Folks, this is just a quick post to get the information out to social media. I am on my way to Georgia to adopt a little black pug who has lived in an abusive situation for years. I will introduce her next week.
Pastor Smith is reportedly an ARBCA lay pastor rom Clinton, LA. It has been reported that he has been in the courtroom since Day 1.
To the ARBCA leaders: we are simply the scribes. You are the ones who are responsible.
1
drstevej,
So, do you have a camera in my kitchen?
Nope. But retirement is good.
Just why is it that these pastors do not encourage (vast understatement) people to see what outside sources are saying? Couldn’t be a desire to control the narrative? Nah; after all they promise to respond with ‘openness, transparency and honesty’. Just close your little minds and let us pour the truth in for you.
We are So sorry you have to ‘go through’ internet bloggers reporting on a trial of a crime we covered up years ago that involved abusing children! /fixedthatforyouARBCA
Hmmm … would Pastor Smith be a member of First Baptist Church, Clinton LA? If so, they are not only associated with ARBCA, they are a Southern Baptist Church of Calvinist persuasion … a Founders Ministries church, you don’t get any more hard-core Calvinist than that. As noted on the ARBCA site about their church: “In the 1900’s the church became more Arminian until the coming of Pastor William (Bill) Ascol in 1983. Pastor Ascol led the church through a difficult reformation which necessitated both sound instruction and sorrowful church discipline.” That “sorrowful church discipline” part implies that they put those poor Arminian members through the ringer in the 1980s during a “difficult reformation.”
Truthseeker00,
Yeah, that comment “that we are not encouraging” is incredibly telling. If you want to be above board, say something like “that we find are not completely accurate and we will be happy to respond to all of your questions and rebut them”. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Not that they can, but just an example.
Of course, I’m just dying to know if written questions have to have a name on them or can you submit anonymously in comic-sans font.
Smith is the senior pastor at the Rockford church. AL Huber, Chantry’s father in law is the assistant pastor.
The point is, had they not apparently been keeping people in the dark already, the Chantry situation would be open knowledge, already being discussed in ARBCA, and methods of preventing similar catastrophes would be a common topic for discussion among laity and clergy. Had they done what they should’ve been doing all along, there’d be no cause for scrambling. I sincerely doubt that they’ve dealt with people with “openness, honesty and transparency” to this point, so why should anyone in the pews think they’d suddenly start being that way now?
DEE,
In my comment that hasn’t made it through the chute yet, I may have the wrong church affiliation for Pastor Smith. Feel free to delete it, if that’s the case.
i.e. Making it a Mortal Sin to read or listen to any “Fake News” other than the Official Church Party Line.
ION: Cricket
In good bowling conditions, England dismissed India for 107 this evening. A splendid 5-fer for Jimmie Anderson, at a remarkable economy of 1.5. Over to the batsmen…
It may be prudent to not rush to a conclusion about Pr Smith’s motives. Todd Wilhelm expressed puzzlement about Smith’s attendance and avoidance of contact with people related to the defendant (one of them, Huber, being his assistant pastor). Smith may be attempting to get an objective read on the case. We’ll know soon enough.
Anytime someone says that others shouldn’t even be looking at blog coverage of the trial, I question their motives. I don’t assume they’re trying to get an objective read on the case, I assume they’re trying to discourage others, who also are royal priests (according to even ARBCA theology, I assume), from getting the information necessary to get an objective read. Frankly, when I see things written like Mr. Smith wrote, I assume he’s a liar and an abusive jerk who simply hates the shouting from the rooftops that Jesus told us about, I assume he’s a person who just doesn’t appreciate the light being shined. That’s what I assume. Tell me why I should assume differently.
Samuel Conner,
Maybe you are correct, Samuel Conner. However Dale Smith was on ARBCA’s Administrative Council in 2000 and 2001 which means he has been aware of Chantry’s abusive behavior in Prescott Arizona for a very long time. It will take a lot of fancy footwork and explaining to ‘clean the glass’. What I expect is that the church family will hear a lot of well rehearsed excuses and be told to trust the people in leadership
Todd Wilhelm,
Good grief! That explains this guy’s fear!!!
Fair, fair. *tips hat*
dee,
I strongly recommend a independent investigation Dee, don’t take his word for it. It’s a trap!
Samuel Conner,
I know Pastor Smith, he is a coward thats the only reason for the low profile
The “leaders” are concerned with “internet blogs” just like church leaders were concerned with the printing press in the time of Martin Luther….. The printing press got printed word into the hands of pew peons, just like blogs are today! Getting uncontrolled information into the hands of the public is a dangerous thing when your goal is to contol the narative!
Robert Morris calls blogs “Satan’s Hit List” … “I have to say this, um, I’m really concerned about how much time people spend on the Internet. I’m extremely concerned about it. Extremely concerned about it; here’s one thing, just even the blogs that mention Christian leaders, and I’m one of ‘em. Praise the Lord, I’ve made the Satan, Satan’s hit list now you know …”
Well, these guys need to be extremely concerned about it!! They are being exposed for this and that, left and right. The Christian blogosphere (most of it) provides a service to the Body of Christ.
From the article up-top:
“I am on my way to Georgia to adopt a little black pug who has lived in an abusive situation for years. I will introduce her next week.”
This is not some ethereal-lofty-systematic-imputed-righteousness, this is the real McCoy, practiced with real deeds. God speed dee. God speed.
I hope it’s not too far off topic, but this news link has me upset almost to the point of tears:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/father-son-charged-killing-mother-084110824.html
If I ever do darken the door of a church again, one of the first things I’ll thank the Almighty for is that I’m not anything like them. Seriously.
Todd. At this point, I’m quite confused regarding ARBCA doctrinal distintives.
I reviewed ARBCA’s Wiki page-Theology – eschewed worship models. This led me to citation [9] Regulative Principle of Worship, as put forward by the ARBCA Theology Committee, Rev Don Lindblad-Chairman. And the confusion began.
My take-away is that serious circular reasoning is involved. Clearly, The Regulative Principle of Worship, is non-negotiable godliness. But 15 pages of PDF text, could not tell me how, why or what it looks like.
What am I missing? They (and I’m guessing here) pray, sing some songs, and read from Scripture, properly regulated of course. How is that different from countless thousands of congregations, simultaneously worshipping on Sunday morning?
I’m a crappy singer. I get that. But Regulative Principle of Worship?
David Marquet: “The problem is that the authority is at the top of an organization and the information is at the bottom.” What he did about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=26&v=pYKH2uSax8U
Ah, yes. The Regulative Principle of Worship. Welcomed to the land of superior Reformed Theology, the only ones who ‘do it right’. That means . . . exactly whatever the pastor quoting it says it means. Mostly it is code for ‘No praise band or drums’, but my former pastor was always thinking up new ways to creatively interpret it. It simply provides a basis for saying, ‘We do things correctly’ and ‘all those other churches’ are hopelessly lost, corrupt and probably liberal to boot. It’s is marvelous being the most holy group around. I could retire comfortably if I had a dollar for every time my pastor or elders patted themselves on the back for practicing ‘The Regulative Principle of Worship’.
Remember, Comrades:
THE PARTY CAN DO NO WRONG.
THE PARTY CAN DO NO WRONG.
THE PARTY CAN DO NO WRONG….
That is Al Mohler’s logic for Calvinizing the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest non-Calvinist Protestant denomination in America. He believes he and his rebel band of young reformers have come into the world for such a time as this to restore the gospel that the rest of Christendom has lost. Their bubble is filled to the brim with arrogance – it will blow sooner or later.
Daer little pug! You have been mistreated but now you will learn what love is. ..and you will give love in return. Just like all the abuse victims your new doggymom gives a voice to!
dee,
Thank you for adopting a rescued dog!
We lost an adult son to alcoholism this year. Couldn’t save him. Many people intervened, but it was stronger than him.
We picked up a 3 1/2 y/o german shorthaired pointer from rescue a few months ago. She was confined in a crate and starved for who knows how long. (Previous owner is being prosecuted) She has gone from 37lbs to a healthy 62lbs! We love to see her race in open fields on her newly muscled legs.
We cannot save them all, but we were able to give this love bug a second chance.
Women at the ARBCA General Assembly dismissed to tea party while committee reports are presented to the men:
http://arbca-ga.com/ 2018 ARBCA General Assembly
“11:00 AM Annual Meeting (& Ladies Tea) – Coordinator Report Committee Reports”
Jerome,
There are SO. MANY. photo responses I’d most to things like this. I get why TWW doesn’t allow it, but things like yours make me think of the facepalm through face picture. Ugh.
Loren Haas,
I am so, so sorry about your son. It must be so hard. I am convinced that God gave us animals to comfort us. That is why I am sitting in a hotel room in Georgia. I bring home little Buttercup tomorrow.
Jerome,
If I were present, they would get a tea party they would long remember.
Legalism.
dee,
ROFL! Yes!
If this is an affront to God Himself, woe unto them. Not an enviable position. Seems the church’s problems belong to God Himself, unless there is something a person can do. Trusting God to deal with His Church and the church.
Loren Haas,
Sorry for your loss. Thanks for sharing. God bless you.
Every time I see your name, I have to go watch The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch on YouTube. Just so you know.
Same here. Reminds me of the Scientology term “entheta”, defined as: Any information, whether true or false, that conflicts with the narrative cooked up by L. Ron Hubbard or David Miscavige.
I absolutely hate it when Christian leaders start talking and behaving like Hubbard.
“Despite the fact that we have done so for at least the past few years, we do not want to keep you in the dark, and we will not.”
There ya go, Smith. Fixed it for ya.
By the way, Dee, where did you find this bit of internal PR? Did someone on the inside share it with you?
So glad for you, and your new puppy!
Christians trust – and want to trust- their pastors and leaders. They want to trust them implicitly. It hurts so bad and it can be seriously disorienting the first time you find out your trusted leader is not what he appears to be, that a familiar face can be a cover for duplicity. It can be a shock. Some people remain in denial because it’s just too hard to face and to untangle everything in their minds. Most likely there are members of these churches who haven’t heard of Tom Chantry and who would never imagine that their leaders were knowingly sitting on sordid information that enabled a sick deviate to continue preying on innocent children. If the pastors are putting out warnings then some must be discovering the blogs and seeing the well documented information. I can only imagine how disheartening that would be. Perhaps they are going through a process where things are coming back to their minds and starting to add up. I think many of us have been in a similar situation and can remember what a tumultuous process it is. Truth is always the right thing to pursue, light is always the right thing to seek,though it may lead through a troubling space. Never be afraid of truth;you cannot build anything good or worthwhile on falsehood. Embrace truth, we worship a God of truth.
ION: Indoor climbing
At our Friday night climbing session yesterday, Lesley linked every move of a 6b route for the first time. She then followed this up with another 6b route.
#GirlsRock
(Oh, and I managed to send a 6c at the second attempt; pretty chuffed TBH.)
#IRockToo
IFON: Cricket
On a rather drier day at Lords, England are currently 116-4 off 29 in reply to India’s 107 all out. Ollie Pope scored 28 on his Test debut (aged just 20); given the bowler-friendly conditions, and the fact that this was the highest score of any of England’s top order, that’s not a bad start.
Since starting this comment, a couple of boundaries have taken England to 124-4; Bairstow is on 20 and Buttler on 17. England have a lead, but not a big one, and since we’ll be batting last, the match remains finely poised.
IHTIH
Great words!
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Finding and experiencing Him in the midst of all the religious distraction on planet earth these days will certainly involve going through a “troubling space” as you sort through the counterfeit to discover the genuine.
Muslin, fka Dee Holmes,
Bring me
A shrubbery!!!!
Headless Unicorn Guy,
“Making it a Mortal Sin to read or listen to any “Fake News” other than the Official Church Party Line.”
+++++++++++++++++
that would be, ‘Gospel-fake news’, of course.
Loren Haas,
so very sorry for your loss.
animals are awesome. especially dogs. nothing like giving love and being loved back, no matter the species.
(elephants, dolphins, horses, too.)
Nick Bulbeck,
neat!
some day i want to camp and climb around the mountains east of Glencoe.
(i once saw a photograph of an interesting-looking farmhouse in immense solitude — the caption indicated a location in Scotland. i set out to find it on Google maps street level. ended up virtually exploring all over…
great thing to do when sleepless)
I shall… welease Woger!!!!
Max,
“Truth is always the right thing to pursue, light is always the right thing to seek,…”
+++++++++++++
also helps with sleepless.
a good preventative measure.
!!!
LOVE that part of Scotland… At such time as you come over, give us a shout…
If you send me a link (or just post it here – I’m sure many Wartburgers would appreciate a fotie of the Highlands), I can probably tell you where the farmhouse is.
Just like Joseph Smith, Charles Taze Russel (JWs), Sun Myung Moon, Mo David, Jim Jones, David Koresh…
Nick Bulbeck,
might have been this. (don’t remember, exactly) pretty stunning solitude.
https://www.art.com/products/p17005114129-sa-i7000130/chris-hepburn-single-small-cottage-and-buachaille-etive-mor-rannoch-moor-glencoe-highland-region-scotland.htm?upi=PHDU460
ahhhh, solitude.
(except it’s lonelier, emptier than anticipated when you finally get it). a romanticized idea, for me, at least.
Nick Bulbeck,
how ’bout a phonetic guide to “Buachaille Etive”. (it’s been bugging me ever since that sleepless night)
i’ve been saying ‘Bwahk-I’, with a gutteral k, a long I, and the accent on the I. and ‘eh-teev’ with accent on teev. (giving it a french take)
yes, do let me know how ridiculous i’ve been sounding.
elastigirl,
It so happens that I know this building well… it’s called Lagangarbh (pronounced “LAG-n-garv”) and it’s owned by the National Trust for Scotland. It’s not quite as solitary as you might hope – it’s only a few hundred meters from the A82 main road through Glencoe – but at least it’s a long way from the nearest village. The view from it, on a quiet morning or evening outside the midge season, is truly magical.
The mountain in the background of the fotie you linked to is called Buachaille Etive Mor – “the great herdsman of Etive” – and is one of the great iconic mountains of Scotland, featuring on just about every Scottish calendar.
elastigirl,
“Buachaille” is generally pronounced “bookul”.
Oh, sorry – forgot Etive, which is already anglicised – there’s no “v” in the gaelic alphabet – and is pronouned ET-iv.
Nick Bulbeck,
no ship…
blimey
Nick Bulbeck,
so, not exactly in the middle of nowhere.
i’ll just hold on to my romanticized idea.
Loren Haas,
I am really really sorry to hear about your son. I come from a family with a lot of alcoholism in it & they don’t call it the demon drink for nothing. May he now be at peace.
dee,
Welcome Buttercup! You will join Dee’s beautiful bouquet of rescued pugs. I am going to need photos Dee. And yes, if it wasn’t for my dogs I would have had precious little comfort the last decade.
elastigirl,
This place here is really in the middle of nowhere. Easiest (though not the only) way to reach it is by boat.
elastigirl,
It’s not far off…
elastigirl,
I posted a comment that seems to’ve disappeared, but here’s one that’s in the middle of nowhere:
Loch Coruisk
“Coruisk” is an anglicisation of the Gaelic “Corie Uisg”, meaning “valley of water”, and is pronounced cor-OOSH-k.
And one more; Corrour Bothy in the magnificent Cairngorm Mountains (where Lesley and I first fell in love). 10 miles from the nearest road, but could be 100.
Nick Bulbeck,
another ‘neat’. but not exactly cozy.
“Corie Uisg” = cor-OOSH-k… gaelic never ceases to surprise, bewilder me. on my bucket list to understand how it works.
found some gaelic folk songs with modern spin. deserving of yet another ‘neat’. Mary Jane Lamond, in Canada. Her music is on Spotify, elsewhere, i’m sure.
Hey, now there’s an idea! I don’t suppose it requires written invitations? 😉
…hmm. Good luck with that!
It is as if you have watched my life.
I’m sorry, Truthseeker. It is hard to go through. I think there are many of us who have lived it. I’ve been through it more than once, in different types of situations, and it isn’t something you just get over. Trust, once destroyed, is not easily rebuilt. I have come to the point, if there’s not total transparency, forget it. I saw a saying recently, “As we gain confidence in ourselves, red flags are no longer red flags. They are dealbreakers.”
Max, another Calvinist purging of the heretics in their midst. Now, imagine what they would do if they actually had authority from the government to punish all heretics.
Sounds like damage control to me.
Sounds like they purged all the heretics in their midst. Now imagine what they would do if they had authority from the civil magistrate to punish them.
Ah, but don’t you know Jesus already obeyed for them, and that’s that? And when God looks at them, He only sees Jesus? And that obedience has nothing to do with salvation? And….
I hear ya, Muff. It’s a bunch of mumbo-jumbo that justifies all kinds of bad actions. And didn’t ya know, Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven?
Sigh….
Now, now, ladies. Don’t trouble your pretty, little heads about the issues in our church. Go on now, and have your tea party, like good little Stepford wives.
Aw…that doggie is sure gonna have a happy life from now on! I am so encouraged by people like you who show such kindness toward pets who have been abused. God bless you!
I bet they would, Dee. And no doubt they would be asking to drink something a bit stronger after listening to you.
HUG, don’t forget John Calvin!
Why can’t they drink tea and listen to reports? /genderroleseyeroll
(I agree with rambler, would love to post emojis 🙂
I was thinking primarily in terms of the 19th & 20th Century.
Semi-Pelagian! Works Righteousness! Pile up the green wood! ROTFFATM (That’s Calvinist for ‘rolling on the floor foaming at the mouth’!)
Sheesh, you think the ‘elect’ are going to be judged by their works like you worthless reprobates? Don’t you know Jesus paid for OUR sins? Too bad about yours . . .
That’s why they called Calvin and his bunch “magisterial reformers.” Calvin had the support of the strong arm of the magistrate to torture, imprison and execute dissenters to his attempts to force doctrines of “grace” on the citizenry of Geneva.
Max,
Yeah, it almost makes you pity the poor Reformers today who have to rely simply on dishonesty, milieu control and membership covenants.