Eagle to Be Baptized on November 24

Posted on by October 28, 2013avatar

…But those who hope in the Lord  will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Is 40:31

http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=15976&picture=eagle-landingEagle landing on the Rock

Many of you have asked about our good friend, Eagle. For some, it appeared that he has dropped off the map. Although we are not at liberty to explain all that has happened at this time, we can assure you that his path has been nothing short of incredible.

He will be authoring a series of posts, which will be featured here at TWW,  in which he will describe his journey. However, that may be a number of weeks in coming. We guarantee that that you will be stunned by the path his life has taken. Some of you will be moved to tears.

Please join us in rejoicing with Eagle on his big day. Also, pray for him as he pulls together his thoughts and testimony.  

We also want to thank all of our readers, as well as those at the Internet Monk and Spiritual Sounding Board, who encouraged him on his journey. You saw behind the gruffness to a soul that wrestled with God. It is no mistake that Eagle landed here at The Wartburg Watch and at the Internet Monk who will be co-posting this announcement. You shared the love of Christ and it made a difference. As Eagle recently said:

I don't recognize that man who used to comment.

Who says that blogs can't be a community? We thank God for all of you!

Eagle's pseudonym was prophetic. We dedicate this song to our dear friend.

We will have another post later in the day.

Comments

Eagle to Be Baptized on November 24 — 88 Comments

  1. Wait a minute…

    EAGLE BEING BAPTIZED? SAY WHAT?????

    In which church tradition? (Somehow I doubt it’s anything Fundagelical.)

    After my Evangelical Circus Burn Job, I ended up drifting for many years before finally settling into a major Liturgical Church, but it took many years. Eagle got a worse burn job, so I figured it’d take longer.

    EAGLE, YOU SURE WORK FAST!

  2. So happy to hear of this news and eagerly await his testimony! Thanks for this good news!

  4. Eagle, I’m so incredibly happy for you! Congratulations, brother. I’m excited to hear what’s been going on with you. I wondered where you had gone 🙂

    Words can’t express how I’m feeling right now. Dee and Deb, your community supports people in such wonderful ways.

  5. Wonderful news, Eagle! I have missed seeing your name on this forum and look forward to hearing about your faith journey. I have no doubt it will inspire and encourage those of us who feel like desert wanderers. Excited for you!

  7. sad observer wrote:

    Dee and Deb, your community supports people in such wonderful ways.

    It is the community as a living organism which responded to Eagle in a way that demonstrated love. We love all of you.

  8. @ Headless Unicorn Guy: Happy Birthday, HUG. My birthday is November 27. Only you could come up with a Twilight Zone, My Little Pony mix!

    I’ll let Eagle describe his church but it is neither Reformed (what a surprise there!) of liturgically based. It is one of those good evangelical churches for those who have a brain.

  9. That is so wonderful to hear. Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith. No man can screw up the story God is writing. I don’t know this person’s specific journey, but I love hearing of God’s faithfulness.

    I thank God for a community, whether digital or physical, that encourages authentic emotion and intellect. I love how the psalmist says in Psalm 139, ” If I make my bed in the depths, You are there….even the darkness will not be dark to you!” God is there in our doubts, in our shock, in our seemingly isolated places. God is there before, during, and after. Never leaving, never forsaking. A soul such as “Eagle” may be seeing this, as I know I am today.
    Side note, this song has been sung at the funeral of my grandfather, and last week at my “godmother” aunt’s funeral. Whenever I hear it I cry hopeful tears.

  11. Congratulations, Eagle. Glad that you have found resolution and peace on your journey.

  14. This is wonderful, Eagle! I’m so happy that you are finding peace and joy. My only regret is that I can’t be there to witness this event. I’ll continue to pray for you, and I look forward to your posts.

  15. Victorious wrote:

    So happy to hear of this news and eagerly await his testimony!

    JUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO BURN HIM OUT ON CELEBRITY CONVERT SYNDROME!

    Because “Testimony(TM)” often gets high-pressured to become Spectacular Testimony(TM) which gets overdone until said Celebrity Convert comes to believe his own exaggerations and overdoing or the pressure causes Celebrity Convert Burnout.

    And so much Conventional Christian Testimony(TM) sounds so by-the-numbers formula conventional and phony. (The peek of Heaven from the Left Behind prequels — literally a Never-Ending Compulsory Testimony Night — creeps me out like you wouldn’t believe. Even worse than the Never-Ending Compulsory Bible Study I encountered during my time in-country in the Evangelical Circus.)

  16. Headless Unicorn Guy wrote:

    JUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO BURN HIM OUT ON CELEBRITY CONVERT SYNDROME!

    You never fail to make me laugh. Eagle will laugh at the thought of him being a celebrity. However, if he becomes one, I bet he will give us rooms in his mansion. Don't worry. Dee and Deb will slap him upside the head if it happens.

  19. Welcome to the family Eagle, we praise your adoption as a sibling in the family of the children of God. Welcome, brother!

  22. Eagle…you have dared ask the questions some of us are afraid to think about. God can handle it. Praise His name.

  25. Eagle. It is a tough road to unscramble your theological compass after spiritual abuse. I am so happy for you that you have found a new church home.

  27. Eagle, hmm….really no words. Just about profound sense of gratitude. I look forward to hearing your story….I know it will be one that renews hope. Welcome back from the wilderness….

  29. Eagle, after seeing you absent here and at Internet Monk for so long, I have often wondered how you were doing and thought about you. I, too, look forward to hearing your story.

  30. Eagle,

    You know how very proud I am of you. Please know that I will continue to pray for you as that important day approaches.

  34. “Some of you will be moved to tears.”
    Some of us are already in tears.
    It’s so inspiring to know that there is life beyond the pain of spiritual abuse. Love ya, Eagle!

  37. I read all this and I just want to blush. Can a guy in his 30’s blush!?! Thanks for the kind words everyone. Many of you inspire me. The topic of Eagle has come up so I might as well explain how I chose that name for discussions like this. Well…I attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The school mascot is the Golden Eagles. Being a guy who loves Marquette I just chose Eagle for a name. I would appreciate your prayers and thoughts. These last few months have been amazing, for me the greater miracle is that I am not a raging atheist. In light of a challenging patch in life after so much that transpired I am puzzeled as to why I am not a hardcore atheist. I guess that will be one of the eternal mysteries that exists.

  39. HUG….I’m getting dunked at Fairfax Community Church on November 24. Its affiliated with the Church of God in Anderson, Indiana. Its Weslyian. I’ve actaully been terrified that I would run afoul of their doctrine. But I’ve researched it to death. But its moderate on gender roles, and they did a series on the Lost Orgins of Genesis, from the Professor at Wheaton that offers another explanation for an Old Earth. Every church has its problems but no one is getting (ed.) excited to Jonathan Edwards, Mark Dever, or John Piper – and for that I am grateful. Its not emergent, which is important and it avoids extremes. I’ve been impressed by the people I have met there.

    We’ll talk about this in about three weeks or so, but there is much to learn. The hard reality, and we’ll discuss this in detail is that many evangelcials create their own enemies. Evangelcials today are creating atheists. So many battles that fundagelicals wage are not neccessary. And today many evangelcials are forgetting their history and past. Christians once stood up and helped take care of women. They were concerned for them. They looked out for the least of these. Christians spoke out about child labor, and saved children that were left alongside the road for dead. Compare that behavior with pastors today teaching that women submit to abuse, or “denominations” that hide behind the first amendment while they cover up child abuse.

    There is a lot to discuss and we’ll discuss it. Its time for evangelicals to be brutally honest about the pain they have created in many churches, organizations, denominations and movements. Many evangelcials need to repent for covering up spiritual abuse, child abuse, domestic abuse, and creating needless division.

    I needed some time for myself these past few months.

    We’ll discuss in detail next month. I’ve really enjoyed your wit and humor HUG. You’ve been a privillege to know and your analysis on many parts of fundementalism is sharp and spot on.

  42. How lovely! Hope from the other side of the mire! Hallelujah!

    From a fellow slogger through the Evangicircus mud,

    Blessings and joy!

  43. Wow! What a fabulous thing!! Can’t wait to read all about it! May God continue to bless you richly! (Not in the Steven Furtick sense, mind you…) And thanks to HUG for my laughs for the day. It’s amazing that your fingers can keep up with your brain. 😉

  46. @Eagle – I visited that church once. Too far for me to drive, but nice visit. So glad you’ve found someplace comfortable. I totally agree with you that the church is creating atheists – and it has burned so many of us. I pray all the time that I can shine a light that draws people to the true Jesus and his love and compassion.

    @Lisa – I love the word evangicircus. That describes so much of the church in so many ways.

  48. Headless Unicorn Guy wrote:

    Victorious wrote:
    So happy to hear of this news and eagerly await his testimony!
    JUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO BURN HIM OUT ON CELEBRITY CONVERT SYNDROME!
    Because “Testimony(TM)” often gets high-pressured to become Spectacular Testimony(TM) which gets overdone until said Celebrity Convert comes to believe his own exaggerations and overdoing or the pressure causes Celebrity Convert Burnout.
    And so much Conventional Christian Testimony(TM) sounds so by-the-numbers formula conventional and phony. (The peek of Heaven from the Left Behind prequels — literally a Never-Ending Compulsory Testimony Night — creeps me out like you wouldn’t believe. Even worse than the Never-Ending Compulsory Bible Study I encountered during my time in-country in the Evangelical Circus.)

    HUG…personally I detest Christianese. It will be more of a narrative story. I avoid like cancer, those who publicly boast of their sanctification. I’ll just live my life and let people decided for themself. Do people honestly need to boast of their sanctification? Those that stand on a stage and boast of X-Y-Z and now they are like X-Y-Z and boast of their sanctification or humility for that matter gives me chills. I avoid churches and such people like cancer.

  51. Congrats Eagle & a word to the wise: If they insist on total immersion for your baptism, make sure the container or whatever it is that they use to perform the ritual in is CLEAN & DISINFECTED. A good dose of chlorine in the water when they fill the thing up wouldn’t be a bad idea either. The last thing you need is another bout with sepsis that they can’t put down with antibiotics.

  52. Eagle wrote:

    3. When your wife is having morning sickness, demand she become your own personal sex toy. Yeah she was hugging the porcelain God making her daily offering, but the true test of her womanhood is that she submit to her husband, then and there.

    Please, please tell me that #3 is merely exaggeration and not based on reality. (Please.)

  54. Pingback: Eagle Taking the Plunge | internetmonk.com

  55. @ srs:

    Dee/Deb…….do you want to explain this one? What CJ Mahaney boasted about his wife Carolyn white she was sick with morning sickness? Pretty awful…..

  56. @ Eagle:
    No, nevermind, no need to explain. Sometimes the truth doesn’t need a full airing. (at least this one didn’t involve the Man Child From Seattle…)

  58. I think this is the same church – with changed name and location – where I worked at the Happy Day Care in 1980. A friend from W.T. Woodson High School was the pastor’s daughter. Small world.

  59. srs wrote:

    Sometimes the truth doesn’t need a full airing.

    Unfortunatey, CJ Mahaney thought it did. He boasted and bragged about how his wife did things to him,even when she was throwing up. That account alone was enough to make me realize that the leadership at SGM was beyond bizarre. And people like Mohler, Dever and Piper encourage this man and this nonsense?

  62. So happy to hear this news, Eagle! I will read every one of the upcoming posts detailing your journey, and how God met you there. (Though if I comment, it’ll probably be a day behind everyone else, as usual. Don’t hold it against me! 😉 )

  64. Coming out of lurkdom to offer my congratulations; I was recently confirmed in my Episcopalian church (I’d have preferred to be baptized but already had been Lutheran as a kid) and it was a remarkable moment for me. Such love! I hope you experience something like that, because…wow.

    God bless you on your continuing journey! I too wonder why I’m not an atheist sometimes.

  65. I just want to thank you for the indispensible photo captions you always have. At first glance I thought the rock was somehow reaching up to touch the eagle’s claw. But then I saw the helpful caption and realized it was the eagle landing on the rock.

  66. Eagle wrote:

    I wonder if my baptism can be like the one in the Book of Mormon!

    By “Book of Mormon” I assume you mean the Parker & Stone version and not the original Joseph Smith version?

  74. Wonderful news!! Congratulations, and God bless you, Eagle!! (I haven’t been participating here lately, as I’ve been struggling, on and off, with chronic, severe pain issues for some time, but I do still read, and I wanted to rejoice with all of you at this great news!)

  75. This is wonderful news! Regardless of his tough questions, he never failed to show
    compassion and concern for those battered by the church.

    I look forward to hearing his story.

  76. @ Christopher Lake:

    I had problems with chronic pain after a car accident 21 years ago. Hypnosis, including planting a post-hypnotic suggestion that enabled me to rehypnotize myself at bedtime, worked wonders. Meds were terrible for me — if they dealt with the pain, they left me unable to think clearly enough to do simple things, let alone write technical texts. There are certified hypnotherapists in most parts of the U.S. If you google certified hypnotherapist, they have a web site, and will provide a list of contacts in or near your zip code. Some insurance plans will cover it if there is a referral from a doctor that specifies it is for pain management.

  77. @Arce:

    Thank you for the tip! Currently, I only have Medicaid, through my disability benefits, which can make insurance issues (i.e. finding doctors and specialists who will see and treat me) difficult to say the least. I will do research though and see if hypnotherapy might be covered! It’s good to hear about your very encouraging experience. God bless!

  78. Hey Eagle,

    So great to see you finding some peace & moving on from where you were. I may miss the ranting though…I may even take it up myself 🙂

  79. Eagle – I’m really happy to hear that you’ve been able to find a way through the maze that is post-abusive church burnout and pain. (though I suspect you’re still very much in process – who isn’t? 😉 )

    Here’s to fresh starts, and to hope!

    all the very best to you,
    numo

  80. Beakerj wrote:

    Hey Eagle,
    So great to see you finding some peace & moving on from where you were. I may miss the ranting though…I may even take it up myself

    BeakerJ….no as long as John Piper is talking about tornados I’ll alwasy be commenting! It will be without the profanities (which get edited out anyway!) but there is a lot to comment on.

  81. Eagle, so thrilled to hear this. When I first met you in the hospital in summer 2012, and again when we toured the Naval Academy, I was struck by how willing you were to be vulnerable. You didn’t shy from asking hard questions, or from talking candidly about your struggles. It seemed to me that you were doing the hard work to figure things out … to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Proud of you, brother … though I must say, even if you had not come to this place of faith where you are now, I would STILL be proud of you for being willing to wrestle with the big questions.

  82. Double-Time-Hartz: “Gather Da People, Tell Da Stories, Change Da World” ?

    hmmm…

    Rod Stafford, Pastor of  Fairfax Community Church, Fairfax, Virginia quotes Tim Keller in his Sunday morning sermons.

    What?

    Tim Keller is a co-founder of The Gospel Coalition, a group of Reformed leaders from around the United States.

    http://thewartburgwatch.com/?s=Tim+Keller&x=0&y=0

    Unpacked:

    WikiP: “The Gospel Coalition is a Reformed Evangelical Christian organization in the United States. It was founded in 2007 as ‘a coalition of people for the sake of promoting the gospel.’
    Tim Keller, a Presbyterian pastor from New York City, and Don Carson, a professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School initiated the first gathering in 2007 with a conference attended by 500 participants. The conferences have representatives from major segments of the Reformed Christian community, including John Piper, a Reformed Baptist, Kevin DeYoung, a Reformed Church in America minister, and other representatives from the Presbyterian Church in America and various other Reformed denominations, often known as New Calvinists, as well as connections with other evangelical, ‘orthodox’ denominations such as the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. The Coalition publishes a digital journal, Themelios. Some other notable members are Mark Driscoll, Richard Lints, Tullian Tchividjian, Ligon Duncan, and Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr..”

    Fast forward:

    Rod Stafford  is the hottest ‘new’ chili pepper in the New Calvinist reformed church world?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VwAc48y-Eo&feature=youtube_gdata_player

    hmmm…

    Birds of a feather flock together for da gOspel?!?

    huh?

    …bedder watchz your six, Eagle, some hot shot calvinesta pastor might flame your @zz.

    Sopy

    —

  83. @ Sopwith:

    Sopy…I’m concerned about The Gospel Coalition as well. I am not negating that fact. In every church that I researched and looked into I always found one issue or two. But there are other things that helped offset that as well. For example…in researching Fairfax Community Church on the internet I learned that it is a haven for those wounded at Sovereign Grace Fairfax…which is around the corner. Because of this SG-Fairfax is referred to as the cult around the corner. A refuge for broken and hurting people is what I have found FCC to be.

    I’ve met with pastors there and discussed some of this in detail. I’ve even asked if it could be taken over by Hyper’s as I’ve seen occur in the Evangelical Free Church of America, and was told that is unlikely to occur.

  84. Spiritual Fibulation™:  “The Shock Of Your Life?”

    @ Eagle

    hmmm…

    How often do you use your spiritual detector?

    huh?

    (…when you really need it, you really need it.)

    In the 501c religious tithe business, there is a fine line between true blue and code blue. 

    What?

    Jesus = true blue.

    No duh…

    All else = myospiritural infarctions ™ , at some point.

    Say What?

    (While the human spirit remains in a theospasmodic condition™, it ceases to pump the life giving ‘Word’ around the soul, which quickly leads to the victim falling spiritually unconscious. )

    (sadface)

    Sur ses gardes ! 

    *

    “I’m running back to your promises one more time, 
    Lord that’s all I can hold on to, 
    I gotta say this has taken me by surprise, But nothing surprises you!

    Before a heartache can ever touch my life, 
    It has to go through Your hands, 
    Even though I keep asking why, 
    I keep asking why…

    No matter what!
    I’m gonna love You, 
    No matter what I’m gonna need You, 
    I know You can find a way to keep me from The pain but if not…

    I’ll trust you!
    No matter what, 
    No matter what… ” [1]

    *

    “You, LORD, keep my lamp burning bright,
    My God, only You can turn my darkness into glorious light,
    I will fight the good fight, finish the race, keeping the faith,
    For You, the One who calls us, is ‘forever faithful’ ” ©Sopy Productions LTD.

    YeHaaaaaaaaaa!

    Sopy 

    ____
    Notes: 
    * Myo- (prefix): A prefix denoting a relationship to proverbial religious ‘muscle’.

     [1]  bonus: Kerrie Roberts “No Matter What” 
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA3MSqufJP4&feature=youtube_gdata_player
    Songwriter(s): Tony Wood, Chuck Butler, Kerrie Roberts; Lyrics © : Buddybabe Music, Hootey 2 Music, Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing, Songs From Exit 71
    (lyrics reflect parody adaptation, disclaimer: U.S. Title 17 infringement unintended.)

    ;~)

    —

  85. @ Eagle:
    I live in Northern Virginia. I’m not familiar with Fairfax Community Church. If they’re a refuge for folks from Sovereign Grace Church of Fairfax, that’s a plus in my book.

    An interesting story about SGC Fairfax: I visited their singles ministry in the early 1990’s, back when it was called Fairfax Covenant Church, on behalf of another church I was attending at the time. I was serving on a committee trying to decide whether to launch a new singles ministry after the previous dysfunctional singles group crashed and burned (long story).

    The one thing I remember about my visit to the FCC/SGC singles group is that a member told me they had to notify a pastor if three or more members gathered together. That struck me as strange and odd; the chairman of the committee felt the same way when I reported my findings. Evidently the control-freak mentality was in place long before SGC Fairfax was known by its present name.

  86. srs wrote:

    Eagle wrote:
    3. When your wife is having morning sickness, demand she become your own personal sex toy. Yeah she was hugging the porcelain God making her daily offering, but the true test of her womanhood is that she submit to her husband, then and there.
    Please, please tell me that #3 is merely exaggeration and not based on reality. (Please.)

    It’s for real. Cee Jay Mahaney, Head Apostle of SGM, told this story of his wife fulfilling her wifely duty from the pulpit with a chuckle. (HUMBLY, of course. Chuckle chuckle…)

  87. I normally lurk, but I had to poke my head in the door and say, ”

    [[Mod: Want to try again. Everything past the quote is missing.]]

  88. /blush/ See why I don’t post?

    Ahem. “Congratulations, Eagle! May you continue to grow in your faith.”