their courage in allowing this story to be presented to a watching world. This saga has carefully exposed the underbelly of what appears to be abusive leadership at Mars Hill Church and sounds a clarion call to those in the pew. It is time to stop the excuses and start dealing with the bizarre "goings Continue reading →

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“Why I Hate Religion” Goes Viral

deb — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:16:59 +0000

Categories: Acts 29, Calvinism/Calvinista, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, New Reformed Theology, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

"Here's probably the reason I hate religion the most violently. Religion tells you this. Religion tells you it's all about what you do!" Mark Driscoll Cathedral in Europe Have you seen the YouTube sensation "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus" that has had over 16 million hits? Take a look… Jefferson Bethke, who posted this video on January 10th, came to my attention earlier today as I watched CBS This Morning. I found the remarks of this 22-year-old interesting as he attempted to speak for his generation. Here is what Bethke said before a national audience: "I think my generation has been inundated or inoculated with the hypocrisy of religion, and so I think that's the good and the promising future is my generation just wants authenticity. We want to know that whatever they say they believe. And I think there will be a resurgence of grace following, Jesus loving, Bible believing people who will maybe transform and change this country for the good because we believe and we have that power and that grace with us." If you Google Jesus>Religion or Why I Hate Religion or Jefferson Bethke, all kinds of articles show up. Fortunately, I did just Continue reading →

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Driscoll, Acts 29 Deny Haiti Relief Because of a Female Pastor

dee — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:54:49 +0000

Categories: Mark Driscoll, Wade Burleson, Women and the church

"Do not waste time bothering whether you "love" your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone you will presently come to love him." C.S. Lewis Yvonne and Joel Trimble Haiti for Christ (link) One of our readers made the following comment that, in my estimation sums up Mark Driscoll. “MD sounds so cool with his tattoos, t-shirts, and beer but he is more legalistic than your grandma who thinks beer is of the devil.” (Robin) Yvonne Melchionne Trimble, from the mission group Haiti For Christ wrote TWW to share a personal experience with Mark Driscoll. In my estimation, her startling experience sums up the problem with Driscoll and radical complementarians who, in this instance, prove that “secondary theology trumps love”. Here is Yvonne's testimony: "My husband and I are missionary evangelists and have lived in Haiti since 1975. Two of our four children and one of our nine grandchildren were born there. We host Haiti’s most popular TV show that features the beauty of Haiti with a gospel message. Currently we are aired in 13 US Haitian markets and over Continue reading →

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Brierley Versus Driscoll

deb — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:58:39 +0000

Categories: Acts 29, Authoritarian leadership, Calvinism/Calvinista, Culture and the faith, Gender Gospel, Gender Roles, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, New Reformed Theology, Role of women in the church, Women and the church, Young, Restless and Reformed (YRR)

"When you've got guys in dresses, you know, preaching to grandmas and young men won't show up as a nation, you've gotta ask yourself, you know, have we picked a course that really fits the past but isn't gonna work for the future?" Mark Driscoll Justin Brierley So Mark Driscoll truly believes he has established a course of action that will advance Christendom? Poppycock! (which means unbelievable) Yep, "Unbelievable?" is also the British radio program hosted by Justin Brierley on Premier Christian Radio. Before we take a look at some of the most controversial exchanges between Justin Brierley and Mark Driscoll, I believe it is important to point out that not everything Driscoll states is correct. Here is a case in point. During the interview, Driscoll tells Brierley that Seattle is "the most educated city in America." Wrong! Here's the most recent ranking in Men's Health. Most educated cities in America, along with their grades. 1. Madison, WI A+ 2. Plano, TX A+ 3. Raleigh, NC A 4. Burlington, VT A 5. Seattle, WA A- By the way, Dee and I are very proud of where our city placed in this ranking – Continue reading →

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